Rays Lose a Tight Game to the Royals in Extras, 7-4

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The Tampa Bay Rays extended their longest losing streak since July 2023 to six games. Manager Kevin Cash said “I’m concerned” he would go on and say he has been concerned for quite a while. The Rays went 4-for-31 with only one extra-base hit the lowest against Kansas City since May 26, 2021. Many will say the offense needs to get better but it was a tough task last night facing Seth Lugo the ace of the Royals staff. He has eight wins with a 1.74 ERA. They are now on a season-high with an eight-game winning streak. Today’s game featured the visiting Royals Brady Singer with a 4-2 record and 2.70 ERA. Tampa Bay countered with Aaron Civale who is 2-4 with a 5.92 ERA. Civale has struggled to get through the batting order twice. The first pitch took place at 4:10 PM.

The Rays got some more bad news before the start of the game as outfielder Josh Lowe is back on the IL with a right oblique strain. This is the second time this season he has been on the IR. Lowe left Wednesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox with right-side tightness. This is a problem moving forward as he was a left-handed bat that the Rays needed. It seems that the injury bug continues to bite the Rays they had injury issues in the past few seasons. The Rays came into today’s game two games under .500 and are in fourth place in the AL East at the moment they are 1.5 games ahead of the last-place Blue Jays. Tampa Bay sits 10.5 games out of first place looking up at the New York Yankees.

Photo Credit: Bradley Walker NGSC Sports

There are three players that the Tampa Bay Rays had in the lineup that were hitting at .200 or under. Those players are Brandon Lowe, Jonathan Aranda, and Jose Siri. Many will make an argument for Lowe who just came off the IR. The Royals wore royal blue tops, grey pants, and blue caps. The Rays were in their city connect’s all-black jerseys with black caps.

The Royals got on the board first with a solo home run from Nelson Velazquez. Kansas City scored 2-0 on an RBI single by Bobby Witt Jr. The Rays’ defense limited the damage to one run, and the Royals had the bases loaded. Jonathan Aranda got the Rays their first run a solo home run. That was Aranda’s first home run of the season. The first half of the game was a back-and-forth game as the score was 2-1 Royals.

Kansas City’s throwing error by pitcher Brady Singer advanced the runners. Richie Palacios came around to score and tied the game at two. Aaron Civale lasted five innings giving up two runs, four hits, and five strikeouts. That is one of Civale’s best outings in a while. Kansas City also made a pitching change in the sixth. Kyle Isbel left the game after taking a foul ball off his forehead. The Royals retook the lead in the top of the seventh. Harold Ramirez came in and pitch hit for Brandon Lowe. Ramirez hit the first pitch for an RBI single and tied the game. 20,309 was the announced attendance for the game. Tampa Bay had the bases load after Ramirez hit but hit into a double play to end the inning. The game was tied going into the final two innings.

Bobby Witt Jr. was caught stealing on a pick-off play in the top of the eighth. The game would remain a tie and head to extra innings. Pasquantion hit a sac fly with the bases loaded as the Royals scored in their half of the tenth. Johnny Deluca hit an RBI double to tie the game right back up. The game would head to the eleventh.

In the top of the inning, the Royals scored again on an RBI double by Nelson Velazquez. After that, a double Adam Frazier got an RBI single to give Kansas City a two-run lead. The next batter, Maikel Garcia also got an RBI single to increase the lead to three runs. It took 11 innings but the bad inning finally came to the surface. The losing streak goes to six. On the other hand, the Royals increase their streak to eight. The final score was 7-4.

Despite the loss is the type of game the Tampa Bay Rays get back on track? Leave a comment below.

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