September 9-12, 2038: at NY Yankees (4)
 

Game 1: The Rays made it 14 straight overall and 13 straight over the Yankees with a 9-1 beatdown at Yankee Stadium. With Jaiden Hardaway needing a day off, Daniel Malone took over the leadoff spot and did his best J-Hard impression by homering twice, driving in 3 and drawing a walk. He's having a sneaky-good season at .315-14-61-28. Danny Ayala (#38) and Jim Gebers (#26) also went deep to support Josh Carsello, who was excellent at 6.1 5 0 0 2 4. He's now 11-6, 4.05 and one more good start away from getting that ERA below 4, quite an accomplishment since he was in the mid-5s about six weeks ago.

Game 2: If Yankee fans thought yesterday's game was bad, they really couldn't have enjoyed tonight's as the Rays doubled their fun and annihilated New York 18-1 for consecutive win #15. Rays batters hit 8 homers, including back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers in the 8th inning to tie the MLB record. You'd need an accountant rather than a sportswriter to tally up the damage, but leading things were Jim Gebers (4-5, 2 HRs #27 & 28, 4 RBI), Mike McKee (4-4, HR #16, 3 RBI) and Omar Rodriguez (2-4, HR #27, 3 RBI). Also going deep were Danny Ayala (#39, 3 RBI), Daniel Malone (#15, 3rd in 2 days), Jeff Baez (#12, a 2-run shot) and Daniel Vasquez (#26, pinch-hitting in the 8th). Ben Hill was also 3-6 with an RBI and is now hitting .421. Danny Romero was the beneficiary and he went the distance with a pitch-to-contact-and-get-the-game-over-with line of 9 4 1 0 2 1, losing his shutout in the 8th when Baez booted a 2-out grounder. He's now 18-3, 3.67 and arrested a run of poor starts.

A rare sweep of the 3 stars on a night when there was a full schedule:

https://i.imgur.com/CRLi2NG.png

Game 3: Well for 3 innings the Yankees looked like they had a chance. They were up 2-0 and had former Ray and quality starter Leo Ortega on the mound. Then Ben Hill happened. The rookie slugged a 471-foot 3-run homer (#6) to dead center off Ortega to make it 3-2 Rays in the top of the 4th and and by the time the top of the 5th was over it was 7-2 as they rolled to a 9-4 win, their 16th straight and 15 in as many tries against the Yankees this season. Jon Jimenez had a 2-run HR (#23) in the 5th, and Jim Gebers stayed scorching hot with HR #29 later. Omar Rodriguez was 4-5 with an RBI as well. Tim Gates got the start and wasn't his best, but 5 6 3 3 1 3 was good enough for the win today and he's now 18-4, 3.58.

Game 4: The Rays concluded perhaps their most ridiculous series in team history by walloping the Yankees yet again 13-0 and sweeping the 4-game series by an aggregate score of 49-6. Their win streak is now 17 and they're 16-0 vs New York this season. I'll start with the pitching for a change as Ted Hadley threw a 2-hit shutout, walking 1 and fanning 7 on 111 pitches for his 2nd Rays win. It's an indication of what Hadley can do if he can keep the ball in park. Keeping the ball in the park was something Yankee pitching was incapable of, as the Rays blasted 6 more homers today to give them 21 in the 4 games. Danny Ayala hit a pair to give him 41, including a 3-run shot in the 1st that got the ball, er boulder, rolling as he drove in 5. Mike McKee had another big day as he also homered twice (#17 and 18) and drove in 3 while Jim Gebers hit his 5th of the series and 30th of the year and Daniel Malone hit his 4th (#16) in 3 games this series (he sat yesterday).

Team record: 109-33. Next up: We continue our AL East road swing with 3 in Toronto.

Awards note: Jim Gebers was named AL Player of the Week for his 5-homer performance, going 10-23 with 8 RBI.

September 13-15, 2038: at Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: Not only did the Rays see their 17-game winning streak snapped with a 3-2 loss in Toronto, they suffered an even greater loss as righty Ron Adams, whom you could argue was their best pitcher this year, tore his rotator cuff and is done for the season. Adams was no-hitting the Jays through 4 and the Rays held a 2-0 lead when he had to leave the game, and his loss is a critical one with the playoffs 3 weeks away. Losing him would be especially problematic if the Jays take the wild card over Texas and the Rays face them again in the ALDS; last year, the biggest factor in losing was how they tattooed our lefties. As for the game, Steve Beaver gave up 3 runs in the 6th and the offense couldn't generate much outside of Mike McKee's early homer (#19) and a Jim Gebers RBI single.

