There's nothing to say about this loss that you didn't see with your own two eyes. It's unacceptable, and frankly disgusting. This team is in serious trouble if this bullpen can't hold a 10-2 lead with six outs to go. I'm not going to make excuses for the loss, it was pitiful, but the umpiring sure didn't help.
Look at these strike zone plots. As always, the green dots are balls, red dots are strikes.
Francisco walk:
via brooksbaseball.dustinkikuchi.com
Carroll Walk:
via brooksbaseball.dustinkikuchi.com
Sizemore walk:
via brooksbaseball.dustinkikuchi.com
Martinez walk off:
via brooksbaseball.dustinkikuchi.com
That's five pitches in four consecutive at bats that were called balls that were clearly strikes. If even three of those pitches are called correctly...who knows what happens in those at bats.
This is the worst loss in Rays history. I'm numb. I feel like I just got punched in the stomach while simultaneously being kicked in the groin. I can only imagine how the players feel. Matt Garza is on the mound tomorrow. Hopefully he can make us all forget about tonight.
Here's a photo essay of tonight's game:
Start of game:
via i.usatoday.net
Que Bullpen...
via www.obit-mag.com
