Tampa Bay Rays blow a lead again, fall to Detroit Tigers for third loss in a row

ST. PETERSBURG — It's hard to say there is any one reason the Rays are losing games when it matters most.

Because so much is going wrong.

They're giving games away late. They're not scoring runs when they have chances. They're losing at home. They're even losing on concert nights.

But most of all, they keep losing. Saturday's 8-6 handover to the Tigers — they led by three as late as the seventh — made it three straight, six of nine in their critical 17-game stretch and 15 of their past 27.

So much for battling to get back into the AL wild-card race.

"We've got to get better," starter James Shields said. "We've got to get better."

There were the usual descriptions of the loss as unfortunate and disappointing and not much emotion in the largely vacant clubhouse, with the assumption most of the players weren't rushing to get a good spot for the postgame Beach Boys show.

Making it worse, the Rays for a second straight day wasted a rare chance to gain ground on the wild-card-leading Red Sox, who lost again in Chicago. As a result, the Rays are 72-63 and six games behind the Sox with 27 to play.

Plus, they ensured a losing homestand, at 1-4 heading into today's finale, for the third time in the past two seasons. And they lost for the second time in 17 postgame concerts over that span.

The focal point lately has been the failure of the bullpen, and Saturday it was a group effort. Once the Tigers cut the lead to 6-5, Maddon used five relievers in the seventh and eighth innings and — for various and assorted reasons — none got the job done.

First was a two-run homer by No. 8-hitting rookie Alex Avila that was Shields' downfall, more frustrating because Shields said he wanted to throw a changeup but went with Gregg Zaun's call for a fastball, then missed badly.

"I can't make those mistakes late in games like that," he said.

That put the game in the hands of the bullpen, and it got out of hand. The Tigers tied it in the seventh off Grant Balfour, with Placido Polanco only singling this time instead of homering as he did Sunday, then taking the lead against beleaguered J.P. Howell.

The sequence was numbing: In the seventh, Randy Choate walked Ryan Raburn and Balfour gave up the single. In the eighth, Balfour started with a walk, then after an infield out, a stolen base and an intentional walk, Russ Springer gave up a single to Brandon Inge that loaded the bases. Next was Howell, who gave up a single to Marcus Thames that put the Tigers ahead. With Wheeler in, Adam Everett dropped a perfect bunt to make it 8-6.

"It's very unfortunate," manager Joe Maddon said after the loss before a sold-out crowd of 36,973. "That's been too much of the script: We play well and we've kind of given some stuff up late. …

"The guys have been great. They have fed off one another all year. It's just unfortunate right now we've had a little bit of a hiccup … late in the game. But they'll be back, they'll be fine before we get it all done."

Maddon doesn't think the relievers are physically tired, and he went only as far as pointing out they've worked in frequent high-leverage, emotional situations but doesn't think there is a common reason for the struggles, or that they'll last.

Wheeler said it's poorly timed lack of execution more than anything. "There are times when you have your bumps and bruises," he said. "And right now is one of those times."

Marc Topkin can be reached at topkin@sptimes.com.