Side note: Ben Hill had a single which means he has a 22-game hitting streak going with those games the first 22 of his career. Four games ago he broke the MLB record last set by David Dahl, who had a hit in each of his first 17 games. (It's possible this record was broken elsewhere in this save, but I doubt it).

September 14: Placed P Ron Adams on the 60-day IL with a torn rotator cuff, recalled P Jose Mendoza from AAA Durham.

Adams finished his season 18-4, 3.85 with 197 whiffs and led the AL in pitcher WAR at 4.3. Again, it's about as tough an injury loss as we could have suffered. Mendoza comes up and will get a couple of starts in his place although Damani Cotton could move back into the rotation. Another option is to move Vinny Willard into the rotation. Either Cotton or Willard is our 4th starter should Toronto be our ALDS opponent given how they hit lefties as the first 3 should be Romero, Gates and Carsello.

Game 2: One streak ended while another began as the Rays lost again to Toronto 5-4. The new streak is of course now a 2-game losing streak, the first time the Rays have dropped back-to-back games since July 20-21 in Colorado. The streak which ended was Ben Hill's hitting streak, which was as good as gone once I featured it in the last game recap. Tampa Bay took the lead 3 times in this game only to surrender it, with Jim Gebers 2-run shot (#31) and Bo Angeac's solo homer (#21) providing two of those leads. Josh Carsello had a mediocre outing, going 5.1 6 3 3 3 5 before Ken Burgess gave up the lead for good by allowing a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th.

Game 3: The Rays weren't going to be swept as they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and took care of Toronto 7-2 at Rogers Centre. The bottom of the order did the damage, with Jim Gebers and Jeff Baez each driving in 3 runs while Danny Romero took care of business on the mound with a 6.2 5 0 0 2 4 outing. The win was Romero's 19th of the year and he lowered his ERA to 3.54.

Team record: 110-35. Next up: 4 games in Baltimore.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls had their usual top-notch regular season with a 91-49 record and now set out on their quest to take their 8th straight Governors' Cup, which is really remarkable. But the streak might be in jeopardy after a 6-2 Game 1 loss to the Rochester Red Wings in Durham in their playoff opener. Steve Abeles, who had a great regular season at 13-3, 2.69 with 156 whiffs in 160 IP, was hit for 4 runs in 5 innings and the offense was fairly quiet. One exception was Rey Cervantes, another in a long line of heavy-hitting Rays OF prospects. Cervantes went .352-30-100 this season, will probably be another Durham IL MVP and homered and singled tonight.

September 16-19, 2038: at Baltimore (4)
 

Game 1: Jose Mendoza got his crack at the rotation and it did not go very well as the Rays fell 6-1 to Baltimore. The rookie lefty, who's rated 60 for movement, nevertheless gave up 3 homers, two of which were to a lefty and the other to former Ray Jeff Hayes. He finished 4.2 6 6 6 2 6, and was followed by Damani Cotton who fanned 6 in 3 scoreless innings and made his case for the rotation spot vacated by Ron Adams. Meanwhile the offense gave him no support, held to 1 run on 5 hits with Jim Gebers' RBI single all they managed.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls bounced back as expected and routed the Red Wings 11-4 with a 19-hit attack. That attack was led by Ray Cervantes, who banged out five of them, and Josh Alexander, who had a big 3-run homer and drove in 5 on the night. Veteran CF Nick Hudson also was 3-4 with 2 walks, a steal and a ribbie. Mike Thomas started and was hit for 4 runs in 4 innings but Mike Fields came through big in relief for the win with 3 innings in which he recorded all 9 outs via the whiff. The series goes back to Rochester in 2 days tied at 1 with Camren Nethercutt starting Game 3 for Durham.

Game 2: The Rays bounced back with a 9-5 win over Baltimore tonight at Camden Yards. Danny Ayala had a 2-run double to increase his RBI total to 140, and Bo Angeac belted a grand slam (#22) to cap the Tampa Bay scoring. Tim Gates picked up his 19th win, but he didn't have his best stuff even though he cruised through 5 innings allowing only 1 run. It caught up to him in the 6th when he allowed 3 homers and he finished 5.2 7 5 5 1 1. Mike Wherry went the final 2 2/3 innings for save #2.

