The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays returned home from the west coast and beat the Red Sox 7-2 in their series opener. Jose Mendoza was pretty good (6 6 2 2 2 4) to improve to 6-5, 5.03 and Jon Harbour went the final 3 innings for his first save of the year. Jimmy Leonard led the offense, 2 for 4 with a solo homer (#19), steal and 3 runs scored, Josh Beckett had a 2-run HR (#8) and Dave Frick and Seth Williams each had 3 hits and an RBI.

Game 2: Tampa Bay had its hitting shoes on today and broke open a close game with a 6-run 7th to rout Boston 14-5. Luis Barela was 4-5 with HR #17, a double, and 3 RBI while Doug Johns doubled and homered (#9) driving in 3 himself. Josh Alexander chipped in with a 2-run clout (#17) while Josh Beckett and Tony Cordova each had 3 of the Rays' 19 hits. Jim Brophy had far from his best stuff and was a mediocre 5 9 3 3 2 0, but the run support lifted him to 12-0, 2.34.

Game 3: The Rays tasted defeat at home for only 5th time in 36 games as Mike Barkley gave up a 9th-inning homer after the Rays battled back to tie and they fell 8-7 to the Red Sox. Josh Alexander capped a huge day with a 2-run homer in the 8th, his second of the day and 19th of the year, to tie the game and give him 5 RBI on the afternoon and Seth Williams doubled twice among his three hits and drove in one. They had to come back thanks to a terrible start from Brad Jackson, who allowed a pair of homers in going 3.2 10 7 7 1 2 and saw his ERA balloon to 4.55. Barkley suffered his third loss of the year thanks to the homer.

Team record: 57-19. Next up: 3 more at home vs the Angels.

[Art Deco]

June 26: Activated OF Dan Gregory from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned OF Randy Rappaport to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays took a 10-4 win over the Angels in their series opener at Publix Park behind homers from Luis Barela (#18), Doug Johns (#10) and Tony Cordova (#4) while Seth Williams drove in 3 with a triple and single. Dan Anderson got his first start in the majors after 3 1/2 years in relief and cruised through 4 before running out of gas in the 5th, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and finishing 4.2 8 3 3 0 4, one out short of a win. Instead it went to Sean Forbes (his 5th) and Satoshi Sato actually picked up a save when Aidan Williams made a mess in the 8th, Sato's 2nd of the year.

Game 2: The Rays dropped the middle game 7-3 to LA as Greg Bookhart was knocked around some (4.1 7 4 4 3 5) and dropped to 3-4, 4.47 while Ed Pretty gave up 3 in the 8th to let the game get away. Jimmy Leonard's 2-run HR (#20) was the offensive highlight.

Game 3: Jose Mendoza was brilliant in his best start of the year but it took until the 12th for the Rays to notch a 4-1 win on Doug Johns' 3-run walk-off blast (#11). Mendoza went 6 4 0 0 0 10 and lowered his ERA to 4.66 in what's been a real up-and-down year for him. Ed Pretty faltered again today, allowing the tying run after a Luis Barela RBI single put the Rays up 1-0. Johns' 12th-inning blast made a winner of Mike Barkley for the first time as a Ray after he went two scoreless.

Team record: 59-20. Next up: An off-day then 2 games in Washington.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Jim Brophy uncharacteristically couldn't hold a 4-0 lead but for the second straight game Doug Johns delivered a game-winning homer and the Rays took a 6-4 win at Nationals Park over Washington. Luis Barela had a 2-run double and Josh Alexander a 2-run HR (#20) to make it 4-0 but Brophy was hit for 4 runs in the 5th and finished 6 6 4 4 3 4. No worries though as Johns went deep in the 8th with a man on for his 12th of the year and the bullpen did fine work with Sean Forbes getting another win (his 6th) and Mike Barkley converting the save (#19) with a 1-2-3 9th.

Game 2: The bullpen let the Rays down today as twice they had the game won and twice they blew it, losing 8-7 to the Nationals in 10 innings. They took a 5-2 lead into the 7th with Seth Williams (#10) and Josh Alexander (#21) going deep back-to-back in the 1st and Brad Jackson turning in a decent 6 7 2 2 2 5 outing. But Ed Pretty was horrible, giving up a run, putting two more on and then allowing a 3-run homer for Washington to go ahead 6-5. He's given up 8 runs in 3 innings in his last 3 appearances and will be moved to lower-leverage situations until he comes around. Williams came through with an RBI single in the 9th to tie it, though, and Dave Frick doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th to give the Rays the lead once again at 7-6. But Mike Barkley couldn't get it done for the second straight day and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk for his 4th loss and 2nd blown save of the year.

