When I saw Luke Raley hitting third in the lineup, I had a sense of foreboding about this game. As it turned out, Raley got an RBI single and was robbed of a hit on a first inning liner, so his position in the order was not, ultimately, the problem tonight. But Patiño was inconsistent; the Rays struggled against Royals starter Singer, and Cash got greedy in leaving Ryan Yarbrough in for a third inning.
Patiño had made his first post-IL start just before the break had looked shaky although the results were not terrible (and he’d been pulled early).