Coming into this Sunday matchup the Rays were playing with house money. Already securing the series split on the road vs a good Astros team in Houston. After they were able to get to Hunter Brown back in Tampa under a sweltering sun, the young Cy Young candidate was not going to be an easy task to topple twice.
And well, Brown was…good is a strong word. How about Brown was effectively wild?
At one point Brown had thrown 40 strikes and 40 balls. His command was all over the place. But his stuff was effective enough to still be hard to hit. So hard that it took until the 6th before the Rays had their first hit!
On the other side, up for the duel, was Taj Bradley. With runs hard to come by Taj was going to need to be on his game to keep the Astros bats silent. Oh boy was he.
Taj got the L today, but this was by far the finest I’ve seen Bradley pitch this season.
Going over 100 pitches, Taj was dazzling over 7 IP, 10 Ks and 18 (!) whiffs. All the more impressive since the Home Plate Umpire Nic Lentz was atrociously bad all game (more on that later), with both the Rays and Astros baffled by his awful zone.
Bradley’s only blemish was an unearned run off an error to the very first batter of the game. Astros came in with the game plan of swing at the first pitch. Pena gets a ball booted past Caminero at 3rd for a two base error. After Christian Walker got jammed but muscled it just hard enough to get to the OF grass the only run of the game was scored.
Very frustrating, but everything in Taj’s control he was able to impress, and that is what I’m focusing on.
Rays batters worked good at bats vs Brown, but could never break through with the big hit. Best opportunity came up with Brown’s final inning in the 6th. After Matt Thaiss drew a walk (one of 3 BB on the day for the new Rays catcher), Josh Lowe finally broke up the no hitter with single the other way to give the Rays runners at 1st and 2nd no out. Brandon lowe was a bit heated after he got rung up on a called strike 3 on an inside fastball. The pitch did catch a hair of the zone but was not called at all throughout the game. In fact inside, outside, up or down were a mystery and that’s what makes that moment most frustrating. Is it a strike today or not? Does Umpire Nic Lentz even know or was he just guessing all day?
Yandy Diaz was next and, usually that’s who you would want in this spot. So far in 2025 that has not been the case, still rocking his sub 100 wRC+. Yandy would hit it right into a routine and easy double play to end the threat.
The next opportunity came the very next inning. Jonathan Aranda worked an excellent at bat and knocked a double down the LF field line past the shift. After Caminero just missed a HR and instead setteld for a deep CF fly ball, Aranda advanced to 3rd. With 1 out and Jake Mangum up, Cash opted to PR Taylor Walls for Aranda.
Personally, I am not a fan of the move. In a vacuum, that 1 run is huge, and Walls does increase your odds of getting home on a grounder or fly ball by a solid margin. However, it is also the 7th, and it would be the tying run if you succeed, and there was for sure going to be at least one more at bat in Aranda’s spot. Aranda is not fleet of foot, but he does not have stone feet either. I think I prefer to keep the bat knowing the team will need to score more runs later vs the gains you get from adding Walls speed there.
Ultimately it’s just academic because Mangum reached for a ball in the dirt and popped it up on the infield.
Now, the last bit of excitement came in the 9th, and the PR moment proved to add a spark to that because with it still a 1 run game and Josh Hader on the mound, Taylor Walls stepped in to the box and took a pitch low and away.
Which was called a strike for some unknown reason.
It’s technically close enough that it could be called, however again, not once was a pitch called a strike with any consistency all game. Both teams were practically begging the ump to just give them any semblance of an idea of what his zone would be and Lentz refuse.
This is where things got spicy.
After the low and away strike call, Walls is clearly upset but not heated. As he is stepping back to the plate, his hand is on his head and there appears to be a tapping motion. In the minors there is a challenge system where players, if they tap their helmet, can request a quick ABS challenge. This is something that is fast on its way to rectify the petty tyranny of umpires.
What appears to have happened, is either accidentally or as an intentional troll, the home plate umpire Lentz sees this helmet tap and moves to confront Walls and ejects him. This is where Walls goes nuclear a storms back at home plate to let Nic Lentz know exactly what he thinks.
After that, Caminero does come up with 2 outs and it is still a 1 run game if you haven’t forgotten. This is still a 1 swing away game after all this drama.
Junior worked a good at bat vs Hader, even lacing a ball down the LF line that drifted foul. Ultimately Hader got the best of him and pumped a fastball by Caminero for strike 3 to preserve the series split.
Rays leave Houston accomplishing what they needed to go, but feeling like their could have been even more. Overall on the series the Rays won the run battle 30-9. Just needed two of those 30 in either of the losses.
Up next is a trip back to Tampa to face the other Texas club on Tuesday,
