ST. PETERSBURG — Zach Eflin will take the mound for Sunday’s final game before the All-Star break saying there is no cause for concern.
No matter that Saturday’s 6-1 loss to the Braves extended the Rays’ season-high losing streak to seven games and dropped their record to 57-35.
Or that, since rolling to a 29-7 start through May 8, they are a very pedestrian 28-28.
Or that their once-comfortable American League East lead over the Orioles is down to two games (and a tie in the loss column).
“Stuff like this is going to happen in a 162-game season. We’ve given ourselves a good enough cushion in the first half to afford a little skid like this,” Eflin said. “So, we’re not changing anything in the clubhouse, on the field. Nobody’s down in the dumps or anything. We’re still focused on getting better every day and going out and winning.
“So, as long as we have that mindset throughout the rest of the year, we’re going to be perfectly fine.”
Things would be finer if they could rediscover their offense, as they were held to one or no runs for the fourth time in their last five games. Spencer Strider did most of the work against them Saturday, scattering four hits and striking out 11 while working into the seventh. One night earlier, Charlie Morton did much the same.
“Look, it’s it’s tough to see signs (of progress) when you’re facing Charlie Morton and Spencer Strider,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “They’re really good pitchers. We can hit good pitching. We’re just not doing it right now.
“We’re a good team. We’ll stay positive and kind of try to find a way to win a game (Sunday) and then head into the break and get it going again.”
The Rays need something, as their eight total runs over a five-game span are their fewest since August 2017. For the first time since April 2016, they have been held to one or no runs in three straight games. They are hitless in their last 16 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
“Right now, it’s just not going well for us,” All-Star infielder Yandy Diaz said via team interpreter Manny Navarro.
The Rays didn’t have many chances.
They got their run in the eighth, when Wander Franco’s hustle forced an errant throw and he scored from first on a ground out.
But he also had a baserunning mistake in the first. He was running from first base on the pitch when Luke Raley doubled. Franco got decked by shortstop Orlando Arcia into slowing down at second and only got as far as third. Cash said he didn’t think Franco would have scored, anyway. Franco declined to talk to reporters about the play, or anything else, after the game.
Rays rookie starter Taj Bradley turned in a better overall outing than in his previous two starts but was stung by a rough fourth inning in which he allowed four runs.
After allowing 12 runs on 17 hits (including five homers) while lasting just 7-1/3 innings in his previous two outings, Bradley — who grew up a Braves fan in the Atlanta area — got off to an impressive start. He set down the first nine batters, four on strikeouts.
But things changed dramatically in the fourth.
Bradley gave up a leadoff double to Ronald Acuna Jr., then walked Ozzie Albies. After an Austin Riley pop up, Bradley allowed a run-scoring single to Matt Olson. Two pitches later, Sean Murphy hit a 406-foot homer to left to make it 4-0.
“Really impressed with Taj,” Cash said. “He was amped up. … I was really impressed that he controlled himself, threw strikes, a lot of power. They got him in the fourth inning. For a young pitcher, it’s just tough to avoid that big inning when a guy gets on, a walk, the home run.”
Bradley was doubting his pitch selection in that inning as much as anything.
“It’s just one pitch to each hitter within those four hits that, you know, you can go back and change,” he said. “I read the swing and I just didn’t go with that first thought.”
Given how his previous two starts went, Bradley (5-5, 5.43) took some solace in getting out of the fourth inning, having faced nine batters and thrown 31 pitches, and then completing the fifth.
“I feel better,” he said. “The first three innings showed well. I was calling my pitches well and stuff like that. But, yeah, just the fourth inning I got beside myself and just felt like I got out of it. … I was happy I can go five, but, yeah, just come back from the All-Star break and just know what I’ve got to hit on.”
That could be said for all the Rays.
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