It felt like one of those games from the very outset, as the Tampa Bay Rays (5-5) took a 4-0 lead before two outs were recorded and never looked back, hanging on for a 9-3, series-salvaging victory over the White Sox (6-3) that was a bit tighter than the final score.
Vince Velásquez (1-1) deflated the Sunday afternoon crowd with a first-inning implosion that included a pair of bases-loaded walks, and a bobbled tapper back to the mound that turned a potential double play into a run and a baserunner.
To his credit, Velásquez settled down to keep the team in the game, working into the fifth inning without another run to preserve a hard-worked bullpen in the midst of a stretch of 38 games in 41 days.