Team record: 60-21. Next up: An off-day then we head north to Toronto for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Dan Anderson's 2nd start was a disaster and the Rays never recovered, losing the opener at Rogers Centre 8-5 to Toronto. Anderson was hit early and often, going 3.2 8 6 4 4 1 with the wildness disconcerting. Luis Barela had a 2-run HR (#19) and Jose Mendez was 3-4 with an RBI and a runner thrown out at the plate.

Game 2: Greg Bookhart turned in a solid start and Rays hitters belted four homers in a 6-3 win to even up the series. Jimmy Leonard went deep twice with a 3-run shot in the 3rd and a solo blast in the 5th to give him 22 with Kevin Morley (#3) and Dan Gregory (#6) also finding the seats. Bookhart meanwhile went 6.2 5 3 3 1 3 with two of those runs coming in the 7th, his final inning of work as he improved to 4-4, 4.43. Mike Barkley picked up save #20 despite allowing a couple of hits in the 9th to bring the tying run to the plate.

Game 3: Jose Mendoza wasn't that good today but it didn't matter as the Rays overwhelmed the Jays with an 8-run 6th inning to take an 11-5 win and the series from Toronto. Dan Gregory had a big day, going 4-5 with HR #7 and 3 RBI including a 2-run single in that 6th which also saw Josh Alexander hit a 2-run HR (#22) and Jimmy Leonard a solo shot (#23). Doug Johns was also 3-4 with a 2-run double in the 6th. The outburst enabled Mendoza to win despite going 5.1 8 4 4 4 3 as he upped his record to 7-5 but saw the ERA rise to 4.79.

Team record: 62-22. Next up: Back home for 3 vs Cleveland.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Jim Brophy keeps dazzling and the Rays keep hitting as they romped 9-0 over Cleveland at Publix Park. Brophy was truly dominant at 6 4 0 0 1 11 and is now 13-0, 2.41 with an AL-best 2.9 pitcher WAR. It was a balanced offensive attack with Josh Alexander going 2-4 with a 2-run HR (#23), Tomas Laboy driving in two with a pair of doubles and Jose Mendez also plating a pair.

Game 2: It was another comfortable Rays win as Brad Jackson was excellent and they took a 7-0 lead on their way to a 7-3 win. Jackson went 7 6 2 0 1 10 and improved to 9-2, 4.15 while Satoshi Sato went the final 1 1/3 and got all four outs via the K. Josh Alexander (#24 with a man on), Luis Barela (#20) and Jimmy Leonard (#24) went back-to-back-to-back in a 4-run first and Doug Johns drove in 3 including HR #13.

Game 3: The Rays bounced the Guardians again 8-3 to sweep the series by an aggregate 24-6 score. Dan Anderson had his best start since joining the rotation at 7 6 3 3 0 3 and went to 3-1, 3.62. Luis Barela was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI while Tony Cordova added a 2-run double.

Team record: 65-22. Next up: An off-day then we host Toronto for 3 before hitting the All-Star Break.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Greg Bookhart was dealing and the Rays took a 3-1 over Toronto at Publix Park to open their final series before the All-Star break. Bookhart went 7 2 1 1 1 6 on an efficient 75 pitches to improve to 5-4, 4.11 and Mike Barkley handled the 9th for save #21. Not a lot of offense but Josh Beckett was 2-4 with an early RBI single and Josh Alexander provided some 8th-inning insurance by homering in his 4th straight game, #25 on the season.

Game 2: Jose Mendoza's inconsistency continued as he was hit for 2 more homers in a 10-1 loss to the Jays. Mendoza was 5 9 6 6 2 4 and dropped to 7-6, 5.11 with 14 longballs allowed in 93 IP this season. The bullpen allowed 2 more and the rout was on.

Game 3: It was the Rays' turn to return the favor from yesterday as they belted 5 homers in a 10-3 win. Josh Alexander made up for not homering yesterday by going yard twice to give him 6 in his last 6 games and 27 for the year, driving in 4 to give him an MLB-best 93 in that category in 87 games and the WAR lead in the AL. Luis Barela (#21), Jose Mendez (#12) and Dave Frick (#5) also found the seats with Frick driving in 3. Jim Brophy coasted with this run support and although he wasn't his sharpest (6 9 2 2 2 4) he stayed undefeated at 14-0, 2.44. He was given the honor of starting the All-Star Game but won't pitch since he went today.

