September 17-19 vs Baltimore (3)
Game 1: Baltimore is 56-97, but you'd never know that watching them against the Rays as they take a 9-8 lead in the season series. For the third time this year Caleb Smith shut down the Rays as the Orioles took a 4-1 decision. The more ominous outcome from the game is that Brendan McKay had to leave in the 4th inning with a sore elbow which will keep him out 1-2 weeks and therefore end his regular season. Trevor Richards came on for him and promptly gave up an RBI double to Anthony Santander, and then when Richards put two men on to start the 7th, Dany Jimenez immediately gave up a 3-run HR to Pat Valaika. Yusniel Diaz' first HR in a Rays uniform in the 8th accounted for the lone Tampa Bay run.
Minor League Playoff Update: Durham won Game 1 of their IL Championship Series in dramatic fashion when Joey Wendle tripled with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th and Cal Stevenson singled him home for a 3-2 win over Columbus. The Clippers loaded the bases with nobody out in both the 6th and 7th and had 2nd and 3rd with nobody out in the 8th and couldn't score any of those times. Josh Lowe and Wendle had the other Bulls RBI.
Minor League Playoff Update 2: Tennessee rocked Seth Johnson for 7 runs in the first inning and the Biscuits lost 8-4 to go down 2 games to 1 in their SL Championship Series, meaning tomorrow's Game 4 is a must-win for Montgomery.
September 18: Placed P Brendan McKay on the 15-day IL, recalled P Jacob Nix from AAA Durham.
This probably means Glasnow starts the wild card game, although with Joe Ryan's success vs Toronto this year he's a possibility as well. The issue becomes what to do if they win the WC game and who would start against the Yankees. Snell will go on a rehab in 5 days but he probably won't be ready to start one of the ALDS games, meaning Glasnow, Fried and Ryan would get the starts along with a mix & match of Chirinos, Snell for a few, etc.
Game 2: Tyler Glasnow passed his audition for starting the wild card game with a dominant performance in a 9-3 Rays drubbing of the Orioles. He three 8 innings of 3-hit ball with one walk and 9 Ks and with his pitch count just shy of 100 I left him in to see if he could get the shutout, but he gave up a walk, a single and then a Chance Sisco 3-run homer and his day was done. Meanwhile the Rays scored 4 second inning runs off Matt Shoemaker in all kinds of ways - a Merrifield RBI groundout, a Kiermaier RBI double, a Shoemaker balk and then on a wild pitch from the rattled Baltimore hurler. Austin Meadows capped the scoring in the 4th with a 3-run shot off Kohl Stewart to give him 44 HR and 125 RBI on the year. He had already broken Carlos Pena's team record of 121 RBI in the 2007 season and is one HR shy of Pena's team record from that same year. The Rays' magic # for clinching home field in the wild card is now 2 after Toronto lost.
Minor league playoff update: Conner Menez was pretty bad, and so was the bullpen in a 14-5 loss to Columbus which evens the IL Championship series at 1. Durham fell behind 6-2 and got it within 6-5 and it looked like another of their patented comebacks was in progress but a Jose Rondon grand slam put an end to those thoughts. Seth Beer and Cal Stevenson each homered for Durham. Game 3 in Columbus will see Blake Snell making a rehab start.
Minor league playoff update 2: The Montgomery Biscuits couldn't recover from the 4 runs Caleb Sampen allowed in the 2nd inning and fell 5-3 to Tennessee with the Smokies taking the Southern League Championship 3 games to 1. The only bright spot for the Biscuits was top Rays prospect Nick Schnell homering to cap off a fine 3-game AA debut in which he went reached base 8 times in 11 plate appearances, going 4 for 7 with 4 walks.
