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Rays focus on bright side after winning two of three in Baltimore

 
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb walks off the field after being relieved in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore, Sunday, July 2, 2017. Baltimore won 7-1. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) MDPS109
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Alex Cobb walks off the field after being relieved in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore, Sunday, July 2, 2017. Baltimore won 7-1. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) MDPS109
Published July 3, 2017

BALTIMORE — As for omens, it was probably a pretty strong one that the Rays were going to stumble in their bid to sweep the Orioles on Sunday when manager Kevin Cash took a clumsy step during a pregame run outside Camden Yards and fractured his left foot.

Indeed, the rest of the day turned out to be awkward and painful as well, as the Rays once again halted their own momentum in a messy 7-1 loss.

So rather than strutting into Chicago for Tuesday's holiday reunion with former manager Joe Maddon at Wrigley Field on a three-game winning streak, the Rays were left with their usual two-steps-forward, one-step-back routine and a 43-41 record.

"You can still build momentum by winning two and losing one and coming back and winning some games," Cash insisted, crutches and a walking boot in his office. "You don't have to piece together 10 straight wins. (But) if we do that, I'll be fine with it."

Starter Alex Cobb, vocal in the clubhouse about the need to get on a roll to separate themselves in a playoff field with open invitations, was to blame for some missteps of his own.

After allowing a hit and hitting a batter to put two on in the third, Cobb made two bad throws.

One was to first. After fielding a routine comebacker, he threw wildly by the base, giving the Orioles their first run on what should have been the second out.

"Just a play I've never really done before," Cobb said. "I always take pride in being able to field my position and stay under control. I let it, I don't know, can't really explain what happened right there. I guess I let it speed up on me a little bit."

The other was to the plate. After getting strike one on dangerous Manny Machado, Cobb misplaced a fastball and it got lasered over the leftfield wall for a three-run homer.

"I was trying to throw a fastball down and away to Manny and left it right over the middle of the plate," Cobb said. "And more times than not he's going to do that."

Cobb is an intense cuss on the mound anyway, and the steam seemed evident after the error, his head in his hand as he squatted near the mound. He insisted the first mistake didn't lead directly to the second, the kind of thing a rookie might do but a veteran shouldn't.

"Pretty frustrating, but I don't think it affected me going forward," Cobb said. "I got over it pretty quick. I tried to get back on the mound and throw some high-quality pitches. I was trying to go down and away to Manny and let my arm drag a little bit, and it ended up right down the middle."

So he was sure there was no connection?

"Bad timing," he said. "I really don't — it's hard to say. It happened. It's hard to argue against it. … Timing doesn't look great there."

Cash came strongly to Cobb's defense.

"You're going to get frustrated at times, but Alex Cobb has as much mental control and mental toughness out on the mound as any pitcher I've been around," Cash said. "I would trust in him he's going to be able to get over that frustration fairly quick and be able to make pitches."

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The Rays had other issues, anyway, primarily that they not only were shut out over seven innings by Kevin Gausman but shut down, managing just two hits. "About as well-pitched of a game we've had against us this year," Cash said.

So where does this leave the Rays, besides — carefully — strolling Michigan Avenue today?

"We're fortunate to walk out of here with two out of three," Cobb said. "We need to win series and ultimately get to that 90-win mark and get to the playoffs."

Veteran Evan Longoria insisted they can two-step their way there.

"If you win series in the division, it's a good thing," he said. "If we keep winning within the division, I think everybody in here has a feeling we're not going to go away, and none of the other teams are. It's going to be something that comes down to the last couple weeks of the season."

Marc Topkin can be reached at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.