August 2-5, 2031: vs Kansas City (4)
 

https://i.imgur.com/mbO7TtR.png

Game 1: The Rays took care of Kansas City tonight 7-3 but not after getting a scare when Christian Little had to leave the game in the 5th with an arm issue. It turns out it's a dead arm and he'll miss a week so it's that not big a deal thankfully. Little was working on a no-hitter at 4.1 0 0 0 1 8 when he had to leave, and Jon Whiteleather took over for him and went 1 2/3 to get his 3rd win of the year with the score 6-0 at the time. Bob Sirna entered to start the 7th and was not good at all against his old team, putting the first two men on and then giving up a 3-run homer to Drew Waters. He only retired one man, and Tim Siqueiros had to get out of that plus his own jam when he walked a pair to load the bases, but he did and pitched the 8th as well while Jose Alvarado had a 1-2-3 9th to finish. On the hitting side of things the Rays had a 4-run 2nd highlighted by a Connor Kirkley RBI double and a 2-run shot from Bo Angeac (#16). Rodolfo Rivas (#15 in the 5th) and Nate Clark (#34 in the 7th) added solo shots while Luis Corpus was 2-3 with an RBI double.

Game 2: The Rays scored four times in the 1st inning on back-to-back-to-back homers and hung on for a 5-3 win over Kansas City. After a 2-out single by Nate Clark, Rodolfo Rivas (#19), Jasson Dominguez (#29) and Victor de Jesus (#26) hit consecutive dingers off opener Nick Wittgren (the first two) and follower Tony Sanchez to make it 4-0. de Jesus added an RBI double in the 5th. Alexis Carmona made his Publix Park debut with the Rays, and had an up-and-down game. He got himself into a heap of trouble in the 2nd, loading the bases with nobody out, but got a fly ball double play when Jasson Dominguez gunned down the runner at the plate and he struck out the next batter. He still was giving up hits left and right and got the benefit of another runner thrown out on the bases, finishing 6 9 2 2 1 7 to make it 3 wins in 3 starts since being acquired. Chris Hicks got his first high-leverage opportunity in the 7th and acquitted himself well with a pair of whiffs, while Alex Beltre gave up 3 hits and a run in the 8th to allow the Royals within 5-3. But Jordan Diaz had a 1-2-3 9th to preserve the win with save #14 and the Rays chalked up another win.

Game 3: Earl Weaver used to extol "pitching, defense and the 3-run homer". The Rays had two of those three tonight but they were more than enough to take a comfortable 8-1 win over Kansas City, their 4th straight victory and 8th in the last 9 games. The defense was the missing piece tonight as they made 3 errors behind Jon Hayes but he pitched around them to go 6.2 7 1 1 0 7 and win his 7th straight decision, improving to 12-6, 3.64. The 3-run homer came off the bat of Jaiden Hardaway in the 4th as his 12th longball of the season made it 3-1 Rays. Rodolfo Rivas then went him one better in the 5th with a grand slam, his second homer in as many days and 20th of the season, and Luis Corpus added an RBI double later for the final run. Chris Hicks looked good again, going 1 1/3 scoreless and Bob Sirna pitched the 9th and did better today, although he did walk a pair in his scoreless inning.

August 5: Activated 3B Bobby Witt Jr. from the 10-day IL, optioned 3B Bo Angeac to AAA Durham.

The transaction I didn't want to make, and Witt spent the maximum 20 days at Durham so I put it off as long as I could, but there was no way around it. I could have sent D'Andre Hodges down but he has only one option left and I wanted to save it for next year. Angeac is probably a better option these days than Witt but I can't keep 'em both up right now. Angeac of course will be the hitter recalled on September 1 if another opening doesn't happen sooner and Witt will likely be moved this winter.

Game 4: Bobby Witt Jr. heard the haters. He knew he was in danger of being Wally Pipp'd by Bo Angeac, who played so well in his 3-month absence. He knows his days in Tampa Bay may be numbered. So what does he do in his first game back in the lineup? His best to make everyone forget about the injuries, about Bo Angeac, about his $20M contract. Witt smacked a pair of 2-run homers as part of a 3-4 day to lead the Rays to an 11-5 come-from-behind win over the Royals to sweep the 4-game series. Jon Soranno continued his slump by getting knocked for 3 runs in the 1st inning and 2 more in the 4th to put the Rays in a 5-1 hole. He stuck around until the 6th but finished 5.1 8 5 5 2 7 and has now allowed 17 ER in his last 15 1/3 innings over 4 starts. But the Rays' bats can be forgiving and they pecked and pecked away until they burst the game open. After D'Andre Hodges (playing for the first time in 2 weeks) homered in the 2nd (#6), they picked up 2 more in the 4th, one in the 5th and took the lead for good in the 6th on a couple of bases-loaded walks. Then Witt went to work with 2-run shots in the 7th and 8th, and homering for the first time in his MLB career was Will Quintana, who went back-to-back with Witt in the 7th. Alex Beltre took over for Soranno in the 6th and got this 3rd Rays win retiring all 5 batters he faced, and Tim Siqueiros and Jon Whiteleather had scoreless innings to finish it off. In addition to Witt, Jaiden Hardaway had a 3-hit day with an RBI.

Team record: 74-33. Next up: Minnesota visits for the weekend.

August 6-8, 2032: vs Minnesota (3)
 

As we're now at the 2/3 mark of the season, here's a look at the MLB standings and leaders:

https://i.imgur.com/ai7cz5s.png

Game 1: The Rays had 22 baserunners today but it took them until two out in the bottom of the 9th to finally push across a fifth and winning run to beat the Twins 5-4. Connor Kirkley beat out an infield hit with 2 out and Jaiden Hardaway with his 3rd hit of the day doubled him home for the walk-off win. It was another come-from-behind triumph after falling behind 3-1 and 4-3 although they obviously should have had more runs. Andy Aparicio started and pitched OK, but was victimized by a couple of homers in a 6 6 3 3 2 7 outing. Down 3-1 and not wanting to use a high-leverage righty with Chris Hicks and Jon Whiteleather tired, I brought in Rodolfo Rivas who was getting a rare day off, and Rivas came through again with a scoreless inning, striking out a pair while giving up a hit and a walk. This bought time for them to tie it in the 7th on a 2-run single from Hardaway, but Jose Alvarado gave up a homer in the top of the 8th to put Minnesota back ahead. Fear not, they tied it right back up again on a triple from Dayle Jenkins, who had earlier short-circuited a pair of rallies by hitting into double plays each time. Jordan Diaz pitched a 2K 1-2-3 9th and picked up win #2 in the process. Rays baserunners were thrown out 3 times attempting to steal today with only one success as the team SB% has cratered this year.

Game 2: The Rays' 6-game win streak was snapped today when Minnesota's Manny Baque took Alexander Beltre deep for a 2-run homer in the 9th to give the Twins a 7-5 win. Danny Medina started in place of Christian Little (dead arm) and this spot start did not go nearly as well as his first (a shutout). Medina was hit for 5 runs in 5 innings, going 5 9 5 5 2 7. Before Beltre coughed up the game-winner, the bullpen was going great with Bob Sirna throwing a perfect 6th and Chris Hicks going 2 1/3 allowing only a walk and whiffing 3. They had jumped to a 4-1 lead after 3 thanks in part to a 2-run Jasson Dominguez homer, his 30th, while Rodolfo Rivas had an RBI single as part of a 3-4 day, and it was 5-5 after 5. But our bullpen blinked when theirs didn't, and that was the game.

Game 3: The Rays and Twins came into this game with the season series tied at three, and thanks to a 5-4 walk-off win in 10 innings the Rays took it. Ricky Widmar doubled in Dane Ayers with two out and made a winner of Jon Whiteleather for the 4th time this season after the righty pitched a 1-2-3 10th. It was a back-and-forth affair which saw each team lose the lead (the Rays twice) before the Twins tied it in the 8th inning after Jose Alvarado loaded the bases with nobody out in the 8th on a walk, hit and Ricky Widmar error. Jordan Diaz nearly got them out of it, getting a strikeout before a fly ball brought home the tying run and cruelly resulted in him being charged with a blown save. Diaz went 2 scoreless to keep it close, with Tim Siqueiros earlier going 1 1/3 without allowing a run. Christian Little was back on the bump after his dead arm period, and went 5.2 6 3 3 1 9, giving up a run in the 6th as he tired. Aside from Widmar's game-winner the big hit of the game for the Rays was a 3-run jack from Ayers in the 7th (#5) which turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead.

Team record: 76-34. Next up: 3 games in Toronto.

August 9-11, 2032: at Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: A tough loss for the Rays as they wasted a brilliant performance from Alexis Carmona in a walk-off 3-2 win for Toronto in the bottom of the 9th. The Rays took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 9th and with Jordan Diaz unavailable having thrown 2 innings yesterday, Jose Alvarado was given the ball with the idea he can retire righties as well. That was a bad idea as the long-time vet just doesn't have it like he used to, and gave up a one-out, 2-run homer to Heliot Ramos to tie it up. Then a fly ball was dropped by Nate Clark and a Blue Jay pinch-hitter doubled the runner home to win the game. It was unfortunate to deprive Carmona of the win as he went 7 3 0 0 0 8 in his best performance as a Ray and now has a 3/27 BB/K ratio in 24 innings since joining the club and a 1.50 ERA. Chris Hicks navigated the 8th as he's become more entrusted with a higher-leverage role. Of course the margin for error was thin as Ben Vespi once again pretty much shut them down as he did early in the season. The first run came in the 4th as Ricky Widmar doubled and then Dane Ayers (pinch-running for Widmar because he bruised his thumb sliding into 2nd) scored on an error. Dayle Jenkins drilled homer #14 leading off the 9th with what looked like an insurance run, and they loaded the bases after that but couldn't get another run home.

Game 2: The Rays played some bad baseball in an 8-3 loss to Toronto today, dropping their second straight game and third in the last four. Early on things looked like they'd go the Rays' way with a 3-0 lead on a Rodolfo Rivas RBI single and Nate Clark's 2-run homer, his AL-leading 35th and the red-hot Jon Hayes on the mound. Hayes was constantly on the high-wire, getting into trouble in the first several innings but getting out of it, but finally fell off in the 6th when he gave up a 2-run homer to Tyreque Reed which was followed by an Isaac Paredes solo shot, and Toronto had a 4-3 lead. After another hit allowed, Jon Whiteleather came on and looked to be out of the inning but Dayle Jenkins dropped a fly ball, opening the door for two more runs to score. Whiteleather then gave up another Pardedes HR, a 2-run shot in the 7th. Hayes saw his 7-game win streak end with a rough 5.1 9 5 4 2 3 line while the offense went to sleep after Clark's homer, not even managing a hit over the final 3 innings.

August 11: Sent C Francisco Alvarez to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment.

Will Quintana has been OK, but it'll be great to get Alvarez back.