Game 3: Tampa Bay banged out 7 runs on 15 hits but it wasn't enough to overcome a brutal start from Ted Hadley and they fell to Baltimore 8-7. Daniel Malone (#17), Kevin Morley (#9) and Jon Jimenez (#24) all had 2-run homers but Hadley, while he got his strikeouts, gave up a lot of hard contact and went 4.1 7 8 8 2 8 including a homer and now is 2-1, 6.08 in 4 Rays starts which have been of the Jekyll/Hyde variety.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls are one win away from the championship round of the International League playoffs after another rout of Rochester, 13-3. Josh Alexander had a career game, going 5-6 with 2 homers, a double and 5 RBI while Quincy Siegle, who was up with the Rays earlier this year, had 4 hits and an RBI. Camren Nethercutt turned in 6 solid innings of 2-run ball for the win. Long-ago Ray Malachi Benford, signed as a free agent this summer, will try to close it out tomorrow.

Game 4: The Rays got their 4th poor start in 4 games this series but thanks to the bats they managed a split courtesy of today's 12-6 win. Josh Carsello reverted to his earlier-season form going 5 12 5 5 2 4 yet still got the win to go to 12-6 thanks to a 6-run 5th inning that put the Rays ahead to stay. Danny Ayala (#42) and Daniel Malone (#18) each hit 3-run homers to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 lead and Bo Angeac added his second grand slam in three days (HR #23) in the 8th to break it open.

Team record: 112-37. Next up: An off-day before we start the final homestand of the series with the Yankees visiting for 3 and looking to win their first game against the Rays this year.

Durham Playoff Update: The series has been extended to a decisive Game 5 after the Bulls dropped a 4-2 decision to Rochester. Malachi Benford wasn't effective, allowing 4 runs in 5 innings, but the larger problem was that the offense was held in check after two straight double-digit runfests. Durham's ace Steve Abeles will get another crack in two nights' time after struggling in Game 1.

Playoff Race Update
 

Don't think I've posted the standings since the All-Star break so here's where things stand with two weeks left in the regular season:

https://i.imgur.com/10hNXj4.png

There are no races in doubt in the AL, especially after Texas swept Oakland (who had pulled to within 4 1/2 back of them and is now 8 1/2) and laid claim to the second wild card. The Rays will face the winner of the Texas/Toronto wild card game and the White Sox will face off against the Astros in the ALDS.

The National League has a lot more suspense although Columbus and the Cubs have pulled away from their pursuers. The West is a 3-team race featuring 2 teams that have never made the playoffs in this save, the Rockies and the Giants. Only one will make the playoffs as none of them are wild card contenders. Those slots will go to two of Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

September 21-23, 2038: vs NY Yankees (3)
 

Game 1: The Yankees remained winless against the Rays after a 15-7 beatdown at Publix Park that really wasn't that close as Billy Hoyte allowed 4 Yankee runs in the 9th. Ben Hill had a huge game, going 3-5 with a triple, grand slam HR (#7) and 5 RBI in total while Danny Ayala hit #43 and Bo Angeac #24. Jaiden Hardaway was 2-4 with 2 RBI and an HBP and Omar Rodriguez drove in a pair. Danny Romero became MLB's first 2038 20-game winner, although it wasn't his finest start as he went 5 10 3 3 0 5. Steve Beaver relieved him and had to leave in the 7th with a sore elbow, which will shelve him.

Durham Playoff Update: Shock at Durham Athletic Park tonight as the Rochester Red Wings beat the Bulls 4-1 to win the opening round of the IL Playoffs, snapping Durham's 7-year streak as Governors' Cup holders. Steve Abeles pitched much better this time out (7 5 3 2 1 5) but Durham's failure to get anything going offensively cost them as they left 12 on base.

September 22: Placed P Steve Beaver on the 10-day IL with a sore elbow, recalled P Chris Crabb from AA Montgomery.

Crabb has toiled in our farm system for 5 seasons now after we acquired him from Atlanta, and it's time for him to get a taste of the show. He's a two-way player who played a lot of SS at Montgomery although he didn't hit much. He was quite effective pitching, though, turning in a 1.17 ERA with 34 whiffs in 30 IP and has 65 stuff.

