September 29-October 1, 2053: vs Cleveland (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays took a 6-3 win over the Guardians to begin the season's final week, getting 2-run doubles from Nesty de la Rosa and David Morales in a 6-run 5th inning in claiming their 100th win of the season. That rally made a winner of Ben Hilton (10-5), who went 5 3 3 1 3 7 with Steve Talbott earning save #39.

Game 2: Tampa Bay trailed 4-0 early but came back to gouge the Guardians 11-7. Nesty de la Rosa had a big game, going 3-5 with HR #14 and 4 RBI while Tony Vasquez added a 3-run shot (#31/38). Tim Johnson improved to 15-7 despite a mediocre 5 8 4 4 3 5 outing.

Game 3: The Rays made it a sweep with a 13-3 romp over Cleveland in the finale as the Avaloses led the way. Ezequiel was 4-5 with a double, 3-run homer (#32) and 5 RBI while Jesus was 3-4 with HR #37 and 3 knocked in. Vinny Miranda improved to 7-13 as a Ray and 10-13 overall after going 6 8 3 3 3 4.

Team record: 102-57. Next up: We're off to Fenway to finish the regular season with 3 against Boston after an off-day.

Playoff Race Update: The second AL wild card is too close to call and there's some kind of OOTP scheduling quirk involved as the White Sox are 1/2 game behind the Jays, having played 160 games with 3 still left on their schedule. I may need to take their Sunday game off the schedule. In the NL the Cubs claimed the Central title while the East has Atlanta 1 game up on Washington.

October 3-5, 2053: at Boston (3)
 

Game 1: Randy Mastropietro wrapped up a magnificent rookie season in magnificent fashion, hurling 8 shutout innings as the Rays edged the Red Sox 1-0. The lefty finished his first full season 19-6, 2.93 which was good for 4.5 WAR after his 8 6 0 0 1 6 outing. Steve Talbott hit the 40-save plateau as he completed the team shutout. The lone run came on a Jesus Avalos RBI single in the 3rd.

Game 2: Alec McInerney struggled in a spot start and a lineup featuring several reserves couldn't outscore the pitching in a 7-5 loss. After pitching very well in relief this year McInerney didn't in his start, going 4 8 5 5 2 2. Nevertheless the bats managed to tie the game at 5 with Cameron Holly's 2-run double the big hit, but Willie Navarro (8-4) coughed up a pair of runs in the 8th to lose it after Jose Machado's RBI single in the top of the frame tied it.

Game 3: Another reserve-laden lineup and another spot starter spelled another defeat for the Rays in the regular-season finale as they fell 4-0 to Boston. Melvin Lopez (2-5) got the ball today and actually pitched pretty well into the 6th before leaving a couple of men on whom the pen allowed to score, leaving him with a 5.2 5 4 4 3 4 line. Meanwhile the offense could only scratch out four hits.

Final Regular Season Record: 103-59. Next up: The ALDS against either the Yankees or Toronto, which held off the White Sox for the second wild card. The other MLB race in doubt was the NL East, and Atlanta finished ahead of Washington.

Final 2053 Regular Season Standings and Rays Stats
 

https://i.imgur.com/amum7De.png

The rookie Mastropietro led the AL in wins and was 3rd in ERA, making him a prime Cy Young candidate.

https://i.imgur.com/OB3wQRN.png

A pretty good season after a very slow start. The offense was dominant although we're lead-footed and out-prone on the bases. The pitching was also quite good but we're back to old ways on defense (specifically the lack thereof).

https://i.imgur.com/Ke5teYg.png

He lost rookie eligibility due to getting 200 AB last year but Jesus Avalos in his first full season established himself as the next Tampa Bay superstar, with 210 hits, 107 RBI and 37 HR, pretty much all coming from the leadoff spot. Old warhorse Luis Barela had his best season in three years on his way to the Hall of Fame. Otherwise it was a lot of guys have good but not great seasons but there were no weak links in the lineup.