Game 3: Well for the second time this year the Rays have been swept at Rogers Centre as Toronto holds a 9-4 advantage in the season series, something I can't remember any team doing to the Rays in their 10+ year run of success in this save. Tonight it was a 6-4 defeat which featured another horrendous outing from Jon Soranno, the fifth straight and sixth in his last seven in which he's allowed more runs than innings pitched. Soranno was beat for homers in each of the first three innings, remarkable for someone with 70 movement. When the dust settled he went 2.1 7 6 6 2 4 with the only good thing to be said is that he was striking out people. He falls to 8-5, 4.54 and I don't think there's much question any longer that Alexis Carmona will be our 4th starter come playoff time instead of Soranno. In fact Danny Medina went 2 2/3 innings of dominant relief in which he fanned 6, so if Soranno's slump continues Medina may get a crack at his rotation spot. Chris Hicks also pitched well, going 3 scoreless innings on only 26 pitches. The offense was moribund again, with a Victor de Jesus homer (#27) getting them on the board in the 5th before they finally strung a few hits together in the 8th and Jaiden Hardaway had a 3-run blast (#13) to make the final score respectable as they didn't get another baserunner the rest of the game.

Team record: 76-37. Next up: An off-day then a trip to Yankee Stadium for the weekend. The Yankees have crept back within 10, so another series sweep against could make the race interesting, but tonight the Yankees lost Vlad Guerrero Jr. for 2 1/2 months with a strained hamstring so he's done for the season and the playoffs as well (the Yankees are comfortably in the first wild card at the moment).

August 13-15, 2032: at NY Yankees (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays followed their typical recipe for a loss: score some runs early then let the other team chip away until they take the lead, and then have the bats go silent over the second half of the game. That was all on display today as a 4-0 4th-inning lead became a 5-4 loss to the Yankees, allowing New York to pull within 8 1/2 games of the division lead. They only scored via the longball with Nate Clark's 36th HR of the year with a man on in the 1st and solo shots from Rodolfo Rivas (#21) in the 3rd and Dane Ayers (#6) in the 4th. Last year this would have been more than enough for Andy Aparicio, but not this year as he was unusually wild and couldn't hold the lead, eventually loading the bases with one out in the 6th and the lead down to 4-3. With a string of lefties due up in a key situation, I brought in Alex Beltre early, and he promptly wild-pitched the tying run home and gave up a sac fly for the go-ahead run. He retired all 5 batters he ended up facing but the damage was done, and AA finished with an ugly 5.1 8 5 5 5 5 line and saw his ERA rise to 3.95. Tim Siquerios had a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th, but there was no comeback as has so often been the case the bats took the rest of the game off, getting only 1 hit over the final 4 innings. Also Jaiden Hardaway's 33-game on-base streak came to an end with an 0-4 today.

Game 2: The Rays were starting down the barrel of their fifth straight loss and the Yankees pulling to within 7 1/2 of the division lead as Christian Little joined the parade of recent Rays starters to struggle, putting them in a 6-0 hole in the 5th inning. And even after a 5-run 6th got them within 7-5, they had two out and nobody on in the 9th against New York close Joe Jimenez. But Jimenez walked Nate Clark and hit Rodolfo Rivas with a pitch, and Jasson Dominguez doubled into the LCF gap to bring them both home and tie it, and Rivas homered in the top of the 12th (#22) to give the Rays their most exhilarating win of the season, 8-7. Early on Little was walking the tightrope much as Jon Hayes did a few days ago, giving up runners but limiting the damage through 4 only down 1-0. But in the 5th he served up a 3-run homer to Ivan Vega and another one to Drew Mendoza and it was 6-0 as Little finished 4.2 10 6 6 1 8. The bats, which were asleep through 5, woke up in the 6th as they loaded the bases with nobody out for Nate Clark to hit a grand slam (#37) and they kept up the rally with Bobby Witt Jr. singling in a run to make it 6-5. Chris Hicks gave the Yankees back a run in the bottom of the 6th, and that's where we stood until the 2-out, none-on comeback in the 9th. Bob Sirna, Jon Whiteleather, Jose Alvarado and Alex Beltre combined for 4 innings of scoreless relief, and Jordan Diaz took over in the 10th and went 2 2/3 to get the win, his 3rd. Alvarado had to leave them game hurt and it turns out he has forearm stiffness, a one-week injury but he'll be out two as he's IL-bound with the need to get a fresh arm up.

August 15: Placed P Jose Alvarado on the 15-day IL with forearm stiffness, optioned C Will Quintana to AAA Durham; activated C Francisco Alvarez from the 10-day IL and recalled P David Sanchez from AAA Durham.

Good to have Alvarez back, and although Sanchez flopped miserably as a starter in earlier call-ups, he's a lefty with 70 stuff out of the pen so he'll take Alvarado's place for a couple of weeks.

Game 3: The Rays were done in today by a lack of offense and some bad BABIP luck in a 4-2 loss to the Yankees. The just-activated Francisco Alvarez had a 2-run single in the 2nd to put them up 2-0, and Alexis Carmona was pitching well again, but some bad luck with batted balls caught up to him in the middle innings. In the 4th, one infield grounder was booted by Jaiden Hardaway and another went for an infield single from Ivan Vega, and that was enough to prolong the inning for Sal Mota to drill a 2-run double into the gap and tie it. And in the 6th the same thing happened again, with another infield single from Vega and another Mota hit driving in what proved to be the winning run. Carmona wild-pitched another one in, and that was that. He finished 6.1 7 4 2 2 6 in another quality performance although he suffered his first loss as a Ray. Bob Sirna came in and was great, getting all 5 of his outs via the strikeout. But the offense stalled with only 7 hits and only 4 after the 2nd and two more runners cut down stealing didn't help either as we can't seem to steal at a profitable rate this season. Like yesterday, we did put 2 on in the 9th after the first 2 were retired, but unlike yesterday Dane Ayers struck out to end the game and strand them.

Team record: 77-39. Next up: Back home for some interleague play with 3 games vs San Diego.

August 16-18, 2032: vs San Diego (3)
 

Lousy week for the team, great week for Rivas:

https://i.imgur.com/iAv2gbt.png

Game 1: Coming off a 6-game road trip in which they needed a miracle comeback just to avoid being swept, the Rays took out their frustrations today against the Padres and Ian Rodriguez, scoring 9 times in the 1st inning on the way to a 14-1 blowout of San Diego. Rodriguez came in among the NL ERA leaders at 3.14 but couldn't get anyone out, and I mean that literally as the first 7 Rays reached with Victor de Jesus blasting a 3-run homer (#28), AL Player of the Week Rodolfo Rivas following with #23, and later in the inning in his 2nd at-bat, Ricky Widmar going deep with a pair on for #11. Rivas ended with a leg up for another POTW award by going 5-6 and tying the team single-game hits record, while Widmar was 4-5 with the homer and 3 RBI and deJesus was 4-6 with the homer and 4 RBI as they amassed 24 hits on the day. Everyone had at least one hit including D'Andre Hodges, who came on in the 6th. Cruising with all this run support was Jon Hayes, who held a demoralized Padre team to 7 2 0 0 0 8 to improve to 13-7, 3.58 with his 13 wins tying several others (including Andy Aparicio) for the MLB lead. David Sanchez went the final two innings and gave up a run on 4 hits, but whiffed 4 as well.

Game 2: The good news is that Jon Soranno had his first excellent start in six outings, going 7 8 1 1 1 5. The bad news is that the Rays lost the game 2-1 in the 8th when Alexander Beltre and Francisco Alvarez combined to allow San Diego to score the winning run. Beltre came on against his old mates and promptly walked the leadoff man CJ Abrams, who stole second and went to third on Alvarez's throwing error before scoring on a single. Speaking of former teammates, Malachi Benford got the start for San Diego and continued his fine debut season with them, holding the Rays to 6.1 6 1 1 1 3 with the only damage a Rodolfo Rivas homer (#24) in the 7th as Rivas kept his hitting streak alive at 13. Benford was helped by a runner thrown out at the plate in the 1st and another caught stealing as this team can't stop giving away outs on the basepaths. They had a decent chance in bottom of the 8th when Alvarez and Ricky Widmar singled to lead off the inning, but Dayle Jenkins grounded into a double play and Nate Clark lined out to right. A Yankee win tonight now has them within 7 1/2 games, the closest they've been in a long, long time as the Rays have now dropped six of their last eight.

Game 3: Welp, the Rays lose another tough one 8-7 to San Diego, their 7th loss in 9 games while the Yankees continue to win without Vlad Jr. and have pulled within 6 1/2 games of the division lead. Andy Aparicio was simply atrocious today, handed a 4-1 lead after 1 inning and unable to come close to holding it, going 3.2 9 6 6 0 1, and leaving the Rays behind 6-4. His ERA balloons to 4.21 as he's been nowhere near the pitcher he was last season. Danny Medina came on and was sharp for 2 1/3 innings, buying time for the Rays to come back and take the lead 7-6. But Medina served up a 2-run homer to Connor Scott in the 7th, and despite getting men on base in the final 3 innings and mounting multiple threats, the Rays couldn't get the big hit they needed to tie the game up or go ahead. In the first they jumped on Ryan Weathers for a 3-run blast from Nate Clark (#38) and a back-to-back solo shot from Rodolfo Rivas (#25), homering for the third straight game and fifth in his last six, and extending his hitting streak to 14. After Aparicio coughed up the lead, they came back to re-take it in the 6th on a Ricky Widmar RBI single and a 2-run double from Dayle Jenkins. 7 should be enough to win most nights, but not tonight. Bob Sirna did a nice job with four more whiffs in 1 2/3 and David Sanchez got through the 9th.

Team record: 78-41. Next up: An off-day then the homestand continues over the weekend with Texas, another team which will jump all over poor pitching like the Rays have gotten recently.

August 20-22, 2032: vs Texas (3)
 

Game 1: Another poor outing from a starter cost the Rays in a 9-7 loss to Texas, their 8th in 10 games. Christian Little was bombarded for 8 runs in the first 2 innings, most of which came with two out in either the first or the 2nd, as our most reliable starter this season has become much less so the last couple of times out. He hung in there to go 4.1 8 8 7 2 4, dropped to 11-3 and saw his ERA rise to 3.49. Amazingly the offense kept them nominally in the game by scoring 5 times while Little was getting raked, with Nate Clark hitting a 2-run HR in the 1st inning (#39) the highlight there as he reached the 100-RBI mark once again. The early scoring orgy dried up, and the Rangers tacked on a run against Jon Whiteleather in his 3 innings of work, while the Rays got a too-little, too-late 2-run triple from Dayle Jenkins in the 9th to make the final score close. Victor de Jesus got the platinum sombrero today, striking out all 5 times up while Rodolfo Rivas saw his hitting streak end with a golden sombrero. The only good thing today was that the Yankees lost in Anaheim, so no divisional ground was lost.

