Last-Place White Sox Clobber Shane Baz, Beat Rays 8-3 in Series Opener
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TAMPA, Fla. — The pendulum swings wide for Tampa Bay pitcher Shane Baz. There are nights where he's very good, and then there are nights where he's not.
Monday was one of those bad nights.
Facing the Chicago White Sox, who have the worst record in the American League, Baz just didn't have it. He allowed a career-high eight runs in four-plus innings, and the Rays got smoked 8-3 at Steinbrenner Field.
It was a massively disappointing way to start an important home series with 19 of 22 road games staring them in the face.
"I just didn't feel sharp, just not good enough in any aspect of executing pitches, having command or sequencing, or any of it,'' said Baz, who fell to 8-6 on the season. "It was just subpar really from top to bottom.
"They did a good job. It happens. My midweek bullpen was good and we had my stuff where we wanted it. But this sucks, especially when you're fighting for a playoff spot and you have that type of performance in the first game of the series. It stinks.''
Baz gave up three runs in the second inning, and in the worst way possible. He gave up two singles, but had two outs when No. 9 hitter Brooks Baldwin stepped into the box. But he turned a first-pitch fastball over the middle of the plate into a three-run homer over the wall in right-center.
He gave up three more runs in the third when he lost his command. Rookie shortstop Chase Meidroth, who had a career-high four hits, led off the inning with a single and then Baz walked two batters to load the bases. Luis Robert Jr. drove in two runs with a single and the White Sox made it 6-0 with an RBI fielder's choice.
The Rays scored twice in the fourth on a two-run double by Taylor Walls, but then Baz gave it right back in the fifth. Andrew Benintendi doubled off a fastball and then Miguel Vargas homered, also off a fastball, to make it 8-2. Baz was yanked after that. He allowed the eight runs on eight hits and two walks.
The lone consolation for the Rays pitching staff was that Kevin Kelly, Mason Englert and Garrett Cleavinger covered the final five innings without allowing a run, and giving up just three hits.
The Rays only had five hits themselves, but drew seven walks and had some chances. But unlike the White Sox, they couldn't get the big hits when they needed them.
"We just came up short with some of those at-bats (with runners on),'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Credit the White Sox pitchers, they navigated through the righties and lefties a little bit. It just didn't align, and we didn't get the amount of hits we needed to make a comeback.''
With the loss, the Rays are now 52-49 and 7.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, who beat the New York Yankees 4-1. They remain 1.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the third wild-card spot. Boston lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2.
The White Sox, who lost an MLB record 121 games a year ago, won their fourth straight road game for the first time since 2022. They are 36-65 on the season now. They had 113 losses last year when they finally won their 36th game.
They still have the worst record in the American League, but they have a lot of highly regarded rookies getting playing time now, and they've been doing good things out of the All-Star break. They swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh and have outscored opponents 35-10 during this four-game winning streak.
"It's the big leagues and anything can happen on any given night,'' Baz said of the White Sox. "I felt like we did our homework, but sometimes the test isn't what you study for. It was ugly, just really ugly.''
The two teams meet again on Tuesday night, with Drew Rasmussen (7-5, 2.86 ERA) getting the start for Tampa Bay. He's pitched just eight innings in his last four starts as the Rays have tried to limit his total inning, but is expected to be stretched back out to five innings or more if all goes well.
Davis Martin (2-7, 3.79 ERA) will start for the White Sox. He's been on the injured list since June 12 with a right forearm strain.
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Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.
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