The bottom is falling out for the Tampa Bay Rays, and they may only have themselves to blame.
Rays star Randy Arozarena had an ugly blunder in an important game on Thursday against the division rival Baltimore Orioles. In the fourth inning, O’s infielder Gunnar Henderson hit a rocket to the left side that glanced off Rays third baseman Taylor Walls’ glove and rolled towards the left field foul line. Playing in left, Arozarena ran down the ball but was extremely casual in getting the ball back into the infield. As a result, Henderson was able to put his head down and take an extra base off the Rays, ending up at third.
Here is the video.
https://twitter.com/ChrisIsPoopin/status/1682171412013002752
Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman followed up with a base hit, so Henderson would have scored from second anyway. But Henderson’s hustle play set the tone for the rest of the inning as Baltimore scored two more runs to take a 3-1 lead on Tampa Bay.
As for Arozarena, who was actually given an error on the play, that was a terrible look. While the 2023 All-Star Arozarena has been one of the Rays’ top performers all season, the entire roster is struggling right now. Tampa Bay entered play Thursday having lost four straight games, and they have now been overtaken by Baltimore for the AL East division lead (something once unfathomable after the Rays got off to a torrid 29-7 start to the season).
Arozarena is usually pretty darn stellar in left field. But that lolly-gagging in Thursday’s game was the absolute last thing Tampa Bay needs right now.