Game 2: Deja vu all over again as Texas scored 7 times against Alexis Carmona in the first two innings while the Rays struck back with 5 second-inning runs before the offense dried up from there for both teams as the Rangers took an 8-6 victory to send Tampa Bay to its 9th loss in 11 games and fourth straight. It was a never-ending turnstile in the first two innings off Carmona, just as it was against Christian Little yesterday. He settled in to pitch well over the next 3 innings but the damage was done as he ended 5 8 7 6 0 5. A Bobby Witt Jr error on what would have been a DP ball in the 2nd didn't help matters either. Danny Medina took over in the 6th and like last time he was great for two innings but lost the plot in his third, walking the bases loaded. Tim Siqueiros came in and promptly walked another guy to force in the 8th Texas run before he got out of it and went the final 1 2/3. The offensive star for the Rays was Ricky Widmar, 4-5 with 2 RBI while Dayle Jenkins was 2-3 with an RBI. Rodolfo Rivas, after a golden sombrero yesterday, got the hat trick striking out three times in another 0-fer. Rays hitters couldn't get a hit over the final 3 innings which was not conducive to a comeback. The other deja vu aspect of the day was a good one as the Yankees lost again in Anaheim, so the lead stays 6 1/2 (7 in the loss column).

Game 3: The Rays win! The Rays win! It wasn't easy, but the Rays outlasted the Rangers 9-5 to snap their four-game losing streak and win for only the 3rd time in their last 12 games. There was definitely an element of "here we go again" when the Rangers scored in each of the first 3 innings to go up 3-0, and the task looked daunting against Wil Diaz, 2029's AL Cy Young winner and the runner-up the last two seasons. But the Rays chipped away at Diaz, first with a Ricky Widmar RBI double, atoning for his error which let Texas score in the top of the frame, then with a Jaiden Hardaway solo homer (#14) in the 4th and finally pushing ahead on a 2-run shot from Nate Clark (#40) in the 5th for their first lead in the series. Jon Hayes was pitched well after the first couple of innings and took the 4-3 lead into the 7th when Wander Franco of all people blasted a 2-run homer off him to give the Rangers back the lead at 5-4 and it really was "here we go again". Hayes finished the inning and went 7 10 5 4 0 7, which qualifies a gem these days for Rays starters. And he became the winning pitcher when Jasson Dominguez took Texas reliever Kyle Nelson deep (#31) with a man on to regain the lead. Tim Siqueiros got the call in the 8th and it was more nervousness when he put the first two men on but came back to strike out the next three, and the Rays tacked on 3 more in the bottom of the 8th on a bases-loaded walk to Widmar and sac flies from Dayle Jenkins and Clark. With a 4-run lead we weren't going to fool around so Jordan Diaz came on and had a 1-2-3 9th to preserve the win. The Yankees won so the win was doubly important to keep the lead at 6 1/2.

Team record: 79-43. Next up: Boston comes to town for 4 games.

August 23-26, 2032: vs Boston (4)
 

Once again despite a lousy week in the W/L department, we still had a player of the week:

https://i.imgur.com/9PoToP5.png

Game 1: It was a struggle, but the Rays got by Boston 2-1 to actually string together two straight wins, something they hadn't done since August 5-6. Nate Clark bailed them out again with his 41st HR of the year in the bottom of the 8th breaking a 1-1 tie. Jon Soranno seems to be out of his slump as he turned in his 2nd excellent outing in a row, going 6.2 3 1 1 3 7. Alex Beltre went 1 1/3 to get his 4th Rays win, and Jordan Diaz also looks to be in vintage form as he struck out the side in the 9th for save #15, getting three lefty swingers. Soranno gave up a run in the 3rd and that stood up for Boston until Victor de Jesus doubled in the 7th, went to 3rd on a Bobby Witt Jr single, and scored on Mario Candelaria's wild pitch. The Yankees won so they didn't gain any ground in the division, but another day came off the calendar so their magic # now sits at 33.

Game 2: The Rays' malaise continued tonight with a 4-2 loss to Boston, and coupled with a Yankee win in Seattle sees the Bronx Bombers pull to within 5 1/2 games of the division lead. Andy Aparicio turned in another lousy start, with his 6 9 4 4 1 4 line buoyed by a man thrown out at the plate and two more on the bases. AA is now 13-6, 4.28, a far cry from his MVP/Cy Young season last year. Bob Sirna and Chris Hicks combined for 3 scoreless innings in relief. The offense was pretty punchless against Nelson Berkwich, who's had a fine season and is now 11-6, 3.10 himself on a mediocre Boston team. Rodolfo Rivas had an RBI double in the 3rd but as usual we lost another baserunner thrown out at the plate on the play. Luis Corpus doubled home a run in the 7th, and they did load the bases in the 9th against Boston closer Bobby Carman, but Nate Clark grounded out to end the game and doom them to their 10th loss in 14 games.

Game 3: Christian Little was dominant again and so was the Rays offense in an 8-0 whitewashing of the Red Sox. After a couple of bad starts (13 runs in 9 innings combined), Little was back in form again going 6 2 0 0 2 12 and improved to 12-3, 3.34. And in relief Jon Whiteleather was just as dominant, pitching three perfect innings with 6 whiffs giving the team a combined line of 9 2 0 0 2 18 in the shutout. The 3-inning special was Whiteleather's first save of the year. The offense wasted little time jumping all over Victor Herrera, scoring 6 times off him in the first 2 innings. Nate Clark had an RBI double in the 1st followed by Rodolfo Rivas's 2-run 2-bagger and Connor Kirkley's RBI double finished off a 4-run first. After Ricky Widmar had to leave with knee soreness (he'll be back in the lineup tomorrow), Dane Ayers took over and went 2-3 with 3 runs scored including his 7th HR of the year in the 8th inning. And for the first time in a long time the Rays gained ground on the Yankees, who lost in 12 innings in Seattle. The lead is back up to 6 1/2 and the magic # is 31.

Game 4: The Rays enjoyed their 8-0 win last night so much they decided to double the fun today and win 16-0. Watching one Ray after another get hits and score runs, all I could think of was the Simpsons meme "Stop it, he's dead already!". The damage was so bad we didn't need an official scorer, we needed an insurance adjuster. Jasson Dominguez (#32 and 33) and Victor de Jesus (#29 and #30) each homered twice, Connor Kirkley had a 3-run shot (#11) and Rodolfo Rivas hit #26. Dominguez had 4 hits and missed the cycle by homering a second time instead of tripling, which shows what a gadget stat the cycle is, Dayle Jenkins had 4 hits and 3 RBI, Dane Ayers had 4 hits and everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and one RBI, except Luis Corpus, who didn't drive in a run. Pitching with all this run support was Alexis Carmona, who had a strange game in that he walked 6 in his 7 1/3 innings, although he allowed only 2 hits and struck out 7 to go to 4-2 as a Ray with a 2.53 in 42 innings. David Sanchez retired all five Sox batters he faced to finish the game. The Yankees were idle so for now this was our game in hand, making the division lead 7 and the magic number 30.

Team record: 82-44. Next up: a weekend in Houston.

August 27-29, 2032: at Houston (3)
 

Game 1: Jon Hayes was excellent and bats did enough before erupting in the 9th in an 8-1 win over Houston at Minute Maid Park. Hayes was 7 7 1 1 0 11 in an at-times dominating performance to improve to 15-7, 3.54 with his 15 wins now leading MLB. With the game still 3-1 in the 8th, Alex Beltre came in and put the first two men on but got out of it, and after they scored 5 in the 9th David Sanchez finished up with a scoreless inning. They picked up 2 in the 3rd when Houston starter George Soriano loaded the bases with nobody out and uncorked a couple of wild pitches and added a third run in the 7th on a Rodolfo Rivas RBI single. As mentioned it was 3-1 going into the 9th, and they loaded the bases again with nobody out but hit into consecutive forces at the plate. But when all looked lost, Jaiden Hardaway delivered a 2-run single and then Bobby Witt Jr cleared the bases with HR #8, a 3-run shot and the Rays have now outscored the opposition 32-1 in their last 3 games. The Yankees won to stay seven behind, so with the win the magic number drops to 29.

Game 2: The Rays' run of routs continued with a 12-2 thumping of the Astros, making it 44-3 Rays over their last four games against Boston and Houston. Dayle Jenkins (#15) and Rodolfo Rivas (#27) took one-time best-pitcher-in-baseball Jack Flaherty deep in the first inning and they never looked back from there. Dane Ayers had to come on in the 2nd for Bobby Witt Jr, who got hurt again with a strained back muscle and will miss 3 weeks (hello again Bo Angeac) and all he did subbing was go 3-4 with a pair of homers (#s 8 and 9) and 5 RBI, while Connor Kirkley (#12) and Luis Corpus (#10) also found the outfield seats. Rivas and Jenkins also had 3-hit days, as the offensive onslaught backed the third straight strong start from Jon Soranno who went 7 6 1 1 1 4 and is now 9-5, 4.05 as he seeks to get his ERA back under 4. Chris Hicks went the final 2 innings whiffing 4 but allowing a solo homer. The Yankees had their own rout (12-0) over Baltimore so no divisional ground gained but the magic # is down to 28.

August 29: Placed 3B Bobby Witt Jr. on the 10-day IL with a strained back muscle, recalled 3B Bo Angeac from AAA Durham.

Game 3: It's Groundhog Day in Houston as the Rays blast six more homers in yet another rout, 15-2 over Houston, now making the aggregate Rays score over their last 5 games 59-5. Dayle Jenkins, who seems to homer in bunches, hit two more today (#16 and 17) and drove in six to pace the attack, while Jaiden Hardaway went deep with a 3-run shot (#15) in the first to get things going. Also homering were Nate Clark (42), Rodolfo Rivas (28) and Francisco Alvarez (#2 with the Rays). Andy Aparicio had his best start in a while, going 7 5 2 2 0 5 with the two runs against coming on a 2-run inside-the-park homer in the 7th as he improves to 14-6, 4.20. Bob Sirna went the final 2, whiffing 5. The Yankees keep winning so the magic # is only going down one at a time, now 27.

Team record: 85-44. Next up: 3 games in Fenway against the Sawx.

August 30-September 1, 2032: at Boston (3)
 

For the third straight week, we have its top player:

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August 30: Activated P Jose Alvarado from the 15-day IL, optioned P David Sanchez to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The rout streak came to an end but the winning streak didn't as the Rays took down Boston 7-4 at Fenway Park. And Dayle Jenkins, whom you see above was 15 for his last 24, continued unconscious by going 4 for 5 with a homer (#18) and 3 RBI as his 2-run shot in the 5th gave the Rays a 4-1 lead. He's become the runaway MLB leader in WAR among position players now at 6.3 (a full 1.1 ahead of Houston's Alex Padilla), although the overall MLB leader in WAR is none other than his teammate Christian Little at 6.7. Speaking of Little, he got the start today and was a bit wild, walking a pair and hitting a pair in an abbreviated 4.1 4 3 3 2 5 outing, leaving due to biceps tendinitis which will shelve him for a week. Danny Medina took over for him in the 5th and walked a pair of batters to force in two of Little's runners and gave up three hits and another run in the 6th but was credited with his 4th win. Bob Sirna got a key out to rescue him in that inning, and Tim Siqueiros went 2 perfect innings on an efficient 15 pitches. Jordan Diaz pitched a 1-2-3 9th for save #16. Also contributing on offense today were Jaiden Hardaway (2-5 with HR #16), Nate Clark (2-4 with an RBI) and Rodolfo Rivas (2-5 with an RBI). The Yankees fell in Kansas City so the division lead is back up to 8 and the magic # is down to 25.

