• The job of the top two hitters in a lineup is to get on base. Rays leadoff hitter Ji-Man Choi and No. 2 Tommy Pham didn’t do their jobs Wednesday. Choi was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, and Pham was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. That’s way too many strikeouts for the top two hitters in the lineup. But surely they know that.
• Rookie LH Brendan McKay didn’t pitch that poorly. He scattered six hits through five-plus innings and had eight strikeouts. His six homers in six starts might be a little higher than the Rays would like, and they would also like him to go deeper than six innings.