Rays look to 'come back strong' after entering break on sour note

BOSTON -- The end of the season’s unofficial first half arrived at a good time for the Rays.

They could use a break, because they haven’t caught many over the last few weeks.

The Rays lost to the Red Sox, 4-1, on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, completing a four-game sweep by the streaking Sox. Tampa Bay won only twice during a 10-game trip through Minnesota, Detroit and Boston, and they entered the All-Star break having lost 12 of their last 16 games.

“We need a mental break, and we also need to relax, have a couple days off. But I think we're going to come back from this,” All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero said through interpreter Eddie Rodriguez. “We are a very good team, and people are going to continue to talk about us in a positive way. I think we're going to come back strong in the second half.”

The brutal stretch to end the first half was capped by Boston’s first four-game sweep of Tampa Bay since May 2006. It was the fourth time this season the Rays have been swept and the first time they’ve been swept in a four-game series on the road since July 17-20, 2021, in Seattle.

With four much-needed days off coming before they return to George M. Steinbrenner Field to host the Orioles on Friday night, the Rays now stand at 50-47, fourth place in the American League East and 1 1/2 games out of the third AL Wild Card spot.

“We've played really well at certain points. And then today, over this last 10-day road trip, we've not played our best baseball,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Like to see us bounce back here when we start against Baltimore [after the break].”

Speaking before the first-half finale about what they accomplished before the All-Star break, several players used phrases like “ups and downs” and “ebbs and flows.” That’s been the story of the Rays’ season so far.

They put a mediocre, 21-26 start behind them by reeling off an MLB-best 25-9 run from May 20 to June 26, which was the actual midpoint of the season. After sweeping the Royals at Kauffman Stadium that day, the Rays were 11 games over .500 and a half-game out of first place in the AL East. Their rotation was durable and formidable. Their lineup was deep and dynamic. Their bullpen was getting the job done.

Then came the ebb, the down, the inevitable regression. Tampa Bay’s starters have remained reliable, yielding three earned runs or fewer in every game this month, but the lineup is averaging 3 1/2 runs per game in July and the bullpen has produced a 6.92 ERA during this 16-game stretch.

What can they do to bounce back?

“Just go home, relax,” starter Ryan Pepiot said. “You can't dwell too much on the past two, three weeks, because the six weeks prior to that was just absolutely unbelievable.”

Lately, it seems like every mistake comes back to haunt the Rays. Newly acquired reliever Bryan Baker issued back-to-back walks in his Rays debut Thursday night and cost them the game. Closer Pete Fairbanks had a rare lapse in Friday’s walk-off defeat. Shortstop Taylor Walls took the blame upon himself when Garrett Crochet shut out Tampa Bay on Saturday.

In the third inning of Sunday’s series finale, the Rays missed on a chance to score one run and an opportunity to keep another off the board.

First, Yandy Díaz ripped a two-out single. Rookie speedster Chandler Simpson jogged slowly after rounding third base, thinking center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela had made a diving catch. Jonathan Aranda was thrown out at third before Simpson crossed the plate, so the Rays did not score.

“Really just made a mistake,” Simpson said. “Should have just been running all the way through. That's my game, to be running hard, and I wasn't there. I learned my lesson.”

Then, with two outs and Jarren Duran at the plate, catcher Matt Thaiss appeared to pick off Marcelo Mayer at third. Instead, umpires charged Caminero with interference, as he blocked the path to the bag, and Mayer scored. Caminero said the throw put him in an “awkward position,” but he wasn’t trying to block Mayer’s path.

The Rays tied the game on a double by Jake Mangum and a sacrifice fly by Josh Lowe. But Boston answered with a big sixth inning against Pepiot, as Trevor Story hit an RBI single and Rafaela bounced a two-run homer off the front ledge on top of the Green Monster.

“It just sucks to come on this road trip, going into the All-Star break and trying to stop the bleeding and go in on a high note,” Pepiot said. “Their hitters are red hot, and they took advantage of some stuff.”