Tied 1-1 after the fourth inning of a series-deciding Game 3 between the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs, Rays starting pitcher Joe Boyle had allowed just one hit. Two walks, three doubles and three errors later, the Cubs scored five runs.
The top of the fifth proved to be the defining moment of a Rays 6-2 Wednesday night loss that ends the team’s first series back at Tropicana Field in two years with a 1-2 record.
What went wrong
The first error arrived with the bases loaded when a high ball hit by Cubs left fielder Michael Conforto reached the wall. Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca hit the wall with it, causing him to miss-time the catch which forced right fielder Jake Fraley to field the ball. Fraley’s throw was underthrown, sputtering to first baseman Jonathan Aranda who scooped it up. Aranda’s throw to home then sailed past catcher Hunter Feduccia to cap off the chaos of Conforto’s three-run triple.
Two batters later, Conforto reached home from Cubs second basemen Nico Hoerner’s double. Hoerner joined him after an errant pass from Feduccia zipped too low for Aranda to grab at first, letting Hoerner sprint from second to home.
Now committing three errors in as many games already this season, the Rays lead the league in the stat with 14 and total the lowest fielding percentage (.963).
What went right
Doyle did not finish the inning. Reliever Jesse Scholtens stepped in and stepped up, allowing zero runs the rest of the way.
While the Rays offense mustered just two hits until the eighth, the team tallied three hits in the last two innings. One of those hits was a single from left fielder Chandler Simpson, which extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
Aranda also stayed consistent, batting in DeLuca with a sacrifice fly in the third and scoring off a Fraley single in the eighth.
What’s next?
The Rays will stay home to face the division rival New York Yankees. Game 1 of the series is on Friday, April 10 at 7:10 p.m. EST.