'Pen steps up but bats stumble in Rays' 5th straight loss

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays’ season-long losing streak reached five games in particularly frustrating fashion Thursday night at Tropicana Field.

The Rays asked their bullpen to fill injured ace Shane McClanahan’s spot in the rotation in their series finale against the Phillies, and seven relievers combined to deliver 10 brilliant innings. But their lineup continued to struggle, and Philadelphia capitalized in the 11th inning against Ryan Thompson, the last available pitcher in Tampa Bay’s bullpen.

The result was a 3-1 defeat that left the Rays on the receiving end of a series sweep for the first time all season.

“It's a long season, and I think right now we're at that bottom part of the ups and downs,” first baseman Yandy Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “But you've just got to keep going. … It's just the process of the game, and I think maybe tomorrow we may even get out of it.”

The Rays (57-33) have lost eight of 13, 11 of 17 and 14 of their past 24 games, with their American League East lead over the Orioles (51-35) shrinking to four games. And they still have the Braves (58-28) and their Major League-best record to deal with this weekend before finally reaching the All-Star break.

A bit of rest might be the answer for Tampa Bay, which lost only its second home series of the season to a Philadelphia club that has won 22 of its past 29 games. But regaining some momentum would be even more beneficial.

“Things are just not coming easy right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Thursday afternoon. “It's part of the season, but I want our guys to feel good heading into the break.”

The bullpen certainly had reason to feel good for most of the game.

McClanahan has been on the injured list since Saturday due to mid-back tightness, but he’s expected to return when eligible on July 16 to pitch the third game after the All-Star break in Kansas City. And Tampa Bay’s bullpen stepped up admirably in the ace’s temporary absence, as seven pitchers combined to allow just one run on four hits while striking out 13 without a walk through 10 innings.

Opener Shawn Armstrong led the way with five strikeouts over three innings. Robert Stephenson worked a clean fourth. Jake Diekman allowed a solo shot to Darick Hall in the fifth, ending his scoreless streak at 13 2/3 innings, but nothing else. Kevin Kelly breezed through Philadelphia’s top seven hitters on only 22 pitches (17 strikes), extending the rookie’s scoreless streak to 19 1/3 innings.

Jason Adam worked a perfect eighth inning, Pete Fairbanks retired the heart of the order in the ninth and lefty Colin Poche kept automatic runner Bryce Harper from scoring with a perfect 10th.

“Everybody came in there and really was pretty outstanding,” Cash said. “When we're talking about giving up a solo homer to a left-handed hitter off Diekman on a first-pitch slider, we're going to take that performance every day of the week.”

But the Rays couldn’t get anything going against Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez -- the former Tampa Bay prospect who was traded in November 2019 for MLB No. 34 prospect Curtis Mead -- and Philadelphia’s bullpen. Tampa Bay managed only four hits and three walks, scoring its only run on a fifth-inning homer by Isaac Paredes and going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Arguably Tampa Bay’s best chance came in the eighth against former Ray José Alvarado. With two outs and runners on the corners, Wander Franco battled Alvarado through an 11-pitch at-bat only to line out to right and slam his helmet down the first-base line in frustration.

The Rays went down in order in the ninth and whiffed on an opportunity to walk it off in the 10th, leaving Josh Lowe at second after Manuel Margot and Jose Siri struck out and lefty Matt Strahm forced Christian Bethancourt to ground out.

“You've got to give them credit. They made big pitches,” Cash said. “We probably didn't have our best at-bats.”

The Rays finally cracked in the 11th. Thompson is typically summoned to face batches of right-handed hitters, but with nobody else available behind him, he had to face a trio of left-handers to begin the inning.

Recalled Thursday afternoon from Triple-A Durham, where he had been working to rediscover comfort in his delivery, Thompson recorded one out but then hit Garrett Stubbs and surrendered consecutive RBI singles to Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner.

“Giving up that second run was really what killed us,” Thompson said. “I keep it at one, we can play a little different baseball there at the bottom half of that inning and keep the game tied.”