Team record: 67-23. Next up: The All-Star break and when we come back Friday it'll be for a weekend in Atlanta.

[Art Deco]

Blew right past the halfway point a few series back, so we'll do this here at the All-Star break, 90 games in instead of 81. MLB standings/leaders:



The White Sox have been nearly our equal this year, something we haven't seen very often. I scoffed at the preseason predictions calling for doom for Houston, but I'll admit I was wrong.

Our team stats:



Same old, same old. Great on offense, pretty good pitching, lousy defense. Actually while our Defensive Efficiency is bad, the Zone Rating is the best I think I've seen it on this team in forever, so it's not all terrible. Plus Dan Gregory was out for a month. With Seth Williams moved to 1B and Josh Beckett to 2B, we're better off. The hitting stats:



Great performances galore. Alexander is bidding for his 2nd MVP in 4 seasons and he's outpaced his 2040 performance so far. Luis Barela has been everything as advertised and Doug Johns continued to hit so well while playing everyday with Gregory out that he's claimed the LF job from the Mike Willis/Jose Mendez platoon. And it's not like those two haven't been good either. We're going to have a real salary crunch next year with Jimmy Leonard going into his final year of team control and projected to make $22-23M so he probably gets dealt, leaving more PT for Willis and Mendez.

Elsewhere Seth Williams has been good but not great like he was in his MVP season last year and Dave Frick has really dropped off with the bat but his defense is still valuable to us. Tony Cordova has turned the catcher job into a time-share with Kevin Morley, who hasn't hit at all so far. Cordova may end up with the bulk of the PT if Morley doesn't get it going. And Tomas Laboy has done nothing but rake when he gets his infrequent opportunities in the lineup. The pitching:



Jim Brophy looks to be joining a long line of Rays Cy Young winners barring a bad second half. Brad Jackson is his usual solid self, and rookie Greg Bookhart has pitched very well and will be even better once his high BABIP (hopefully) regresses. But Jose Mendoza has been awful on the whole this year despite some great outings, and the jury's out on Dan Anderson as a starter. There's a good chance I swing a deal for another starter given the losses of Soland and Gird for the year and the inconsistency after Brophy, Jackson and Bookhart.

The bullpen has been pretty good with Satoshi Sato probably deserving more use, and Mike Barkley has been the solid veteran closer we thought we were signing. Freddy Zamora's been good but not as dominating as last year while the revelation in the pen has been Sean Forbes, who's taken over from the inconsistent Ed Pretty as the primary RH setup man.

[Art Deco]

The rosters:



The Rays once again dominate the AL squad with the starting pitcher (Brophy), 1B (Alexander), 2B (Beckett), 3B (Barela) as well as reserves Satsohi Sato, Freddy Zamora, Doug Johns and Jimmy Leonard. For a change though there are no former Rays on the NL team although there is one on the AL (Jaiden Hardaway, who never seems to age at 37).

The HR Derby:



We may have won 12 World Series titles, but we still haven't won one of these with our entrants both going out in the first round.

The game itself:



Various Rays had an impact on the game, both good and bad. As you can see Luis Barela was named MVP despite the NL winning for his double and 2-run homer, Josh Beckett had a 2-run single and Josh Alexander an RBI single as Rays hitters drove in all 5 AL runs. Satoshi Sato got the surprise start with Jim Brophy having pitched Sunday and got the job done, but Freddy Zamora didn't, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits in his inning of work to be the losing pitcher after putting the NL ahead to stay. Jimmy Leonard was 1-2 and Doug Johns 0-2.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The bullpen let the Rays down in the first game back from the All-Star Break as they blew a 3-0 lead to Atlanta and fell 6-4. Josh Alexander picked up where he left off before the break by homering in his first at-bat (#28) and Doug Johns added a 2-run shot (#14) to make it 3-0 and Brad Jackson was cruising until he ran out of gas in the 6th and allowed a run. Sean Forbes, who had been very good this season, came in and gave up an RBI single and then a 3-run homer and Atlanta was off to the races. Doug Combs gave up another run as well, making Johns' 2nd homer of the game (#15) less meaningful. Jackson finished 5.1 3 3 3 3 2 while Forbes suffered his first loss and blown save of the year.

