The Rays Tank: Lose the Game, Win the Series

Yesterday’s 3-2 loss to the Yankees was a tough one to stomach considering the missed opportunities for the Rays to put more runs on the board. Tampa Bay grounded into four double-plays over the course of the game, the first one happening with bases loaded in the first inning. For more on yesterday’s game, check out Gareth’s recap here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Double plays hurt us offensively speaking. We out-defensed them the other night. They may have done it to us today.</p>&mdash; Joe Maddon (@RaysJoeMaddon) <a href="https://twitter.com/RaysJoeMaddon/statuses/371754135529345024">August 25, 2013</a></blockquote>

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By the way, yesterday’s game was a sellout and the attendance total for all three games of the series was 91,179 according to MLB.com.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox won last night, so the Rays are back to one game behind Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox have an off day tomorrow before returning home to host the Orioles and the White Sox later this week. Today the Rays are in Kansas City for a makeup game, and then will return home tomorrow to host the Angels.

The Royals will finally get to witness Wil Myers at the major league level, and today would be as good a day as any for him to break out of his mini slump. Some of his swings this weekend were just terrible and I fully expect either his ballerina twirl from Saturday night or the swing yesterday that caused his helmet to pop off to be featured in next week’s edition of "worst swings of the week" on FanGraphs.

Matt Moore felt ‘normal soreness’ yesterday after throwing a simulated game on Saturday. He will make one rehab start on Thursday, with a team that’s yet to be announced, and will then rejoin the rotation on September 3^rd in Anaheim, according to Bill Chastain and Sam Strong of MLB.com.

The Rays send Jeremy Hellickson to the mound to face Jeremy Guthrie at 2:10 PM. The game will not be televised on SunSports so make sure to tune in to 620 WDAE to follow along!

Links:

- David Laurilla of FanGraphs discussed whether hitting is more of an art or a science with Luke Scott recently. Scott believes it is more of an art.

- Also from FanGraphs, the wildest swings and pitches of the week!

- The White Sox bench coach was ejected from yesterday’s game during the lineup card exchange.

- The Mets are searching for a way to limit Matt Harvey’s workload as their season winds down.

- David Schoenfield of ESPN’s The SweetSpot is predicting the Red Sox to take the AL East, the Rays the wild card, and a Dodgers/Tigers World Series matchup.

- Baseball Prospectus: This Week in Catcher Framing, linking back to a clip of Vin Scully discussing Jose Molina's prowess behind the plate, and updating his numbers.

<h4>More from DRaysBay:</h4>

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