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Despite loss to Yankees, Rays have plenty to feel good about

 
It is a tough-luck loss for Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer, who gives up three runs in the second inning but nothing else while striking out a season-high 12 in 61/3 overall. Still, Tampa Bay wins two of three against the AL East-leading Yankees.
It is a tough-luck loss for Rays starting pitcher Chris Archer, who gives up three runs in the second inning but nothing else while striking out a season-high 12 in 61/3 overall. Still, Tampa Bay wins two of three against the AL East-leading Yankees.
Published May 22, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — One mistake cost the Rays a game Sunday. Well, one poorly located slider by Chris Archer in the second inning, and a heck of a catch in rightfield by Yankees rookie Aaron Judge in the sixth that saved a run in a one-run game.

So, one mistake and a tremendous defensive play led to the Yankees' 3-2 win at Tropicana Field.

That's a far cry from when the Rays last played in front of the hometown fans, when the mistakes were many and the losses were too many.

Now, Sunday's loss snapped the Rays' four-game winning streak. It dropped them back to .500 at 23-23, but they still won their third straight series, this one against the American League East leaders. They are 6-3 since the last homestand, winning consecutive series against the Red Sox, Indians and Yankees.

They will certainly take this.

"We played a lot of first-place teams these last couple of weeks," rightfielder Steven Souza Jr. said. "Teams that are expected to be in the playoffs, and we've been in every single game and just won the series, and that's all you can ask for."

Not that the Rays are satisfied with winning two of three.

"When you win two games, you want to win the third," manager Kevin Cash said. "I'm the last person who needs to say that. They know that, but we're playing good baseball right now. There's no doubt about it."

So what happened? Why the change of pace?

"I don't think anything," Jake Odorizzi, tonight's starter against the Angels, said. "We didn't have a meeting that said, 'Hey, we need to pick it up. Hey, we need to start playing better.' Everyone kind of just started hitting their stride.

"Offensively, we've been putting up a lot of runs. Defensively, we've cleaned up some plays and we're not giving extra outs away. And from a pitching side, we've all been throwing the ball very well. So when you can have all three aspects going at the same time, wins are a pretty good result of all of that."

The Rays had a chance Sunday to sweep a series of at least three games for the second time this year. Chris Archer struck out a season-high 12 over 61/3 innings, and the bullpen held the Yankees hitless the rest of the way.

But Archer allowed a two-run homer to Brett Gardner to cap a three-run second, and that was all the runs starter CC Sabathia and three relievers would need for the Yankees to climb back into first.

"I think we're playing really good baseball," Archer said. "(Sunday) was a good pitcher's duel. CC Sabathia came with it. … It was a good baseball game. We came up short, but we won the series, and that's what's important."

The Rays had a chance to tie the score in the sixth when, with Corey Dickerson on first base and one out, Evan Longoria lined the ball to deep right-centerfield. Judge made a diving catch after a long run and doubled Dickerson off first base.

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Souza called it a "momentum-shifting" catch.

The two runs Sunday were the fewest the Rays scored during this nine-game stretch. It was just the second time they failed to score at least five since beginning a three-game series May 12 at Boston.

"Our starting pitching is doing what we know we can do. Our bats have really come alive," Archer said. "If you look at our lineup, it's very, very deep. … It's very comparable to the other lineups we face. To go along with our starting pitching, it makes us a special team."