Tampa Bay’s postseason in peril if relievers fall flat again

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If this were any other month on the calendar, you would call Friday night’s Rays game an anomaly.

Including last year’s postseason, the Rays had gone 202 games since the last time the bullpen had surrendered four home runs in a single night. And the three relievers who gave up that barrage of long balls Friday — Matt Wisler, Collin McHugh and Michael Wacha — had a combined ERA of 2.00 in 27 innings against the Red Sox this season.

Not to mention, when scoring six or more runs in a game, the Rays had a .900 winning percentage this year.

So, yes, the 14-6 loss to the

Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Division Series usually be would dismissed as a rare, maybe even fluky, outcome for a team that typically thrives on a procession of diverse relievers to protect leads.

But in October, fluky is just another word for fiasco.

And the Rays bullpen was certainly a fiasco Friday night.

Just a few days ago, when I wrote that the bullpen would play an outsize role in Tampa Bay’s postseason fortunes, I was thinking more about the league championship series and the World Series. Instead, we’re doing a bullpen autopsy two games into the playoffs.

So, what went wrong? The short answer is the Rays might have placed too much faith in

Wisler’s health and Wacha’s ability to come out of the bullpen.

Wisler had been a revelation since arriving in mid-June in a minor deal with the Giants. At a time when the Rays were going through some injuries, Wisler had a 1.98 ERA and 34 strikeouts in his first 271⁄3 innings of work in Tampa Bay.

But a finger injury — which might as well be a shoulder or elbow problem for a pitcher who throws sliders as often as Wisler — limited him to two innings of work in the previous seven weeks. Even more concerning, when Wisler thought his finger had healed in early September, he lasted only one batter before heading right back to the injured list.

So was it a mistake to trust that Wisler was healthy enough to be on the postseason roster a month later? It’s looking that way. And was it a mistake to bring him in to a 5-5 game with the 3-4-5 hitters coming up and a man on first? Yeah, that’s a legitimate argument, too.

Wisler gave up a single, a hard liner to right and then a home run to J.D. Martinez.

Two innings later, the Rays had cut their deficit to 8-6 when Wacha came out of the bullpen. When not starting, he had an 8.31 ERA and hitters had a .319 batting average and 1.040 OPS against him.

Which means it wasn’t necessarily shocking when Wacha gave up three singles, a double and a homer to the first eight hitters he faced over two innings Friday night.

The Rays have gotten this far because their relievers have carried them much of the way. The question now is whether there’s enough life in that bullpen for 10 more victories.