Game 2: The Dan Anderson starter experiment continues to founder as the righty was hit hard and so was the bullpen in a 10-2 drubbing as the Rays start 0-2 after the break. Jose Mendez gave them a 2-0 lead with HR #13 in the top of the 4th but Anderson allowed 5 in the bottom of the frame and left after going 4 8 5 5 1 0. Aidan Williams and Ismael Vargas were terrible in relief (as they've mostly been since being called up), allowing 6 more between them and the bats went out with a whimper.

Game 3: The Rays salvaged the series finale from Atlanta with a 4-1 win. With that score you might think they got a well-pitched start but Jose Mendoza was extremely fortunate to allow just the 1 run in his 5 innings after walking 6 and allowing 4 hits. Nevertheless he improved to 8-6, 4.94. The bullpen did excellent work over the final 4 innings with Ed Pretty maybe snapping out of it with 2 scoreless and Mike Barkley earning save #22 when he got a double play to get out of a 2-on mess he made. Jimmy Leonard had the big hit of the game, a 3-run HR (#25) in the 1st inning.

Team record: 68-25. Next up: Baltimore visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

It's been no secret of late that we need a starter despite our fine season record as Joel Gird and Johnny Soland were lost for the season and Dan Anderson has struggled mightily as a replacement. Throw in Jose Mendoza's inconsistency and help was needed. So we went out and did this:



Who is Gordie Ager? A pretty fine starter. See for yourself:



He gives us an all-lefty rotation which I supposed could be problematic if we face a righty-dominated lineup in the playoffs, but it's a risk we'll take. As you can see from the numbers above, he's been one of the AL's best pitchers this year and he's been outstanding this season. (No idea why he's "angry" though after being traded to a playoff team, maybe I need to advance the game a day and see if he's still). Ager will obviously take Dan Anderson's place in the rotation and Aidan Williams is being returned to Durham with Anderson sliding back into the pen.

As for the guys we gave up, both are considered decent pitching prospects (they were our second round picks in 2041 and 2042), although their minor league numbers have not backed that up so I'm dealing them while they still have their prospect sheen. Ager, like so many on our team, will start getting expensive next year and if Gird and Soland are healthy we may have to deal a starter in 2044.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Gordie Ager was outstanding in his Rays debut while a 1-1 game in the 8th turned into a 7-4 Rays win. The lefty was dazzling, going 6.2 6 1 1 1 8 although he ended up with a no-decision. That's because the Rays waited until the 8th to score 6 times and break a 1-1 tie. Jimmy Leonard broke it with a 3-run homer (#26) and Doug Johns went back-to-back with him (#16). Satoshi Sato pitched the 8th for his 6th win and after Doug Combs gave Baltimore 3 runs back in the 9th without recording an out Freddy Zamora had to finish up for save #10.

Game 2: Jim Brophy, 21-1 in a season and a half as a Ray and 14-0 coming into tonight's game this year, suffered his worst start in Tampa Bay, getting bombed to the tune of 2.2 9 7 7 0 4 with 3 homers allowed as the Rays were crushed by the Orioles 13-5. He's now 14-1 of course and his ERA jumped almost half a run to 2.92. Jon Harbour gave up 5 more runs as the rout was on, and it was 13-1 going into the bottom of the 9th before Josh Alexander hit a 3-run homer (#29) and upped his RBI total to 98.

Game 3: Mike Barkley blew a 4-1 lead in the 9th and Ed Pretty gave up a 2-run homer in the 11th as Tampa Bay fell 6-5 and dropped the series to Baltimore. Rays pitching (and defense, I guess) gave up 18 hits on the day but limited the damage as until the homer Pretty allowed they at least kept the ball in the park. Greg Bookhart pitched well at 5.1 8 1 1 1 6 with Barkley blowing his 3rd save of the year (he's been noticeably less sharp of late) and Pretty taking his 3rd loss. Rays hitters managed 15 hits of their own but only two went for extra bases and none left the yard. Dave Frick had 3 of them and drove in a run to lead the bats.

Team record: 69-27. Next up: 4 games in Cleveland.

[Art Deco]

July 23: Traded 30-year old minor league LF Andres Flores to the San Diego Padres, getting 31-year old LHP Edgar Suarez in return. Optioned P Ismael Vargas to AAA Durham.

Suarez is a decent lefty reliever, and I consider him an upgrade over Vargas, who showed no consistency since being called up. He isn't the greatest, which is why San Diego was giving him away for a minor league free agent we had signed a while back, but we were down to two lefties (Sato and Zamora) who are late inning guys and needed one more reliable in middle relief.

