The Rays could not garner any more production. Our last update ran through the seventh. The eighth inning featured the normally solid Joel Peralta who gave up two hits and a run before Jake McGee closed the inning with a strike out. The Rays continued to not produce at the dish, a lone man got on base to no avail.In the ninth, Andy Sonnanstine got the nod to get his reps in and gave up three hits and a nail in the coffin. And? The Rays continued to not muster any offense. The game ended in a loss, 5-1.
We lost five games? There have only been five games! Yes, despair can set in easily. Yet unacceptable as it may seem, the season is still in its infancy. There are 157 games remaining and plenty of opportunity for the Rays to start clicking. Think back to spring training, as silly as that sounds. The Rays began the preseason with eight losses and a tie in ten games, but finished with a winning month of April. Spring training is a very unreliable guide for the season, but the 2011 Rays might just be late bloomers.
Also worth comparison: Boston has started the season with? Four FIVE straight losses. Tonight the Red Sox put their fifth starter Dice-K on the mound against the Indians offense. And lost.
It's easy to get trapped in the downer thoughts. A slow start to the season is painful to watch, but certainly shouldn't be indicative of talent or ability for any team. If you're still troubled by five losses, take a look at the standings. If you believe five games is a true measure of talent and if the playoffs started tomorrow, the American League would feature Baltimore, Kansas City, Texas and Toronto. Rest assured, this will be a long season.
Next, the Rays travel to The Cell Block... err... US Cellular to face the White Sox, pinning David Price against former devil ray Edwin Jackson. The Sox are his fourth team in as many years and fifth in their starting rotation, where as Price is Tampa's ace. With Adam Dunn on the DL, hopefully the boys in blue will be able to muster a win tomorrow night!