Rays 10, Tigers 2: Price struggles early, bats struggle all game

In what could potentially be his final game as a Detroit Tiger, David Price was not his usual dominant self. Tampa Bay Rays starter Jake Odorizzi made quick work of a hapless Tigers offense, and Detroit lost 10-2, dropping their third straight game.

Unlike last year's game at Tropicana Field, Price struggled against the Rays, allowing five earned runs in six innings. Meanwhile  the Tigers offense continued to struggle again, scoring just once before the ninth inning. Things got worse for the Tigers as Natali Feliz gave up five runs in the eighth, recording just one out.

For some reason, Price had issues putting Rays batters away, as he recorded just four strikeouts in the six innings that he pitched. His pitch count got up early due to not really being able to get the last strike against many of the Rays batters. This was especially the case against Asdrubal Cabrera and Curt Casali. Cabrera's first two bats against Price ended up taking a total of 15 pitches. Cabrera ended up on base in both at-bats, coming around to score twice. Casali continued to tear up his former team, as he had two home runs off Price today, making it four home runs in two games.

Things only got worse as Price left the game. Natali Feliz came in the eighth and was only able to record out, giving up five earned runs on four hits and a walk. Evan Longoria hit a solo home run. Then, Feliz went on to load the bases. He was able to get Casali out, but allowed a three-run triple to Tim Beckham. Beckham would go on to score on a sacrifice fly after Feliz was lifted from the game.

The Tigers would come around to score one run in the ninth, as Jose Iglesias singled home Alex Avila with two outs.

ROARS:

Yoenis Céspedes: Céspedes had a home run for the second game in a row today. He is only one of two Tigers able to record an RBI for the Tigers during this series.

J.D. Martinez: Although he did not pick up any RBI today, Martinez still had a decent day at the plate. In the first inning, he got a big hit off the catwalk that should have been ruled a home run, but he was given a triple instead. In the fourth, he followed Céspedes and got another hit. He made his way to third that inning as well, but the rest of the offense was unable to score him.

HISSES:

David Price: Price had a rough game. His pitch count was in the upper 70s by the fourth, and he gave up multiple home runs to Curt Casali. He simply didn't get the job done this game when the Tigers needed him most.

The offense: For the second night in a row, the Tigers offense had trouble scoring against the Rays' starting pitcher. Although they threatened in both the first and the third inning, the Tigers only plated one run off Odorizzi in six innings.

Natali Feliz: Feliz came into the eighth trying to simply keep the Rays from scoring more runs. He didn't. Evan Longoria hit a solo home run. Then Feliz went on to load the bases. He was able to get Casali out, but then gave up a three-run triple to Tim Beckham. Beckham would go on to score after Feliz came out of the game, and Feliz ended up giving up five runs in the inning.

STREAKS AND STATS:

• Tonight was J.D. Martinez's 29th multi-hit game of the year.
• Yoenis Céspedes has seven home runs in the month of July.
• Casali is the 17th player to hit multiple home runs off Price in his career. The last person to do this in one game was Albert Pujols on May 18th, 2014.

WIN PROBABILITY GRAPH:

Source: FanGraphs