Marc Topkin

Saint Petersburg

Marc Topkin has covered the Rays for the Tampa Bay Times (formerly St. Petersburg Times) and http://t.co/8QlAF2xl since, well, forever.

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Articles

Late-inning magic disappears as Rays fall to Brewers

3 days ago | tampabay.com | Marc Topkin |John Romano

TAMPA — Drew Rasmussen was mostly sharp. Mostly efficient. Mostly impressive. And entirely frustrated. The Rays right-hander has given up only 15 hits over his last three starts, but five of those hits have been home runs. The long ball plagued him again on Sunday in a 4-2 loss to the Brewers. Rasmussen retired 10 of the first 11 hitters he faced before giving up back-to-back, opposite-field homers to Christian Yelich and William Contreras.
Rays have been in good hands defensively. This is why

4 days ago | tampabay.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — The Rays have had their days — quite a few actually — when they don’t score a lot of runs. Their highly-touted rotation has struggled at times, missing locations and erring in execution. And their bullpen can occasionally melt down, such as in Thursday’s historic loss. So as they try to navigate these inconsistencies to have a winning season, they’re going to need a good glove story.
Zack Littell heads into start vs. Brewers going in right direction

6 days ago | tampabay.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — Following strong starts to the season, Rays pitchers Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen have had to answer questions about some ugly numbers in back-to-back losses. Zack Littell is heading the other way. After losing his first four starts and posting a 5.48 ERA, Littell goes into Friday’s series opener with Milwaukee on a bit of a roll, with what he felt was an improved outing in a loss to Arizona, and then back-to-back wins against the Padres and Yankees.
Zack Littell heads into start vs. Brewers going in right direction

6 days ago | sports.yahoo.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — Following strong starts to the season, Rays pitchers Shane Baz and Drew Rasmussen have had to answer questions about some ugly numbers in back-to-back losses. Zack Littell is heading the other way. AdvertisementAfter losing his first four starts and posting a 5.48 ERA, Littell goes into Friday’s series opener with Milwaukee on a bit of a roll, with what he felt was an improved outing in a loss to Arizona, and then back-to-back wins against the Padres and Yankees.
In position for inspiring win, Rays end up with historic loss

6 days ago | tampabay.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — This is how bad it is going for the Rays. They got a strong start from Ryan Pepiot. They got a couple of big hits and some runs from an offense that had been struggling mightily. They took a four-run lead into the eighth inning Thursday night with their top relievers lined up and the chance to at least pause the talk about their struggles at Steinbrenner Field. And they somehow ended up with another frustrating — and historic — loss.
Rays blow late lead, then lose in 10 innings to Phillies

6 days ago | orlandosentinel.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA - The Rays did a lot right on Thursday but came out on the wrong end of a 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Phillies. With a strong start by Ryan Pepiot and homers from Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz, the Rays took a 5-1 lead to the eighth. But the Phillies narrowed the gap with a three-run homer by Bryson Stott off Edwin Uceta. They had a chance for more when Trea Turner drove a ball deep to left that Christopher Morel had a chance to make a leaping catch of but couldn't hang on.
Rays blow late lead, then lose in 10 innings to Phillies

6 days ago | tampabay.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — The Rays did a lot right on Thursday but came out on the wrong end of a 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Phillies. With a strong start by Ryan Pepiot and homers from Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz, the Rays took a 5-1 lead to the eighth. But the Phillies narrowed the gap with a three-run homer by Bryson Stott off Edwin Uceta. They had a chance for more when Trea Turner drove a ball deep to left that Christopher Morel had a chance to make a leaping catch of but couldn’t hang on.
Rays blow late lead, then lose in 10 innings to Phillies

6 days ago | sports.yahoo.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — The Rays did a lot right on Thursday but came out on the wrong end of a 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Phillies. With a strong start by Ryan Pepiot and homers from Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz, the Rays took a 5-1 lead to the eighth. AdvertisementBut the Phillies narrowed the gap with a three-run homer by Bryson Stott off Edwin Uceta. They had a chance for more when Trea Turner drove a ball deep to left that Christopher Morel had a chance to make a leaping catch of but couldn’t hang on.
Rays have an ‘out of sync’ offense, no answers and mounting losses

1 week ago | tampabay.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA — Answering a question before Wednesday’s game about the maddening inconsistency his team has shown during the first six weeks, Rays manager Kevin Cash drew a comparison to last season. He said it felt “very similar” at the moment to the ups, downs and lack of rhythm in their frustrating 80-82 showing, but said, “I don’t think that that’s where we’re going to end up this year.”Cash may well be right. But not in the way he meant.
Rays have an ‘out of sync’ offense, no answers and mounting losses

1 week ago | miamiherald.com | Marc Topkin

TAMPA - Answering a question before Wednesday's game about the maddening inconsistency his team has shown during the first six weeks, Rays manager Kevin Cash drew a comparison to last season. He said it felt "very similar" at the moment to the ups, downs and lack of rhythm in their frustrating 80-82 showing, but said, "I don't think that that's where we're going to end up this year."Cash may well be right. But not in the way he meant.