Game 3: Yonny Chirinos was brilliant today, holding the Orioles to 2 hits (solo HRs by Ruiz and Mountcastle) over 8 innings as the Rays rolled past the Orioles 10-2, eking out the season series 10-9. Javy Baez kicked off the festivities with a 3-run HR in the first, Wander added one in the 4th, and Yusniel Diaz hit a pair of solo shots against his former team to lead the offense. We were even treated to the sight of Kyle Schwarber trucking around the bases with an RBI triple. Meanwhile Chirinos retired the first 10 Orioles before the Ruiz HR and allowed only one walk while notching 6 Ks to go 8-3. The Yankees won to officially clinch the division but the Rays meanwhile clinched home field in the wild card game. And actually it's not quite assured that the Jays will be the opponent - the A's swept them this weekend to pull within 3 games with each team having 7 games remaining.
Team record: 92-64
WanderWatch: 321/385/535, 18-63-28
A look at 2021 MLB as we go into the final week of the regular season. The Central races are lit, and the Rays will have some say in the AL Central race as they finish this weekend in Minnesota:
September 20 Minor League & Blake Snell rehab update: This rehab start went much better for Blake Snell than the one six weeks ago where he pulled an abdominal muscle. Snell went 3.2 3 0 0 1 5 in 60 pitches, and along with 3 strong innings from top Rays pitching prospect Shane McLanahan the Bulls are one win away from the International League championship after coming out on top tonight 5-1. Tristan Gray and Nolan Gorman had solo homers while Josh Lowe had 3 hits, a stolen base and a run scored. They go for the gold tomorrow night in Columbus. Snell meanwhile will pitch in long relief in Minnesota this coming weekend and will have a shot to start a game in the ALDS should that stint go well and the Rays advance.
September 20 MLB update: The Jays lost again, this time to the Yankees and they got a scare when Nate Pearson had to leave after an inning. It's an abdominal pull that doesn't appear serious (DTD for a day) but their tailspin continues as they've now lost 13 out of their last 14. Luckily for them those pesky Orioles knocked off Oakland 9-5 to reduce the Jays' magic number to 4. Meanwhile the top 4 in the AL Central went head-to-head. The Tigers, who probably don't have a real shot, played spoiler if nothing else by chasing Shane Bieber in the 4th after 5 runs on 3 HRs in a 8-5 win over Cleveland. The White Sox then took sole possession of first place thanks to a brilliant outing from Jose Quintana with 8 shutout innings in a 3-0 win over the Twins. Adam Eaton and Yasmani Grandal homered and Ian Hamilton struck out 56-HR man Miguel Sano with two outs and two on in the 9th to preserve the win. In the NL Central, both the Reds and Brewers lost by identical 4-3 scores to Atlanta and St. Louis respectively, with the Braves' win coming on a 9th inning RBI single from our old friend Willy Adames so it's as you were there. The Mets (who clinched a playoff spot and likely a 2nd straight trip to the wild card game) beat Washington, though, possibly opening the door to the Brewers-Reds division loser to grab the 2nd wild card.
Also long-time journeymen John Axford and Daniel Nava announced their retirements.
September 21-23 at Boston (3)
Game 1: Joe Ryan's first start at Fenway was one he'd like to forget, allowing 6 runs in 4 innings as the Rays fell to the Red Sox 6-2. Ryan struck out 6, but walked 4 and gave up a 2-run homer to Xander Bogaerts in the 1st and a 3-run shot by Willians Astudillo in the 3rd. Meanwhile, Chris Sale's first start against the Rays this year after coming back in mid-season found him mowing down the Rays early before some wildness in the middle innings ran up his pitch count and gave the Rays a run (he walked Sal Perez with the bases loaded, no mean feat) while Javy Baez had an RBI double for the other Rays run. Elsewhere the Jays lost their 14th in 15 games but seem destined to back into the 2nd wild card as Oakland is seeing its season die in Baltimore with another loss and the Angels (who had tied Oakland) lost to Seattle, making the Jays' magic number 3.