Game 2: The Rays continued to feast on mediocre (oh hell, bad) Yankee pitching as they moved to 18-0 this year against them after a 16-1 blowout. MVP-elect Jaiden Hardaway was 3-4 with a walk and 5 RBI, including a bases-clearing double, Jon Jimenez went 3-5 with a double, homer (#25) and 4 RBI, and Daniel Vasquez was 2-5 with HR #27 and 3 RBI. Mike McKee also added #20, a solo shot and Omar Rodriguez had a 4-hit day with a ribbie. Jose Mendoza got his first MLB win with a dominating start (5.2 4 1 1 3 9) while Chris Crabb made his MLB debut a successful one by retiring all 4 batters he faced, 2 of them via strikeout.

Game 3: Well they did it - the Rays went 19-0 vs the Yankees this season with a comfortable 7-2 win at Publix Park. It was 7-1 by the 4th inning and all that was left was accounting after that. Tim Gates joined teammate Danny Romero as a 20-game winner, going 6 5 1 1 1 7 to improve to 20-4, 3.64. The offense was led by Jim Gebers, 2-3 with a 2-run HR (#32) and 3 RBI. Gebers has had a remarkable season as a non-full-time player, now with 32 HR and 83 RBI in 392 AB. Bo Angeac's going to be mighty expensive next year so don't be surprised if Gebers becomes the full-time 3B. Ben Hill had the game's other big hit, a 2-run single, and he now has 28 RBI in 28 games played.

Team record: 115-37. Next up: We close out the home portion of our regular season schedule with a weekend visit from Boston.

September 24-26, 2038: vs Boston (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays took a 5-3 lead in the middle innings but same really bad bullpenning turned that lead into an 11-7 defeat at Publix Park. Rays pitching allowed 6 Boston homers, with 3 of them coming off the notoriously homer-prone Ted Hadley, but he left the game with a 5-4 lead after going 5.2 6 4 4 0 8 and suffering a strained back, which will end his season (he probably wasn't making the playoff roster anyway). Joe Trader got him out of the 6th but gave up 2 homers in the 7th and the normally reliable Mike Wherry served up a 3-run jack in the 8th. The Rays' offensive highlights came via Jim Gebers' 33rd homer of the year and a 2-run double by Jaiden Hardaway. Ben Hill also continued his ribbie-a-game pace by singling one in a 2-4 game.

Game 2: Some late thunder pulled this one out for the Rays as they walked it off against Boston 5-3 in 10 innings. Danny Ayala hit a 2-out, 2-run homer (#44) to equalize in the 8th and Jon Jimenez went deep (#26) with Jaiden Hardaway aboard in the 10th to win it. Vinny Willard made his first start of the year and it was a mixed bag as he allowed a couple of homers and finished 5.1 5 3 3 2 7. But the bullpen did a great job after that and Mike Wherry was the eventual winner, his 4th of the year.

Game 3: It was one of those games today at Publix Park as the Rays bombarded the Red Sox 19-4, led by Daniel Malone who hit for the cycle. Malone capped the cycle with HR #19, a 3-run shot in the 8th as the Rays scored 14 times in the final 3 innings to turn a comfortable win into an epic beatdown. Malone drove in 4 on the day while Daniel Vasquez was 4-6 with HR #28 and 3 RBI, Mike McKee was 3-5 with HR #21 and 2 RBI and Omar Rodriguez was 3-5 with 2 RBI. Jimmy Leonard added a 2-run pinch-hit HR (#8). Danny Romero started and was an impressive 6 4 2 2 3 9 for his 21st win of the year.

Team record: 117-38. Next up: Our final regular season road swing starts with 4 games at AL Central winners Chicago.

Playoff Race Update: Everything is officially settled in the AL, and over in the NL the Lightning and the Cubs have all but clinched the East and Central. The NL West however remains open as the Rockies lead the Padres by 1 games and the Giants by 3. And in the NL Wild Card it's also 3 teams neck-and-neck for 2 spots with one game separating Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Philadelphia.

September 27-30, 2038: at Chicago White Sox (4)
 

Game 1: Josh Carsello was in good form and the Rays took a 5-2 win in Chicago to start the final week of the regular season. Carsello went 6 2 2 2 2 4 to improve to 13-6, 4.19 and allowed only a pair of solo homers, one to former Ray Joe Barker, who's having a Dave Kingman/Rob Deer-like season of 36 HR with a .184 batting average. Kikuo Kawase picked up save #32 with a perfect 9th, his first save (and save opportunity) since September 5. Jon Jimenez was 2-5 with 2 RBI and Ben Hill 2-4 with 1 RBI to pace the offense.

