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Rays bats go silent in second straight loss to Angels (w/video)

 
Derek Norris strikes out with the bases loaded as the Rays blow a golden opportunity in the seventh inning.
Derek Norris strikes out with the bases loaded as the Rays blow a golden opportunity in the seventh inning.
Published May 24, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG — Sure, Alex Cobb was to blame for the Rays' 4-0 loss on Tuesday.

He was the one who gave up the back-to-back solo home runs in the first inning to Angels leadoff man Cameron Maybin and leading man Mike Trout that were the difference in the game, after all.

But this loss, and the newest concern about the Rays, goes on his mates for not doing anything to help.

The Rays bats have gone silent, Tuesday's nine innings tacked on to the final eight from Monday to make it 17 straight without a run from an offense that had been, despite its odd formula, one of the American League's most productive.

"The bats have kind of gone quiet here the last two days, but this team can hit," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We're a good team. We'll get out of this. Wouldn't be surprised if we really turn it on (tonight). …

"We can hit. We know we can hit. And we will hit."

But can they?

Should they?

Will they?

To this point, the Rays have been among the AL's most productive teams, going into play Tuesday ranked third in runs and on-base plus slugging percentage, second in hits and home runs and first in extra-base hits.

But they also have ranked first in walks and strikeouts, and on a record pace.

As a result they have been extraordinarily reliant on the three true outcomes of home runs, strikeouts and walks, and not very effective in consistently cobbling rallies.

Couldn't that make them susceptible to these kind of dry stretches?

"I think that's fair," Cash said. "We're going to have some quiet nights and we're going to run into some pitchers that are going to cause some issues and blank us.

"But we've got to find a way to limit those. There are lot of good pitchers in this league. But this lineup can hit. I think they've proven that here in the first close to two months now. I don't think you can change your thought process after two quiet days."

They certainly didn't on Tuesday, managing just one — and a bunt single at that — through the first six innings against Angels starter Matt Shoemaker, and three for the game, in losing their third straight and dropping to 23-25.

And when they did finally get an opportunity to break through in the seventh, one unfortunate moment and two bad at-bats foiled them.

With two on and one out, Colby Rasmus launched a drive to right that was inches short of a three-run homer, the ball hitting the pad atop the wall and instead netting just a single that loaded the bases.

Shoemaker was replaced by Yusmeiro Petit, and he took care of things from there, as neither slumping Steven Souza Jr. (now for 8-for-his-last-67) nor Derek Norris could even put the ball in play as they went down swinging.

"The guy made some good pitches," Cash said. "Looked like Souza had a couple pitches to hit, DeNo missed a 2-0 fastball. We got ourselves in some situations to get some pitches, we just weren't able to capitalize tonight. That's the way it goes sometimes."

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Added Souza: "I've just got to do a better job of getting runners in ... We get a run right there it's 2-1, momentum kind of shifts back to us a little bit. We've got figure out a way to get the job done."

Cobb really wasn't to blame, as he worked effectively into the eighth, with the other two runs scoring after he left.

But the rough start stuck with him, because it happened so fast, on his fifth and sixth pitches of the night, and because it hadn't happened very much, as he had given up only one homer in his past five starts, and that back on May 7.

"It's not fun to do that," he said. "It took me a second to figure it out. Going back and looking at it, it was fastballs right over the middle of the plate, and I don't have the stuff to be able to get away with something like that."

Cash used the word "phenomenal" to describe the outing, though Cobb always grades himself on a tougher scale.

"This one's difficult for me," he said. "One of the more frustrating games when I left.''

He wasn't the only one who should've went home feeling that way.

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