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Art Deco · 02-04-2021, 09:59 AM

Game 1: Judging by the score, it looked like a pitchers' duel between Christian Little and Luis Castillo as the Rays edged Cleveland 2-1. But it was more of a LOB duel as both pitchers put a number of runners on but the teams couldn't capitalize on them. Fortunately for the Rays, Nate Clark capitalized twice on RBI singles in the 3rd and 5th as part of a 3-hit day. Little was better than his previous few outings, which had seen his ERA balloon in the neighborhood of 4.50, going 6 7 1 1 1 7 and improving to 5-1. The Rays had 10 baserunners off Castillo in his 6 innings but outside of Clark couldn't do much. The bullpen was solid, especially Evan Godwin. After Andy Aparicio put two on with two out in the 7th, Godwin got Cleveland's lefty slugger Austin Hendrick to line out to center to end that threat and was great through the 8th, striking out a pair as he continues to have one of his best season starts. Jose Alvarado came on for the 9th and struck out the leadoff man who reached on a wild pitch, but then had to leave with back spasms giving him a bizarre 0 0 0 0 0 1 line. Jasseel De La Cruz relieved him and whaddya know, he got Cleveland 1-2-3 with a whiff for save #5. Alvarado's injury was minor and he won't miss any time. Toronto won so they remain 3 behind.

Game 2: The Rays hung on for another one-run win at home, topping Cleveland 6-5 behind another big game from Nate Clark. Clark broke a 3-3 tie with a 2-run HR in the 2nd and then added what turned out to be the margin of victory with a solo shot in the 5th to give him 13 HR, tying him for the AL lead with former Ray Triston Casas. Alec Sachais got off to the roughest of starts, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in the first inning but ended up giving Cleveland very little after that and is now 7-0 after going 7 8 3 3 1 9. The bullpen made it an adventure though as Evan Godwin, whom I praised yesterday, didn't have it today and left with a run in and 2 on in the 8th, only for Jose Alvarado to give up an RBI double to cut it to 6-5 and put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out. But Alvarado got a whiff and got out of it and followed that up with a 1-2-3 9th to get his 4th save. After Sachais gave up the 3 runs in the top of the 1st the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the frame to score 3 of their own on RBI singles by Jasson Dominguez and Isaac DeLeon and a bases-loaded walk to Jhon Diaz. DeLeon had just been put into the game when Bobby Witt Jr injured his shoulder on a throw. Witt's going to be DtD for a week and with DeLeon a more-than-capable replacement Witt will probably just sit for the week. We were also treated to the sight of a Rodolfo Rivas triple. Yes, you read that right, he tripled when he went the opposite way into the RF corner and Cleveland had him shaded to pull. Even the play-by-play noted the incongruity of a 20 runner like Rivas getting a triple by saying "believe it or not". The Blue Jays lost so the lead grows to 4.

Game 3: Another one-run thriller, another one-run Rays win at Publix Park. Like in Game 1 the Rays came out on top 2-1 but this time it really was a pitchers' duel especially on the part of Jon Hayes who was dominant today. Hayes went 7.2 4 1 1 1 12 with the only damage a homer in the 7th from former Rays farmhand Jordan Evangelista (part of the Daniel Espino deal a few years back). He's now 5-2, 2.66 after two rough starts to begin his Rays career and is pitching like the ace he was advertised to be. Andy Aparicio came on in the 8th with a man on, gave up a single, but got a big whiff of Cleveland slugger Austin Hendrick and stayed on through the 9th despite allowing a 2-out double to pick up save #2. The bats only managed 4 hits but squeaked out the two runs on a Ricky Widmar RBI double (another old friend, Julio Cedillo, threw Connor Kirkley out at home on the play), and a wild pitch in the 6th. Another Blue Jay loss has expanded the division lead to 5.

Team record: 27-11. Next up: We hop on the plane to take a west coast road trip starting with 3 in Seattle.