https://i.imgur.com/t1vE5uS.png

We had five solid starters (two who had great years) whose ERAs (except for Mastropietro) were inflated some thanks to our poor defense. The bullpen was excellent and the real unsung heroes were middle men Hetzel and Cleland who had great seasons in 5th/6th-inning roles, often buying time after a rough start for the offense to come back.

https://i.imgur.com/Hq7ghUd.png

Not a great farm system, with the top prospects years away where anything could happen. Gonzalez is the most likely to impact the 2054 roster as he filled in with the big club this year while Morales was out. He has a nice bat but is a mediocre catcher so he'll never likely assume the full-time role. Tafoya is another bat-first guy who could see some MLB time next year, especially if injuries hit.

October 7, 2053: NL Wild Card Game
 

https://i.imgur.com/3tur0Sx.png

A 2-0 game with only six hits combined between the two teams in not what you'd expect from a game at Coors Field but that's playoff baseball for you as the Rockies advance to the NLDS.

October 8, 2053: AL Wild Card Game
 

And it will be the Jays for a change as we always seem to face the Yankees in the ALDS:

https://i.imgur.com/pbTGRJs.png

Toronto had to win it without all-world C David Evans but unfortunately for the Rays he'll be back for the division series. This gives us the following playoff bracket:

https://i.imgur.com/jmADKoy.png

October 9, 2053: NLDS Game 1
 

October 10, 2053: ALDS Game 1 & NLDS Game 2
 

Off on the right foot...

https://i.imgur.com/HOrW9FI.png

Veteran Tony Vasquez was brought into the club in May to be a middle-of-the-order force, replacing the declining and inconsistent Jon Morales, and while he had a fine year he never seemed to carry the team. That changed tonight in his first playoff appearance with the Rays as the veteran clubbed a pair of homers to make the difference in a 3-1 win over Toronto in the ALDS opener. His first one was a laser into the RF bullpen which had a 20-degree launch angle and it answered a run the Jays scored in the top of the 1st, and his second gave the club some much-needed breathing room in the 8th after Toronto was constantly threatening against the pen. And there was no bigger threat than in the top of that inning when the Jays loaded the bases with one out against Willie Navarro and closer Steve Talbott was summoned early. Talbott got a shallow fly ball and a strikeout to escape and then pitched around a 1-out single in the 9th to close it out and make a winner of Dave Rose, who turned in an ace-like start. The rookie Randy Mastropietro will get the call tomorrow in Game 2 as he seeks to win his 20th game of the season even if it won't officially make him a 20-game winner.

Elsewhere:

https://i.imgur.com/Ax6jmNw.png

A fairly unremarkable-looking array of games here except for something that I've never heard of happening and may have never happened in MLB postseason history: The same player hitting walk-off homers in consecutive games. Last night the Dodgers' Andy Randall hit a 2-run shot to walk off Game 1 of their NLDS with Colorado, and tonight he did it again as LA is the first team to be only one win away from the CS round.

October 11, 2053: ALDS Game 2
 

Looking good...

https://i.imgur.com/2hsyyzv.png

Unlike last night the Rays easily handled the Jays in Game 2 to move within one game of the ALCS after a 9-1 victory. You knew it wasn't going to be Toronto's day when their starter had to leave in the 1st inning and it turned into an impromptu bullpen game, and the strain on their staff showed as Blue Jay pitching walked 8 Rays and hit 3 more, putting plenty of men on when Ezequiel Avalos (a grand slam among his 5 RBI) and Jose Lozada (a 3-run shot) went deep. Meanwhile Randy Mastropietro looked like a battled-tested veteran rather than a rookie as he held Toronto to one run in six innings, winning for the 20th time in 2053. It's off to Canada in two days with Tim Johnson getting the ball to hopefully complete a sweep.

