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Rays blow leads, fall to Yankees in 12th

 
New York Yankees' Brian McCann, right, jumps into a crowd of teammates who greet him at home plate after McCann hit a three-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 3, 2015, in New York. The Yankees won 7-5. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)  NYY122
New York Yankees' Brian McCann, right, jumps into a crowd of teammates who greet him at home plate after McCann hit a three-run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays in the 12th inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 3, 2015, in New York. The Yankees won 7-5. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson) NYY122
Published July 4, 2015

NEW YORK — Rays manager Kevin Cash was talking Friday afternoon about how the combination of a rigorous schedule and intense level of play had left his team "a little gassed and ready to get to the break."

Well, they could only feel worse the way the long night unfolded, blowing a pair of late leads and losing in 12 innings, the 7-5 walkoff defeat to the Yankees their sixth straight loss and 10th in their past 12 games.

"I think (Saturday) will be the true indicator,'' starter Chris Archer said. "We can't let this be a dagger.''

The end came when Brian McCann hit a three-run homer off Steve Geltz, the sixth Rays reliever of the night.

"That's a tough way to lose it,'' Cash said. "Kind of a knock down, but you get back up.''

That came after the Rays gave away one lead in the eighth when reliever Kevin Jepsen came on with a three-run cushion and allowed one-out singles to Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez, then a three-run-tying homer to Mark Teixeira.

After a replay reversal on what Cash called a "flukish" play involving Evan Longoria at second base thwarted an 11th inning threat, the Rays with ahead with two in the 12th, Kevin Kiermaier delivering the go-ahead run on a single off lefty Chasen Shreve and Rene Rivera knocking in the other.

But then they gave that lead away, too. Geltz walked Brett Gardner to start the inning, the ninth free pass the Rays gave out on the night, and the third in the last four innings to the leadoff man.

"If we're dwelling on one inning, the walk to Gardner is kind of what sticks out,'' Cash said.

Geltz struck out Chase Headley, but gave up a single to Alex Rodriguez, then another to Teixeira that scored a run.

Cash had one reliever remaining, rookie lefty C.J. Riefenhauser, but said he preferred to stick with Geltz vs. the lefty swinging McCann and likely would have used Riefenhauser for the next hitter.

"We kind of liked the matchup with Geltz's split with McCann,'' Cash said.

The problem was that behind 1-0, Geltz threw a fastball, and rather than get it on the outside and left it over the plate. At least that's what Rivera said; Geltz declined to talk to reporters and left the clubhouse apparently upset.

"We tried to go to the corner and McCann put a good swing on it,'' Rivera said.

The decision to leave in Geltz, working a second inning and over 30 pitches, was one of the questionable bullpen moves Cash made.

Another came in the seventh, when they lifted Archer with two outs – after letting him throw a career high 122 pitches – and used Jake McGee to get the final out with a 3-0 lead.

With lefty Brett Gardner leading off the eighth, Cash could have brought McGee back to at least start the eighth. Instead, he went to Jepsen, and the lead disappeared quickly.

Cash said there were several factors to the decision, one being that by limiting to McGee to one hitter he would be available Saturday. If he bridged into the eighth then he wouldn't be used.

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"There were a lot of factors going on there,'' he said. "We didn't really want to burn one guy then bring Jake in. So that's kind of the scenario. It wasn't the most ideal situation to use Jake, but that's the way we went. We've got a lot of confidence in the guys - Jep, Box, Geltz, any of them to get three outs against anybody.''

Despite the losing streak and rough stretch, the Rays actually felt pretty good about themselves going into the game because they had ace and soon-to-be All-Star Chris Archer on the mound.

"The perfect time to have him out there," Cash said before the game.

Archer did what he could, especially as the usually pitch-conservative Rays let him stay out there for a career-high 122 pitches. He allowed only three hits and struck out eight, though he did walk three and hit his last batter. He also was involved in an unusual sequence where he got an assist on a strikeout as the ball bounced off Rivera's glove and Archer had to throw it to first.

He left them with a 3-0 lead. Jake McGee finished the seventh, and it seemed Cash could have brought him back to start the eighth. Instead he went to Jepsen, who struck out Brett Gardner, leaving them five outs from victory.

Cash said he sensed the Rays were worn down, as much by the number of games they've been playing (in a stretch of 43 in 45 days) as the intensity with which they play almost every game.

"We've played a lot of baseball lately … maybe we're a little gassed and ready to get to the break," he said.

"There's some physical things going on right now. Nobody's hurting, but I do think a lot of guys need to catch their breath a little bit. They've played hard and they've played a lot. We play a lot tight ball games. We talk about it every night, position player wise and pitcher wise. The intensity always has to be there, and it's been there constantly."

Contact Marc Topkin at mtopkin@tampabay.com.