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Art Deco · 01-10-2021, 08:15 PM

Game 1: The Rays continued to be sluggish on offense, only managing 6 hits, but Joe Barker slugged a homer in the bottom of the 9th to break a 3-3 tie and give the Rays a 4-3 win over Baltimore and a 9 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Jack Leiter got the start in place of the injured Alec Sachais and had a nightmarish second inning, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. But he settled in from there and shut down the Orioles, leaving with a 6 6 3 3 0 8 line and allowing his teammates to creep back into the game. Ricky Widmar started the comeback with his 2nd HR of the year to make it 3-1 in the 3rd, Bobby Witt Jr tripled in the 5th and scored on a Connor Kirkley single, and they manufactured in a run in the 6th when Widmar walked, stole second, went to third on a fly ball and scored on Nate Clark's sac fly. Jordan Diaz (4) and Jose Alvarado (5) got the final 9 outs in order, setting the stage for Barker's 13th HR of the year, a moon shot to dead center leading off the 9th against Ruben Galindo and sending the Trop into a walk-off frenzy. Alvarado picked up his first win of the season.

Game 2: It was a blowout, then it got close in the 8th, then it was a blowout again as the Rays ended up romping over the Orioles 11-3. Blake Money started despite still not being completely over his back spasms, and he was truly dominant over the first 4 innings, not allowing a hit and striking out 10 while walking 3. Unfortunately the back issues led to a slight hamstring tweak and he had to leave the game after that. He should be free of both injuries by the time his next start comes up. Andy Aparicio took over and continued the no-hitter for two more innings before giving up an Adley Rutschman double leading off the 7th. He still held Baltimore scoreless through that inning and picked up his 2nd win of the season. By that point it was 6-0 and Mike Mooney came on for the 8th and was flat-out terrible, giving up 3 runs and lucky it wasn't a 4th when Jud Fabian gunned down Druw Jones at home plate. But the Rays re-broke it open with 5 more in the bottom of the inning to make it 11-3, and Malachi Benford cleaned up with a 1-2-3 9th. On offense they steadily built the lead against Orioles ace Bryar Johnson, with Jasson Dominguez hitting #14 in the 2nd to make it 1-0, Fabian with an RBI single in the 3rd, Jhon Diaz and Isaac DeLeon with 4th inning RBI singles and DeLeon's RBI double and Connor Kirkley's RBI single in the 6th making it 6-0. And with two out and the bases loaded in the 8th, Ricky Widmar homered for the second straight night with his grand slam being #3 in only his 10th game back this season. Nate Clark tacked on an RBI double to close out the scoring. The division lead is a now-gargantuan 10 1/2 games.

Game 3: The Rays won a wild 8-7 back-and-forth game with Baltimore to sweep the series and open up an 11-game lead on the now-second place Yankees, but it came at a very significant cost. Christian Little ruptured a tendon in a finger on his pitching hand and will be out almost 3 1/2 months. This pretty much kills off the rest of his regular season (as well as his hopes of a 2nd straight Cy) save a few late-September appearances but hopefully he'll be good for the playoffs. The injury occurred in the 3rd and it meant for the second straight day the Rays would have to get a lot of innings out of the bullpen, which led to the crazy nature of the game. Malachi Benford came in for Little with one out in the 3rd and by the 5th it was 3-0 Baltimore. Jordan Diaz came in and got through the rest of the 5th and the 6th, and this enabled the Rays to take the lead with a 5-run rally in the 6th. Nate Clark had an RBI single, Jasson Dominguez an RBI groundout, Jhon Diaz a sac fly and Connor Kirkley a 2-run HR (#7) to break the tie. Evan Godwin gave up a homer in the 7th but nothing else and Daniel Espino came in for the 8th with a 5-4 lead, which he promptly blew in a terrible inning that saw 3 runs score and Espino leave with the bases loaded and 2 out. Jose Alvarado got Gunnar Henderson on a pop fly, and this set the stage for the bottom of the 8th when Bobby Witt Jr blasted a 3-run HR (#8) to give the Rays the lead back for good. Like the other day with JDLC the last fresh arm in the pen, Alvarado stayed in and saved his own win by getting the Orioles out in the 9th. Little's injury means Jack Leiter has a rotation spot for the rest of the season and we'll need another starter soon for Alec Sachais' spot until he comes off the IL. Benford will likely also go down for a fresh arm from Durham.

Team record: 44-17. Next up: Boston comes to town for 3.