MLB Pennant Race Update: In the wild and wacky AL Central, Cleveland effectively ended Detroit's Cinderella run with a 5-2 win behind 7 strong innings from Carlos Carrasco while the White Sox bombed the Twins 10-4 behind Eloy Jimenez' 7 RBI (including his 48th HR of the season, a grand slam off ex-teammate Carlos Rodon). Miguel Sano hit his 57th HR of the season for Minnesota. This means Chicago is in first, 1/2 game up on Cleveland and 2 on the Twins, who are in real trouble now. In the NL Central, Milwaukee and Cincinnati each won, meaning the Brewers remain 1/2 game up on the Reds. The Nationals got a big win to reduce the chances the loser of the NL Central race gets a shot at the second wild card.
Minor League Playoff Update: Well that was painful as Durham got a taste of their own comeback medicine tonight. Up 4-3 going into the 9th just three outs away from a title and with closer Sam Wolff on the mound, a Tristan Gray error allowed the leadoff hitter to reach second, where he scored on a sac fly with one out to tie the game. And then Jose Rondon drilled a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 10th off Justin Grimm and the Columbus Clippers evened the series, forcing a decisive Game 5 in Durham in two nights.
And then there's this lovely little nugget:
That would seem to rule him out of the ALDS should we make it.
Game 2: Another listless effort from the Rays as they fell 5-2 despite a fine performance from Max Fried. Fried went 7 6 2 2 1 7 but not shown in that line were the two consecutive batters he hit, one to load the bases after a walk and the next to force in a run. Jose Alvarado came on in the 8th, put 2 men on and then served up a 3-run HR to Marcell Ozuna to make it 5-1. Schwarber hit his 9th Rays HR in the 9th to bring on Craig Kimbrel, who got his 400th career save in closing the door on any further rally. Ji-Man was 2 for 3 with a walk for the only Ray to really distinguish himself at the plate tonight against Jimmy Nelson who went 8 strong innings and bedeviled the Rays once again. The win gives Boston the season series at 10-8 with one more game tomorrow. Fried ends his season at 16-10, 3.71 with 184 Ks in 194 innings. He exceeded expectations as the 4th starter and will be part of the playoff rotation if there is one. And in the 2nd wild card that nobody seems to want, Toronto dropped their 15th in 16 but Oakland got swept by Baltimore (seriously how do you lose a 2-1 game to the Orioles?) and the Angels lost again to Seattle, so the Jays' magic number drops to 2. Of course just watch them come alive against the Rays in the wild card game.
MLB Pennant Race Update: In the crazy AL Central, Minnesota got a must-win 9-2 decision over the White Sox behind 7 strong innings from Andrew Heaney and Miguel Sano's MLB-leading 58th HR of the year. Detroit pounded Aaron Civale and Cleveland 10-5, so it's White Sox 81-78, Cleveland 80-78, Minnesota 80-79 and Detroit 79-79. Detroit and Cleveland will play tomorrow while the other two are idle. In the NL Central, our old buddy Charlie Morton pitched a 5-hit shutout for St. Louis, beating Milwaukee 2-0, but the Reds lost 4-1 to Atlanta meaning the Brewers stay in front by 1/2 game. The Mets and Nationals had their game suspended to be completed tomorrow, and OOTP does not give me the score so I don't know who's in front there.
Game 3: The Rays were pretty punchless in the first two games of the series, but this might have been the worst of all. First of all, it was Glasnow's last start before probably getting the nod in the Wild Card game and after two dominant innings striking out four, he fell apart in the 3rd, allowing 5 runs and then barely got through the fourth without allowing another before he was pulled. Not exactly an inspiring outing leading into the most important start of the season. But the Rays battled back from being down 5-0 and actually took the lead 6-5 with Wander getting a sac fly and then later hitting one over the Monster, and Sal Perez's over-the-Monster shot gave them the lead in the top of the 8th. From there it was the bullpen blueprint of Anderson and Hand to finish it off and Anderson did his job with a 2-K scoreless 8th. And then Hand came on in the 9th and got Verdugo and Bogaerts but with two out he let Rafael Devers take him deep to dead center to tie the game. Kevin Plawecki's 2-run homer off Austin Adams in the 10th was almost a fait accompli at that point and the Rays suffer the sweep. Plawecki was a thorn in the Rays' side, hitting two doubles off Glasnow. Javy Baez was 4 for 5 with 3 doubles and an RBI.
