ST. PETERSBURG -- Blake Snell has been one of the most consistent arms for the Rays this season, but the left-hander struggled in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 7-3 loss to the Marlins at Tropicana Field. The defeat snapped a nine-game winning streak over Miami.
“They pieced together good at-bats and you have to give them credit,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I think they made good adjustments and they started squaring balls up.”
Like he has most of the season, Snell cruised through three innings. He had six strikeouts and had his slider working, especially against right-handed hitters, which was an encouraging sign despite Saturday’s results. Snell recorded five swings and misses with the pitch in the first three innings, all resulting in strikeouts. His ERA lowered to 0.39 in the first three innings of a game this season.
“I thought he was really sharp through three innings. It was impressive,” Cash said. “He was racking up the strikeouts. He had a really good slider going, which is good to see him going back to that pitch and having the confidence to throw it to the righties.”
But as dominant as Snell has been to start games, he has struggled in the middle innings, particularly in the fourth. Snell entered Saturday with an 11.25 ERA in the fourth inning, and that trend continued as the Marlins scored four runs.
Snell opened the frame with a leadoff walk to Jesús Aguilar and Brian Anderson followed with a double. Snell then struck out Lewis Brinson, but a cross-up with catcher Michael Perez allowed Aguilar to score the first run of the game.
The inning continued to snowball on Snell as Harold Ramirez delivered an RBI single and Corey Dickerson hit his second homer of the season against Snell, a two-run shot to give the Marlins a 4-0 lead. The four-run inning pushed Snell’s ERA in the fourth to 16.20.
“I need to be better, that’s just the bottom line,” Snell said. “I’m happy with how I feel, I’m happy with how my pitches are working, I’m happy with how I’m learning, I’m happy with how I’m watching video and seeing what I should do and then doing it for the most part. There’s a lot of good takeaways, but I have to put this team in a spot to win and I gotta give them more innings, because I know I can do that, and I know that’s very attainable.”
A couple of the issues plaguing Snell this season have been walks and home runs. With three free passes in the loss, Snell has walked 12 batters over 33 2/3 innings this season. With the Dickerson homer, the Rays’ left-hander has surrendered eight homers. He allowed just 14 in 107 innings last season.
“I just have to be more ready to throw that first pitch with intent,” Snell said. “It’s me. It’s not physical. I can throw strikes any time I want. It’s 100 percent me, and I have to do a better job of that. I’m going to. I feel really good, man. I really do feel good. It’s going to start going my way, I know it is, just with all the work I’ve been putting in.”
Snell’s next start is tentatively scheduled for Friday against the Red Sox, and that could shape out to be a big one for him. With only 20 games left in the season, Snell has just three or four starts left before the Rays call on him during the postseason.
Snell admits that some of his issues have been mental, but he is confident that he’ll correct things before the postseason, if the Rays clinch a berth.
“I just have to be in the zone and compete in the zone, because my stuff plays, and I know it does,” Snell said. “I just have to do it. That’s what I’m looking forward to in my next start on Friday. I’m going to learn a lot, I’m going to get better, and on Friday we’ll see what I learned and what I didn’t learn. I’m looking forward to that.”