Rays fall to Blue Jays, still have faith in Aaron Civale
TORONTO — One thing that seemed clear after Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays was that the Rays remain confident in starter Aaron Civale despite his struggles.
“Without a doubt,” manager Kevin Cash said.
How they are going to get him pitching better, and deeper into games, is not as clear.
Sunday, was Civale’s seventh straight start without a win, with the Rays losing five of the games, and he has an 0-3, 7.79 record over that span.
He allowed five runs (four earned) over 5 1/3 innings, his longest outing in more than a month.
And while the Rays felt during that stretch he at times was throwing the ball better than the results, not so much Sunday, with six hits (including a homer and back-to-back doubles), four walks (plus a hit batter) and 42 balls in 96 pitches.
“I think (Sunday) was a little different than the other ones,” Cash said. “The strike throwing and the execution wasn’t as crisp as what we had seen. He was 50-50 ball-strike ratio for a lot of the game. So that’s not him. I think he knows that when you fall behind good teams, and good lineups, they’re going to capitalize and they did (Sunday).”
The Rays hitters, meanwhile, did nothing of the sort, managing only one hit through seven innings off Alek Manoah, the 2022 All-Star trying to re-establish himself after a rough 2023, then getting three — including Isaac Paredes’ two-run homer — in the ninth off reliever Zach Pop.
“Quiet day offensively for us,” Cash said. “You’ve got to appreciate that Manoah was tough. Everything was working, he commanded the ball where he wanted to.”
The loss ended the Rays’ four-game win streak, at least temporarily stalled the momentum from a run of winning 11 of 15 games and dropped their record to 25-23. But they took some solace in going 5-2 on the week-long trip to Boston and Toronto, a continuation of what has been perhaps their best overall stretch of play.
“We’re rolling,” catcher Ben Rortvedt said. “We’ve got to keep at it. I know we didn’t end the road trip the way we should. But came here and took two games. (Took) three out of for in Boston, probably should’ve, had a chance to, take four in Boston. So we feel good.”
Obviously it would help them for Civale to be contributing to that.
Sunday, Civale gave up a solo homer to Daniel Vogelbach in the second inning, then two runs (one earned) in the fourth on doubles by Vogelbach and George Springer and a grounder by Isiah Kiner-Falefa to third that Paredes misplayed.
Civale then put the first two on in the sixth via a single and a walk and was lifted after a sac bunt, and was charged with those two runs when reliever Manuel Rodriguez allowed a two-run double to Alejandro Kirk.
“I felt like stuff was there, I felt like we were attacking really well,” Civale said. “Definitely got into some situations and out of them, got a few double plays ... Then the fourth inning just a hit and followed up by another hit and then a ball in play to where we wanted it. And then just after that, maybe a couple of at-bats got away from me. But I beared down when I needed to.”
What he’ll take out of that start: “Got to be better towards the end of the game.”
The Rays acquired Civale at last year’s trade deadline from Cleveland, where he was 5-2, 2.34 over 13 starts. When he went 2-3, 5.36 in 10 starts as a Ray, team officials felt he pitched better than his numbers indicated for them, and overall was somewhere in between.
There looked to be some validity to that when he started this season 2-1, 2.12 in three outings. But the 0-3, 7.79 showing, and inability to get through the middle innings — failing to complete the fifth in four straight games — has been troubling. In 20 starts overall with Tampa Bay, Civale is 4-7, 5.66 and has pitched fewer than six innings 16 times.
“I think stuff-wise things have been pretty good for the most part, (there’s) some execution things here and there ...” Civale said. “Easier said than done, but not focusing on the results and the output, and focusing on what you’re doing going into the game, and just trying to do my best with that.”
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