ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For over a quarter of the season, the Rays have managed to get by without one of their aces. They gave Tyler Glasnow plenty of time to properly heal and rehab the strained oblique muscle that put him on the shelf in spring training. It got harder with the loss of Jeffrey Springs and then Drew Rasmussen.
Sunday, however, they couldn’t get past the Brewers with the combination of Jalen Beeks as the opener and Cooper Criswell carrying the bulk. Former Rays shortstop Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez and William Contreras hammered homers as Milwaukee beat the Rays 6-4 in front of 20,193 at Tropicana Field.
Josh Lowe homered, his 11th, tying him with Yandy Diaz for the team lead, and drove in four runs on the day, but it wasn’t enough for the Rays (34-14).
The best news of the day for Tampa Bay came from 700 miles north. In Durham, Glasnow got through what will likely be his last minor-league rehab start smoothly. He allowed a run on two hits over 6 ⅔ innings. He walked two and struck out six, throwing 67 pitches on the day.
If everything stays in this line, Glasnow would slot into the Rays rotation on Friday, taking what has been the spot the Beeks-to-Criswell tandem has been holding.
Beeks gave up a leadoff home run to Adames, who celebrated the second anniversary of the day Tampa Bay traded him to the Brewers by doing the Randy Arozarena folded arms pose after crossing home plate. Arozarena laughed at his former teammate.
The rest of the damage came against Criswell.
He gave up a two-run home run to Tellez in the fourth.
After Lowe crushed a three-run homer to tie the score in the bottom of the fourth inning, Criswell gave up a two-run shot to Contreras followed by a double to Christian Yelich in the top of the fifth. The Brewers got their sixth run on Brian Anderson’s two-out single.
Lowe also drove in the Rays’ fourth run on a line-drive single in the eighth. The Rays had the bases loaded with two outs that inning, but Milwaukee brought in closer Devin Williams to get the Brewers out of the inning.
Since the injuries to Springs (out for the season after Tommy John surgery) and Rassmussen (out for an extended period with a right flexor strain) and with the bullpen unsettled, the Rays need any pitching help they can get.
Top prospect Taj Bradley is back in the rotation out of necessity, but beyond that the Rays’ system is a little thin in pitching. Glasnow’s return is the only help on the horizon.
