After another staggering loss, Rays have to find ways to get some relief

MINNEAPOLIS — Taken individually, the excuses have some resonance.

A bad pitch or two. A good swing. A poorly timed walk. A ball hit where no one could catch it.

It can be one of those things. Or one of those days.

But this is starting to become a problem.

As bad as Friday’s walkoff loss to the Twins was for the Rays, with the bullpen blowing a two-run lead and Kevin Kelly giving up a first-pitch walkoff homer, Saturday’s 6-5 stunner was worse.

Kelly singlehandedly blew a 5-1 lead in the sixth, and Garrett Cleavinger allowed a leadoff walk, a single and a game-ending squeeze bunt in the ninth.

So, that’s back-to-back games in which the bullpen blew multi-run leads, then lost it in the ninth.

And two losses before that at home in which the Rays allowed the go-ahead run in the A’s last at-bats.

The Minnesota Twins’ Kody Clemens, back left, celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run during the sixth inning. [ ABBIE PARR | AP ]

That’s four straight defeats at the hands of relievers who earlier in the season had been praised heavily for their success.

“They’re going through it right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You feel for them. Every mistake is probably magnified with a ball — and guys on base — getting barreled somewhere. And some of them are leaving the ballpark. It’s the way it goes at times.

“But we need them. Depend on them. We know they’re good. And they’re better than what they’ve showed here over the last couple games.”

The timing seems terrible.

The Rays’ bats have gone a little quiet, they’re in a tough stretch of playing 16 of 19 games on the road over 20 days heading into the All-Star break, and the late-inning magic they had been able to conjure has disappeared.

No surprise they’ve lost six of their last eight games and three straight series, falling to 48-41 and into third place in the American League East.

But maybe, in an odd way, the timing is good, given the looming July 31 trade deadline.

When things were going well, it was easier to look at the bullpen and excuse some of the inexperience and lack of dynamic stuff because the results were good.

But this recent rough run should make clear that either they have to bank on the relievers they have pitching better, or they need to get some new relievers.

Trade discussions usually pick up in the next few weeks around the upcoming draft and All-Star Game, and baseball operations president Erik Neander and his staff should have plenty to talk about.

Rays starting pitcher Taj Bradley, left, and catcher Danny Jansen talk with an umpire during the first inning. [ ABBIE PARR | AP ]Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

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Garrett Cleavinger, who was in the middle of both messes against the Twins, said he’s confident in the guys they have.

“For sure, we have a lot of talent, a lot of belief in that group, and I think we’ll be just fine,” Cleavinger said. “Wins and losses kind of come and go, and you ride the highs and the lows and just kind of fight through it.”

Closer Pete Fairbanks, the veteran leader of the bullpen, also claimed there is no cause for concern.

“I don’t think it’s anything more than how the game works,” he said. “You get your stretches where you’re dominant. You get your stretches where you don’t necessarily throw the ball your best or things don’t go your way.

“But I don’t think that necessarily our approach has changed or anything that we’re trying to do. Sometimes you get beat. It’s happened to us the past two days. But if you spread that and all of a sudden it’s two times in six days, nobody’s thinking about it. I think it’s very much a recency bias to look at it from, ‘Oh, it’s happened two days in a row, etc.’ We’re going to flush it and move on.”

Saturday’s game changed dramatically.

The Rays led 5-1 going into the sixth, and the storylines were Taj Bradley’s solid start, the team-effort offense to score in four consecutive innings and Brandon Lowe tying Yandy Diaz’s franchise record 20-game hitting streak.

Cash said he decided 88 pitches and 5 ⅔ were enough for Bradley because he liked the matchup of Kelly against Royce Lewis, “a ton of confidence with KK in that situation.”

That failed, as Kelly gave up a run-scoring single to Lewis, then a three-run homer to Kody Clemens, allowing the Twins to tie the score in a four-pitch span.

Then Cash went with Cleavinger to open the ninth, saving Fairbanks for a potential matchup with Carlos Correa later in the lean or, even better, a lead.

Rays rightfielder Josh Lowe catches a fly out hit by the Minnesota Twins’ Willi Castro during the third inning. [ ABBIE PARR | AP ]

That, too, didn’t work.

Cleavinger was in trouble from the start, getting ahead of speedy Byron Buxton 0-2 but letting him work a walk. Willi Castro’s single got Buxton to third, and Brooks Lee did well pushing the bunt toward first, the ball staying fair. Cleavinger sat on the bench for several minutes after the game, stunned by the turn of events.

Lowe said he knew how hard the relievers were taking it, and he, too, felt for them.

“It sucks,” he said. “If you cut out the last week or something like that, our bullpen has been fantastic. And we’ll look back in two months and not talk about this stretch that they’re having. It’s how good they are. It’s how good they usually are for us. And as much as hitters go through ups and downs, our pitchers are going to do the same thing.

“Just it’s one of those moments where they’re going through it, and you hope that they figure it out.”

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