Rays 4, Tigers 5: Rajai Davis? Really?

Well, this is finally it, Rays fans. With today's 5-4 loss to the Tigers, Your Tampa Bay Rays are now officially eliminated from ever having a 69-69 record this year. It's been a good run, but that has to put the final rusty nail in his hangover.

We got to see good Drew and work-in-progress today. Good Drew was on for the first two innings, spotting the fastball well, especially up in the zone, and pairing it with the offspeed stuff down, earning a couple strikeouts while giving up just a couple of ground singles to second that umpire Tim Timmons refused to field.

Work-in-progress Drew showed up in the third, when after surrendering a soft double near the left field line to Anthony Gose, he rolled up a "D" high 1-2 slider to Rajai Davis. Davis didn't miss it, depositing it over the wall in left.

In what would be a theme, the Rays answered quickly. Leading off the fourth, Mikie Mahtook lined a double off 69 year old Randy Wolf, Evan Longoria followed up by turning on 0-1 fastball and hitting it out to left. Tie game.

But old habits are hard to break. Nick Castellanos led off the bottom of the frame by doubling off a slider that didn't slide, and James "Not Brian" McCann hammered a cutter out to left, and it was 4-2.

The Rays tempted fate by messing with the sequencing in the top of the fifth, as the homer (an absolute bomb from Arencibia)

preceded the double (by Guyer), and any fan worth his Columbia blue could see this one ending 4-3 because of it. But Mikie Mahtook came through with a single to center to drive in Guyer and knot the game. The Rays would have to find a different way to lose if they were gonna drop this  Heck, they even threatened further in the fifth, when Longoria singled Mahtook to second, followed by Cash sending both runners on a Forsythe groundout to short. But Cabrera couldn't push through the go ahead run, tapping softly back to the mound.

Brandon Gomes came on for Smyly in the seventh. Gomes has swung back and forth between awful and terrific. With one out in the seventh, Brandon hung a slider to Rajai Davis. For the second time in the game, Davis made a Rays' pitcher pay by hitting it out to left. And just like that, the Rays had found another way to lose. Because, while I have zero statistically evidence to back this up, I'm pretty sure your win expectancy in games when you let Rajai Davis hit two homers off you is 0%.

The Rays made it interesting. Dickie Shaff turned a nice double play to end the seventh to probably save a run. They did foil a Detroit squeeze play, which resulted in James McCann trying to put a spin move on Arencibia, so J.P. decided to just, well, tag him on the head.

And the Rays loaded the bases in the ninth for Logan Forsythe. Frosty was working on an 0 for 4, despite the fact that he had two well hit balls toward the hole at short. He finished with three well hit balls toward the hole, as the game ended with Evan being forced at second by a stretching, sprawling Ian Kisler. The play was reviewed, but it appeared to be correct.