Elsewhere we're no closer to figuring out a potential ALCS opponent as the Angels evened things up with Minnesota as former Ray Steve Morris was a hard-luck loser for the Twins:

https://i.imgur.com/m3OnuqL.png

October 12, 2053: NLDS Game 3
 

https://i.imgur.com/XaDE1SJ.png

Old old friend Beau Bonczek gave the Cubs a 2-1 series lead over Atlanta thanks to his second homer of the game, a 3-run shot in the 9th, and while Andy Randall didn't walk it off for the Dodgers again (he couldn't have since the game was in Denver), LA took its third straight win in its final at-bat to sweep the Rockies out of the playoffs.

October 13, 2053: ALDS Game 3 & NLDS Game 4
 

How sweep it is...

https://i.imgur.com/hmDyY58.png

The Rays disposed of the Jays after a 5-4 nail-biter in Toronto. The old warhorse Luis Barela was the man today, hitting his 29th career postseason homer, a 3-run shot in the 3rd to put the Rays up 4-1, and then after they squandered that lead he put them back on top with a 7th-inning RBI single which proved to be the game-winner. A mediocre Tim Johnson start meant they had to rely on the bullpen and for the most part they came through. Alec McInerney got Chris Hetzel out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 6th when Toronto tied the game, and Steve Talbott pitched around men at 1st and 3rd by getting Toronto's 46-HR, 128-RBI guy Keith Billingsley to ground out for the final out of the series.

Who will the Rays face in the ALCS? Right now the Twins are the favorites:

https://i.imgur.com/qsJvyrO.png

Meanwhile Atlanta forced a Game 5 in their series with the Cubs in Chicago after a walk-off Game 4 win.

October 14, 2053: ALDS Game 4
 

Going the distance...

https://i.imgur.com/DZOYdGr.png

Former Rays star Mario Saro had the big blow in this one as there's now a decent chance we'll face Saro and another old friend in Alex Duran in the ALCS.

October 15, 2053: NLDS Game 5
 

https://i.imgur.com/DvqKtUZ.png

Alas we will not be facing former Rays Beau Bonczek, Doug Johns and Steve Falcon should we get to the World Series as the Cubs blew a 2-1 series lead and lost the decisive Game 5 at home.

October 16, 2053: ALDS Game 5
 

...but we will be facing former friends Mario Saro and Alex Duran in the ALCS:

https://i.imgur.com/6vaRVQ7.png

October 17-18, 2053: ALCS Game 1 & NLCS Games 1-2
 

Let's go...

https://i.imgur.com/jLwKMbZ.png

The Rays laid the lumber to the Angels, homering 5 times including Tony Vasquez's 2nd 2-homer game of the 2053 postseason in an 11-4 rout. Dave Rose was solid, although he did tire in the 6th when he gave up a 2-run homer to former teammate Mario Saro. Randy Mastropietro will try to make it 2-0 Rays tomorrow.

In the NLCS so far:

https://i.imgur.com/Z7p2FU0.png

https://i.imgur.com/gFXbAmD.png

A quick start for the Dodgers as they won a couple of one-run games over Atlanta, including a walk-off in Game 2 giving them 4 wins out of 5 in their final at-bat this postseason. The Game 2 hero was another former Ray, Juan Viatoro with the game-winning RBI single.

October 19, 2053: ALCS Game 2
 

We now know there will be a Game 5...

https://i.imgur.com/GQsLFEe.png

It wasn't the Rays' night in Game 2 as they could have used some of the runs they scored the day before in a 6-1 loss. They were shut down by LA's David Gonzalez and only really threatened in the 7th when they scored their lone run and left the bases loaded. It'll now be up to Tim Johnson to try and regain the advantage in a couple days in Anaheim.

October 20-21, 2053: ALCS Game 3 & NLCS Games 3-4
 

Phew...

https://i.imgur.com/sbbQBbF.png

That was tense. Rays pitching made a 3rd-inning run stand up to win Game 3 of the ALCS and go up 2-1 in the series. Tim Johnson was in fine form but the real credit goes to Joe Roberts, who got Johnson and the Rays out of a two-on, nobody-out situation in the 6th. The back end of the pen took it from there and now Ben Hilton will get his first start of the postseason with Vinny Miranda ready to back him up should he struggle with the Rays looking to go up 3-1.

