Tampa Bay Rays News and Links: Rays Eliminated From Playoff Contention

Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays fell to the New York Yankees by the score of 6 to 1. With the loss, the Rays have been mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture, as their record fell to 76-81 on the season. They still have five games remaining, so there is still a chance they can finish the year a the .500 mark for the first time since 2013.

Blake Snell looked like his early season self rather than the Snell we’ve seen as of late as he lacked any command and was removed from the game after failing to record an out during the second inning. He allowed four runs on four hits, he also walked four and struck out one, recording just one inning of work.

The Rays bullpen continued their strong late season effort as they yielded just two runs over the final seven innings they pitched, with Austin Pruitt being responsible for both runs.

On the offensive side of things, a first inning grand slam was thwarted by an incredible catch from Aaron Hicks, that resulted in a sacrifice fly from Wilson Ramos...and that was it, the Rays didn’t score again the rest of the night. Steven Souza Jr and Kevin Kiermaier combined to go 5-6 with a walk, while the rest of the lineup had one hit over 25 at-bats.

• Steve Carney of WDAE decides who he would vote for in the MLB award races
• Marc Topkin looks back at four defining games of the Rays season that cost them dearly
• So, the Minnesota Twins are heading to the post-season...that’s rather incredible
• Alex Cobb has made his final start in a Rays uniform as the team announced they’ll shut him down

...sigh