Game 1: The Rays rode a 5-run 4th inning and a decent outing from Brad Jackson to take a 5-3 win in the opener of their 4-game set in Cleveland. Josh Beckett homered (#9) leading off the inning, Tony Cordova had an RBI double and Josh Alexander stayed molten-lava hot with a 3-run blast which gave him 30 HR and put him over the 100-RBI mark. Jackson meanwhile went 6 7 1 1 2 5 to improve to 10-2, 4.05. Edgar Suarez made his Rays debut in the 8th and was greeted by a 2-run inside-the-park homer from Erik Bridges, necessitating Satoshi Sato to come in to close it out which he did for save #3.

Game 2: Jose Mendoza put the Rays in a 4-0 first-inning hole, but he settled down while the offense overwhelmed Cleveland in a 10-4 victory. I've run out of superlatives to describe what a run Josh Alexander has been on lately and today he was 4-5 with a HR (#31) and 3 RBI while Luis Barela had a 2-run shot in the 5th (#22) which put the Rays ahead to stay. Also going yard were Dan Gregory (#7) and Jimmy Leonard (#27). Mendoza hung around long enough for the win, finishing 5 7 4 4 3 6 and going to 9-6, 5.05. For all his inconsistency he leads the AL in strikeouts with 126.

Game 3: As great as Gordie Ager was in his Rays debut 5 days ago he was even better tonight in a 9-1 Tampa Bay triumph. Ager went 7.1 6 1 1 0 11 in a dominant outing to secure his first Rays win and has now walked 1 and fanned 19 in 14 innings in Tampa Bay colors. He got plenty of support of course and a 1-1 game after five became a rout when they scored 4 runs in the 6th and 7th innings. Doug Johns was 3-5 with a double and RBI, Dave Frick drove in 3, and Josh Beckett knocked in a pair to lead the charge.

July 26: Signed P Luis Balladares to a minor league contract and assigned him to AAA Durham.

He's back - sort of. Balladares, who was in our rotation for the second half of 2039, was recently waived and released by the Mets, and as he still sports 70 stuff as a reliever I figured I'd give him a shot. He did have a 2.15 ERA in relief with 9 walks and 29 Ks in 29.1 IP this year with New York so it wasn't as if he was bad or anything.

Game 4: It looked like the Rays were going drop the finale, trailing 4-1 going into the 8th. But never count this offense out as they put up a 6-spot in the top of the 8th to sweep the series with a 7-4 win. Jim Brophy had his second rough start since the All-Star Break, giving up 4 runs in the 5th and finishing 5.1 5 4 4 5 6 with the wildness unusual for him. But his teammates picked him up in an inning which saw Jose Mendez lead it off with HR #12, Dave Frick single in a run to get them within 4-3, and Tony Cordova double in two more to put them ahead. Their lone run earlier came on a Josh Alexander solo homer (#32) of course. Edgar Suarez was much better in relief the second time around and he picked up the win after going 1 2/3 scoreless with 3 whiffs while Mike Barkley recorded save #23.

Team record: 73-27. Next up: An off-day to travel back to Tampa, where we'll face the Yankees for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays came back and erased a 7-4 deficit in the 8th before walking it off in the 11th to take an 8-7 win over the Yankees in their series opener at Publix Park. Tony Cordova's RBI single was the decider and made a winner of Freddy Zamora (3-1). With two out in the 8th and nobody on, pinch-hitter Mike Willis walked, Dan Gregory homered (#8) to cut the lead to 1, Seth Williams singled and Josh Alexander doubled him home to tie it at 7. Greg Bookhart had a very rough start, shelled to the tune of 4.2 9 7 7 2 4 but the pen took over from there with 6 1/3 innings of one-hit, no-run ball.

Game 2: Brad Jackson was dealing and the Rays made it 6 straight wins with a 9-3 romp over the Yankees. Jackson was 6 4 1 1 0 6 and is now 11-2, 3.92. Luis Barela broke the game open in the 3rd with a 3-run blast (#23) which made it 5-0, and Josh Alexander drove in two more runs with a double and a single, giving him 108 RBI in 100 games and extending his hitting streak to 18.

Game 3: Rays pitching was battered for 20 hits in a 9-inning game but they just barely lost 9-8. Jose Mendoza continued his 2043 struggles by going 5 10 5 5 1 7 although the last two runs off him came when Dan Anderson (who allowed 6 hits of his own) gave up a 3-run homer to first man he faced. Mendoza is now 9-7, 5.23. The offense kept them in it and was led by Luis Barela who homered twice to give him 25 on the season and drove in 5 runs. Josh Alexander's RBI double in the 9th made it 19 straight with a hit and got them within one but he couldn't be brought home.