01-10-2021, 08:15 PM	#559
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,586	June 8-10, 2029: vs Baltimore (3) Game 1: The Rays continued to be sluggish on offense, only managing 6 hits, but Joe Barker slugged a homer in the bottom of the 9th to break a 3-3 tie and give the Rays a 4-3 win over Baltimore and a 9 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Jack Leiter got the start in place of the injured Alec Sachais and had a nightmarish second inning, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. But he settled in from there and shut down the Orioles, leaving with a 6 6 3 3 0 8 line and allowing his teammates to creep back into the game. Ricky Widmar started the comeback with his 2nd HR of the year to make it 3-1 in the 3rd, Bobby Witt Jr tripled in the 5th and scored on a Connor Kirkley single, and they manufactured in a run in the 6th when Widmar walked, stole second, went to third on a fly ball and scored on Nate Clark's sac fly. Jordan Diaz (4) and Jose Alvarado (5) got the final 9 outs in order, setting the stage for Barker's 13th HR of the year, a moon shot to dead center leading off the 9th against Ruben Galindo and sending the Trop into a walk-off frenzy. Alvarado picked up his first win of the season. Game 2: It was a blowout, then it got close in the 8th, then it was a blowout again as the Rays ended up romping over the Orioles 11-3. Blake Money started despite still not being completely over his back spasms, and he was truly dominant over the first 4 innings, not allowing a hit and striking out 10 while walking 3. Unfortunately the back issues led to a slight hamstring tweak and he had to leave the game after that. He should be free of both injuries by the time his next start comes up. Andy Aparicio took over and continued the no-hitter for two more innings before giving up an Adley Rutschman double leading off the 7th. He still held Baltimore scoreless through that inning and picked up his 2nd win of the season. By that point it was 6-0 and Mike Mooney came on for the 8th and was flat-out terrible, giving up 3 runs and lucky it wasn't a 4th when Jud Fabian gunned down Druw Jones at home plate. But the Rays re-broke it open with 5 more in the bottom of the inning to make it 11-3, and Malachi Benford cleaned up with a 1-2-3 9th. On offense they steadily built the lead against Orioles ace Bryar Johnson, with Jasson Dominguez hitting #14 in the 2nd to make it 1-0, Fabian with an RBI single in the 3rd, Jhon Diaz and Isaac DeLeon with 4th inning RBI singles and DeLeon's RBI double and Connor Kirkley's RBI single in the 6th making it 6-0. And with two out and the bases loaded in the 8th, Ricky Widmar homered for the second straight night with his grand slam being #3 in only his 10th game back this season. Nate Clark tacked on an RBI double to close out the scoring. The division lead is a now-gargantuan 10 1/2 games. Game 3: The Rays won a wild 8-7 back-and-forth game with Baltimore to sweep the series and open up an 11-game lead on the now-second place Yankees, but it came at a very significant cost. Christian Little ruptured a tendon in a finger on his pitching hand and will be out almost 3 1/2 months. This pretty much kills off the rest of his regular season (as well as his hopes of a 2nd straight Cy) save a few late-September appearances but hopefully he'll be good for the playoffs. The injury occurred in the 3rd and it meant for the second straight day the Rays would have to get a lot of innings out of the bullpen, which led to the crazy nature of the game. Malachi Benford came in for Little with one out in the 3rd and by the 5th it was 3-0 Baltimore. Jordan Diaz came in and got through the rest of the 5th and the 6th, and this enabled the Rays to take the lead with a 5-run rally in the 6th. Nate Clark had an RBI single, Jasson Dominguez an RBI groundout, Jhon Diaz a sac fly and Connor Kirkley a 2-run HR (#7) to break the tie. Evan Godwin gave up a homer in the 7th but nothing else and Daniel Espino came in for the 8th with a 5-4 lead, which he promptly blew in a terrible inning that saw 3 runs score and Espino leave with the bases loaded and 2 out. Jose Alvarado got Gunnar Henderson on a pop fly, and this set the stage for the bottom of the 8th when Bobby Witt Jr blasted a 3-run HR (#8) to give the Rays the lead back for good. Like the other day with JDLC the last fresh arm in the pen, Alvarado stayed in and saved his own win by getting the Orioles out in the 9th. Little's injury means Jack Leiter has a rotation spot for the rest of the season and we'll need another starter soon for Alec Sachais' spot until he comes off the IL. Benford will likely also go down for a fresh arm from Durham. Team record: 44-17. Next up: Boston comes to town for 3. Last edited by Art Deco; 01-10-2021 at 11:27 PM.