Game 2: Rays bats continued to feast on the lesser lights of the AL as these recent games against the Bostons and Houstons of the world have seen an orgy of offense and tonight they took a 9-3 win over Boston, rapping out 18 hits. Jasson Dominguez went yard twice, kicking things off with a 2-run homer in the 1st and adding a solo shot in the 5th to give him 35, Bo Angeac showed he can keep hitting MLB pitching with a pair of homers of his own, driving in 3 in total and upping his count to 18, and Victor de Jesus went back to back with Dominguez in the 5th for his 31st. Oh and Dayle Jenkins had 3 more hits tonight. The only negative was that Nate Clark had to leave in the 6th with back stiffness, diagnosed as a "moderate" injury for a week so we may just IL him to be on the safe side. On the mound Alexis Carmona was not very sharp, but didn't have to be with all that run support to improve to 5-2 as a Ray. His 5.1 9 2 2 3 3 line won't be hung in the Louvre but he did a decent job of limiting the damage (a Clark baserunner kill at the plate helped as well). Jon Whiteleather went 2 1/3 solid innings allowing only an unearned run, and Jose Alvarado saw his first action since coming off the DL and walked a pair and whiffed a pair in his 1 1/3 innings. The Yankees lost again to drop 9 back and the magic # drops to 23, so the division no longer seems to be a concern.

Time for some monthly awards (by the way old friend Joe Barker won NL PotM with a .370-10-34 August):

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September 1: Placed Nate Clark on the 10-day IL with back stiffness; recalled IF Xavier Edwards, OF Alex Buitrago and P Brad Ballmann from AAA Durham.

September roster expansion time, and we bring back Edwards to help with defense and pinch-running, Buitrago to give us an extra OF with Clark on the IL as he looked good in his stint with us last year (and should be starting for someone in MLB), and old friend Brad Ballmann comes back. Ballmann was used as a starter during the first half of the season, wasn't terribly successful and got hurt. He went back to the pen the last couple of months and pitched well, especially of late with 3 walks and 25 whiffs in 16 innings.

Game 3: The Rays completed their latest Boston Massacre with a 10-2 win over the Red Sox to make it 85 runs scored in their last 8 games, which is getting kind of ridiculous. At least they mixed things up tonight, hitting only one homer and two extra-base hits; it was mostly a lot of singles, 12 of 'em in total along with 5 walks that supplied the offense. The big inning was a 6-run 4th which turned 2-0 into 8-0 and saw Luis Corpus walk with the bases loaded before Ricky Widmar delivered a 2-run single and Dayle Jenkins follow through with an RBI single (amazingly his only hit of the night considering how he's been going). Bo Angeac did hit another one over the Monster today (#19) and drove in a pair and Victor de Jesus had 3 hits including a triple. Jon Hayes was today's well-supported Rays starter, and he didn't allow a hit until the 5th inning on his way to a 6.2 5 2 2 3 4 outing as he continues to be MLB's winningest pitcher with 16. Chris Hicks went 1 1/3 and Brad Ballmann pitched the 9th. Another Yankee loss makes the magic #21.

Team record: 88-44 (back to .667!). Next up: An off-day then back home against our bête noire this season, the Toronto Blue Jays, who hold a 9-4 season series advantage. We'll have to sweep them here in and in Toronto to avoid a season series loss.

September 3-5, 2032: vs Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: The insane run of offense continues as the Rays bludgeoned the Jays 10-1 tonight on 19 hits so that's 95 runs in the last 9 games for those scoring at home. Today's barrage was paced by Rodolfo Rivas, with a 3-run HR (#29) and 4 RBI, a 4-hit, 2-RBI game from Connor Kirkley which included HR #13 to get them on the board in the 2nd and Jaiden Hardaway's 3-4 with a walk and 2 RBI. Jon Soranno's renaissance on the mound continues as he was perfect through 4 and ended 6 3 1 1 0 7 to go to 10-5 and lower his ERA to 3.94. Jon Whiteleather had a shot at another 3-inning save but walked a couple of men in the 9th so Chris Hicks got the last two outs. A Yankee win means the magic # is now 20.

Game 2: The Rays finally ran into a pitcher who cooled their bats and Toronto's Jimmy Shaffer flash froze them, holding them to 2 hits in a 4-1 Jays win to snap the Rays' 9-game win streak. Shaffer, one of the league's better pitchers this season, was 7 2 1 1 4 9 with Connor Kirkley managing the only two hits off him, an infield single in the 4th and a double up the LCF gap in the 7th. Kirkley came around to score their only run on a Dane Ayers groundout. Andy Aparicio started for the Rays and turned in another mediocre performance, going 6 8 3 3 2 5 and dropping to 14-7, 4.21. Chris Hicks and Bob Sirna had scoreless innings while Tim Siqueiros gave up a solo homer in his but the three combined for 8 strikeouts in their 3 innings of work. The loss means Toronto has clinched the season series, up 10 games to 5 with only 4 left between them.

Game 3: Another great start from Alexis Carmona and just enough hitting got the Rays a 5-3 win over Toronto in the rubber game of the series. Carmona, one of our better in-season trade acquisitions in recent years, went 6 4 1 1 0 5 and is now 6-2, 2.50 in 9 starts as a Ray. Tim Siqueiros had a 1-2-3 2K 7th but Jose Alvarado ran into all kinds of trouble in the 8th, giving up an RBI triple which scored on a grounder to turn a 4-1 game into a 4-3 one, and Jordan Diaz had to get the final out of the inning and pitched through the 9th turning in another dominant performance with 3 whiffs in the 4 batters he faced and retired for save #17. The offense was slow to get going with a Victor de Jesus RBI single all to show through 4, but in the 5th Dane Ayers singled, stole second, went to third on a balk and scored on Dayle Jenkins' groundout and they added 2 more in the 6th on a Connor Kirkley sac fly and Bo Angeac's RBI single. Kirkley tripled in the 8th and scored on Jaiden Hardaway's double for a big insurance run. The Yankees continue to win so the magic # is now 19.

Team record: 90-45. Next up: Baltimore comes to town for 3.

September 6-8, 2032: vs Baltimore (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays entertained a Labor Day crowd at Publix Park with a 14-2 shellacking of Baltimore, although they actually trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the 5th. The game turned when the Rays mounted a 2-out, 7-run rally in the 5th starting with a Francisco Alvarez 2-run double. Ricky Widmar then followed with an RBI single, and after the bases were loaded two men later, Rodolfo Rivas hit a grand slam to reach two round numbers, 30 HR and 100 RBI. Rivas later added a sac fly and an RBI groundout to give him a 6-RBI day. Jasson Dominguez had a 3-run HR (#36) in the 7th and Bo Angeac hit #20 with a man on in the 8th. Jon Hayes went in one inning from being involved in a pitchers' duel to coasting with a huge lead, and finished 6.1 8 2 2 2 6 to go to 17-7, 3.49 as he's on track for his second straight 20-win season. Jon Whiteleather went 1 2/3 scoreless and Brad Ballmann pitched an uneventful 9th. A Yankee win means the magic # drops to 18.

Game 2: Christian Little returned from his latest 1-week absence from the rotation and went 6 shutout innings as the Rays blanked Baltimore 6-0. Little was his usual self as he shook off his biceps tendinitis, going 6 4 0 0 3 11 to improve to 13-3, 3.29 and 7.1 WAR. Chris Hicks pitched the 7th and Danny Medina the final 2 innings to combine for the shutout. After a Victor de Jesus RBI single in the 3rd got them on the board, it was bombs away in a 4-run 4th when Jasson Dominguez (#37) and Connor Kirkley (#14) went back-to-back and two batters later Luis Corpus (#11) hit a 2-run shot. Ricky Widmar's infield RBI single in the 8th accounted for the final run. The Yankees lost, so the magic # is now 16.

Game 3: Another day at the office for the Rays as they took a 6-2 win to sweep the series from the Orioles. Jon Soranno was solid once again, going 6 7 2 2 2 6 and is now 11-5, 3.90, while Tim Siqueiros, Alex Beltre (his first action in 12 days) and Jordan Diaz each had a scoreless inning. The offense mainly came from Ricky Widmar's bases-clearing double in the 2nd after a Francisco Alvarez RBI single, and Connor Kirkley, who was 3-4 with a solo HR in the 3rd. Bo Angeac added #21 in the 6th. The game saw the MLB debut of BNN's #1 ranked prospect in baseball, Oriole righty D.J. Shannon. He pitched well, going 3 scoreless innings with only 2 hits allowed, 0 walks and 3 whiffs against our tough lineup. Amazingly he was a 7th round pick in 2030 and I'm sure we'll be seeing lots of him in the years to come. The magic # drops to 15 with the Yankees winning.

Team record: 93-45. Next up: 4 games at Yankee Stadium.

MLB News: Congrats to future Hall of Famer Mike Trout, who banged out hit #3000 tonight in a win over Oakland (an Efrain Polanco 1-hitter). He's close to an even bigger milestone, sitting right now at 698 career homers. He recently passed A-Rod to move into 4th all-time behind Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds. Among players active, Bryce Harper is 9th at 624 (although "active" is stretching it for him as he's been an unsigned free agent all year), St. Louis's Joey Gallo is 12th with 595, Washington's Gleyber Torres is 16th with 579, the Phillies' Cody Bellinger is 18th at 571, and Columbus's Eloy Jimenez has moved into a tie with Reggie Jackson for 20th at 563.

