Yes, the Rays experienced a serious rash of injuries, but Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman didn't use that as an excuse for the outcome.
"Winning teams find ways to overcome injuries," Silverman said. "We weren't able to do that this year, especially in June, when our depth was most tested. We also didn't convert outs and limit damage like we've grown accustomed to."
Aside from injuries, a large part of the Rays' problems stemmed from their overall defense, which ranked 20th in the Major Leagues in the first half (55 errors in 88 games, .