In a draw, the rays ended the seventh and eighth innings on the stealing with runners. It was a disappointing loss after a strong start by Shane Baz. The rays look up again at the Guardians in the Al Wild Card Race and three games back from Seattle. If you dig yourself out of a hole, this large, two-game losing stripes cannot happen.
At the bottom of the seventh, the Rookie Carson Williams rays brought in with the bases and two to squeeze for Tristan Gray. The match was 2-2 tied and the fast outfielder Jake Mangum was in third place. Williams took a fastball for Strike One and then sniffed at a curveball in the zone for Strike Two. Instead of having Williams try to come out of that hole, Mangum surprised everyone except the Cleveland battery. Erik Sabrowski stepped away and hit it to Bo Noylor to catch him stealing.
On the one hand I can see how math works. Your expectation to score one run is probably higher with Mangum trying a stem from home than with Williams who winds down 0-2. On the other hand, if it fails, you seem foolish.
The eighth inning ended with Yandy Diaz who was thrown away second, with Brandon Lowe with two strikes. There is also a reason for this decision, even if it is not that strong. A successful stolen basis means that you could take the lead with a single from Lowe. When Diaz is out, you distract the bottom of the ninth with a fresh count for Lowe and Junior Caminero just behind him.
Unfortunately Pete Fairbanks still had a rough outing, so that the go-ahead and eventually won Run could score in the first of the ninth. B. Lowe, Caminero and Josh Lowe went in the bottom half in order. I would like to give Kevin some truth serum. Were these attempts all part of the plan? May decisions of Baserunners? A Guerrilla filming campaign for the new Darren Aronofsky film, Caught stealing? We will probably never know. But a victory tomorrow is anything but essential after dropping the first two in the series.
#Fill #Guardians #Rays