Kimbrel returns to action, but Rays' bats stay quiet

ANAHEIM -- Right-hander Craig Kimbrel returned from the 15-day injured list Saturday, appearing in relief during the Rays' 8-0 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium.

Kimbrel was reinstated prior to the game after missing two weeks with a right wrist strain, with right-hander Mason Englert being optioned to Triple-A Durham to make room.

Entering a 1-0 game with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the sixth, the veteran reliever threw a wild pitch that advanced both runners before bouncing back to strike out Oswald Peraza. One strike away from ending the inning, Kimbrel surrendered a two-run single to Denzer Guzman on a 94 mph fastball, followed by a Donovan Walton RBI double that extended the Angels' lead to 4-0.

"Felt like I put myself in the situation to get out of that and just didn't make the pitch at the time to do so," Kimbrel said. "They put together some different at-bats. That was a big part of the game. Obviously, going for that punchout, wish you could have got it, but sometimes it doesn't go your way. You've just got to kind of wash your hands with it and come back tomorrow."

Despite the results, Kimbrel indicated that his wrist felt normal physically, attributing the execution errors to timing rather than physical limitations.

"The way my wrist felt and what I was dealing with going into this, all that felt great," Kimbrel said. "It was just getting back out there and getting my foot down and making the pitch."

Manager Kevin Cash shared a similar view of the pivotal sixth inning, highlighting the battle to get to a two-strike count before Guzman's decisive hit.

"He made some big pitches to get himself back in the count," Cash said. "And Guzman did a nice job of getting the fastball top of the zone or maybe above it. And then [Walton] came up with the double to make it 4-0.”

Prior to the sixth-inning sequence, right-hander Griffin Jax provided five innings of work. Building off his previous outing against Miami, Jax surrendered five hits and one unearned run while striking out five, utilizing a heavy mix of offspeed pitches to generate consistent ground-ball outs.

"I thought he went a little heavier offspeed today with the split and the curveball, but he came in and attacked in the strike zone," Cash said. "Really impressed ... happy with the way he's given us opportunities to win games."

Jax was lifted after 63 pitches, a decision he later revealed was tied to a minor physical hurdle he is monitoring between starts.

"Just dealing with this blister, just not cooperating the longer I go into the game," Jax said. "So instead of trying to push it and potentially requiring an absence or something, just staying on top of it and making sure it doesn't become more of an issue than it already is."

On the other side of the ball, the Rays' offense experienced another quiet night, going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on base. The shutout marked consecutive nights in which Tampa Bay bats struggled to cash in on early baserunners, a trend Cash believes the lineup will shake off soon.

"Back-to-back nights they've done a really nice job pitching," Cash said of the Angels' staff. "But our offense is going through it a little bit right now. We'll come out of it. We just need to find a way to get a couple of those big hits in bunches."