Team record: 75-28. Next up: 3 at home vs Boston.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Gordie Ager made it 3 great starts in 3 appearances, and although he was denied the win when Ed Pretty blew the lead in the 7th, the Rays still prevailed 5-4 in 10 innings over Boston at Publix Park. Ager was spotted a 4-0 lead and was up 4-1 in the 7th when he put two on with two out. Ed Pretty came in and walked the first man he faced to load the bases, and then allowed Boston to unload them with a double to tie the game. Ager finished 6.2 4 3 1 0 6 as a Josh Beckett error figured into that inning as well, and has a 1.31 ERA and 1/25 BB/K ratio in his 3 Rays starts. Seth Williams' solo homer (#11) and a 3-run Doug Johns shot (#17) gave them the 4-0 lead while Jimmy Leonard's RBI single in the 10th won it with Satoshi Sato going to 7-0 with the win. Mike Barkley had to leave the game in the 9th with a dead arm and will be out 2-3 weeks.

August 1: Placed P Mike Barkley on the 10-day IL with a dead arm, recalled P Jose Morales from AAA Durham.

Game 2: It was an offensive orgy at Publix Park as the Rays routed the Red Sox 14-4. Josh Beckett was 4-4 with a 3-run HR (#10) and 4 RBI, Doug Johns was 3-5 with a double, homer (#18) and 3 RBI, and Jimmy Leonard drove in 5 including a 3-run HR (#28) to lead the way. Jim Brophy went to 15-1 after a 7 7 4 4 0 4 outing which saw him yield a couple of homers.

Game 3: Rinse and repeat: another Rays rout of Boston, this time a 13-0 drubbing to sweep the series. Jose Mendez took advantage of an infrequent start to go 4-4 with a 2-run HR (#15), Doug Johns homered for the third straight game, a 3-run shot (#19) and Kevin Morley added a 3-run blast (#4). Dave Frick and Josh Alexander also got in on the action with 2 RBI each. Greg Bookhart bounced back from a bad start to go 5.2 5 0 0 2 5 and improve to 6-4, 4.20.

Team record: 78-28. Next up: The homestand rolls on as Seattle visits for 3.

Despite a couple of huge weeks, Josh Alexander never won Player of the Week recently so he made up for it with this:

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays suffered one of their worst losses of the season as they were slaughtered by Seattle 10-0 at Publix Park. Brad Jackson didn't have it tonight (4.1 8 6 6 2 4) and fell to 11-3, 4.22 while the bats only managed 5 hits.

Game 2: Tampa Bay made up for being shut out last night by dropping 16 on Seattle, including an 11-run 5th, in a 16-5 mauling of the Mariners. They actually trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the 5th as Jose Mendoza continued to have his issues. But the turnstiles kept spinning in the inning, with Dave Frick doubling in a pair, Kevin Morley doubling in another and Jimmy Leonard hit his second homer of the game and 30th of the year with two men on. Leonard had a 4-RBI day, Morley drove in 3, Doug Johns was 3-4 with 2 RBI, ad infinitum. Mendoza ended up getting the win, going 6 8 4 4 0 9 with 2 more homers yielded. He's now 10-7, 5.27. Jose Morales went the final 3 innings for his first MLB save.

Game 3: Gordie Ager continues to pitch brilliantly since joining the Rays, making it four excellent starts out of four, but still has only one win to show for it as Ed Pretty blew the lead for him in the 8th. The Rays still won though 5-4 on a walk-off pinch-hit homer in the 9th from Jimmy Leonard (#31). Ager was 6 5 2 2 1 4, and after Satoshi Sato pitched a clean 7th, Pretty put a man on but got two out (including tough lefty Alex Ojeda) but gave up a homer to a righty batter. He's now allowed 6 runs in last 5 outings covering 3 2/3 and earned his 5th blown save. We were hoping to count on him more with Mike Barkley out but that's the last high-leverage spot he sees for a while. Freddy Zamora (4-1) picked up the win. Jose Mendez had the early offense with a 2-run HR (#16) and an RBI single.

Team record: 80-29. Next up: An off-day then a weekend in Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: A 5-run 4th inning paved the way for the Rays to take a 7-3 win at Baltimore in the series opener. Dan Gregory delivered the big hit of the inning, a bases-clearing triple. Dave Frick was 2-3 with a walk and a solo homer (#6) to back Jim Brophy who improved to 16-1, 3.08 after a 5 2 0 0 4 8 outing, his best since the break. Edgar Suarez retired all 7 men he faced to close out the game.

