Rays’ starters frustrated by stunted starts

TORONTO — The Rays’ starting pitching is the strength of the team, that’s a fact. What’s perplexing has been seeing that unit not be as strong as expected in the early part of the season.

Drew Smyly picked up the win against the Blue Jays Monday night, giving the starting rotation eight for the season. Consider this: between 2010 and 2015, Rays starters accrued 381 wins, the third most in the Major Leagues.

More aggravating than the wins and losses, has been the starting group’s inability to pitch deep into the games.

While Smyly got the win and pitched through some difficult moments to do so Monday night, he only pitched five innings. Heading into Tuesday night’s action, Rays starters had gone more than five innings just once in their last seven games.

The starting rotation is its own biggest critic.

“Every starter takes pride in going deep,” Smyly said. “That’s what we want to do when it’s our day to pitch. We want to pitch the whole game. The goal is to go nine. Obviously it’s not going to happen most nights. We definitely want to go deeper than five innings. Five and dive isn’t something starters feel good about at the end of the day. …

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