Game 1: What an ugly and disappointing game. After four perfect innings two days ago, the bullpen was horrific today, blowing a 3-run lead in the 9th to send us to extra innings where they gave up 5 more runs in an ultimate 11-8, 14-inning loss to the Mets. 7.1 14 9 7 3 9 was the combined line of the bullpen as the Mets scored twice in the 12th and 3 more times in the 15th. Alec Sachais got the start and while he was much more hittable than normal, he still got the job done after surrendering a 2-run HR to Miguel Andujar in the 1st inning, finishing 6.2 9 2 2 0 7 and leaving up 5-2. After Evan Godwin got the final out of the 7th, the Rays added another run to go up 6-2. Daniel Espino was ineffective for the second straight outing, giving up Andujar's 2nd HR of the game and another hit in the 8th, but Jose Alvarado rescued him. Alvarado then put one on with one out in the 9th for Jasseel De La Cruz to come on, and JDLC gave up another hit, putting two men on for Pete Alonso, and the Met slugger crushed a 2-0 pitch to tie the game. Jack Filby, in his second inning, should have been out of the 12th but Keibert Ruiz threw away a squibber in front of the plate that would have been the third out, and Danny Santana singled in both runners to give the Mets an 8-6 lead. But Jhon Diaz crushed HR #12 with a man on to tie it with one out, and the Rays put the next two men on but couldn't get the winning run in. That cost them in the 14th when with one out, Aaron Ashby loaded the bases and Andujar's career night continued when he cleared them for a 4-hit, 2-HR, 6-RBI game. Earlier the Rays were looking in good shape after Nate Clark hit #20 with a man on to give them a 4-2 lead and Judson Fabian hit his 2nd RBI double of the game as part of a 4-hit night. Gavin Lux was also on base 5 times with 4 hits and a walk in 7 plate appearances. Jasson Dominguez had to leave with a "moderate" 1-2 week back injury, so he may have to go on the IL. We may also need to call up a reliever.
June 21: Placed OF Jasson Dominguez on the 10-day IL with back stiffness, recalled OF Luis Berdin from AAA Durham.
We're going to fake it with Jhon Diaz and his 40 defense in CF for 10-14 days, the only other option was to call up Dayle Jenkins from AA but he'd have to go on the 40-man and we'd burn service time which isn't worth it for two weeks. Berdin finally gets the long-deserved call even if it is temporary.
Game 2: The Rays managed a split of their series with the Mets, hanging on for a 5-4 win with Blake Money making it 10 wins in 10 starts and going to 11-0. It looked like a romp in the early innings as the Rays raced out to a 5-0 lead by the 3rd. Yordan Alvarez singled in a run in the 1st, Ryan Jeffers had a 2-run single in the 2nd scoring Luis Berdin, who singled in his first MLB at-bat, and they picked up a 3rd run in the inning on a double play. Alvarez then followed with HR #16 in the 3rd. Meanwhile, Money was dealing, shutting out the Mets on 3 hits through 5 innings. But he got into trouble in the 6th, giving up a couple of hits, and with the bullpen down to a skeleton crew Jack Leiter was pressed into relief today with his next start being skipped thanks to the 6-man rotation and days off. The adjustment to relief did not suit Leiter well, as he gave up 3 hits, scoring Money's two runners and two of his own, and it was suddenly 5-4. Money's day ended 5.1 5 2 2 1 9. Leiter stayed on for the 7th and got a couple of outs, then walked a man and Daniel Espino got him out of the inning and pitched a scoreless 8th. Jasseel De La Cruz atoned for last night's debacle by getting a 1-2-3 9th, including a rematch with Pete Alonso with 2 out which he won when he got the Met slugger to ground to 2nd to end the game and picked up save #12. Berdin went 1-4 in his debut and stole a base. After the Rays torched New York starter Koby Blunt for the 5 runs, ex-Rays farmhand Emerson Hancock came on. You may recall we traded him at the end of spring training for Jeffers, and the Cards tried to sneak Hancock through waivers but the Mets claimed him. Anyway, Hancock has pitched well in long relief for New York and did so again today with 3 scoreless innings. He has a 12/52 BB/K ratio through 44 innings with a 3.22 ERA.
Team record: 50-22. Next up: a 7-game west coast trip starts with 4 games in Anaheim.
After the game we made a trade:
Wanted to pick up another lefty, for this year and next as Aaron Ashby will be a free agent (right now our only free agent) at year's end. Bowers has put up good numbers and will go to Durham for now, although he may replace Christian Chamberlain at some point. The price was right for me as Mace was never going to get a callup and he's toiled for 2 1/2 years at Durham and deserves an MLB shot (assuming Arizona gives him one).