Some news from Durham:
DeLeon has been on a power tear the last couple of weeks and he has 40-HR MLB power right now. Forgive me if I'm repeating myself, can't remember if I mentioned this earlier but my plan for DeLeon in 2028 is for him to take over the Keston Hiura spot on the roster, platooning at 3B with Casas and spelling Ricky Widmar at short.
Game 1: The Rays made it 4 in a row with an 8-6 win over the White Sox, and the stars of the game were 3 guys who spent the first half of the season in Durham. Julio Cedillo had his biggest game as a Ray, clubbing his first MLB HR in the 6th (off a lefty, no less) to turn a 3-1 game into a 5-1 game and then had the biggest play of the night in the top of the 7th when he saved the bullpen from a complete meltdown, gunning down Nick Madrigal at home plate on a fly ball to keep the lead at 5-4 and end the inning. For the night he was 3-4 with the HR and a steal. The other ex-Bull with a bat who had a big night was Nate Clark, whose double ahead of Cedillo's homer in the 6th made it 3-1, and later drilled a HR (#7) in the 8th inning that helped provide insurance that was needed when the bullpen went bad again in the 9th. Clark also stole a base as part of a double steal with Cedillo which set up Judson Fabian's sac fly in the 5th to break a 1-1 tie. The third ex-Bull to shine tonight was Jack Leiter, who went 6 strong innings and won his 6th game despite the best efforts of the bullpen to blow it. He went 6 5 2 2 2 3 with the second run a Nick Senzel HR leading off the 7th. Evan Godwin then came in and walked three men and gave up a hit, giving Chicago two more runs before Aaron Ashby came in, picking up a whiff and getting the fly ball that Cedillo turned into a double play. Daniel Espino got two big outs in the 8th, and with the lead up to 8-4 going into the 9th after Keston Hiura blasted a 2-run HR (#11) following Clark's longball, Jack Filby came in and gave up two more runs himself before Jose Alvarado had to be brought in to get the final out and save #8. A Yankee win in Boston means the magic # is now 18.
Game 2: For once a dominant Christian Little start wasn't for naught, although the offense tried its best as the Rays clung to a 1-0 lead for 7 1/2 before a pair of 8th inning HRs made it a 3-0 final. Little was overpowering as usual, and with the bullpen a bit thin after last night's game he ended up throwing a season-high 122 pitches in a 7.2 5 0 0 0 13 outing. Daniel Espino got the last out of the 8th (but not after giving up a hit), and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th for save #19. Little is now 13-7, 3.05 but should have 16-17 wins with normal support. The 13 Ks give him a whopping 249 in 177.1 innings and he's only walked 29 all year. The only run for the first 7 1/2 came in the 2nd when the Rays put men on 1st and 3rd with nobody out and Andrew Knizner hit into a double play with the man scoring from 3rd. Chicago's Danny Knight who was expected to be an opener, ended up staying in and going 7 4 1 1 4 2 and did get help with Judson Fabian thrown out at the plate in the 4th. He finally gave way to Miguel Castro in the 8th and Rays hitters were happy to see someone else as Keston Hiura (#12) and Wander Franco (#22) greeted him with back-to-back jacks to break the tension. The Yankees lost so the magic # drops to 16.
Time for some monthly awards:
My original thoughts were to have Andy Aparicio take over Matt Manning's rotation spot next season but Aparicio has had a mediocre-to-terrible 2nd half with Durham while Johns has been lights-out (and pitched quite well for the big club) so at the moment he has the inside track on the 5th starter spot behind McClanahan, Anglin, Little and Leiter next year.
September 1: Recalled P Hayden Johns from AAA Durham.
It's time for September roster expansion, and you just saw above that Johns has earned a return. I can bring up another hitter but my only 40-man options are Isaac DeLeon (don't want to burn a year of service), Carlos Perez (don't really need a 3rd catcher), and Connor Kirkley (having a great year at Durham but Hiura and Gonzales have 2B covered). I'll probably just end up leaving Cedillo up when Brandon Marsh comes back in the middle of the month, he'll give us a true CF backup which we haven't had, and can go in defensively for Marsh (75 vs 55) when needed.
Game 3: This was looking like another typical Trop game with the Rays up 1-0 after 6, and then it suddenly went wrong and by the time the Rays batted in the bottom of the 7th it was 8-1 White Sox on the way to a 9-3 loss. Mack Anglin was pitching one of if not the best games of his season, 2-hitting the Sox through 6 and retiring the first man in the 7th. But he gave up 2 hits and then a walk to load the bases and Liam Hendriks came on. Hendriks couldn't get it done, giving up a 2-run single, another hit to re-load the bases and then issued a bases-loaded walk, so enter Evan Godwin. And for the second time in three nights Godwin was terrible. He got a force at the plate, but then allowed a 2-run single to Nick Madrigal and a 3-run HR to Collin Montez and it was 8-1. Hayden Johns pitched the final two innings, allowing a run in the 9th. The bats couldn't get much going again tonight, finally breaking through in the 6th on Yordan Alvarez's 2nd hit of the game, an RBI double, as he broke out of another slump. Unfortunately he tweaked his back on the double and is DtD for a week. His replacement in the lineup, Nick Gonzales, accounted for the other 2 Rays runs with HR #3 in the 8th. Despite the loss the magic # is reduced to 15 with another Yankees loss.
Game 4: Shane McClanahan was sharp again in a 5-2 Rays win today. Mac continued to bolster his Cy Young chances today with a 7 4 2 2 1 7 outing which ties him with Jon Hayes for AL wins lead at 17, maintains his league-leading ERA at 2.89 and his 188 Ks put him 5th in the league. His only bad pitch came in the 2nd when Benyamin Bailey took him deep to put Chicago ahead briefly 2-1 after Wander Franco hit #23 in the first inning. Wander's RBI single in the 3rd tied the game and Nate Clark's RBI fielder's choice that inning gave them the lead to stay. Clark added an RBI single in the 5th and Nick Gonzales homered for the second straight day in the 6th (#4) to make it 5-2. Jack Filby had a scoreless 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz made it save #20 with a 1-2-3 9th. The Yankees were idle so the magic # is now 14.
Team record: 90-50. Next up: A weekend in Toronto to play 3 against the Jays.