Aaron Civale falters again in 5th inning; Rays’ win streak ends at 5

ST. PETERSBURG — If it happened once or twice, you might think it was just a coincidence, or a couple of bad pitches.

But Wednesday was the fourth straight start in which Aaron Civale got himself into trouble and knocked out of the game in the fifth inning.

That would make for a pattern.

And something of a problem for the Rays.

They went on to lose to the White Sox 4-1, snapping a season-high five-game winning streak, ending the undefeated debut of their City Connect uniforms, and dropping back to .500 at 19-19.

“I don’t have a real good answer,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Civale didn’t get much help as the Rays offense, which scored 33 runs in the previous five games, was held to one, and just four hits by Sox starter Chris Flexen and three relievers. Twice they had a chance for more runs, but had a runner doubled off.

But Civale’s ongoing struggles seemed the bigger issue.

Acquired at last year’s trade deadline after going 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA for Cleveland, he went just 2-3, 5.36 for the Rays. Team officials insisted this spring he wasn’t as bad as his numbers showed, and his 2-1, 2.74 record through his first four starts this season (working six innings three times and five once) provided some validation.

But his 0-2, 9.82 record —and his inability to finish the fifth — in his last four starts may re-frame the question.

In the fifth inning of his three previous outings, Civale gave up four, three and four runs. Wednesday, it was two, on a 101.5-mph leadoff double by Bryan Ramos and a 104.2-mph, 400-foot Paul DeJong home run off a cutter. He got two outs, then gave up a 100.8-mph single to ex-Ray Tommy Pham, and a walk. Though he’d thrown only 82 pitches, Cash pulled him before the 2-1 Sox lead could grow.

Cash said that with Civale maintaining velocity and the quality of his stuff it’s not a physical issue, nor one of pitch sequencing, suggesting the repeated troubles may be just coincidence or luck he described with a word worse than bad.

“He gave up a double, and then DeJong came up and hit the home run pretty quick,” Cash said. “You’re talking about giving two runs up. We’re going to take that.

“I’d like to see him get through the inning. But that was kind of more my decision. He had pitches left. (I) just wanted to try to do everything we could to keep the game right where it was. And they just tacked on runs (two, off reliever Kevin Kelly, the next inning).”

Civale, who cruised through the first three innings and got out of a two-on jam in the fourth, said his command and execution on some of his breaking pitches in the fifth was the issue, and nothing more.

Actually, he said he considered Wednesday a sign of progress.

“Obviously, I want to pitch through the fifth and further into the game. But at the end of the day, (I’ve) just got to go out there and make more pitches. ... ” he said.

“My goal is to throw as many innings as possible for both myself and for the bullpen, and that’s what a starter is supposed to do. So yeah, obviously, that side of things is frustrating. I want to pitch deeper into games, but (Wednesday) was definitely a step in the right direction, relative to recency.”

Cash made it sound like they were not overly concerned.

“We’re not going to dwell on him not being able, or him having a couple outings here where the fifth inning has been an issue,” he said.

“If the stuff is staying consistent where it is in the first and second inning, we’re going to be pleased about that. It can creep up on you any time. I think it’s probably more coincidence than anything. I totally respect the question, though. I mean, it has happened three, four times now. But we’re not going to, I can’t take him out of the game in the fourth, especially after he’s thrown 60 pitches.”

The Rays got their first hit and lone run in the fourth, but a chance for more disappeared as Harold Ramirez broke from third on a contact play and Amed Rosario’s line drive was turned into a double play.

They had a slight rally in the seventh with two walks around an out and Josh Lowe pinch-hitting, but his fly ball toward the rightfield line was run down by Gavin Sheets, and Isaac Paredes —who made a bad read and broke for third — was doubled off.

“I was confused there; that’s something that just can’t happen,” Paredes said, via team interpreter Manny Navarro. “I thought it was going to fall.”

A lot didn’t go their way.

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