clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

A's 8, Rays 2 - Bullpen Goes Boom

A nightmare of a seventh inning was the story of the game, as Rays pitching allowed seven unanswered runs in the bottom of the frame

By Hatfield
Probably the exact face Jake made as he watched the 7th inning.
Probably the exact face Jake made as he watched the 7th inning.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Well it started out ok. The Rays played 7 1/2 innings of competitive baseball, and even held the lead before the Oakland bats erupted in the bottom of the seventh. Aside from a Mark Canha RBI single after a Billy Burns triple in the bottom of the fourth to put the A's up 1-0, all of today's runs were scored in that fateful seventh inning.

Heck, the seventh started off just fine. John Jaso walked to lead off the inning, and was pulled for the speedy wheels of Kevin Kiermaier. A Forsythe ground out advanced Kiermaier to second, and a Cabby single to left sent him to third base. A pinch-hitting Desmond Jennings did not disappoint, as he delivered a sac fly to center field, plenty deep enough to allow Kiermaier to tag up and score to tie the game 1-1.

A clearly rattled Sean Doolittle walked Brandon Guyer to move Cabby into scoring position before being replaced by Fernando Rodriguez. Rene Rivera put the Rays ahead with a first-pitch liner to right that sent Cabrera charging home from second base. 2-1 Rays.

... and that's the end of the good news, folks. Feel free to skip straight to the comments from here.

I warned you.

Ok, here goes.

Jake Odorizzi had been solid today, scattering four strikeouts and three hits over six frames before walking his first batter in the seventh. At 94 pitches, Kevin Cash had seen enough, and opted to pull Odorizzi in favor of the bullpen... specifically Steve Geltz.

Here's how that went:

  1. Stephen Vogt double
  2. Brett Lawrie single (scoring Danny Valencia) 2-2  (though Kiermaier did gun down Vogt at home, so technically there was still some good news to come)
  3. Billy Butler double
  4. Eric Sogard single (scoring Brett Lawrie and Billy Butler) 4-2
  5. Sam Fuld walk
Ok, so the Geltz idea wasn't so hot. Let's give Matt Andriese a shot.

Here's how that went:
  1. Billy Burns single
  2. Mark Canha triple (scoring everyone not named Mark Canha) 7-2(!!)
  3. Josh Reddick strikeout HURRAY!!!!
  4. Danny Valencia single (scoring Mark Canha) 8-2
  5. Stephen Vogt single
Yep. You read that right. Danny Valencia and Steven Vogt again. The A's batted around.

Enny Romero pitched the garbage time bottom of the eighth, but there was no way these Rays bats were going to score five runs to climb back into this thing.

Today's loss puts the Rays back at .500 (62-62), but still just 2.5 games away from Texas for the second Wild Card slot. The season was over a good while ago, but our boys are technically still in this thing.

The Rays have the day off tomorrow in celebration of Jameis Day at Raymond James Stadium, before hosting the Twins and Royals in the city they play in that is not Tampa.

Go Rays!

Roll Call Info
Total comments 229
Total commenters 20
Commenter list BravesRays, DFAHowell, Dome Biscuit, JRTW612, Mister Lizzie, Noles95', Pocoroba, Rays1118, essenpee, kapaafire, kfharlock, killa3312, magicrays, nomo.red.evil, raysfan81, swampchomp7, tampa_edski, the dobber, thedudeofdudes, turntwo21
Story URLs

# Recs Commenter Comment Link
4 magicrays did you see the lineup?
4 swampchomp7 You're the kind of person where I really wonder why you watch
4 the dobber HAHAHA Royals just tied the Red Sox in the 9th.
4 the dobber You're so willfully ignorant that it's infuriating that you're not banned.
3 magicrays you're just as bad as 1118
3 JRTW612 No, it's not actually
3 swampchomp7 So your contribution is "shut the fuck up"?
2 Rays1118 Problem is this is the internet. You guys are way to sensitive. You're just not cut out for it.
2 kapaafire I've been giving Cash a pass up to this point, but his bullpen moves suck.
2 thedudeofdudes Unlike being in person though, it is easier to ignore post by people you do not like on here.
2 thedudeofdudes Like 69 second timeout probably.
2 swampchomp7 Is this the part where I swear at you without offering any real solutions?
2 Rays1118 Awww. Someone's opinion bothering you? Grow up guy. This is the real world. Not everyone feels the same as you.
2 JRTW612 Time to promote him to AAAA
1 Rays1118 How do you enjoy a team that can't score 1 lousy run off pitchers with 5+ ERAs
1 swampchomp7 I get that a lot of DRB humor is rough and offensive, and that's how it goes here
1 Pocoroba ok I laughed at his post. I'm banning myself now.
1 swampchomp7 I'll try again
1 Rays1118 Holy fuck what a horrible managed game again.
1 Rays1118 Why would Cash use this god awful lineup this late in the season
1 magicrays He's not a FA until 2018
1 swampchomp7 Your sigline amuses and angers me all at once
1 swampchomp7 Those dont' sound like good things
1 essenpee You fucking bozos who are constantly fighting now with rays1118 are worse than he is.
1 Rays1118 Still contributing more than longo
1 swampchomp7 Ah, there's that drb friendliness
1 magicrays Nick Franklin's slash over his last 10 games, not including the dinger he just hit a few minutes ago
1 Pocoroba I don't think so.
1 JRTW612 Poor Jake. We never score any runs for this guy, no matter how garbage the opposing pitchers are.
1 JRTW612 All I care about is not seeing Boxberger
1 essenpee shut the fuck up

More From DRaysBay