ST. PETERSBURG -- Coming off arguably their most exciting weekend of the year, capped by their most remarkable comeback in a season full of them, the Rays fell just short of doing it again in Monday night’s series-opening 3-2 loss to the Mets at Tropicana Field.
The Rays were down, 3-0, after seven innings. They scored twice in the eighth on RBI singles by Liam Hicks and Chandler Simpson, then had two speedy runners in scoring position with Cedric Mullins at the plate.
But Chris Devenski retired Mullins on a comebacker to end that threat, and Kodai Senga caught Yandy Díaz looking at strike three to strand the tying run on base in the ninth. No miracles this time.
“I always believe in these guys, no matter what the score is, really. They just don't quit,” starter Ian Seymour said. “We fight to the end. That's just sort of who we are as a team … and I'm confident we'll probably pull that one off another time.”
Here are three takeaways from a defeat that snapped the Rays’ four-game winning streak.
1. They’ll see more Seymour
Seymour wasn’t perfect against the Mets by any means. He allowed one run on a pair of hits and a double-play grounder in the fourth. He allowed a homer to Mark Vientos in the seventh, then the runner he left on base in the seventh came around to score after he exited the game.
But take a moment to appreciate everything that Seymour did well against the Mets. He struck out 10 batters without a walk. He racked up a career-high 19 swinging strikes. He worked into the seventh inning on 88 pitches (65 strikes).
Seymour has taken the loss in each of his past three outings, mostly because he has pitched 17 innings during that streak while receiving only two runs of support.
“I know he's that guy right now that's probably not getting the run support, but he kept us in the ballgame,” manager Kevin Cash said. “That's really all you can ask.”
Seymour has done that a lot lately. He led all Major League pitchers with 48 strikeouts this month, and his 12-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in August was the fourth best (minimum 30 innings) in franchise history across any month. He has nasty stuff and a deceptive delivery, and when he’s ahead in the count as often as he was against the Mets, he can be a tough at-bat.
Asked if he was surprised by all the strikeouts he has racked up recently, Seymour smiled and admitted, “I mean, yeah, kind of.”
“But really, I'd just prefer to keep runs off the board at a little better pace,” he added.
With starter Griffin Jax coming off the injured list soon, the Rays are about to have an interesting predicament on their hands. They will have six healthy and effective starters, and the fact that they have every Monday off in September would make it difficult to run a six-man rotation.
One potential solution would be getting creative with Seymour’s usage, picking spots to manage others’ workloads -- and his -- by pitching him in a bulk-inning role after other starters. That could help the Rays keep Jax, Drew Rasmussen, Freddy Peralta, Shane McClanahan and Nick Martinez fresh for the stretch run and beyond, and it would keep Seymour in the mix.
2. You can’t waste golden opportunities
The Rays have generally done a great job all season at capitalizing on their opponents’ mistakes, but they couldn’t do it in the fifth inning Monday night.
Bases loaded, nobody out … and they didn’t score against right-hander Robert Stock.
Taylor Walls popped out, Díaz struck out, Jonathan Aranda flied out and that was their best chance to change the game.
“We just missed, right? There's not much else to say,” Díaz said through interpreter Kevin Vera. “We missed the opportunity, and you would like the runs in that situation because it probably would have won us the game.”
3. The ABS Challenge System? Not for Yandy
You probably already know that Díaz has not yet attempted to use the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System. He had a couple of opportunities on a pair of called strikes in his final at-bat, first on a high fastball that seemed to be above the zone and finally on the last pitch that appeared to catch the inside corner.
With two challenges available and the game on the line, why not try it?
“In the moment, I had the mindset of maybe doing it,” Díaz said. “Again, in that heat of the moment, I just didn't pull the trigger. … Look, the whole challenge thing, it's not super important to me. I'm just trying to win the game every single day, win the game for our team. So challenge or not, it is what it is.”
Would Díaz ever reconsider? How about in the World Series?
“If the opportunity arises then, yes,” Díaz allowed. “Maybe in that situation.”