Missed opportunities, Littell's rough return haunt Rays

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Rays understood the stakes of this series. That much was clear when manager Kevin Cash said Sunday they’ll have to “get hotter than hot” to sustain whatever postseason hopes they still have.

The Rays also understand the opportunity ahead of them. Of their final 26 games, 20 are against teams they’re trailing in the American League standings. That includes four games against the Twins, a club they’re trying to chase down in the AL Wild Card race.

“I think everybody knows how we’re going to have to play to even give ourselves a chance coming down the stretch, so we’re going to have to put some good games together, some good wins together,” shortstop Taylor Walls said. “This ballclub’s definitely capable of that. I think everybody in here knows that.”

But rather than gaining ground on Minnesota, Tampa Bay continued to lag behind. Starter Zack Littell tied a career-high with four walks in his four-inning return from the injured list, the lineup went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the Rays lost Monday night’s series opener, 5-4, at Tropicana Field.

As a result, the Twins pushed past the Royals in the Wild Card standings while the Rays remained seven games behind Kansas City with Boston, Detroit and Seattle in between them. At 67-70, the Rays are three games below .500 for the first time since they were 37-40 entering play on June 23.

“We’ve talked about the importance of the series, so it's a challenge,” Cash said after Tampa Bay’s eighth loss in the last 11 games. “We've got to find a way to come back, win tomorrow and then see where the next couple games go.”

This one didn’t go the way the Rays wanted, due in part to uncharacteristically shaky command from Littell and in part to frustratingly familiar issues with timely hitting.

Littell was starting for the first time since Aug. 14, when his velocity was down about 2 mph. That outing indicated he could benefit from some time down to rest his fatigued shoulder and manage his significantly increased workload, so the Rays placed him on the 15-day IL.

The good news? Littell said Monday was “definitely the best I’ve felt in a while,” and his stuff was back. Littell’s velocity was in line with his season average, and his fastball induced a career-high-tying six whiffs.

However, Littell’s command was off. He entered the night with a 4.7% walk rate, one of the lowest marks in the Majors, but wound up walking four batters for just the third time in his career, with the last such outing coming on July 8, 2022.

“Physically, I felt good. Just obviously not very sharp,” Littell said. “Command wasn't great. Missed a lot over the plate.”

Two of those walks came back to haunt him. He walked Trevor Larnach in the first inning, and Larnach wound up scoring on a double by Royce Lewis. He walked No. 9-hitting Christian Vázquez after a one-out single in the second, and Larnach made him pay by ripping a three-run homer to right field that gave the Twins a 4-2 lead.

Littell and the Rays weren’t second-guessing the decision to not send the right-hander on a rehab assignment before having him return to the Majors, but they acknowledged that not competing for nearly three weeks may have been a factor in Littell’s apparent rust Monday night.

“It seemed like he could just never get in sync. I'm guessing he'll bounce back, make the adjustment needed for the next start,” Cash said. “But he's had 15-20 days down, whatever it was. Seemed like maybe that had a little bit of an effect.”

Still, the Rays kept it close. Dylan Carlson drove in two runs in the first, Junior Caminero doubled home another in the third and both clubs traded homers in the eighth, with Jonny DeLuca going deep for Tampa Bay.

But the Rays couldn’t capitalize on several other opportunities, leaving one runner on in the first, second, fourth and seventh innings and two men on in the third and fifth. Their .217 average with runners in scoring position is the worst mark in the Majors, and their .656 OPS in those situations is better than only three other teams.

“Pretty well-pitched game from the bullpen, and the bats were quiet,” Cash said. “No doubt, the big hit didn't come for us.”

On this night, all those missed opportunities added up to equal an even bigger one.

“The approach of just taking it one day at a time is all we can do, right?” outfielder Josh Lowe said. “One at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time, one play at a time. Just try and focus on the little things to get us to win ballgames.”