Rays Rally Falls Short, Drop Series To White Sox
Tampa, FL – The Tampa Bay Rays dug themselves a 6-0 hole and staged a late rally to cut the lead to one but were ultimately defeated by the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Sunday afternoon in front of 11, 162 fans at Tropicana Field.
Ryan Yarbrough (0-3, 5.65 ERA) takes the loss for Tampa Bay who see their record fall to 31-23 on the year. With the loss the Rays lose the season series with the White Sox (2-4) and will look to regroup with Monday’s off-day before welcoming in the St. Louis Cardinals for a three game series starting Tuesday night.
Lucas Giolito (4-2, 3.54 ERA) picks up the win for the White Sox and Liam Hendriks worked the ninth to notch his 16th save. The White Sox win their first series since May 21 through 22 against the Yankees and they improve to 25-27 on the season.
White Sox Jump Out To Early Lead:
The White Sox sent eight men to the plate in the top of the first inning scoring four times off Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough. Last night’s hero Jake Burger delivered a 2-RBI double and Yasmani Grandal made contact on a check swing to single over the head of Ji-Man Choi to plate another pair.
Chicago extended their lead to 6-0 in the second inning on a RBI double from Andrew Vaughn and a RBI single by Luis Robert. It could have been worse, the White Sox loaded the bases but Shawn Armstrong relieved Ryan Yarbrough and struck out AJ Pollock to end the inning.
Parades Deliver Solo Homer:
Isaac Parades delivered a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the White Sox lead to 6-1. It was Parades fourth homer of the season and all coming in his last 13 games played.
Rays Continue To Claw Their Way Back:
Tampa Bay cut the White Sox lead to 6-5 by scoring four times in the bottom of the sixth capped by a 2-out 2-run homer by Mike Zunino. It was Zunino’s fifth homer of the season and first since May 20th against the Orioles in Baltimore. Randy Arozarena drove in a run with a triple and Harold Ramirez plated another run with a sacrifice fly. The Rays were the beneficiary of a White Sox defensive miscue when Yasmani Grandal couldn’t cleanly field a low throw on a groundball off the bat of Ji-Man Choi.
Ugly Start For Yarbrough:
Ryan Yarbrough did not have– well, anything. He allowed six earned runs on eight hits while walking two without a strikeout. He made 68 pitchers, 43 for strikes all in 1.2-innings of work. He faced 15 batters, 10 reached base, and six came around to score.
Rays Activate Kittredge:
Prior to the game, the Tampa Bay Rays reinstated reliever Andrew Kittredge (back) from the 15-day injured list and optioned reliever Calvin Faucher to Triple-A Durham. Kittredge made his return to action in the ninth inning and retired the White Sox in order.
Up Next For Rays:
The Tampa Bay Rays will continue their homestand against the St. Louis Cardinals starting Tuesday night. Jeffrey Springs (2-2, 1.88 ERA) will take the mound for the Rays in the series opener and he will be countered by Dakota Hudson (4-2, 2.96 ERA). On Wednesday night the Rays will send Corey Kluber (2-2, 3.73 ERA) to the mound and Shane McClanahan (6-2, 2.10 ERA) gets the nod in the getaway game on Thursday afternoon at 1:10 p.m.)