Team record: 92-67
WanderWatch: 318/380/533, 19-65-29
MLB Update: The Jays finally won but Oakland did as well so the magic # is down to 1 for Toronto. The Angels lost so they are eliminated. Cleveland edged Detroit 4-3 to move into a tie with the White Sox for first with the Twins one game behind them both and the Tigers 2. The White Sox go to Detroit, the Twins host the Rays and Cleveland hosts Kansas City, so advantage Cleveland but we'll see. The playoff probabilities according to OOTP 64 Cleveland, 30 Chicago, 4 Minnesota, 2 Detroit. And we have a tie in the NL Central as the Reds split a doubleheader with the Cubs and the Brewers lost in Arizona. The Reds are at the Cubs for 3 more as is Milwaukee at Arizona and OOTP thinks it's 68-32 that Cincinnati will prevail. The Nationals also got a split of their suspended game and the regular game vs the Mets so they are 2 up on both the Central teams for the second NL wild card.
Minor League Playoff Update: The Bulls dug themselves an early hole they couldn't get out of and lost the IL Championship to Columbus 9-3 in Game 5. Clarke Schmidt, who had been on a roll, gave up 2 in the first inning then a 3-run homer to the third batter of the 2nd and it was never close from there. Logan Allen dominated for the Clippers, and it wasn't until he left that Yandy Diaz's 3-run homer put Durham on the board. From one inning away from the title in Game 4 to a blowout loss in Game 5, it was a tough end to Durham's playoff run. Here's hoping the parent club does better in their do-or-die game next week.
September 24-26 at Minnesota (3)
Game 1: With these games meaningless for the Rays, I rested some regulars (Galvis in for Merrifield, Brantley for Meadows, the two ended up a combined 5 for 10) and gave Lucas Sims the start in place of Yonny. Still, the offense rapped out 17 hits include Hunter Renfroe's 44th HR of the year. Sims struggled allowing 4 runs in 5 innings including Miguel Sano's 59th HR but a 4-run Rays rally in the 6th capped by a Wander RBI single (he was 3-4 with 2 intentional walks on the night) gave them a 5-4 lead. Yonny came on in extended relief, and allowed the Twins to tie in the 8th. The Rays then loaded the bases with one out in the 9th, but couldn't score. Then they loaded the bases in the 10th with one out, and couldn't score again. So for the second night in a row they lost in extra innings with Austin Adams on the mound as Jorge Polanco's one-out bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th won the game for the Twins 6-5. The Rays left 15 runners on base as a team, with Baez leaving 9 and Choi 8 individually. Meanwhile the Jays lost at Boston while Oakland won at Phillly so Oakland could still force a 1-game playoff for the wild card if they win the next two and the Jays lose the next two.
MLB Playoff Race Update: Well we know the Twins won their game, but so did Cleveland who beat Kansas City 4-1 behind a 7-inning, 4-hit, 10-K performance from Luis Castillo. Cleveland trailed against Danny Duffy 1-0 through 6 on a Brandon Lowe (remember him?) HR but Duffy had to come out of the game injured and Cleveland feasted on the Royals bullpen. Meanwhile in Detroit Casey Mize and Lucas Giolito didn't allow a hit through the first 4 innings but the White Sox jumped on Mize for 3 in the 5th and went on to win 11-2 behind 7 2/3 strong innings from Giolito, so Detroit is officially eliminated but the status quo remains for the top 3 with Cleveland and Chicago tied and Minnesota one game back. In the NL Central, Cincinnati beat the Cubs 4-2 behind 7 strong innings from Nick Lodolo while Milwaukee had a dramatic contest with Arizona. Christian Yelich's first inning homer had the Brewers up 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th but Brett Phillips hit a 2-run HR off Josh Hader to give Arizona the lead. Milwaukee tied it up in the 9th but in the bottom of the inning a Luis Urias throwing error with 2 out let the winning run score and the Brewers are now one game behind Cincinnati with 2 to go.