Game 2: Greg Bookhart was sharp and the Rays belted three homers to take a 6-1 win over the Orioles. The rookie lefty went 5 4 1 1 4 8 to go to 7-4, 4.07 and he was backed by longballs from Josh Alexander in the 1st (#33, a 2-run blast), Kevin Morley (#5, solo) and Doug Johns (#20, solo). Seth Williams added a pair of doubles and an RBI.

Game 3: The Rays were leaving runners on base all game (13 in total) before Josh Beckett decided to do something about it and clubbed a 3-run homer (#11) in the 7th to turn a 2-1 deficit into an eventual 4-3 win for the sweep. Beckett's blast made a winner of Brad Jackson (12-3, 4.20) who went 7 5 3 3 1 5 while Freddy Zamora picked up his 11th save despite walking two men in the 9th.

Team record: 83-29. Next up: Another off day then 3 games in Boston.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays fought back from 4-1 down to score 4 times in the 8th to take the lead but lost 6-5 when Freddy Zamora gave up a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th allowing Boston to walk it off. Gordie Ager had his first not-great start as a Ray although it wasn't horrible at 6.2 6 4 4 1 1. A Doug Johns homer (#21) was all they had to show for 7 innings before Seth Williams doubled in a run and Josh Alexander followed with a 3-run shot (#34). But Zamora (4-2) gave up a single and with two out Boston's Willie Rubio took him over the Monster for the lefty's third blown save of the year.

Game 2: Jose Mendoza shook off his recent struggles and pitched his best game of the year as the Rays downed Boston 5-1. The lefty was brilliant going 8 4 1 1 0 8 on 96 pitches to improve to 11-7, 5.00. Doug Johns (#22) and Luis Barela (#26) had 2-run homers to back him in the 4th and 6th respectively.

Game 3: Jim Brophy was extraordinarily wild and the Rays couldn't recover as they dropped the rubber game of the series 4-3 to the Red Sox. The portsider dropped only his 2nd game of the year against 16 wins in a bizarre 4 3 4 4 7 5 outing and saw his ERA rise to 3.25. Mike Willis' 2-run single was the highlight on offense.

Team record: 84-31. Next up: 3 games in Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays scored 4 times in the 1st and went on to a 6-4 win over the Twins at Target Field. Luis Barela was the man of the match as he hit a 3-run homer in that first (#27) and after Minnesota had pulled within 5-4, added some insurance with an RBI double in the 7th. Jimmy Leonard went back-to-back with Barela in the first for his 32nd. Greg Bookhart was handed the big early lead and nearly completely squandered it, struggling to get through at 5 8 4 4 5 6 yet improving to 8-4, 4.23. Four relievers held the fort with Freddy Zamora bouncing back from blowing the game the other day with save #12.

Game 2: Today wasn't the Rays' day as they fell 6-1 to Minnesota. They were held to only 6 hits with the sole run coming on Josh Alexander's 35th homer. Brad Jackson was hit hard for 3 homers and went 4.2 10 6 6 0 3 to drop to 12-4, 4.46.

Game 3: As they often do the game after being stifled, Rays hitters unloaded and today they whipped the Twins 13-3, banging out 17 hits. None of them left the park but none needed to with Mike Willis leading the charge, going 4-6 with a double, steal, 3 runs scored and 3 knocked in. Jimmy Leonard was 4-5 with a double and 2 RBI while Dave Frick was 3-4, also with a double and 2 RBI. Gordie Ager coasted with the run support in his first game against his old team and got his 2nd Rays win going 6.2 7 2 2 1 8.

Team record: 86-32. Next up: Back home for 4 vs Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Luis Barela had a big game and Jose Mendoza was solid as the Rays took a 5-2 over Baltimore at Publix Park in the opener of their 4-game set. Barela was 3-3 with a solo homer (#28) which broke a 2-2 tie in the 4th and then added a 2-run single in the 6th. He's now .309-28-91 and everything as advertised when acquired in the offseason. Dave Frick was 2-3 with an RBI as he has his average up to .256 after dropping to the .230s earlier in the year. Mendoza went 5 4 2 2 2 7 to improve to 12-7, 4.95 as he might be turning things around as well and Satoshi Sato got the final 5 outs for save #4.

