ATLANTA — Carrying over momentum from game to game — and series to series — is typically considered to be dependent on the opposing starting pitcher.
Friday, they Rays were foiled by their own.
After a pair of comeback wins over the Cubs, and with a near miss in between, the Rays rolled into Atlanta facing Braves ace Chris Sale and packaged two hits and a hit batter to grab a quick one-run lead.
Then they watched Zack Littell ruin their chances, and the rest of their night, with a brutal five-run first inning in what ended up a 7-3 mess.
The loss dropped the Rays to 33-37 and kept them in last place in the American League East as they opened a nine-game, 10-day road trip.
“It’s a bad one,” Littell said. “You flush it and move on. I don’t feel like I need to change anything. It comes down to execution. Tonight it was bad.”
The first hint of trouble for the Rays actually popped up even before Littell took the mound.
A Yandy Diaz leadoff single, Randy Arozarena hit by pitch and Amed Rosario double got them a quick run against Sale, who has been dominant in a career renaissance with the trade to Atlanta. But the Rays got nothing else that inning as Isaac Paredes laced a ball into a ground out, and Jose Siri and Jonny DeLuca struck out.
“You’d like in that situation to somehow get more than one across,” manager Kevin Cash said “We got one in and had second and third with no outs and then (Sale) got pretty nasty pretty quick. He’s been on a good run and he’s a really good pitcher.”
There was more signs it wasn’t the Rays’ night.
Infielder Jose Caballero, who had been dealing with some kind of illness, felt worse in the 90-degree heat and had to leave the game after two innings when he felt “just really run down” and “super dehydrated,” Cash said. He was checked at the stadium by a doctor and sent back to the hotel to rest, with his status for Saturday to be determined.
DeLuca, who hasn’t homered in nearly a month, was robbed of a two-run shot to left in the ninth.
Even radio announcers Andy Freed and Neil Solondz were targeted, as an Ozzie Albies foul ball went flying back into their booth — a rarity at Truist Field with the media facilities in the upper level. Freed took evasive action — “a slight dodge,” he said — and neither the announcers nor their equipment were damaged.
But the story was Littell, who has been arguably their most consistent starter, allowing more than three earned runs in only two of his first 13 outings, having such a bad night.
If you want specifics, Littell and Cash said the biggest issue was leaving too many pitches over the middle of the plate. Littell throws a lot of strikes and pitches to contact, but Friday he was unable to get the ball where he wanted it, and the aggressive Braves took advantage.
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Explore all your options“They’re really good hitters, but I think Lit (left) some balls over the middle of the plate and they made him pay, made us pay, capitalized off of them,” Cash said.
Littell said he felt fine, and there was no major concerns from the initial velocity and analytical reports.
“There’s nothing I’m looking into that I felt was drastically different, or that I’m going to read into,” he said. “It’s just one of those days. I had a bad one. You’ve got to be better than that. Especially against a lineup like that.”
The Braves certainly seemed ready for Littell, rapping five straight hits to open the first: A Michael Harris II single, Albies double, Marcell Ozuna homer (on a 1-2, 93-mph fastball right down the middle), Matt Olson double, Austin Riley double. Worse, Littell fielded a one-out comebacker and totally airmailed the throw.
He actually did well to get through the 10-batter first with 29 pitches, but then allowed a one-out walk and two-out, two-run homer to Riley in the second, ending his night at the end of the inning.
The Rays used four relievers to cover the final six innings, leaving them in “OK” shape for Saturday, as Cash said Kevin Kelly, Phil Maton, Chris Devenski and Jason Adam not allowing any more runs was “probably the bright spot” of the night.
Yes, it was one of those.
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