Game 1: The Rays took a 7-3 win over Cleveland to start their 4-game series, although one milestone went by the wayside tonight. Jaiden Hardway's 67-game on-base streak came to an end when he went 0-4 today. I wasn't even aware of it until I got a notification after the game was over, but it was one of the longest such streaks in MLB history as Ted Williams (who holds the record at 84) had been the only player to exceed 70. As for the game itself the Rays faced Jimmy West, whom they traded along with Jordan Evangelista in 2027 to get Daniel Espino. West set the Rays down through 3 on only 23 pitches but he lost the plot in the 4th, loading the bases and forcing in a run by walking Bo Angeac, and Omar Rodriguez delivered a 2-run single before a Luis Corpus RBI groundout and it was 4-0. Jon Soranno was cruising along against a lefty-heavy Cleveland lineup (7 of the 9) until he ran out of gas in the 6th and put two on ahead of Evangelista, who took him deep to cut the lead to 4-3. Soranno finished 5.2 4 3 3 2 7 and went to 15-3. Danny Medina relieved him and pitched through the 7th, but Mike Wherry made a mess with one out in the 8th by loading the bases, so Kikuo Kawase rode to the rescue and got a strikeout and a fly ball to preserve the lead. Then in the bottom of the inning Nate Clark had his daily 8th-inning homer (#44, his fourth straight game with one) with a man on and Victor de Jesus followed him with #41. Kawase stayed on for a 1-2-3 9th and picked up save #14.
Game 2: It was nice to get a low-scoring game for a change but one thing that didn't change is the outcome as the Rays took their 8th straight with a 3-1 win behind Nate Schultz. The Cy Young candidate in a rotation with other Cy Young candidates improved his already-gaudy record to 16-1 with a 6 4 1 1 2 9 outing that lowered his ERA to 3.34. The only damage he suffered was Jordan Evangelista homering for the second straight game. After Schultz left, the "A" bullpen took over with Tim Siqueiros going 1-2-3 with a pair of whiffs, Kikuo Kawase doing likewise in the 8th and Jordan Diaz getting save #10 in the 9th despite a hit batter and a single. The offense was very quiet by its standards but Jaiden Hardaway responded to seeing his 67-game on-base streak end yesterday by starting a new one immediately and getting on all four bases with HR #32 leading off the game. Rodolfo Rivas singled in a run in the 3rd and Bo Angeac did the same thing in the 8th to provide a little insurance.
Game 3: In what was officially the craziest game of the year the Rays beat Cleveland 13-12 in 10 innings. Nate Thompson was rocked for 7 runs in 2 1/3 innings to put the Rays in a 7-0 hole, but the first 8 hitters of the 5th inning reached for Tampa Bay and scored to give them the lead and they added 3 more in the 6th to go up 11-7, where things stood until the 9th. But Mike Wherry gave up a 3-run homer to make it 11-10 in the 9th and Jordan Diaz allowed a game-tying homer to send it to extra innings after the Rays loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th with two out but couldn't score. Diaz gave up a leadoff double in the 10th, which came around to score on an infield hit off Bob Sirna to put Cleveland ahead 12-11, and then in the bottom of the 10th Victor de Jesus led off with a single and it looked like he'd be stranded but with two out Bo Angeac stepped up and of course hit a game-winner HR (#34). Whew! Too much to recap individually, so I'm presenting the box on this one, complete with one of the wackiest win probability charts you'll see:
Also, check out today's leaderboards. I've never seen the same team have all 3 top spots in hitter and pitcher WAR:
Game 4: Once again Cleveland gave the Rays all they could handle, and the Rays handled it again it walk-off fashion after blowing a 9th-inning lead with a 4-3 win today in a game markedly less insane than yesterday's. Leo Ortega got the start while in the throes of a 16 ER allowed in his last 18 IP slump covering his last four starts, and he was tagged for a couple of runs in the 2nd. But he did calm down from there, with help from Danny Ayala throwing out a runner at the plate, to go 6 7 2 2 1 8. The Rays quickly got the 2 runs in the 2nd back in the bottom of the frame when yesterday's walk-off HR hero Bo Angeac picked up where he left off by hitting #35 and Danny Ayala went back-to-back with him with #3. And then Vlad Guerrero Jr. hit #7/#26 in the 3rd to give the Rays a 3-2 lead which stood up going into the 9th. Tim Siqueiros was brilliant yet again with 2 scoreless innings to help save a tired pen. He whiffed 4 and now has an astounding 84 whiffs in 47 innings, overshadowed by Kikuo Kawase's 100+ Ks. But Jim Connors couldn't get it done in the 9th, giving up a 2-out double to former Yankee Joe Allen to tie the game. But just like yesterday the Rays responded after blowing the lead and with two out in the bottom of the 9th Alex Buitrago and Will Quintana hit back-to-back doubles to walk it off again for the Rays, who just refuse to lose and now have won 10 straight and 18 of 19. Connors vultured his 4th win of the year.
Team record: 95-24. Next up: 4 games in Toronto, a hard place to win for us the last two seasons including 0-2 this year.