September 9-12, 2032: at NY Yankees (4)
 

Game 1: It was a playoff atmosphere at Yankee Stadium with the Rays in town, a possible preview of the ALDS as the Yankees are entrenched in the #1 wild card and if they win the game they will play the Rays. And it played out like a playoff game with Andy Aparicio and New York's Dave Falco matching each other with zeroes. Falco went 7 4 0 0 2 7 against the Rays while Aparicio was in 2031 form in perhaps his best start of the season, especially considering the opponent and location, going 7 4 0 0 1 10 on 110 pitches. And after the Yankees held the Rays in the 8th, Alex Beltre came on to face the tough Yankee lefties and unfortunately one of them, young Yankee superstar and AL OPS leader Mario Aguilar hit a mammoth 505-foot homer to dead center with a man on to make it 2-0 Yankees. New York brought on veteran closer Joe Jimenez in the 9th, and the Rays mounted a rally, loading the bases with one out on two singles and an HBP. But Bo Angeac flied to shallow right, and it came down to Luis Corpus. Jimenez got him to his final strike, but the Rays backstop lined his 2-2 pitch up the middle to score a pair and tie the game. Jose Alvarado rolled back the year(s) to get the Yankees 1-2-3 in the 9th, and in the top of the 10th the Rays' beefy slugger Rodolfo Rivas drilled an Alfredi Jimenez pitch into the LF stands with a man on for #31 to make it 4-2 Rays. Jordan Diaz then came on and whiffed Yankee stars Aguilar and Ivan Vega in a 1-2-3 inning to nail down save #18 and win #3 for Alvarado and the Rays won what might have been the game of the year. The division wasn't really in jeopardy (even a Yankee 4-game sweep would have only cut the lead to 6) but tonight was a statement and lowered the magic # to 13. And if this Andy Aparicio shows up the rest of the way into the playoffs, things should go very well for the Rays.

Game 2: The Rays received another brilliant performance from a starter in Yankee Stadium and got some early offense to take care of New York 5-1 and reduce their magic number to 11. Alexis Carmona continued to dazzle, going 7 5 0 0 2 6 and is 7-2, 2.21 since joining the Rays July 20. With Alex Beltre and Jordan Diaz tired, the Rays' "B" bullpen came through although Bob Sirna loaded the bases after retiring Mario Aguilar and Chris Hicks had to get him out of it. Although Hicks gave up an RBI single, he whiffed the next two Yankees with the bases loaded and stayed on through the 9th for his first MLB save, a well-earned one. Hicks has become a very reliable cog in the pen, as the rookie sports a 1.37 ERA in 39 1/3 innings with a 15/49 BB/K ratio and he's shown lately he can handle high-leverage situations. Unlike yesterday when it took them until two strikes with two out in the 9th inning to score the bats wasted no time today as Victor de Jesus went deep with a 2-run shot in the 1st inning (#32) and Jasson Dominguez hit #38 in the 4th to make it 3-0. Rodolfo Rivas and Francisco Alvarez added RBI singles in the 5th and 6th to give Carmona breathing room.

September 11: Activated OF Nate Clark from the 10-day IL, optioned OF Alex Buitrago to AAA Durham.

Game 3: The Rays took another win in New York 5-3 today behind a strong outing from Jon Hayes and the bat of former Yankee Jasson Dominguez to reduce their magic number to 9. Hayes limited the Yankees to 1 hit through 5 innings but that hit drove in a runner who reached on a Ricky Widmar error so Hayes found himself behind 1-0. But Dominguez came to the rescue, taking former Rays farmhand Hunter Barco deep with HR #39 to tie it and later in the inning Dane Ayers got himself into double digit dingers with a 2-run shot. Dominguez then tacked on a 2-run double in the 7th to break it open. Hayes allowed a run in the 7th and made it through the 8th with a low pitch count so he started the ninth but gave up a single. With lefties due Jose Alvarado came in and continued to erode my trust in him by giving up a couple of hits to load the bases, and I was forced to bring in Jordan Diaz. The Yankees countered by pinch-hitting the tough Mario Aguilar as the winning run at the plate but Diaz got him to roll over on a grounder to 2nd for a force and then he whiffed pinch-hitter Drew Mendoza to end the game and nab save #19. Hayes went to 18-7 with an 8 7 3 2 0 7 outing on only 98 pitches and is now 1st in MLB in wins, and 2nd in MLB in strikeouts and WAR with only Christian Little ahead of him in both categories. Yes it's going to stink to lose both those guys to free agency this winter.

Game 4: The Rays took a 4-0 lead, blew it, and then scored twice in the 9th to win 6-4 and sweep the 4-game series from the Yankees to drop their magic # for clinching the division to 7. Jasson Dominguez hit HR #40, a 3-run shot off former Ray Daniel Lynch in the 1st, and then Dane Ayers also homered for the second straight game with a solo blast (#11) in the 3rd. This run support backed Christian Little, who had one of the weirdest outings of his career. Little did not strike out a single batter until he whiffed Drew Mendoza in the 5th and ended up going 7 9 2 2 1 4, which is about as low a strikeout total as he's ever had for an outing that long. It only took him 91 pitches, and Tim Siqueiros came on in the 8th with a 4-2 lead and after getting the first man he gave up a hit, which brought up the ever-dangerous Mario Aguilar, and the Yankee slugger took Siqueiros deep for his 40th homer of the year to tie the game. Alex Beltre got the final 2 outs of the inning and the Rays made him a winner in the 9th. Rodolfo Rivas led off with a single, was pinch-run for by Victor de Jesus who stole 2nd for his 25th bag of the year and scored two batters later on Bo Angeac's single off Yankee closer Joe Jimenez, whom the Rays victimized again. Jimenez then wild-pitched Connor Kirkley home to make it 6-4, and Beltre stayed on and got the Yanks 1-2-3 in the 9th for his 5th win (against 6 losses, that's a lot of decisions for a reliever we acquired in mid-May).

Team record: 97-45. Next up: 3 games in Toronto, where maybe we can save some face against the one team that's dominated us this year.

September 13-15, 2032: at Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: It's a good thing the Rays won't be playing the Blue Jays in the playoffs because they've had their number this season and upped their advantage over Tampa Bay to 11-6 this year with a 5-4 win at Rogers Centre. Skyler Messinger was a one-man wrecking crew for the Jays today, hitting a bases-clearing double off Jon Soranno in a 4-run 1st inning and then after the Rays fought back to even the game, he took Chris Hicks deep for a massive homer to dead center to provide the winning run in the 8th. Soranno recovered nicely after that rough 1st inning and shut the Jays down over the next 5, going 6 7 4 4 2 7. Jose Alvarado and Hicks combined to pitch the 7th, and Hicks stayed in for the 8th to give up the Messinger homer to suffer his first MLB loss. The Rays got back into it on a pair of Bo Angeac RBI singles, a Luis Corpus RBI double, and Nate Clark's 43rd homer of the year in the 7th, a massive blast to RCF that traveled 499 feet. The Rays still managed to reduce their magic number to 6 as the Yankees lost to the Dodgers.

Game 2: The Rays blasted four homers and built an 11-1 lead, then hung on to beat the Jays 11-7. The Jays took a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st off Andy Aparicio, but Rodolfo Rivas equalized in the 2nd with HR #32. Ricky Widmar's 2-run double in the 3rd put the Rays ahead to stay and two batters later Nate Clark hit a 3-run blast (#44) to break it open. From there they got a 3-run homer from Francisco Alvarez (his 3rd as a Ray) in the 4th and a 2-run shot from Dayle Jenkins (#19) in the 6th. This was plenty of support for Aparicio, who held the Jays to 1 hit through 5 before running into some 6th-inning trouble which wasn't helped by an Alvarez passed ball which allowed a run to score as the Jays picked up a pair in AA's final inning. He finished 6 3 3 2 4 9 to improve to 15-7, 4.02. Brad Ballmann came on and got a 1-2-3 7th, but couldn't get anyone out in the 8th and ended up allowing 4 runs to make it 11-7 before Jon Whiteleather went the final 1 2/3 to right the ship. With the Yankees winning, they've now reduced the magic # to 5.

Game 3: The Rays got yet another brilliant performance from Alexis Carmona, although they nearly wasted it when Jordan Diaz melted down in the 9th. But Jasson Dominguez came to the rescue with a homer in the 11th and the Rays took a 4-3 win to at least narrow Toronto's final record against them this year to 11-8. Carmona was in complete control, going 8 4 0 0 1 11 and is now 7-2, 1.96 since being acquired from Pittsburgh. As well as Jon Soranno has pitched lately it looks like Carmona has the #4 spot in the playoff rotation sewn up. A lot of bench guys played today, and although they built a 3-0 lead for Carmona going into the bottom of the 9th, they could and should have had more runs, getting 12 hits and leaving 14 on base, including failing to score with a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation. Still Xavier Edwards drove in a pair on a fielder's choice and an RBI single (and was 2-5 with a pair of steals), and Dominguez doubled in what looked to be a clinching insurance run in the 9th. But Diaz didn't have it today, giving up a walk and a homer to make it 3-2, and walking two more and allowing a tying base hit. It was reminiscent of Diaz's struggles in the first couple of months but today was the first time in 18 appearances covering 20 1/3 innings (and 28 of the last 29, with just one run allowed since May) that he'd allowed a run. Alex Beltre got him out of the 9th and got a couple outs in the 10th before Chris Hicks came in to retire the last man in the the 10th. Then Dominguez hit HR #41, his 4th in 5 games and 6th in his last 8 to win it, with Hicks finishing the 11th with a couple of whiffs to pick up his first MLB win. And we inch closer to clinching as a Yankee loss has lowered the magic number to 3.

Team record: 99-46. Next up: 4 games in Baltimore.

Durham Playoff Update: Durham is in the playoffs once again after an excellent 84-56 regular season, and they drew the Toledo Mud Hens for the first round of the International League playoffs. Toledo is Detroit's affiliate so there's a little bit of a revenge factor after last year's Tigers upset of the Rays in the ALDS. In fact playing for Toledo is Levi Usher, who was a thorn in the side of the Rays in that ALDS but fell on hard times this year (hitting .114 in 114 AB with Detroit, nice symmetry but lousy production). In fact it turned out that Usher was a bit of a spoiler tonight as he broke up Gil Wayne's no-hitter with an infield single leading off the 7th but it didn't stop the Bulls from taking a 2-0 home win in Game 1. Wayne was brilliant, going 7.1 2 0 0 1 8 and has a shot at being our 5th starter next year after an 11-5, 2.28 season. His only drawback is pedestrian (50) stuff but he has 65 control with a 23/123 BB/K ratio in 150 innings this year. Eric Carter went the final 1 2/3 for the save and both runs came on a 2-run single from Eric Batchelder, our first round pick back in 2026 who is an excellent fielder but not a great hitter. Kevin Lovetere will toe the rubber for Game 2 tomorrow.

September 16-19, 2032: at Baltimore (4)
 

Game 1: Jon Hayes was going for win #19 but decided to turn in one of his poorer performances of the season as the Rays were edged by Baltimore 4-3 at Oriole Park. He miraculously gave up only 3 runs despite allowing 8 hits and 3 walks in his 3 2/3 innings of work, which spanned 96 pitches. Danny Medina came on and was very good in long relief with 3 shutout innings, buying the Rays time to tie the game in the 7th. But Bob Sirna got into trouble and Tim Siqueiros made a key error that loaded the bases before he gave up a single to score the winning run in the 8th. The offense was pretty quiet after Nate Clark gave them a quick 2-0 lead with HR #45 in the 1st inning. They did have a nice rally in the 7th with Luis Corpus singling in the tying run, but Jaiden Hardaway was thrown out at the plate to end the inning after trying to score on a fly ball. Despite the loss, the magic number fell to 2 after the Yankees went down to defeat.

