The Rays entered Sunday looking for a series win against the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians. Taj Bradley took the mound and went up against Ben Lively.
Jonathan Aranda moved into the cleanup spot and was back at first base after a day off against a left-handed pitcher on Saturday.
Bradley had one of his better starts as of late, but struggles with command shot his pitch count way up, and he could not make it out of the fifth. He finished with 4.1 IP, five hits allowed, two earned runs, three walks, and six strikeouts.
Brayan Rocchio got the Guardians on the board with a second-inning RBI single. The Guardians scored again in the fifth when Angel Martinez took home after the Rays threw out Jose Ramirez at second base. You’d think the Rays would learn you can’t give runs away that easily when your offense is this poor.
Brandon Lowe was the only player with multiple hits for the Rays, going 2-for-4 while the team went 4-for-31 at the plate.
Lively worked into the sixth, but after allowing back-to-back base hits he was lifted at just 59 pitches. Cleveland’s bullpen would take over and would record the final 12 outs of the game without allowing a single baserunner. Emmanuel Clase pitched a clean ninth, picking up his 45th save (le and lowering his ERA to 0.66. He leads all of baseball in both of those categories.
After Bradley departed the Rays saw good outings from three relievers who nobody expected to be pitching in September for the Rays. Mason Montgomery, Cole Sulser, and Richard Lovelady pitched the final 3.2 innings and kept the Rays in the game by not allowing a run.
The Rays took the first two games of this series in Cleveland and looked to play spoiler in what was becoming a very interesting race for the AL Central title, but losing on both Saturday and Sunday gave the Guardians a four-game lead in the division. It also puts the Rays four games under .500. The team begins their final homestand of the season on Tuesday when they begin a three-game set against the Red Sox.