MLB Note: David Gallegos of the Blue Jays twirled a no-hitter today against the Yankees, walking 3 and whiffing 11 in his 128-pitch gem.

Playoff Race Update: Status quo in the NL West as the top 3 were off, but Cincinnati won and Milwaukee lost to make the wild card race Cincinnati 1/2 up on Milwaukee, who in turn is 1/2 up on Philadelphia.

Retirement News: A couple of former Rays hung up the cleats today, one more notable than the other. The notable one was Alec Sachais, a mainstay of our pitching staff from 2028-2033. He went 79-22, 3.47 in 147 career starts with us and was a part of four championship teams in his six seasons. The other was Mike Lammers, a slugging 3B with contact issues who played parts of a few seasons with us and had some big years at Durham. Also hanging it up was the 44-year-old Andrew Benintendi, and JJ Bleday, who had a great career and was once a Rays property in the early-to-mid 20s before being dealt to San Diego. His career took off in Colorado, where he had a 212-hit, 6.6 WAR season in 2028 and had a five-year stretch where he averaged 5.3 WAR and won a World Series with the Dodgers in 2035 in his last fine MLB season.

Game 2: The Rays held on to take a 5-4 win over the White Sox which saw an exciting performance from rookie starter Jose Mendoza. The flamethrower no-hit Chicago over the first 5 innings, walking 3 and striking out 10, before running into trouble in the 6th with two walks and a 2-run double against. He still picked up the win as Damani Cotton got him out of that mess and after Jeff Reece allowed a 2-run homer to make it 5-4, Mike Wherry got the 9th and save #3 as Kikuo Kawase had pitched the previous two days. Danny Ayala was the offense today, blasting a 3-run homer (#45) and driving in another while all Ben Hill can do is rake with another 3-hit game and the other RBI.

Playoff Race Update: A big night for Colorado, which scored 3 times late to beat the Giants while the Padres lost. This gives them a 2-game lead over San Diego with 5 left and effectively eliminates the Giants, who drop 4 behind. Also a big night for Milwaukee, which won while Philly lost a 16-inning heartbreaker and Cincinnati fell as well. This puts the Brewers into the top wild card and 1 1/2 ahead of the Phillies, who are third in this race.

Game 3: The Rays took it on the chin tonight from the White Sox 10-2. Tim Gates closed out his regular season with a 5 6 4 4 2 8 performance to finish the year 20-5, 3.74, while the sum total of the offense was a 2-run Jon Jimenez HR (#27) which made him the 4th Ray (after Ayala, Vasquez, Rodriguez) to join the 100-RBI club.

Playoff Race Update: The Rockies won again, maintaining their 2-game lead on San Diego with 4 to go and officially eliminating the Giants. All 3 wild card contenders (Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Philly) lost so it's status quo there which benefits the Brewers and Reds with the Phillies a game back of Cincy.

Game 4: The Rays blew a 9-3 lead thanks primarily to a 7-run 8th inning and fell 12-9 to the White Sox as the pitching continues to struggle. Homers from Mike McKee (#22, a 3-run shot), Daniel Vasquez (#29, solo) and Ramon Ruiz (#1 as a Ray, #8 overall, a 3-run blast) plus Ben Hill going 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI (to bring his BA back up to .400) enabled them to build the big lead, but the pitching let them down from there. Vinny Willard started and was OK (5 7 3 3 1 5) but Damani Cotton gave up 2 in the 7th and then the roof caved in during the 8th when Ken Burgess (4 runs allowed) and Mike Wherry (3 runs allowed and the loss) could only get one out between them. Burgess in particular is a concern; after looking like an elite setup man during the first 4 months of the season, he's had ERAs of 8.64 and 9.95 over August and September and his overall ERA is up to 4.03.

Team record: 119-40. Next up: Our final regular season series finds us with 3 in Texas, in what would be an ALDS preview if the Rangers beat the Blue Jays in the Wild Card game.

Playoff race update: The Rockies and Padres won again, so Colorado's NL West lead is 2 games with 3 left. Meanwhile in the wild cards nobody seems to want, both Philly and Cincinnati (despite an MLB-leading 53rd homer from 23-year-old sensation Nelson Gamez) lost again, meaning Milwaukee (who was idle) is 1 game ahead of Cincinnati, who is in turn 1 game ahead of Philly. There are no head-to-head final series in these races so anything can happen.

September Players of the Month
 

A clean sweep in the AL categories:

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

https://i.imgur.com/xZiE9l7.png

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

The funny thing with Hill here is that they show his high school stats along with his MLB numbers, and his performance there isn't too out of line with what he did in HS!

