[Art Deco]

Game 1: Another of those games where the outcome was secondary to possible injury news, although this time it didn't turn out to be as catastrophic as the Hand injury. The scare came courtesy of Jose Alvarado, who had to leave in the 8th after striking out the two batters he faced. It was one of those "injured, diagnosis pending" situations but I've since learned I can end the suspense by going into the editor section of his player page. But I couldn't do that until the game ended. It did end well for the Rays, with a 7-5 win, and it turned out Alvarado just has back spasms and is out 3 days. I'll give him a week's rest for good measure. The Rays got their revenge on Kontaro Yokoyama, who ended their 25-game winning streak 10 days earlier, with 5 runs off him in 3 2/3 innings. The big hits came courtesy of Yusniel Diaz, who had a 2-RBI double in the first and an RBI double in the 5th. Nelson Cruz had a bases-loaded walk to reach the 100 RBI mark, Whit Merrifield and Wander Franco were each 3-4 with an RBI and Keibert had a sac fly to round out the scoring. Tyler Glasnow got the start and he was effective but not efficient, needing 107 pitches to get through a 5 5 2 2 2 9 outing to improve to 12-2. Dany Jimenez put a couple of men on in the 7th and was relieved by Trevor Gott, who allowed the first runner to score on a groundout and then gave up a 2-run HR to Francisco Lindor to get it close. Enter and exit Alvarado, and then Will Harris came on and got the final four outs for his first Rays save, 3 of them via strikeout. His numbers with the Rays have been incredible: a 1.72 ERA in 31 1/3 innings with a 2/37 BB/K ratio. With the win the Rays clinched a playoff spot, with the magic # for the division down to 6 as the Jays were idle, and they tied the 2008 team for most wins (97) in a regular season.

September 13: Recalled P Clarke Schmidt from AAA Durham.

Didn't want to have to do this with Schmidt slated to pitch Game 1 of the IL Championship Series later this week, but I was down to Chirinos and Gallegos being the only available relievers with a Joe Ryan start that usually lasts 5-6 innings on tap for tonight. McClanahan threw 95 pitches for Durham 3 days ago so he wasn't available. Schmidt becomes the 28th man on the roster with September expansion.

Game 2: An improbable win for the Rays in a game they were fighting from behind almost the entire way. Joe Ryan was his usual HR-happy self, allowing 3 more in 5 innings (to give him 43 in 155 IP!). He also walked 5, but they were generally after the HRs and not in front of them, so Cleveland only scored 3 on the solo shots. The offense got off to a slow start against Logan Allen, only managing 2 hits through the first five innings but that changed in the 6th. Whit Merrifield, who continues to hit in place of Brujan, homered to lead off the inning and later in the frame Yusniel Diaz singled in a run and Max Kepler doubled in another to tie the game. But Yonny Chirinos allowed single runs in the seventh and eighth and it was 5-3 Cleveland. Diaz doubled in another run to get the Rays back within 5-4 in the bottom of the 8th but Gio Gallegos gave that run right back in the top of the 9th to make it 6-4 Cleveland. Enter James Karinchak, the Cleveland closer who's been up-and-down all year but up in his two appearances against the Rays, including the streak-stopper. Well tonight he was down as he gave up a Toro double, walked Merrifield, and then served a 3-run homer to Wander to give the Rays a walk-off win in a game they never led until it ended and to set the franchise win record for a season with 98. The HR gives Wander 27 on the season with 124 RBI, behind only Francisco Lindor and Vlad Jr. Gallegos got the win, which he really didn't deserve. And we didn't need to use Clarke Schmidt, so he should back to Durham to pitch Game 1 of their championship series. This latest poor performance from Ryan has me thinking about going back to Yonny in his place next turn, but it really doesn't matter much given neither should figure into the playoff rotation (he says quite sure there won't be an injury to the top 4 between now and then). Jays lost so the magic number is reduced to 4.

Minor League Playoff Update: The Biscuits are cooked as they fell 11-5 to Pensacola in the decisive Game 5 of their first round Southern League series. Homers by Nick Schnell and Osmy Gregorio staked them to an early 4-2 lead but starter Jimmy Lewis didn't have it, and Danny Hultzen threw gasoline on the fire in the fifth when Pensacola went up 8-5 to stay and that was that.

Game 3: The Rays made it 6 in a row and got win #99 on the season with a closer-than-it-should-have-been 5-4 win over Cleveland. Chris Paddack was brilliant as usual, going 7 6 0 0 2 7 to go 7-0 as a Ray and get win #17 overall, while Shane Bieber did his best Joe Ryan impersonation, allowing HRs to Brandon Marsh, Joey Gallo and a 2-run shot to Kevin Kiermaier as the Rays built a 5-0 lead. But the bullpen did its best to squander it, primarily in the person of Trevor Gott. After getting the first two out in the 8th, he allowed four hits, a walk and a hit batter and Nick Anderson had to clean up for him. Anderson was greeted by a Travis d'Arnaud single to score two but he got Jake Lamb to pop out. In the 9th he made it interesting putting two men on but getting out of it on a Nolan Jones fly ball for save #4. Nolan Gorman got the start at 3B today and struck out all 3 times up. Day off tomorrow, which the bullpen needs, then they'll seek win #100 against Oakland who comes to town and has fallen out of the wild card race. Gott, meanwhile, continues to be the weak link the pen with all 4 runs charged against him and his Rays ERA ballooning to 5.91 as he's no lock to make the playoff roster at this point. The Jays lost so the magic # is 2, meaning they could clinch the division in as soon as two days.

Ex-Ray note: Brendan McKay went 7.2 3 0 0 0 3 to beat Seattle today and lower his Padres ERA to 4.70. He's been up-and-down since the trade but one thing he's improved on is the walks, only 11 in 46 IP for San Diego after 53 in 103 IP for the Rays this season.

Team record: 99-46.