Glasnow Takes The Bump For The Rays In Saturday’s Loss

By Lily Belcher

After a long-awaited return to the bump, Rays ace Tyler Glasnow made his first start at Tropicana Field in nearly two years in the Rays’ narrow 6-5 loss against the Dodgers Saturday afternoon.

The righthander pitcher 4.1 frames with 83 pitches, 55 for strikes. He fanned six of his first ten batters, giving up a few long flyouts and a homerun in between. A leadoff pair of doubles in the top of the fourth, followed by a wild pitch allowed two more to score before Glasnow picked up his final two strikeouts of the night.

“It wasn’t perfect,” Glasnow admitted. “But, coming back for the first one, I’m happy with it.”

The Rays kept the Dodgers’ lead to one run, answering the pair of fourth inning RBI with two of their own. They claimed a 4-3 lead with a two-run homerun by Harold Ramirez in the fifth.

A quartet of relievers covered the final 4.2 frames, giving up two more RBI base hits in the seventh to give Los Angeles a one run lead.

The Dodgers’ bullpen held the Rays to just one run in the bottom of the ninth, stranding the tying run at third in Tampa Bay’s 16th loss of the season.

While his start was not as dominating as his Triple-A games leading up to his return, Glasnow posted an average line that leaves plenty of room for improvement this season. It may have been disappointing for fans who had extra time to over-hype up his return, but it was a solid start for his first game of the season.

Glasnow underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2021 after dealing with elbow issues throughout the summer. With his expected return set for the beginning of the 2023 season, an oblique injury sustained in Spring Training sidelined the hurler for nearly three more months.

“I’m happy to have him back,” Cash said simply after the game.

Josh Fleming will take the mound in the rubber match Sunday morning at 11:35 against left-hander Gavin Stone.