Early (5-4) took the loss Monday against the Rays, allowing two runs on five hits and four walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out six.
Early struggled with his control Monday, matching a season worst in walks allowed while tossing only 54 of his 96 pitches for strikes. On a more positive note, however, the 24-year-old right-hander did extend his streak of starts with at least five strikeouts to six. Early will carry a strong 3.30 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 69:27 K:BB over 71 innings into his next scheduled outing at home versus the Rangers.