Game 2: The Rays dodged the raindrops and a late Baltimore comeback to hold on for a 3-2 win. They went up 3-0 after 2 on RBI knocks from Josh Beckett, Mike Willis and Seth Williams, and Jim Brophy was in command at 6.2 5 1 1 0 7 to improve to 17-2, 3.17. Ed Pretty got Brophy out of a jam in the 7th and then Pretty gave up a run in the 8th before Doug Combs got him out of that jam. Freddy Zamora struck out the side in the 9th for save #13 as the game was delayed by rain for 28 minutes in the 7th.

Game 3: Greg Bookhart pitched well but Dan Anderson and Sean Forbes combined to allow 5 runs in the 7th and the Orioles took a 7-5 win over the Rays in a rare loss at Publix Park. Bookhart went 5.2 7 2 1 1 2 and Josh Beckett homered (#12) to help them to a 3-2 lead before the walls caved in during the 7th. Anderson (3-3) loaded the bases and Forbes gave up a double to clear them and then a homer to bring in 2 more. Dave Frick had a 2-run homer in the 8th (#8) to pull them back within 7-5 but that was the extent of the comeback.

August 20: Activated P Mike Barkley from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned P Jose Morales to AAA Durham.

Game 4: It looked like the Orioles were on their way to a split of the series but Tomas Laboy had other ideas as the rookie 3B blasted a 2-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th (#6) to give the Rays a thrilling 3-2 win. Brad Jackson was excellent (7 5 2 2 0 6) but a Doug Johns solo homer (#23) in the 6th was all they had to show on offense. But Jose Mendez walked to lead off the 9th and with one out Laboy took a Brad Lange pitch into the LF seats. Some years certain relievers are good-luck charms (Ed Pretty had 9 relief wins in 2040), and this year it's Satoshi Sato, who got the final out in the top of the 9th and went to 8-0 with the win. He's also been very good with an 0.58 ERA and a brilliant 7/76 BB/K ratio in 46.1 IP, good for 2.9 WAR so far.

Team record: 89-33. Next up: We close out the homestead with 3 against the White Sox, a real test as they're nearly our peer at 86-37.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Holy mother of comebacks, Batman! The Rays scored 5 times in the bottom of the 9th to steal a 7-6 win from the White Sox in the opener of a series featuring the two best teams in baseball at Publix Park. With the Rays trailing 6-2, Seth Williams led off the 9th with a walk and Josh Alexander homered (#36) to halve the lead. Chicago brought in closer Walt Klopfer, MLB's save leader with 38, and Luis Barela greeted him with a homer (#29) to make it 6-5. Doug Johns was retired and although Jose Mendez had gone 2-3 with a double and RBI, I pinch-hit Jimmy Leonard and he tied the game with one swing of the bat for HR #33. But they weren't done. Tomas Laboy doubled and after Josh Beckett grounded out Tony Cordova stepped up and delivered an RBI single for the walk-off win. Doug Combs picked up his first win of the year having pitched the 9th and the Rays overcame a rare poor start from Gordie Ager (3.1 8 6 6 3 3). The comeback wouldn't have been possible without the pen shutting Chicago down the rest of the way and Jon Harbour was instrumental with 3 2/3 shutout innings. Here's the win probability chart on this wild game:



Game 2: It was Chicago's turn to come back and exploit the other team's bullpen as a 6-2 Rays lead after 5 innings turned into an 11-7 loss. Dan Gregory (#9), Josh Alexander (#37) and Jose Mendez (#17) homered to give the Rays a sizable early advantage behind Jose Mendoza, but the lefty put two men on in the 6th. Ed Pretty was given another chance with a lead, and he allowed Mendoza's runner to score along with two of his own on a homer and it was tied. Then in the 7th Edgar Suarez, who had pitched very well since being acquired in trade, gave up 3 runs and the Rays were on their way to defeat. Seth Williams added a too-little, too-late solo jack (#12) in the 9th.

Game 3: After combining for 31 runs in the first two games the Rays and White Sox had a pitchers' duel in the series finale and it was Jim Brophy who outdueled Sandy D'Alena to lead Tampa Bay to a 2-0 win. Brophy pitched his best game of the season in a great season for him, going 7 2 0 0 1 8 and improving to 18-2, 3.02. Freddy Zamora took care of the 9th for save #14. Luis Barela supplied the offense, hitting his 30th homer of the year leading off the 2nd and adding an RBI single in the 3rd.

Team record: 91-34. Next up: An off-day then 2 games in Philadelphia where Luis Barela returns to his former home.