The mystery of Whatever Happened to Chris Archer continued Sunday afternoon.
Archer, an all-star last year, gave up six runs in three innings and fell to 3-5 on the season. Archer gave up eight hits and six earned runs while collecting only nine outs. His ERA for the season is now 5.15.
โIt gets a little surprising at times because we know how good his stuff is,โ said Rays’ manager Kevin Cash. โHe’s in a stretch where things aren’t going his way.โ
Archer had won three straight games and seemed to be turning things around. Not Sunday, however.
โI just didn’t execute my pitches,โ Archer said. โI felt good. My stuff was good. I’ve just got to do a better job. Today was not a good job, but four of my last six have been good.โ
The Rays got back into the game on two-run homers by Logan Morrison and Tim Beckham, but the Tigers pulled away on a two-run homer by Victor Martinez off of Steve Geltz. Geltz was optioned to Durham after the game.
Tampa Bay continued to hit the ball well, getting two hits from Evan Longoria, Tim Beckham, Brandon Guyer and Steve Pearce. But the Rays went 0-for-5.
For Detroit, Migel Cabrera was three for three. The first five hitters in the Tigers’ order accounted for 10 hits.
The Rays now travel to Miami to play the Marlins tonight. Matt Moore will face Wei-Yin Chen.
