 allowed seven runs, three hits and three walks over two innings. The lefty was coming off an outing last Tuesday at San Diego where he gave up four runs, five hits and six walks in four innings.About an hour after the game, the Rays announced the two-way player had been optioned to Triple-A Durham.''Certainly his last two outings, a little bit of a rut,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said before McKay's demotion. ''That happens. Brendan is going to be a really good pitcher. He's got to work through some stuff right now.'' McKay has given up three or more runs in five straight starts after allowing three runs combined over his first three outings.''Falling behind a lot early,'' McKay said. ''It's a lot easier for hitters to hit when they're able to be more aggressive and free. Then just making a couple quality pitches and not getting the results you want in outs or strikes. It kind of weighs on you mentally, and frustrates you and things can snowball from there.'' The Rays' rotation is without AL Cy Award winner Blake Snell (left elbow), Tyler Glasnow (right forearm strain) and Yonny Chirinos (right middle finger inflammation) until at least sometime in September.''You don't replace those guys,'' Cash said. ''So, we're trying to piece it together and we're asking to get a lot of pitches out of some young guys. It's challenging.'' Tommy Pham and Austin Meadows homered for Tampa Bay, which is 2-2 on a six-game homestand against Detroit and Seattle. The Rays had their lead over Oakland for the second AL wild card cut to one game.Tampa Bay dropped to 33-30 at home, which matched the total number of losses at Tropicana Field (51-30) all of last season.Murphy, who had three hits and a walk, hit a three-run drive in the first inning and added a solo shot in the fifth. He has 15 homers in 52 games.''He's making it look easy,'' Seattle manager Scott Servais said. ''He's on some kind of a hot streak. If he hits a third one, I'm going to do a cartwheel in the dugout, he's going that good.'' Nola had a two-run homer during a four-run second off McKay and had an RBI single in the fourth.Marco Gonzales (13-10) went five innings, giving up three runs and five hits to get the win.The Rays used five relievers before turning to infielder Mike Brosseau, who worked a perfect ninth.Murphy's homer in the first was set up by consecutive one-out walks to J. P Crawford and Nola.''Any time you can take advantage of walks as a team, that's a huge thing for us,'' Murphy said. ''That's why walks are so deadly for teams.'' Crawford had an RBI single and Nola hit a two-run shot in the second that helped put the Mariners up 7-1.Pham got his third homer in five games leading off the first. Meadows had a two-run drive in the fifth.TRAINER'S ROOMMariners: RHP Felix Hernandez (right shoulder stiffness) made what could be final rehab start Monday night for Triple-A Tacoma. He gave up one run and four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in three innings. ... OF Mitch Haniger (ruptured testicle) could be back during a six-game homestand that starts Friday.Rays: Glasnow had his first bullpen session and could throw BP next week. ... Snell is playing catch. ... INFs Brandon Lowe (right shin bone bruise) and Joey Wendle (right wrist inflammation) will join Triple-A Durham on Tuesday.BACK OUT THEREMariners RF Mallex Smith started after being out of lineup the previous two games. Smith was thrown out at second base Friday trying to stretch a single into a double, one of multiple baserunning errors recently by Seattle.SCARY MOMENTMariners CF Keon Broxton had a fastball by Diego Castillo go off the bill of his helmet in the eighth inning. He was fine afterwards.UP NEXTMariners LHP Tommy Milone (2-7) will follow an opener Tuesday night. Rays LHP Jalen Beeks (5-2) is expected to start or also follow an opener.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Rays seek success at home against MarinersFLMTropicana Field hasn't exactly been the friendliest of confines for the Tampa Bay Rays this season.But perhaps that's starting to change heading into a three-game series against the visiting Seattle Mariners that opens Monday.The Rays have posted back-to-back walk-off wins at home, the latter a 5-4 decision Sunday against the Detroit Tigers on Ji-Man Choi's two-run, bases-loaded single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning.On Saturday, the Rays won 1-0 in 13 innings as pinch-hitter Michael Brosseau, a rookie, came through with a two-out single."You can't (fall behind) too many times," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "At some point we gotta get a lead for our pitchers a little bit and let them work with a little bit of room to wiggle out of. Certainly we'll take these two (wins). At this time of the season, every win you can get is important, and these two have been really big." The two walk-off wins against the lowly Tigers, who have the worst record in the majors, helped the Rays improve to 33-29 at home and remain in the American League's second and final wild-card playoff spot. On the road they're 40-23 with an MLB-best .635 winning percentage."I know we're going to talk about that until we get on a run here,'' Cash said after Friday's 2-0 loss to the Tigers. "I don't have a good answer for you, for any of it, really. We've pitched pretty consistently all year. Offensively, I don't think there's a major gap to what we do."I know we've got to play better at home. I certainly would agree with that assessment.'' Even the players seemed perplexed by their comparative lack of success at home."Just one of those weird quirks in baseball that you can't explain,'' Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier told the Tampa Bay Times.The Mariners have won four of their first six games during their nine-game trip, taking two of three in both Detroit and Toronto. Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi pitched a two-hitter in a 7-0 victory Sunday against the Blue Jays, needing only 96 pitches.Third baseman Kyle Seager extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a solo homer, his 16th of the season, in the second inning to give the Mariners the only run they would need. Seager has hits in 22 of his past 23 games, batting .357 with 10 home runs and 21 RBIs in that span, to raise his season average from .186 to .242.Seager, who hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning of Saturday's 4-3 victory, suggested his recent run is due to good health and better swing mechanics."If you are missing fastballs and you aren't on fastballs, you aren't going to be successful," he told the Seattle Times. "Last year, I couldn't do the things I wanted to do. I had physical issues that wouldn't let me do it. If the ball was in one spot, I could maybe hit it." Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (12-10, 4.26 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener against Rays lefty Brendan McKay (2-2, 5.08), a rookie who will be making his first appearance against Seattle.Gonzales is 2-0 with a 2.21 ERA in three career starts against the Rays. He faced them Aug. 9 in Seattle but didn't get a decision in a 5-3 defeat, allowing two runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts.-- Field Level Media
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