October 1-3, 2038: at Texas (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays continue to struggle down the stretch with their bullpen as a 4-3 lead in the 7th became a 10-7 loss. Today's culprit was Jeff Reece, who allowed 7 runs in the 7th (he was left in a bit longer given the mostly tired pen) and has now allowed 12 runs in his last 4 outings. The meltdown offset a fine game from Jaiden Hardaway, who homered to lead off the game and then homered again in the 7th with a man on to put the Rays briefly ahead, giving him 28 HR, 93 RBI, a .381 BA and 11.2 WAR on the season. Jon Jimenez had a 3-run HR in the 9th (#28) to bring the Rays a bit closer. Danny Romero had a decent start, going 6 7 3 2 2 5 and finishes the year 21-3, 3.55. We'll see him next in Game 1 of the ALDS against either this team or Toronto.

Playoff race update: The Rockies lost but so did the Padres, so now Colorado is 2 up with 2 games left. Also pretty much decided is the wild card, as the Phillies were shut out by the Mets. That coupled with Milwaukee's win over the Rockies clinches the Brewers a wild card, and the Reds are 2 up on Philly with 2 games left as well. What I didn't notice is that the Cubs have lost 5 straight, so after assuming they won the Central they're only 2 up on Milwaukee with 2 games left.

Notable retirements: Gleyber Torres, 4th on the all-time HR list with 724, retired after failing to catch on with a big-league club this season. The Yankees will retire #25 in his honor. Kumar Rocker and Druw Jones, who had notable careers, also both hung up the cleats.

Game 2: The Rays' malaise continues as they were whupped 8-2 by Texas, their fourth straight loss. They've now allowed 40 runs in their last 4 games as their pitching has seemed to tire down the stretch, not a good sign going into the playoffs. Josh Carsello cruised through the first 4 with a 1-0 lead but the wheels came off in the 5th as Texas put 6 on the board, so his 4.1 6 6 5 4 4 line means he finishes with a 13-7, 4.34 in his final regular season with the Rays as he's a free agent this winter. Several reserves dotted the lineup, and as a result the Rays only managed 3 hits with all of them coming from Daniel Vasquez, one of which was his 30th HR. In fact Vasquez was such a one-man offense that only two other Rays even reached: Daniel Malone with a walk and Kevin Morley on an HBP.

Playoff race update: The Rockies backed into the NL West title, losing 16-12 at Coors to Milwaukee while the Padres lost as well. Cincinnati clinched the second wild card with a win, but the surprise race still alive is in the NL Central as the Cubs dropped their 6th straight. With the Brewers' win, Milwaukee is suddenly only one game behind with one to go, so a playoff for the division could be forced.

Game 3: The bullpen faltered once again and the Rays fell 4-3 to Texas in the regular season finale, dropping their fifth straight game going into the playoffs. Bo Angeac's homer in the top of the 8th (#25) gave the Rays a 3-2 lead but Mike Wherry's woes continued as he gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the inning to give the Rangers the win. Jim Gebers closed out his great regular season with a 2-run HR (#34) in the 6th to get Tampa Bay on the board, and Jose Mendoza had his usual wild ride going 5 2 2 2 6 5 with one of the hits a costly 2-run homer to baseball's best hitter not playing for the Rays, Edgar Medina. It was encouraging to see scoreless innings from Chris Toombs and Ken Burgess though.

Final Regular Season Record: 119-43. Next up: The ALDS against either these Rangers or the Blue Jays, both of whom are tough matchups thanks to their predominantly righty-hitting lineups and our lefty-heavy rotation. The Ron Adams and Nate Thompson injuries could prove critical.

Playoff race update: Unlike the Rays, the Cubs arrested their season-ending slide with an extra-inning win over Cincinnati to secure the NL Central at the last possible moment.

Final 2038 Regular Season Standings and Rays Stats
 

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

Another batting title, OPS title and WAR crown for J-Hard, while Danny Ayala leads the AL in HR and MLB in RBI. He just missed his career high of 152 RBI set in 2035. Not shown here is Danny Romero leading the AL (and MLB) in wins with 21 and pitcher WAR with 4.4. The final Rays team stats:

https://i.imgur.com/XYeE04y.png

A final week hitting slump saw us lose the chance to post a .300 team batting average, but there's nothing wrong with the offense in any phase. Those pitching numbers, though, are our worst in many a year and they were particularly bad in September/October. The defense is the best it's been in years but we still give up a lot of hits on batted balls.


