The Tampa Bay Rays aren’t in the cellar yet, but they can see it from here.
The Rays lost a 6-3 game to the Minnesota Twins Sunday, dropping the Rays to one-half game ahead of the Twins in the American League. Miguel Sano hit two home runs, one of them off the roof at Tropicana Field.
“I think that one got away from us a little bit,” said Rays’ manager Kevin Cash. “Interesting first inning. I thought Matt Andriese threw the ball well. Obviously one pitch he’d like to have back, the pitch to Sano. Probably not quite as crisp of an outing as he had against Kansas City, but I still thought he threw the ball well. Offensively, we had some good at-bats, we had some opportunities, we got a couple runs.”
Andriese lost his third straight game (one in relief).
Evan Longoria hit his 25th home run in the loss.
“I think he’s done a really nice job,” Cash said. “When he came into spring training, he appeared to have taken that next step and looked like a big-league pitcher. Even in his bullpen sessions. Just the way he carried himself and that’s carried into the season even though he wasn’t with us early on. But since he’s been here, he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He’s taken a difficult role coming out of the rotation and into the bullpen, and now to get him back in [the rotation], he’s adjusted to everything we’ve thrown at him. We know he’s a big part of our future going forward, and he continues to make progress overall.”
The Twins have won 8 of their last 11 games.
“It was just a matter of one-pitch mistake, pretty much,” Andriese said. “Just didn’t execute on a fastball to Sano there, and he hit it out for three runs. All in all, I felt pretty decent about my outing. But like I said, it was one pitch.”
The Rays now travel to Toronto, where Jake Odorizzi faces R.A. Dickey Monday night.
