Guardians ready to ‘flush it’ and move on after latest quiet night for bats

ST. PETERSBURG — When it went bad for the Guardians on Friday night, it went bad in a hurry. With a slumping offense, they had no ammunition to fight back.

The Rays essentially put things away with a three-run fourth inning off starter Joey Cantillo in what ultimately became an 11-3 romp at Tropicana Field, sending the Guardians to their third consecutive defeat.

The Guardians were one out away from registering their fourth game of scoring just one run since the All-Star break, but that was washed away by Austin Hedges’ two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning.

“We’re facing some good pitching right now,’’ said Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, pointing specifically to Rays starting left-hander Shane McClanahan (9-6). “We just have to keep battling, keep stringing good at-bats together. This offense has shown this week that it can score a lot of runs [24 runs in three games against the Twins]. It has just been two tough games in a row.

“I thought we had some good at-bats, but we just weren’t able to get much [scoring]. When they stretched the game out, that kind of took the wind out of our sails. Tough night. These nights happen. We’ll flush it and be ready to go [Saturday].’’

Defense was also a major factor. With the Rays leading 2-1 in the fourth inning, right fielder Angel Martínez, playing his first game since June 13, unsuccessfully dived for Cedric Mullins’ sinking line drive. Mullins wound up with a triple to jump-start the three-run fourth.

A pivotal play: With one run in, the bases loaded and nobody out, first baseman Rhys Hoskins fielded a bouncer by Ben Williamson and had a great shot at pegging Jonny DeLuca at the plate. But Hoskins didn’t have a good grip on the ball, and it floated to Hedges. Nick Fortes followed with an RBI single, and it was 5-1.

“I probably just left a few two-strike pitches over the plate and wasn’t putting them in good enough spots,’’ said Cantillo (8-6), who was lifted with two outs in the fourth after throwing 38 pitches in that half-inning. “I made it tough on myself and threw a lot of pitches. I felt great. You’ve got to do a better job of limiting the damage there and putting us in a position to win the game. So on to the next one.’’

In the sixth, it appeared the Guardians had cut down a run at the plate. Junior Caminero’s single was fielded cleanly by left fielder David Fry, who uncorked what looked like a perfectly timed throw. But in the scrum to tag out Fortes, Hedges juggled the ball, and Fortes was ruled safe.

“He makes that play 10 out of 10 times,’’ Vogt said.

“It happened fast,’’ Hedges said. “I thought I had it, but obviously it came out at some point. Of course, it’s frustrating. You [want to] make every play. When you don’t, you move on to the next play.’’

Meanwhile, the Rays’ defense was spectacular at the appropriate moments. In the fourth, the Guardians scored their first run on Brayan Rocchio’s RBI double to score Chase DeLauter, who led off with a double of his own. In between, though, Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson made a running, diving catch on Hoskins’ twisting drive to stymie what could’ve been a big inning for the Guardians.

In the seventh, while trailing 6-1, the Guardians had a pair of baserunners on singles by Gabriel Arias and Hedges. But Rays shortstop Ben Williamson ended the inning by diving behind the second-base bag, then hopping up to nab Martínez by a step.

Things went from bad to worse in the eighth when reliever Shawn Armstrong, backing up a play behind the plate, suffered a left calf strain and was helped off the field. He will undergo imaging, and Vogt said more will be known Saturday.