Shane Baz Roughed Up Again in Rays' 5-1 Loss to Marlins on Sunday

Tampa Bay starter Shane Baz had another brutal start in the month of May, giving up five runs in a 5-1 loss to the Miami Marlins. He also didn't get much help from the Rays' offense, which only had three hits.

Tampa Bay's Shane Baz (11) gave up five runs against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park Sunday. It was his third straight loss. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

MIAMI, Fla. — This season started with such promise for Tampa Bay's Shane Baz. His April was great, but he's completely come off the rails in May, and he got roughed up again on Sunday, giving up five runs in a 5-1 loss to the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park.

This was his fourth start of the month, and he's 0-3 with a 9.61 earned run average in May. He's allowed 21 runs in 19 2/3 innings and has just 12 strikeouts in the four starts, with 10 walks.

It's night and day from his first month, when he was 3-0 in five starts in April with a 2.45 ERA. In his three wins, he had 27 strikeouts and just one walk. He made quality pitches in April, and he's not doing that in May.

“The command is just not as sharp as it needs to be,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash told reporters after the game. “The stuff, you’re not going to always have your best stuff out there all the time. But you’ve got to be able to execute pitches, certainly in two-strike situations and 0-0 situations.

“We have concern of all the guys that go through tough times or tough outings,” Cash said. “I know that we’ll revisit this, see where the stuff was, where the pitch locations were and probably formulate a pretty good message to give and try for him to put to use in his next start.”

Baz gave up a three-run home run to Marlins second baseman Otto Lopez in the fourth inning, making it 3-1. He also allowed a two-run homer to Liam Hicks in the sixth. But these weren't just outliers. Baz was in trouble in just about every inning.

He gave up two singles in the first inning, but got out of it thanks to a double play groundout by Connor Norby. He allowed an Eric Wagaman double in the second, but he was thrown out at home after a Hicks single to end the inning. He gave up a walk and single with two outs in the third, but Kyle Stowers flied out to right for the third out.

Lopez's homer in the fourth erased a 1-0 Rays lead, and in the fifth, Baz had a walk and hit batter, but a double play helped keep the Marlins off the board in that inning.

Still, Baz had multiple runners on base in all six of his innings. That just won't work.

It also helped that the Rays didn't do anything offensively, scoring just one run with three hits. It was the 13th time this season they've scored one run or less. They are 21-25 now and lost their first series to the Marlins in four years.

They scored their only run in the fourth, when shortstop Taylor Walls walked and went to third on a single by catcher Ben Rortvert. Walls scored on a ground ball to short by Yandy Diaz that was mishandled, giving the Rays a 1-0 lead.

It should have been more. Josh Lowe then walked to load the bases with no one out. Brandon Lowe hit a screamer to center, a 106.9 mph line drive that Kyle Stowers caught, and then Junior Caminero, who was 3-for-21 on the weekend, grounded into a double play.

In the next six innings, the Rays had just one hit, a Brandon Lowe single with one out in the sixth. That was a 1-for-19 stretch for Tampa Bay, which never threatened. Cal Quantrill, who came into the game with a 7.00 ERA, allowed just two hits to pick up the win.

The Rays return to Tampa for a nine-game homestand, starting with a three-game set on Monday night against the Houston Astros. After an off day on Thursday, they also have three against the Toronto Blue Jays (May 23-25) and Minnesota Twins (May 26-28).