Rays Lose Five Games in a Row
Remember when the Tampa Bay Rays started their season off last year 13-0? They broke a Major League record for the best start in history and had the looks of winning it all as they contended with the likes of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East division. This season has been a completely different story for Tampa Bay. They’re 25-27, fourth in the AL East. The Rays are a game and a half behind the third-place Red Sox, but 10 and a half games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the division. This season may not be how the team planned at all, and if this team keeps losing, they’ll have no shot of competing for the AL East division title.
Tampa Bay’s losing streak started on May 19th, when they lost the final game of a three-game series to divisional rival, the Toronto Blue Jays. After the loss, they headed home for a three-game series with another divisional rival, the Boston Red Sox. Boston outscored Tampa Bay 18-7 and obtained the sweep. Last night, they fell to the Kansas City Royals, pushing the Rays’ losing streak to five games. The Royals shimmy their six-game winning streak to seven after last night’s 8-1 victory. Kansas City has been red-hot and looks to continue its move to take that first-place spot in the AL Central division. If the Royals sweep the Rays, Tampa Bay’s losing streak will be seven games.
Guys like Randy Arozarena, and Jose Siri have struggled this season. Both are batting below .200 in at least 40 games played. They certainly need to step up their play if the Rays want to have a chance at winning each ball game. Tampa Bay ranks 25th in the league with 188 RBIs, and 18th with a .237 batting average. This team certainly needs to find better pitches to swing at and try to create more scoring opportunities to have a chance of moving up within the division. Can Tampa Bay win against the Royals this series? The Rays will play the Oakland Athletics at home during their next three-game series.