Individual hitting stats:

https://i.imgur.com/SYKkD8I.png

Again, nothing not to like here. We got breakout seasons from Daniel Malone, Mike McKee and Jim Gebers, which combined with a (relative) bounceback year from Danny Ayala, took the offense to another level. And with the way the pitching went, they may continued to need to take it to another level in the postseason. The pitching stats:

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

Injuries were a big factor here, the loss of Ron Adams was a big one, and Nate Thompson got hurt not long after we re-acquired him. (Maybe we should have kept Kerstetter). And while the new-look rookie-heavy bullpen was great for the first 2/3 of the season, they game unglued later in the year. Vinny Willard will be the key wildcard in the playoffs - can he pitch effectively as the 4th starter?

The playoff tree
 

https://i.imgur.com/G7RhOOl.png

Congratulations to the Colorado Rockies, who finally made the playoffs in this save which goes back to 2020. This leaves only two teams that haven't: The Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants. The Giants were in contention late this season, and have an impressive core of young talent (especially on the pitching staff) so I can see them breaking the drought as early as next season.

October 5, 2038: AL Wild Card Game
 

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

So it's a rematch with the Jays in the ALDS, an opportunity for revenge after they shocked us last season. With the way our pitching's gone and how we don't match up well against their righty-heavy lineup, I'm probably the least optimistic I've been in a long, long time going into the playoffs, despite the disparity in records.

October 6, 2038: NL Wild Card Game
 

https://i.imgur.com/tRopd8W.png

Back in November 2030 we dealt Jack Leiter to the Reds for Jon Soranno. The trade worked out for us at first; Leiter had a Cy Young season with Cincinnati but tailed off after that, and Soranno was a mainstay in our rotation through last year. But there was a minor leaguer we had to throw in the deal to get it done, and his name was Johnny Soland. At the time Soland was our 2nd round pick the previous summer, taken as an infielder, and at the time of the deal I wrote that he "underwhelmed in his first exposure to pro ball and at best is a slap-hitting MLB 2B." Well he converted to pitching and the rest is history; after a rough first full season in 2036 when he went 3-22(!) but still put up 2.3 WAR, he was 12-10, 2.93 with only 11 HR allowed in 193 IP, good for 5.3 WAR with the ERA and WAR both 2nd in the NL. And tonight he dominated Milwaukee to send Cincinnati through to the NLDS. Usually these throw-ins amount to nothing, but sometimes they become potential Cy Young winners.

Also, some minor league hardware:

https://i.imgur.com/jSWB4B7.png

Rappaport's a nice player who should have an MLB career, but I'm thinking it's not likely with us. He's one of a long line of lefty power hitters with iffy contact skills we have in the system and he'll likely spend next year at Durham.

October 7, 2038: ALDS Game 1
 

Too much drama...

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

The good news: The Rays won Game 1 of the ALDS. The bad news: They lost Jaiden Hardaway for the playoffs. The four-time (and soon to be five-time) MVP ruptured his finger on a collision at second base in the top of the 7th and will be out 6 months, meaning he'll return just after the start of next season. It's a tough blow as the Rays have now lost their best hitter and arguably their best pitcher in Ron Adams. Some might say Danny Romero has that distinction but he didn't look it tonight, giving up 6 runs and once again the Jays pounded one of our lefties in the playoffs. But this time the Rays were able to come back from it thanks to the guy who replaced Hardaway in the top of the inning, Ramon Ruiz, who drilled a 3-run homer to make it 8-6 Rays. The bullpen came through with Damani Cotton going 2 1/3 scoreless and picking up the win, and Kikuo Kawase got 5 outs on only 13 pitches, meaning he'll be available again tomorrow if needed.

Meanwhile in the other ALDS, old friend Danny Medina did not fare well in his Houston postseason debut:

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

October 8, 2038: ALDS Game 2 & NLDS Game 1
 

We miss you J-Hard...

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

The Rays got the quality pitching they'd been looking for, but a Jaiden Hardaway-less lineup couldn't get the runs home as the Rays fell 3-2 in 10 innings to drop into a series tie going to Toronto. Ignacio Aguilar tripled off Kikuo Kawase leading off the 10th and scored on a sac fly, and Jon Jimenez's deep fly ball with two out and a man on in the bottom of the inning ended up in a Blue Jay glove rather than over the fence. Hardaway was missed with his replacements combining to go 0-4, but nobody else really picked up the slack as homers from Mike McKee and Jimenez were the sum total of the offense. Now we go to hostile territory against a team which kills lefties and we throw the Jekyll-and-Hyde Josh Carsello at them. Wheeee!