02-04-2021, 09:59 AM	#634
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,588	May 10-12, 2030: vs Cleveland (3) Game 1: Judging by the score, it looked like a pitchers' duel between Christian Little and Luis Castillo as the Rays edged Cleveland 2-1. But it was more of a LOB duel as both pitchers put a number of runners on but the teams couldn't capitalize on them. Fortunately for the Rays, Nate Clark capitalized twice on RBI singles in the 3rd and 5th as part of a 3-hit day. Little was better than his previous few outings, which had seen his ERA balloon in the neighborhood of 4.50, going 6 7 1 1 1 7 and improving to 5-1. The Rays had 10 baserunners off Castillo in his 6 innings but outside of Clark couldn't do much. The bullpen was solid, especially Evan Godwin. After Andy Aparicio put two on with two out in the 7th, Godwin got Cleveland's lefty slugger Austin Hendrick to line out to center to end that threat and was great through the 8th, striking out a pair as he continues to have one of his best season starts. Jose Alvarado came on for the 9th and struck out the leadoff man who reached on a wild pitch, but then had to leave with back spasms giving him a bizarre 0 0 0 0 0 1 line. Jasseel De La Cruz relieved him and whaddya know, he got Cleveland 1-2-3 with a whiff for save #5. Alvarado's injury was minor and he won't miss any time. Toronto won so they remain 3 behind. Game 2: The Rays hung on for another one-run win at home, topping Cleveland 6-5 behind another big game from Nate Clark. Clark broke a 3-3 tie with a 2-run HR in the 2nd and then added what turned out to be the margin of victory with a solo shot in the 5th to give him 13 HR, tying him for the AL lead with former Ray Triston Casas. Alec Sachais got off to the roughest of starts, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits in the first inning but ended up giving Cleveland very little after that and is now 7-0 after going 7 8 3 3 1 9. The bullpen made it an adventure though as Evan Godwin, whom I praised yesterday, didn't have it today and left with a run in and 2 on in the 8th, only for Jose Alvarado to give up an RBI double to cut it to 6-5 and put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out. But Alvarado got a whiff and got out of it and followed that up with a 1-2-3 9th to get his 4th save. After Sachais gave up the 3 runs in the top of the 1st the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the frame to score 3 of their own on RBI singles by Jasson Dominguez and Isaac DeLeon and a bases-loaded walk to Jhon Diaz. DeLeon had just been put into the game when Bobby Witt Jr injured his shoulder on a throw. Witt's going to be DtD for a week and with DeLeon a more-than-capable replacement Witt will probably just sit for the week. We were also treated to the sight of a Rodolfo Rivas triple. Yes, you read that right, he tripled when he went the opposite way into the RF corner and Cleveland had him shaded to pull. Even the play-by-play noted the incongruity of a 20 runner like Rivas getting a triple by saying "believe it or not". The Blue Jays lost so the lead grows to 4. Game 3: Another one-run thriller, another one-run Rays win at Publix Park. Like in Game 1 the Rays came out on top 2-1 but this time it really was a pitchers' duel especially on the part of Jon Hayes who was dominant today. Hayes went 7.2 4 1 1 1 12 with the only damage a homer in the 7th from former Rays farmhand Jordan Evangelista (part of the Daniel Espino deal a few years back). He's now 5-2, 2.66 after two rough starts to begin his Rays career and is pitching like the ace he was advertised to be. Andy Aparicio came on in the 8th with a man on, gave up a single, but got a big whiff of Cleveland slugger Austin Hendrick and stayed on through the 9th despite allowing a 2-out double to pick up save #2. The bats only managed 4 hits but squeaked out the two runs on a Ricky Widmar RBI double (another old friend, Julio Cedillo, threw Connor Kirkley out at home on the play), and a wild pitch in the 6th. Another Blue Jay loss has expanded the division lead to 5. Team record: 27-11. Next up: We hop on the plane to take a west coast road trip starting with 3 in Seattle. Last edited by Art Deco; 02-04-2021 at 03:14 PM.