Speaking of going up 3-1, that's what the Dodgers have done in Atlanta:

https://i.imgur.com/gezHeYc.png

https://i.imgur.com/xXan5wh.png

Yet another one-run win for LA.

October 22, 2053: ALCS Game 4
 

Just about there...

https://i.imgur.com/KiWV2Dd.png

The Rays are now one win away from a trip to the World Series for the first time in four seasons, their longest drought since they became baseball's dominant franchise in the mid-20s, after a come-from-behind 7-3 win over the Angels. For six innings it looked like it would be a 2-2 series as Chris Kimble was dominating Tampa Bay bats, which had only scored one run the night before. But a 3-run rally in the 7th keyed by a 2-run Zeke Avalos double put them ahead and the other Avalos (Jesus) broke it open with a 2-run homer. I almost got too cute with the bullpen as I pulled closer Steve Talbott, who got the final out in the 8th, after they went up 7-2 and went with Steve Cleland. Cleland managed to load the bases and give up a run without retiring anybody but Willie Navarro saved my bacon by getting the next three batters. Now ace Dave Rose will try to allow us to clinch at the first time of asking tomorrow.

And it will be the Dodgers waiting for us should we make it:

https://i.imgur.com/6oxKc6z.png

This time they decided to actually win a game by more than one run so they picked twelve. Andy Randall, the walk-off hero and MVP of the NLDS, was series MVP again, hitting .421 with 3 HR and 10 RBI.

October 23, 2053: ALCS Game 5
 

Beat L.A. (again)!...

https://i.imgur.com/z8PNt9l.png

In almost a carbon copy of Game 4, the Rays shook off a 2-0 deficit for much of the game to rally late and win going away, and they won the ALCS going away as well with a 9-2 victory to take the series in 5 games and set up a date with the Dodgers. This time they started the comeback an inning earlier with the relatively light-hitting Dantel Chinchilla starting the rally with a solo homer and then future Hall-of-Famer Luis Barela delivering the winning blow, a 2-run shot into the LF bullpen. The homer was the 30th of Barela's postseason career and puts him one behind Cody Bellinger for the all-time MLB lead and it'd be fitting for him to tie and/or break it against Bellinger's old team. Barela is already the all-time postseason leader with 95 RBI.

So it's another 7-10 days of cross-country flights, although we'll be staying put in SoCal for now as the Dodgers get HFA thanks to winning 104 games this year to our 103.

October 28, 2053: World Series Game 1
 

Took forever but worth it...

https://i.imgur.com/eAeCVQR.png

The Rays came back late from 3-1 down and Luis Barela made history as they outlasted the Dodgers 5-3 in 14 innings to take Game 1 of the World Series. Barela's homer, the 31st of his postseason career, tied him with former Dodger hero Cody Bellinger for the all-time lead in that category and most importantly got the Rays a chance to win. They finally did in the 14th even when it looked they wouldn't, as they loaded the bases with nobody out only for Jose Machado to hit into a 4-2-3 double play. But Dantel Chinchilla came through with a clutch 2-run single to win it, and the bullpen was simply outstanding in holding the Dodgers hitless over the final six innings. Randy Mastropietro will go tomorrow to try to double the advantage.

October 29, 2053: World Series Game 2
 

At least we got a split in LA...

https://i.imgur.com/MVViC9X.png

Not what we wanted but there are worse things than splitting on the road to start a 7-game series. Randy Mastropietro pitched well but it took him 90 pitches to get through 5, and unlike yesterday the bullpen let us down as Chris Hetzel gave up a 2-run homer to turn a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit and the bats couldn't generate any offense after that. So it's off to Tampa in two days for Game 3 with Tim Johnson on the mound.