ST. PETERSBURG — The Rays were talking, thinking and hoping that Tuesday’s come-from-behind, walkoff win over the Cubs would create the kind of momentum they crave to launch an extended run of success.
That looked to be the case for a while Wednesday, then reality struck.
An early lead disappeared quickly in the seventh inning when Garrett Cleavinger, who has been one of their best relievers but got nicked up in three straight outings, allowed a three-run homer to Cody Bellinger that led to a 4-3 Cubs win.
“Kind of changed the game for us, unfortunately,” Cleavinger said. “It’s been a rough week. Some things haven’t bounced our way. But hopefully we can kind of flush it and move on.”
Because of what the Rays did Tuesday, rallying to tie in the ninth and then winning 5-2 on Brandon Lowe’s three-run walkoff homer off Cubs closer Hector Neris, they still had hope in the final frame Wednesday.
And they did make it interesting.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” shortstop Taylor Walls said.
Jose Caballero hit a one-out homer off Neris to cut the margin to 4-3. Ben Rortvedt singled and Walls walked, and Yandy Diaz’s ground out moved the runners to third and second with two outs.
Next to the plate was none other than Lowe, though this time he flied out to center.
“It was interesting how that inning unfolded from what took place (Tuesday) night,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Brandon, probably the right guy to have up there. Looked like he got a split and just missed it, drove it out deep left-center. But, look, a lot of good at-bats again. ... Like the way we went about it. We just came up short.”
Still, the Rays lost for the fifth time in six games, and 14 of 21, dropping to 32-36 and furthering their hold on last place in the American League East.
The outcome spoiled the 29th birthday for starter Aaron Civale, who did his part to extend the celebration with a strong outing, holding the Cubs to one run while pitching into the sixth inning. He left with a 2-1 lead thanks to Isaac Paredes’ RBI double, a homer and a spectacular running catch by Jose Siri, and strong defense by Walls.
“I think (my) stuff definitely was there,” Civale said. “First of all, the defense behind me was just incredible. It’s a lot easier to pitch and just be in the zone and not shy away from contact when they’re playing behind you like that, and they’ve been doing an awesome job of that as of late. So, just props to them for continuing to do that. But yeah, (our) attack plan was good.”
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Explore all your optionsBut by the end, Civale, who threw 85 pitches, made his 11th straight start without a win, and seventh straight that the Rays ended up losing.
“He pitched outstanding for us, gave us every opportunity to win the game,” Cash said. “His stuff has been pretty in line and pretty consistent. ... Maybe he had a little better luck this game than maybe a couple other ones. But this has been three in a row now that he’s thrown the ball pretty well for us.”
Cleavinger had done that for an extended period, allowing just one earned run over 24 appearances from April 6-June 5. But he allowed two runs on three hits Sunday against the Orioles, a hit that scored an inherited runner for the first time this season Tuesday, then a walk to his first batter Wednesday as well as the three-run homer.
Cash said there’s been no noticeable change in what Cleavinger is doing.
“I don’t think there’s anything different at all,” he said. “I think he was pitching really good. He continues to pitch good. If Cleav can get the ball in the zone and throw strikes, his stuff is going to be pretty dominant. Here as of late, yeah, they’ve got a couple of hits. And (Wednesday) was a big one with the three-run homer.”
Cleavinger said he could have better located the 1-2 hard slider/cutter that Bellinger hit: “Especially with two strikes and a guy like that at the plate, I think it caught too much of the plate.”
But he also didn’t think much had changed.
“Nothing too out of the ordinary,” Cleavinger said. “Pretty much business as usual. Just haven’t caught some breaks and maybe made a few bad pitches here and there that kind of caught up to me.”
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