Durham Playoff Update: Despite a rough start from Kevin Lovetere, who didn't make it out of the 4th, the Bulls had their way with Toledo 10-4 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-5 first round IL playoff series. A 5-run 2nd was the difference after they fell behind 2-0, with the big hit being Osmy Gregorio's 2-run homer. Eric Batchelder picked up where he left off in Game 1, going 3-5 with a double, triple and RBI and elite prospect Omar Rodriguez homered and drove in a pair. Ed Thomas went 3 innings in relief of Lovetere to get the win and Durham will go for the sweep in Toledo in a couple of nights with Mike Champagne on the mound.

Game 2: Tonight was almost a carbon copy of last night, with the Rays taking a 2-0 lead, falling behind 3-2, tying it at 3 and then losing it 4-3. Christian Little pitched much better than Jon Hayes last night, but got beat in a different way when he gave up a 3-run homer to Collin Montez with 2 out in the 6th to put them behind. This was after Nate Clark hit #46 to get them on the board (just like last night) and they added a run in the 5th on a wild pitch. Little probably should not have been brought out for the 7th after the Rays tied it on a Ricky Widmar RBI single, but I did and he gave up a leadoff double to Ramon Laureano. Tim Siqueiros came in and wild-pitched him to 3rd and gave up a sac fly for the winning run, so despite what looked like a perfect inning in the box score was anything but. Jose Alvarado did have a perfect inning, whiffing a pair, but the bats couldn't get anything going over the final 2 innings so it's back-to-back defeats. They still managed to clinch a tie for the division, however, as the Yankees lost in extras to Boston.

Game 3: The Tampa Bay Rays, 2032 AL East Champions. Not exactly a shocker as this marks the 11th straight season the Rays have won the division but always an accomplishment nonetheless as they rode an 11-6 win over Baltimore for the clincher and also for win #100 of the season with two weeks to spare. The Rays unloaded a barrage of homers today as they built a 9-0 lead and watched some sloppy play (walks and errors) let Baltimore back in at 9-5 before hanging on. Leading the homer parade was who else but Nate Clark, who hit 2 more today, a 2-run shot in the 4th and another 2-run job in the 8th to give him an MLB-leading 48 and 4 in his last 3 games (and 5 in 5). The big early hit came from another reliable power source, Jasson Dominguez, who launched #42, a 3-run blast in the 1st. Also going yard were Jaiden Hardaway (#17), Rodolfo Rivas (#33) and Bo Angeac (#22). While all this was going on Jon Soranno was in his rocking chair, shutting down the Orioles on 50 pitches through 5 innings. But he gave up a few hits for a couple of runs in the 6th and a passed ball allowed a 3rd to score, and in the 7th the defense made three (!) errors behind him leading to 2 runs, finally requiring Jon Whiteleather to come in. Whiteleather finished the inning, then was wild in the 8th, walking a couple and Chris Hicks relieved him and gave up a double to score one of his runners but then finished the game without incident. Soranno had a weird 6 7 5 2 1 1 line and improved to 12-5, 3.95.

Durham Playoff Update: How sweep it is as the Bulls came from behind to beat Toledo 4-2 and take 3 out of 3 in their first round IL playoff series. Mike Champagne sparkled tonight, going 7 6 2 2 1 8 and Eric Carter nailed down a 2-inning save. The Bulls were down 2-0 early and being no-hit by Toledo's Austin Becker through 4, but broke through in the 6th for 3 runs on a Will Quintana RBI and a 2-run double from Osmy Gregorio. Alex Buitrago added some insurance with an RBI single. Scoring twice and getting two more hits was Eric Batchelder, named MVP of the series after going a nice 6-9 in the 3 games. They move on to the finals to play either Columbus or Rochester.

Game 4: The Rays overcame an early 3-0 deficit thanks to an error and a homer allowed and ended up cruising past Baltimore 11-3, although it took a 6-run 9th to truly put the game away. Andy Aparicio started and would have been out of the 2nd but for a Bo Angeac error, and then he gave up an infield single and a 3-run homer to Myles Austin. That was all Aparicio allowed today as he finished 7 5 3 0 1 8 to go to 16-7, 3.87 as he's pitched much better his last few starts, something he can hopefully maintain through the playoffs. They equalized with a pair of homers in the 4th, a solo shot from Jasson Dominguez (#43) and a 2-run jack from Jaiden Hardaway (#18). Dane Ayers' 2-run single in the 6th put them ahead to stay, then they scored 6 times in the 9th including a solo homer from Dayle Jenkins (#20). Alex Beltre pitched a scoreless 8th when it was a 2-run game and got a hold, and Brad Ballmann mopped up in the 9th.

Team record: 101-48. Next up: Their first off day in what seems like forever, and then the Yankees come to town for 3. It's a big series for the Yankees, who were once a mortal lock for a wild card, some 7-8 games up on the second spot. But our 4-game sweep of them has sent them into a 2-8 tailspin and as of today they're only 2 games up on 2nd wild card Chicago and 3 on the Angels.

September 21-23, 2032: vs NY Yankees (3)
 

Another PotW:

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

Typically, guys who hit 45-50 HR aren't described as "scrappy", but ok.

Durham Playoff Update (9/20): Rochester must have made quick work of Columbus because here we are already starting the Championship Round. And although Bulls ace Gil Wayne got knocked around, the offense picked him up in an 8-6 win to take Game 1 in Rochester on Monday night. Alex Buitrago's 7th-inning homer broke a 6-6 tie in a game that had gone back and forth. Buitrago drove in a pair, as did Melvin Guiterrez, and Eric Batchelder stayed red-hot with 2 hits and an RBI. Jeremy Allen picked up the win in middle relief and David Sanchez got the save with Eric Carter still fatigued from his 2-inning save a couple of days earlier. Kevin Lovetere will try to give them a 2-game lead today.

Game 1: The Rays kept the Yankees reeling with a 9-5 win at Publix Park behind a solid game from Alexis Carmona and the usual offensive onslaught (which did not include any homers for a change). Carmona allowed 5 runs in his 7 innings of work, but was the victim of some sequencing as the Yankees did all their damage against him in a 2-run first and a 3-run 5th as he ended up 7 5 5 5 2 9, still good for 8-2 as a Ray. Jose Alvarado went 6 up, 6 down to finish out the game. A 4-run 4th got the Rays in front, and Rodolfo Rivas had one of his 2 RBI singles in the inning. Dayle Jenkins had a 2-run triple as the offense was spread amongst most of the lineup. The White Sox lost to keep them 1 1/2 behind the Yankees in 2nd wild card, but the Angels won to move within 1 of the White Sox and 2 1/2 of the Yankees.

MLB Note: One-time Ray (10 years ago) Joey Gallo hit HR #600 to become only the 12th player in MLB history to reach that mark so congrats to him.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls were skunked 12-0 by Rochester, which evened the best-of-5 IL Championship Series at 1-1. Kevin Lovetere was hit hard again, although it was only 2-0 going into the 6th, while the bats were silenced to the tune of only four hits. Thankfully it only counts as one game as the series shifts back to Durham for Game 3 with Mike Champagne going for the Bulls, who should get Mike Harms back from injury as well. The 1B hit .352-15-84 this year so his bat will be welcomed back.

Game 2: Jon Hayes picked up win #19 despite allowing 6 runs as the Rays took advantage of some sloppy play from the Yankees in a 9-6 win. After scoring 4 times in the 2nd with a couple of unearned runs and building a 5-1 lead, Hayes allowed a 2-run homers to Ronnie Herron and Victor Robles allowing them to tie it up. But after the Yankees should have been out of the 5th, an error with two outs loaded the bases for Nate Clark, who drilled a 2-run double to put the Rays ahead to stay. Rodolfo Rivas added a solo shot (#34) in the 6th for some insurance as Hayes ended up going 6.2 9 6 6 2 4 before Bob Sirna came on to face Yankee superstar Mario Aguilar. Sirna was filthy, whiffing Aguilar and two more Yankees in the 8th before Jordan Diaz had a 1-2-3 9th for save #20 to bounce back from a bad outing. Bo Angeac had a pair of RBI singles to raise his average to .300 and Connor Kirkley was 3-4 among the standouts on offense. The Angels won and White Sox lost, meaning the Yankees are 1 1/2 games up in the first wild card over both teams as they've now lost 10 of 12 including 6 of 6 in that stretch to the Rays.

Game 3: The Rays kept their boots on the neck of the Yankees with a 7-0 win as Christian Little pitched 7 1-hit innings to lead the way. The flame-throwing righty, who should get the biggest contract for a free agent pitcher this winter, went 7 1 0 0 4 9 to improve to 14-4, 3.23 as his 7.6 WAR leads all MLB players. Not sure he'll pull the Cy/MVP double like Aparicio did last year, but I'd say he's looking good for his 2nd Cy Young. Chris Hicks and Brad Ballmann completed the 2-hit shutout. On offense the Rays got to Yankee ace Eric Peterson for 3 runs on 5 hits in the 2nd inning with the big blows an RBI single from Connor Kirkley and an RBI double from Luis Corpus. They tacked on two more in the 6th on a couple of sac flies, and in the 7th Victor de Jesus (#33) and Rodolfo Rivas (#35) hit solo shots to round out the scoring. The White Sox were idle but the Angels got a 3-homer game from Jeremiah Jackson and career HR #699 from Mike Trout in a wild 12-10 win over Houston to take over the second wild card as the Yankees hold the first by 1/2 game and only lead the White Sox by a game now as their playoff spot is slipping away.

Team record: 104-48. Next up: The Red Sox visit for the final regular-season home series of the year. After that the Rays visit Chicago so they'll have a say in the wild card race once again - perhaps this time to the Yankees' benefit.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls are one win away from consecutive Governor's Cups and their 6th Cup in 11 seasons after taking a 6-3 win over Rochester today in Game 3 of the International League finals. Mike Champagne was a workhorse today, going 8 8 3 3 3 6 on 126 pitches (hey it's his last start of the season) while Alex Buitrago had the big hit of the game, a 3-run homer in the 4th to put Durham up 4-2 right after Rochester had taken the lead in the top of the inning. The Bulls also got a homer from Devon Tuley and welcomed back team MVP (and possible IL MVP) Mike Harms back to the lineup as he was 2-3 with an RBI. Meanwhile Eric Batchelder went 2-3 today and is merely hitting .526 in the postseason. Eric Carter picked up the save as veteran Miguel Diaz will take the ball for the potential clincher tomorrow.

