ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – With four errors through six innings and five walks in five-plus innings by Tyler Glasnow, it is a wonder the Rays were not blown out in Game 1 of their best-of-three wild-card series against the Rangers.
Then again, they did not exactly threaten in a 4-0 loss in front of 19,704 at Tropicana Field on Tuesday afternoon. Not with the way Jordan Montgomery was pitching. The Rangers’ veteran lefty, acquired at the trade deadline from St. Louis, threw seven shutout innings and only twice did the Rays get a runner as far as third base against him.
The four errors were the most in a playoff game for the Rays. Glasnow, who also uncorked a wild pitch to allow a run to score, last walked as many as five batters in a game in Game 5 of the 2020 World Series against the Dodgers.
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“We didn’t play a good, clean baseball game by any stretch,” said manager Kevin Cash, whose team has been blanked in its last 27 postseason innings dating to last year’s wild-card series at Cleveland. “We didn’t pitch, hit or defend. When you are going up against a good team, they are going to capitalize.”
Montgomery improved to 3-0 with a 2.61 ERA in six career starts at Tropicana Field. His first five starts at the Trop were with the Yankees.
The fact the Rangers left 13 men on base proved to be nothing more than a footnote. Josh Jung’s sacrifice fly in the second inning scored Nathaniel Lowe with the only run Texas would need. They scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth, on a run-scoring single by Corey Seager with another run scoring on a throwing error by center fielder Jose Siri, who returned after missing the final three weeks of the regular season due to a hand injury.
Do-or-die Game 2 is Wednesday afternoon (3:08, ABC) at the Trop. The Rays will send Zach Eflin (16-8, 3.50 ERA) to the mound. He will be opposed by Nathan Eovaldi (12-5, 3.63 ERA), who pitched for the Rays in 2018.
“I have a lot of confidence in this group, and certainly the guy on the mound in Zach Eflin, that we can bounce back,” said Cash.
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Roster decisions: The wild-card roster was released a few hours before Tuesday’s first pitch. In addition to Siri’s return, top prospect Junior Caminero made the cut. Rookie reliever Kevin Kelly did not.
“We are probably asking more of him than we would have if it wasn’t the postseason,” said Cash, of Caminero, who struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. “He’s very talented and we’ll see if he plays a role in this series.”
Cash said the decision to omit Kelly “was a tough one” with the club opting for Andrew Kittredge. “Kitt has been trending in the right direction,” said Cash.
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