I’ve got to admit, when the Rays lost the lead in the eighth inning, I thought this game was gone. I started writing a recap that decried the less than stellar defense, the low energy, the lack of effective hitting.
But then Harold Ramirez shot a double down the leftfield line in the 11th inning and the Rays held on for victory.
So those complaints? Well, never mind.
But let’s start at the beginning. Kluber has been the great enigma on the Rays pitching staff — a few really abysmal starts, a lot of OK starts, and some high-quality games, such as the recent loss to New York in which he pitched seven strong innings.