September 24-26, 2032: vs Boston (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays march on towards the postseason with another convincing win today, 10-2 over Boston. Jon Soranno was brilliant although he only lasted into the 6th due to a high pitch count going 5.2 3 0 0 3 10 on 104 pitches. He's now 13-5, 3.81 as he makes his bid to be the #4 starter come playoff time. Bob Sirna gave up a couple of runs in the 7th but Tim Siqueiros got him out of that and whiffed 3 in 1 1/3 and Rodolfo Rivas made a rare pitching appearance, striking out the first man, giving up three singles to load the bases, but getting a shallow fly ball and another whiff to finish the game unscathed. On offense they slowly and steadily built a lead, with the stars on offense being Francisco Alvarez (3-5 with Rays HR #4 and 2 RBI), Dayle Jenkins (3-5 with 2 RBI) and Bo Angeac (on base 4 times including HR #23). Nate Clark added #49 in the 8th and drove in a pair. In the wild card race the Yankees (for a change), Angels and White Sox all won so the three remain separated by a game.

Durham Playoff Update: Back-to-back champs! And in the most dramatic fashion! Devon Tuley homered leading off the bottom of the 9th to break a 3-3 tie and send the Durham Bulls to their 6th Governor's Cup in the last 11 seasons and second straight as they took the series 3 games to 1 with a 4-3 win over Rochester. Things did not start off at all well for Durham as Miguel Diaz was rocked for 6 hits and 3 runs in the first 2 innings, and was lucky that a runner was caught stealing to end the 1st and another thrown out at the plate in the 2nd. Meanwhile the Bulls did not have a baserunner through 4 innings. But they started the comeback in the 5th when Will Quintana hit a 447-foot shot to dead center to cut the Rochester lead to 3-2. And Mike Harms' sac fly in the 6th brought home Melvin Gutierrez with the tying run. It was great work for Bulls-pen to hold Rochester at 3 for 7 innings with Jeremy Allen going 3 2/3 scoreless, Juan Fuentes a pair, David Sanchez 1 1/3 and Eric Carter getting the final 2 outs in the 9th, including a Red Wing thrown out at home on an attempted squeeze. BNN did not name an MVP of the series, but I'm going to give it to Alex Buitrago, who had 2 HR and 5 RBI to go with two stunning defensive plays today: the runner thrown out at the plate mentioned earlier, and a diving catch in RF that looked like a sure double that saved a couple of runs.

Game 2: The Rays raced out to an early 8-0 lead and held on to win 8-5 at Publix Park. Nate Clark reached the 50-HR mark for the second time in three seasons with a 3-run blast in the 1st, Dayle Jenkins had a 2-run double in the 2nd, Dane Ayers hit a 2-run HR (#12) in the 3rd and Jenkins added HR #21 in the 4th to make it 8-0. This made things easy for Andy Aparicio, who pitched 7 excellent innings but was the victim of a single-double-homer sequence in the 6th that allowed Boston to score 3 and he left going 7 5 3 3 0 6 to improve to 17-7, 3.87. Jose Alvarado didn't impress in his inning, walking a pair leading to a run, and Jordan Diaz gave up a leadoff homer in his inning of work to let Boston finish within 3. Over in the wild card race it was a great day for the Yankees as they got a 3-run Josh Glass homer in the 9th to beat Toronto while the White Sox and Angels both lost, the latter despite Mike Trout hitting HR #700, making him the 4th player in MLB history to reach that mark behind Ruth, Aaron and Bonds. The Yankees are now 1 1/2 up on the Angels, who in turn are 1/2 game up on the White Sox.

A few retirements of note: A couple of members of our first World Series-winning team in 2023 hung up the cleats: Seth Beer, MVP of that World Series, and Ty Buttrey who spent the second half of that season with us in middle relief. The biggest name among non-former-Rays to retire was Yoan Moncada.

Game 3: Well the question of who will be our #4 starter in the playoffs was answered today in terrible fashion as Alexis Carmona had to leave the game after facing one batter and it turns out he has a torn UCL and will miss all of next season, putting a serious crimp into his free agent hopes. So Jon Soranno will get the job by default, although he has pitched quite well over the last month. Aside from that, how was the game Mrs. Lincoln? Well the Rays did win 4-2. Danny Medina went 5 innings in relief, giving up a Pierson Gibis 2-run homer as his only hit allowed in a 5 1 2 2 2 2 performance, and then Brad Ballmann found his strikeout pitch in the 6th and 7th, getting all 6 outs via the K which was impressive considering he only had 5 in 11 innings before that. That was enough to get him the win when the Rays came back in the 7th on a Dayle Jenkins RBI single which extended his hitting streak to 18. D'Andre Hodges added HR #7 in the 8th to give them insurance after Tim Siqueiros had a 1-2-3 8th and Alexander Beltre pitched the 9th for his 4th Rays save. Earlier Bo Angeac hit #24 and Hodges had a sac fly for the first two Rays runs. In the AL Wild Card race, today was the inverse of yesterday as the Yankees lost while the White Sox and Angels won, leaving the three teams separated by a 1/2 game again.

Team record: 107-48. Next up: 4 big games against the White Sox (for them, not necessarily us) in Chicago.

September 27-30, 2032: at Chicago White Sox (4)
 

September 27: Placed P Alexis Carmona on the 60-day IL with a torn UCL, optioned IF Xavier Edwards to AAA Durham; activated 3B Bobby Witt Jr. from the 10-day IL, recalled P David Sanchez from AAA Durham.

Witt is back, although we'll probably stick with Bo Angeac as the 3B given how productive he's been.

Game 1: The Rays ended up trouncing the White Sox 12-3, although they trailed 3-2 going into the 6th. That's when Nate Clark hit the 2nd of his 3 (!) homers on the night to put the Rays up 4-3 to stay and get Jon Hayes his 20th win of the season. Hayes was serviceable, going 6 8 3 3 1 6 to go to 20-7, 3.69 in another stellar season, while Chris Hicks went two dominant innings of relief, whiffing 4, and David Sanchez had a 1-2-3 9th. Clark meanwhile had given the Rays a quick 2-0 lead with his first homer, and then added a solo shot in the 8th to give him 53, a career-high. He also drew a bases-loaded walk in the 9th to give him a 6-RBI day. Jasson Dominguez added a grand slam in the 9th to really make it a rout (#44) as the Rays damaged the White Sox playoff hopes. Bobby Witt Jr. returned to the lineup and you guessed it - got hurt again. He hit a pair of doubles but on the second one he broke his fibula sliding into second and he's done for the year, making it less awkward when we go with Bo Angeac in the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, the Yankees won today while the Sox and the Angels both lost, so once again advantage New York in the wild card race, 1 1/2 up on LA and 2 on Chicago.

September 28: Placed 3B Bobby Witt Jr. on the 10-day IL with a broken fibula, recalled IF Xavier Edwards from AAA Durham.

It's like the Grandpa Simpson meme where he walks into the restaurant, puts his hat on the rack and then turns around, picks it up and leaves, as Witt comes off the IL only to go right back on, so Edwards comes right back up as well.

https://i.imgur.com/HbyRR8X.png

Is this good with all these flame thingies? I think it's good.

Game 2: The Rays shoveled more dirt on the White Sox' playoff hopes with a 6-1 win at Guaranteed Rate Field. Chicago had its chances early against Christian Little, loading the bases with nobody out to start the game before Little struck out the next three, and had two on with 1 out in the 2nd but couldn't get the runners home. Perhaps out of frustration, White Sox starter Alex Diosdado lost the plot in the 3rd, walking two Rays with the bases loaded and giving up a sac fly in the 3rd, and then he balked home a run in the 4th. Dayle Jenkins completed the scoring in the 7th with a 2-run shot (#22) to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. Little settled in from his early struggles and only gave up a Michael Toglia homer in the 6th on his way to win #15 in a 6 5 1 1 2 9 performance. This was his final regular-season start and he finishes the year 15-4, 3.17 with 281 whiffs in 179 IP and is the heavy favorite for the AL Cy Young. Bob Sirna, Jon Whiteleather and Jordan Diaz each had a scoreless inning. In the AL Wild Card race, the Yankees lost while the Angels won. The White Sox are 1 1/2 back of LA in the 2nd wild card while the Yankees are 1/2 game up on the Angels. Chicago has a game in hand but unfortunately it's tomorrow against the Rays.

Elsewhere, the Angels may not need to settle for a wild card as they've pulled within 1 game of Texas for the AL West lead; the Rangers seemed a lock for so long that nobody noticed LA creeping up on them. Detroit did clinch the Central earlier this week. Over in the NL, the Braves clinched a poor NL East, but the other two divisions are wide open with the Cardinals leading the Reds by a game and the Dodgers up on the surging Padres by 2 games with 5 left. The Reds-Cardinals loser should claim one of the wild cards but the other has the Padres 1 game up on Arizona. San Diego and Arizona will play each other in a final weekend 3-game series.

More retirement news: The 2023 World Series-winning Rays are dropping like flies as our rent-an-ace that year, Noah Syndergaard, called it a career. He ends with a 184-105 record and a 3.38 ERA. He also won the Series with St. Louis in 2027, and went 18-4, 3.31 in his lone season with the Rays. He's very borderline for the HoF.

Game 3: The Rays saw a couple of streaks snapped tonight, as they fell 4-1 to the White Sox to end their 10-game win streak and Dayle Jenkins was held hitless to end his 20-game hitting streak. Also Dane Ayers' healthy streak came to an end when he was hit on the foot with the first pitch of the game from Chicago ace Nate Schultz. Ayers suffered a bad foot contusion, one which will keep him out 2-3 weeks meaning he'll miss the ALDS and Xavier Edwards should make the playoff roster. Now we need to keep Ricky Widmar in bubble wrap (and Bo Angeac for that matter, as Ayers was our cover at 3B and SS). Jon Soranno started and pitched well, although he gave up 3 runs in the 2nd, all of which were unearned due to a Rodolfo Rivas error. He went 5.2 6 3 0 3 6 and finishes his regular season 13-6, 3.68 with 156 Ks in 171 IP. Chris Hicks came in and was filthy again, whiffing three of the four men he faced while David Sanchez allowed a run in the 8th. The only run came via Victor de Jesus' 34th HR of the season in the 3rd as players like Widmar, Nate Clark and Jaiden Hardaway got the day off.

Playoff Race Update: The White Sox win took them off life support, while the Yankees lost and Angels won, meaning LA is in the first wild card, 1/2 game up on the Yankees, who are 1 game up on Chicago. Texas won so they stay a game ahead of the Angels in the West. Over in the NL, St. Louis beat Cincinnati again to open up a 2-game lead in the Central, while the Padres beat the Dodgers and Arizona lost, meaning the Dodgers are only a game up on San Diego while the Padres have opened up a 2-game lead over Arizona for the 2nd wild card.

September 30: Placed IF/OF Dane Ayers on the 10-day IL with a foot contusion, recalled IF Melvin Gutierrez from AAA Durham.

Gutierrez has been up before, and he'll play a couple of games over these last four as we rest/protect Ricky Widmar. Ayers concludes another impressive regular season as a super-utility guy, hitting 315/362/500 with 12 HR and 59 RBI in 83 games.

