ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – After Tyler Glasnow dominated the Marlins on Tuesday evening, the feeling at Tropicana Field was that the Rays could sweep their two-game Citrus Series from Miami and break even on the homestand.
Sandy Alcantara had other deals. The Marlins righthander looked like the Cy Young winner of a year ago and not the struggling pitcher (3-9, 4.70 ERA coming in) he has been through most of this season. Indeed, he put on a show in going the distance in a 97-pitch 7-1 win over the Rays on Wednesday afternoon.
The Rays, who mustered all of five off Alcantara, went 2-4 on the homestand and fell to 5-15 in July.
Pitcher Zach Eflin, who took the loss, exited after four innings and 53 pitches due to left knee soreness. The righthander, who was plagued by knee problems during his time with Phillies, entered the day 10-1 at home before taking the loss Wednesday. He is now 11-6 on the season.
“I think his cleat got caught a little bit,” said manager Kevin Cash, in referring to Eflin’s attempt to field a Jon Berti bunt leading off the fourth. “We will get some imaging to look at it and see how sore he is.”
Eflin remained on the mound and finished the inning.
The pitcher’s injury added to a host of them during the homestand. Yandy Diaz was removed from Tuesday night’s game with groin tightness. He said following Wednesday’s game that he will continue to receive treatment and hopefully avoid an IL stint.
Francisco Mejia (left knee sprain) and Taylor Walls (left oblique strain) were injured in the Baltimore series and could be sidelined up to six weeks.
The Rays, who began the day 1.5 games behind the Orioles in the American League East, will embark on a three-city, nine-day road trip that begins Friday night (8:10 ET) in Houston. They will also visit the Bronx and Detroit. Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.89) starts for the Rays on Friday.
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