Rays 3, Angels 8: Rays fail to gain ground in AL East race

With the Orioles losing to the Astros, the Rays had a chance to gain some ground in the race for the AL East title. And, with Civale on the mound to face the lowly Angels, playing without Ohtani and Trout, and the other handful of players they placed on waivers previously, the Rays had to feel pretty good about their chances.

Unfortunately, this game was essentially over in the 2nd inning. The Halos quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Jared Walsh recorded an RBI single that Harold Ramirez couldn’t quite snag, while Logan O’Hoppe drove in the second run on a fielder’s choice.

The Rays went quietly in the bottom of first, as Angels starter Reid Detmers retired the side in order.

Civale seemed to rebound in the top of the 2nd, striking out the first two batters. But, the following four hitters would single, reach base on a HBP, record an RBI single, and blast a three run homer to blow the game wide open. I’m the blink of an eye, the Rays were trailing by six runs. The homer was Drury’s 22nd of the year.

The Rays would again go quietly in the bottom half. Civale would work around a lead off single in the 3rd, but that would be it from Civale, going only three innings. He surrendered six earned runs on seven hits. He also struck out seven.

Isaac Paredes would get the Rays on the board with an RBI single in the third, bringing the Rays deficit to five.

The recently recalled Jalen Beeks would toss a pair of scoreless innings before giving way to Erasmo Ramirez in the 6th. Ramirez surrendered a two-run bomb to none other than Brandon Drury in his first inning of work. The blast was his second of the game. The Angels would take an 8-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 6th, Yandy Diaz doubled home a pair of runs to again cut the Rays deficit to five runs.

That would be it scoring-wise for both teams and the 8-3 score would hold, moving the Rays record to 93-60.

Something of note: The Rays staff recorded 19 strikeouts, despite allowing 8 runs. This tied a franchise record for a strikeouts in a nine inning game.

Despite the Orioles loss earlier in the day, they remain three games back of first place.