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Rays fall to Pirates 4-0, reach halfway point in season 41-40 (w/video)

 
Rays starter Chris Archer can’t bear to watch after Gregory Polanco’s home run in the sixth.
Rays starter Chris Archer can’t bear to watch after Gregory Polanco’s home run in the sixth.
Published June 30, 2017

PITTSBURGH — Half good? Half bad?

Half done.

The Rays got to the midway point of their season Thursday night, a 4-0 loss to the Pirates leaving them 41-40 through their first 81 games and with considerable optimism about their chances over the next 81.

"Overall, if you're trying to gauge the first half of the year, we've done a lot of good things," manager Kevin Cash said. "We've put ourselves in position to where we should be excited about the second half."

Should they be?

The starting pitching has been its usual strength, the defense an uncharacteristic concern they feel they've addressed with the additions of catcher Wilson Ramos and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, and the bullpen, to put it politely, an adventure, deserving of a colorful adjective or two.

But what sets this team apart has been the offense, though that wasn't the case so much in losses the past two nights.

Chris Archer gave them a good though not great start Thursday, but the usually potent bats were hollow. It was just the fourth time all season the Rays were shutout, and the first in over a month, but it was a second straight night they failed repeatedly to convert opportunities, gong a combined 3-for-24 with runners in scoring position and leaving 21 on base.

Cash insisted it was just a couple of days where hard-hit balls were not falling rather than any sign of trouble.

"Hopefully it's run its course, and now we can get back to finding ways to knock those runs in," he said. "But overall the at-bats were good. It seemed like there were a lot of line drives that didn't find grass."

For the most part, these Rays have been a hit

They got to the midway point with their most homers (121) in team history, most runs (389) since the 2010 AL East championship team and nearly a 20-point increase in batting average (.256) over the previous two seasons.

"I think offensively this is probably one of the deeper teams if not the deepest team I've played on here," veteran team leader Evan Longoria said. "It's good to be a part of."

He had his reasons, too.

"I think we're built a little more like we were in the earlier years, where we have speed at the top," he said. "We have guys putting the ball in the play. We have more options other than just kind of standing up there and banging, though we do that pretty well, too. There's a lot more contact in the lineup than there has been, although we do strike out a lot. I've seen what feels like a lot more times this year where we've strung together three or four hits as opposed to getting one or two guys on, hitting a home run and then shutting it down.

Camaraderie and chemistry are also big parts of their success.

"It definitely feels good, and I think that's just a testament to the guys in the clubhouse grinding it out every day," said first baseman Logan Morrison. "A lot of come-from-behind wins, a lot of extra-inning games, a lot of (a) tough schedule, and we've come through it all right."

So where does that leave the Rays halfway through?

"We haven't gone on a run at all this year, and I don't think our best baseball has been played yet, which is pretty encouraging for where we're at," outfielder Steven Souza Jr. said. "The way I look at it, last year at the break we were pretty much out of it. Being one game over .500 in the AL East (this year), being the toughest division and most competitive in baseball is pretty darn good."

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Longoria looks around the room and the around the division and is certain they have the ability to be playing not only meaningful games in September, as the front office sets as a standard goal, but maybe into October.

"I like the team that we have. I love the guys we have in here," he said. "I think everybody in here believes we have a chance, that this is a competitive team that has a chance to play in the postseason and has a chance to go very far."