After six wins, after a successful move to the bullpen, it is understandable if Rays’ manager Kevin Cash thinks a lot of pitcher Erasmo Ramirez.
Maybe, he thinks too much of him.
Cash stuck with Ramirez late in Monday night’s game, and it came back to hurt the Rays in a 7-6 defeat. The loss drops the Rays to 20-22 on the season.
Ramirez was successful in pitching through the sixth and seventh as the Rays took a 6-5 lead. But Cash stuck with Ramirez in the eighth rather than go to Xavier Cedeno or Enny Romero. Ramirez immediately gave up two singles, and both runners ended up scoring. Ramirez ended up throwing 54 pitches.
โIt becomes a really difficult decision,โ said Cash. โWe were torn on it. Asking (Alex) Colome to get six outs…at the same time, that’s a lot of pitches for Erasmo.โ
The Rays took a 2-0 lead in the first, but immediately gave up three. It was a pattern for the game for the Rays, whose Matt Moore struggled in the start. He gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in five innings.
Ichiro Suzuki had four hits for the Marlins, while Marcell Ozuna and Miguel Rojas each had three.
For the Rays, Brandon Guyer (double and home run) and Steven Souza Jr. had three hits and Taylor Motter had a double and home run.
The Rays announced that centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier will miss 8-10 weeks with a broken hand.
Today, Jake Odorizzi will pitch for the Rays against Tom Koehler.
