Terry Francona said before Sunday’s game that he felt like a flower after being run over by a truck. Considering that his club was about to begin its second consecutive day game — this after a Friday contest that lasted until 3 a.m. — he had reason to be tired.
Maybe he felt more irritable, too.
Francona was tossed in the fifth inning for arguing balls and strikes during a Nick Swisher at-bat. It was his first ejection of the season. His starter, Zach McAllister, didn’t seem to like the strike zone enforced by home-plate umpire Bill Welke, either. He walked four batters in a rough performance that marked the end of an impressive personal streak that dated back to last season, as the Rays took the series and the contest, 11-3.
“I just thought his strike zone was — I thought he was inconsistent,” Francona said. “I went back and looked at the pitches, and I said [to Welke], ‘I feel stronger now than I did when I was yelling at you from the dugout.'”
McAllister came into his Sunday start having held opponents to three earned runs or fewer while lasting at least five innings in 12 straight outings. The right-hander didn’t meet either of those standards against the Rays, who knocked him out of the game after he’d allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
“It definitely means something,” McAllister said of the streak. “It means that you’re being consistent out there and giving you team a chance to win, which is always important. At the same time, it’s not something I go out there and think about when I’m pitching.”
For the first time in his career, McAllister (4-5) did not register a strikeout. His ERA rose to 3.43 in the loss. Though the strike zone might have been an issue, the righty admitted he had trouble with his command.
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