Game 4: Andy Aparicio was brilliant in his final start of the regular season and Jasson Dominguez belted a pair of homers to give the Rays a 5-1 win over Chicago to take 3 of 4 in this crucial series for the White Sox. AA has been in 2031 form the last month or so and today he was an excellent 8 4 1 1 1 6 to finish the year 18-7, 3.76 with a 47/214 BB/K ratio in 208 innings, a season most pitchers would kill to have but seems like a disappointment after last year. Tim Siqueiros struck out the side in the 9th and he's had a great year too, lowering his ERA to 1.99 with 86 whiffs in 54 1/3 innings. Dominguez hit a 2-run HR in the 2nd and a solo shot in the 3rd to give him 46 on the year, and Jaiden Hardaway went deep later for his 19th.

Team record: 110-49. Next up: 3 games in Texas, a big series for the Rangers as they're trying to hang onto the AL West lead.

Playoff Race Update: Victor Robles hit a 3-run walk-off homer for the Yankees in the 10th inning to give them a big win, while the Angels and Rangers were idle. So going into the final weekend the wild card race has the Yankees and Angels tied for the two wild cards with the White Sox 2 games behind, so it will take a small miracle for Chicago to get in. The Angels still trail the Rangers by a game, so it's possible it's Texas vs New York in the wild card game as well. Over in the NL, Cincinnati beat St. Louis to pull back within 1 game of the NL Central lead, while the Dodgers beat the Padres to take a 2-game lead in the West. Fortunately for San Diego, Arizona lost as well so the Padres maintain a 2-game lead for the second wild card (the first will go to the Cincinnati-St. Louis division loser).

October 1-3, 2032: at Texas (3)
 

Some monthly awards:

https://i.imgur.com/oxv2iJB.png

This confirms what I had been saying about Aparicio's late-season renaissance, hopefully it continues into the playoffs. He is likely the #3 starter behind Little and Hayes.

Bo knows baseball:

https://i.imgur.com/CH7ty7V.png

Game 1: It was a playoff atmosphere at Globe Life Field as the Rangers are locked in mortal combat with the Angels for the AL West division lead, up by a game coming into tonight. And it was an epic game between these two teams, who have built up a rivalry of sorts having met several times in the playoffs recently albeit one-sided in favor of the Rays. Tampa Bay continued with the upper hand tonight as well, taking an 8-3 lead and holding on for a nail-biting 8-7 win which coupled with an Angels win dropped Texas into a tie atop the AL West. The pitching matchup favored Texas going in with perennial Cy Young contender (and one-time winner) Wil Diaz matched up against fill-in starter Danny Medina but the Rays jumped all over Diaz for 3 runs in the first and two more in the 3rd, chasing him with an ugly 2.2 9 5 5 3 4 line. The 1st inning was particularly nightmarish for Diaz, who wild-pitched two runs home and walked another in with the bases loaded. Texas answered in the bottom of the inning with 3 off Medina but the Rays pulled ahead in the 3rd for good on a 2-run Jaiden Hardaway single. Victor de Jesus added a solo shot (#35) in the 4th to make it 6-3, and Dayle Jenkins delivered a 2-run single in the 5th as part of a 4-hit day (more on him in a bit) to up the lead to 8-3. Medina settled down after the 1st but started running out of gas in the 6th, giving up a couple of runs and Chris Hicks wasn't much relief, allowing one of his own in the 6th and another in the 7th to let Texas within 8-7. But Bob Sirna was unhittable, whiffing 3 of the 4 Rangers he faced to get through the 8th, and Jordan Diaz made it interesting in the 9th by walking a couple but pitched around it for save #21 while Medina got the win despite a pedestrian 5.1 9 5 5 0 3 line. Need to say a word or two about Dayle Jenkins, who was 4-5 today. He now leads the AL in hitting at .351, taking over the lead from Texas's Edgar Medina who was 1-4 today and made the final out, now sitting at .346. Jenkins also leads all MLB position players in WAR at 7.4, trailing only Christian Little's 7.7 among everyone. He's got a great shot at MVP.

Playoff race update: The White Sox lost so sayonara Chicago, meaning the Yankees and Angels clinch wild-cards. Of course the Angels have bigger fish to fry, now in a tie with Texas for the AL West lead. Over in the NL, the Dodgers clinched the West with a win as the Padres lost to Arizona which pulled within one game of them for the second wild card. Status quo in the Central with the Cards maintaining their 1-game lead over Cincinnati as both won.

Game 2: Like yesterday the Rays built up a big lead and like yesterday they held on to win today 10-6. Luckily for Texas the Angels lost when their closer Danny De Jesus gave up a 3-run homer in the 9th. (De Jesus, their closer with 37 saves, has a remarkable 10-11 record. That's about 3x the # of decisions you want out of your closer.) It was actually a 1-0 duel between Jon Hayes and Edwin Harty through 4 with Tampa Bay ahead on Victor de Jesus's 36th HR, but the Rays busted it open with a 6-run 5th capped by a Jasson Dominguez grand slam, his 47th HR of the year. Dominguez later singled in a run to give him a 5-RBI day. Hayes pitched quite effectively against the tough Texas lineup (probably the toughest to pitch against in the AL behind the Rays) going 6 6 1 1 1 3 and finished his season 21-7, 3.63 and making it 43 wins over the last two season. He's gonna get paid this winter. He left up 8-1 and then the bullpen made it interesting. Jon Whiteleather gave up a 3-run homer to Adrian Ramos in the 7th, and Brad Ballmann was touched for a 2-run shot by Ed Howard in the 8th. The Rays tacked on a couple of runs in the late innings to keep the margin healthy and Alex Beltre got through the 9th unscathed, striking out 3 despite putting a couple of men on. In the batting title race, Dayle Jenkins was 0-2 to drop to .349 and Edgar Medina was 2-5 to move up to .347. They'd be closer except Jenkins robbed Medina of a hit with a diving catch in RF which the PxP specifically noted was due to Jenkins' defense.

Playoff race update: The Angels-Rangers division race is the only thing going in the AL. In the NL, St. Louis maintained a 1-game lead on Cincinnati as both won, and the Cards can wrap it up with a win tomorrow. Arizona beat San Diego again to force a tie for the 2nd wild card, which will be decided in a winner-take-all game between the teams tomorrow.

October 3: Optioned P Brad Ballmann to AAA Durham, purchased the contract of P Mike Champagne from AAA Durham.

Today would be Christian Little's turn to start but we sure as hell aren't going to pitch him today, so congrats to Mike Champagne who will get the start on the final day of the regular season in a game with major pennant race implications. I'm sure the Angels aren't thrilled but they should have won last night. The 26-year-old lefty was our #1 pick back in 2027 and had an impressive 2.61 ERA in 193 innings at Durham (a bit lucky due to a .242 BABIP) but he has average stuff at best so he's not really looked at as a likely rotation option next season.

Game 3: The Rays were playing out the string while Texas needed a win in the worst way to not lose their grip on the AL West. And after word came in that the Angels won, it was even more important for Texas to win lest they be sent on a trip to New York for the wild card game. The Rays went with rookie Mike Champagne in his MLB debut, and it didn't start great as he allowed a homer to the second batter he faced, Adrian Ramos. But Champagne calmed down and pitched very well from there, not giving a tough Texas lineup anything until the 6th when Bobby Owens hit a 2-run homer off him. He ended 6.1 4 3 3 2 3 in a quality start and although he left trailing, the Rays came back to tie it up. They were shackled by Ranger lefty Jerry Lees but Bo Angeac hit a 2-run HR (#25) off him in the 7th, and Nate Clark doubled in a run off Ranger closer Jim Connors in the 8th. This sent us to extras, and while Tim Siqueiros and Jose Alvarado got it done through 9, Chris Hicks gave up a run in the bottom of the 11th and the Rangers forced a playoff for the division with the Angels thanks to a 4-3 win. In addition to holding his own, Champagne held Edgar Medina hitless as did the rest of the staff, so Dayle Jenkins won the AL batting title at .348 as well as the hitter WAR crown with 7.5. Jenkins had his own 0-fer going until he singled in the 10th. For Texas, Connors ended up pitching the final 4 innings and threw a whopping 61 pitches, so he won't be available for the tiebreaker.

Final Regular Season Record: 112-50. Next up: The ALDS against either the Yankees, Rangers or Angels.

Playoff Race Update: The Cardinals won to clinch the NL Central, and in the game of the day with a wild card berth on the line the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a series sweep of San Diego with a come-from-behind 6-4 win. Trailing 3-0 early and 4-3 going to the bottom of the 8th Arizona got a 2-run game-winning homer from the unlikeliest of sources, light-hitting infielder Jon Lynne. It was Lynne's first MLB homer and he had only hit 1 in each of his last two minor league seasons. So in the NL it will be Arizona at Cincinnati for the wild card for the right to take on St. Louis, while the Dodgers will open at home against the Braves in the NLDS. In the AL the Tigers will open at home against the winner of the Angels-Rangers tiebreaker, with the loser heading to New York to play the Yankees in the wildcard game for the right to take on the Rays.

October 4, 2032: AL West Tiebreaker Game
 

A date in the ALDS with Detroit or a trip to New York to play another winner-take-all game? Rookie Victor Arellano's 9th-inning grand slam gave Texas a 5-1 win and set up another playoff series with the Tigers, the fifth straight year these teams will play each other. Last year Detroit finally vanquished Texas in the ALCS on their way to a championship.

One side note: I forgot this game counted as part of the regular season so it gave Edgar Medina a chance to overtake Dayle Jenkins for the batting title. And when Medina got hits his first three times up to pull within .348-.347, I was getting nervous. Thankfully in his final at-bat he grounded out, so Jenkins' crown is safe.

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

2032 Final Regular Season Standings & Stats
 

https://i.imgur.com/9e45vuz.png

Rays final team stats:

https://i.imgur.com/kunj7pc.png

1009 runs! I think that's our best, I would have to go back and review the previous seasons. And those defensive numbers look bad as usual but they subtly improved over the last month or so of the season. Otherwise all good except our sudden propensity to get guys thrown out on the bases, way out of character with previous years.

The final batting stats:

https://i.imgur.com/lzKkY9v.png

What a season from Jenkins. Also dig that BB/K ratio from Jasson Dominguez, fatal to most players but just a slight flaw with him. Finally, how about those numbers from Bo Angeac in about 60% of a season? He actually led the team in slugging, beating out guys who had 53 and 47 HR.

Final pitching stats:

https://i.imgur.com/0p3v03s.png

Oh, those injured pitchers. Alexis Carmona with 3.1 WAR in only 13 starts? The 1 HR allowed in 76 innings really boosts that, but he was good and will be missed. So will Alec Sachais and Nate Thompson as we really took a hit with the staff this year. Thankfully guys like Jon Soranno, Danny Medina and Chris Hicks came through with impressive performances. Also the 0.2 WAR more accurately reflects the reliability of Jose Alvarado this year than his superficial stats like ERA.

Another amazing stat is that we only had 36 saves, something else for a team that won 112 games which goes to show how many blowouts we had.