By the way, we added Devin Boatman to the roster to replace Hardaway, he'll be used as a defensive replacement and a pinch-runner primarily.

A wild, wild ride in the other DS games:

https://i.imgur.com/77l4hxj.png

Direct your eyes at the Colorado-Chicago linescore. 15 runs in the 9th. I repeat: 15 runs in the 9th! I'm not even going to bother to look it up, that has to be a postseason record. What a way to make your mark in your first-ever playoff game in this 19-season save, Colorado! Meanwhile, another former Ray traded to Houston last winter struggled big-time as Jon Soranno gave up 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings in relief and the White Sox took a stranglehold on that series. And the Reds had their way with Columbus, who got their only run on a homer from another former Ray, Will Quintana.

October 9, 2038: NLDS Game 2
 

https://i.imgur.com/u7i2ffw.png

The Cubs and Lightning even things up as each get homers from former Rays stars.

Meanwhile, congrats to Steve Abeles, who was up for a late-season cameo:

https://i.imgur.com/jXpo5nQ.png

October 10, 2038: ALDS Game 3
 

Here we go again...

https://i.imgur.com/ymi8TqW.png

A heartbreaking loss in a pivotal game, the only way it would be worse is if this were an elimination game. The Rays came all the way back from 6-0 down only to lose the lead in the 9th as with Kikuo Kawase at about 50% rest Mike Wherry got the call and couldn't get it done, and after Jeff Reece struck out the side in the 10th he put men on 1st and 3rd with nobody out and that was that. The Rays had a great chance in the top of the 11th with 2 on and 1 out but Omar Rodriguez grounded out and Danny Ayala whiffed. So now it's all down to rookie Vinny Willard to save the season tomorrow.

At least they're not the Astros, whom despite winning 101 games and finishing 16 games ahead of the White Sox, were swept by them after being shut out today in part by former Ray farmhand Al Jackson:

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

Also as expected:

https://i.imgur.com/r51MTb1.png

Will be interesting to see where Cervantes fits into things next season. I'll make a cryptic comment here and say that major changes may be afoot this winter.

October 11, 2038: ALDS Game 4 & NLDS Game 3
 

Let's win Game 5...

https://i.imgur.com/VVSKXx1.png

The Rays bounced back doing that thing they do, scoring a lot of runs and often via the homer. They hit 4 tonight in an 11-2 rout to even up the ALDS and force a Game 5 back at Publix Park. Jim Gebers had the game's big hit, a 2-run double that got them going in the 2nd, and he later homered, and then Jon Jimenez's grand slam in the 4th broke the game wide open. Vinny Willard was excellent in his first postseason start and Steve Beaver acquitted himself well too. They're both righties of course, so not a surprise. Of course we'll be throwing a lefty at them in Game 5, Danny Romero, and he'll need to find his form or it'll be another short playoff.

In the NLDS, the favorites strike back on the road with the first playoff game in Coors in nearly 25 years playing out like a Coors game:

https://i.imgur.com/8YDCLFq.png

October 12, 2038: NLDS Game 4
 

The Rockies' return to the playoffs is short, while the Reds and Lightning will go the distance:

https://i.imgur.com/VfRDH1y.png

October 13, 2038: ALDS Game 5
 

Phew...

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

They did it, they survived the ALDS. That usually means a forthcoming World Series win as the Rays have made the playoffs in all 19 seasons in this save, and in only 3 of them did they not lose in the ALDS or win the Series: 2021 vs Toronto (lost wild card game), 2024 vs the Dodgers (lost World Series) and 2027 vs the Angels (lost ALCS). Otherwise it's 9 Series wins and 6 ALDS losses. They got over the hump this year thanks to a decent outing from Danny Romero (2 runs in 6 innings by a lefty against Toronto is quite decent), 3 homers (Daniel Malone's 3-run shot in the 2nd after 2 out and nobody on was the big one) and a rare 2-inning save from Kikuo Kawase which might be even rarer for featuring no strikeouts (and on only 19 pitches). So they'll face the White Sox for the first time in the playoffs in this save, the first team the franchise ever faced in the playoffs back in 2008.