September 25: Activated P Blake Snell from rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned P Jacob Nix to AAA Durham.
Snell will get the start today, looking for him to go 4-5 innings and about 75-80 pitches max.
A wave of retiring vets today: Hunter Pence, Nick Markakis, Andrew Cashner, Trevor Cahill, Clay Buchholz, Mark Reynolds, Josh Reddick, plus onetime closer Jim Johnson and former Rays Lucas Duda, Emilio Bonafacio and Carlos Gomez.
Game 2: The Rays ended their 4-game losing streak and pretty much dealt the Twins' playoff hopes a death blow with a 5-4 win, but boy did they do their best to give it away. Once again they had baserunners galore (in every inning to be precise) but could only score 5 while leaving 15 on. This mattered less today as Blake Snell got the start and pitched quite well, so well that I left him in a little longer than planned trying to get him through 5. He ended up 4.2 3 1 1 3 5 on 86 pitches and was pulled after a walk. Dany Jimenez got out of the inning and pitched a scoreless sixth to get his first Rays win, but then the bullpen made it an adventure. Having got the last out of the 8th, Nick Anderson stayed on and promptly served up HR #60 to Miguel Sano to make it 5-2, then his throwing error allowed a batter to reach and with two out Byron Buxton went deep to make it 5-4. Brad Hand came on to face Max Kepler and gave up a double, and then Royce Lewis hit a line drive to center that Yusniel Diaz had to make a diving catch on to preserve the win so Hand got a shaky save #31. Offensively the star was Ji-Man, who was 4 for 4 and walked to reach base all five times up including a 2-run HR in the first, his 30th. After a day off, Whit Merrifield had 3 hits and an RBI. Meanwhile the Jays finally wrapped up the wild card but had to use Nate Pearson to do it, ruling him out of the Wild Card Game. Pearson shut the Red Sox out for 8 innings in an 8-0 win.
MLB Playoff Race Update: Well the Twins were officially eliminated later in the day with Cleveland's 8-0 drubbing of the Royals behind 8 3-hit shutout innings from Shane Bieber who whiffed 14. The White Sox stayed tied with Cleveland for the division lead with a tense 2-1 win over the Tigers behind 6 strong innings featuring 12 Ks from Dylan Cease who had missed most of the year due to injury. If these two match results tomorrow, we'll have a one-game playoff Monday. Meanwhile the Reds and Brewers both lost blowouts so the Reds remain in first by a game. Milwaukee's loss clinched the second wild card for Washington, who will play the Mets in the NL Wild Card Game.
Game 3: Made liberal use of the bench again but the one thing you don't want in a meaningless Game 162 is an injury, and sure enough we got one: Kiermaier hurt himself beating a double play ball at first and is "diagnosis pending" at the moment. If he can't go at least his replacement Yusniel Diaz is getting it done as he had 3 hits in 5 at-bats today to go 18-45 (.400) with 3 HR in his brief Rays tenure. The game? The Rays won 9-8 in as ugly a fashion as the score implies. Meadows had the chance to protect his .301 average by sitting today but decided to play and blasted a 2-run HR in the first. He didn't quite catch Pena for the team HR record at 45 but he did go 3-4. Ji-Man continued unconscious, going 3-3 on top of yesterday's 4-4 with 3 RBI of his own and Jason Castro had a 3-run shot against his ex-mates. Joe Ryan was scheduled to start but given his success against Toronto I held him out in case Glasnow runs into early trouble in the WC game so Trevor Richards got the start. He pitched great for 5 innings and ran into trouble in the 6th, letting the Twins get back within 9-4. And that's where it stood until the 9th, when Diego Castillo came on to finish it. Instead he crapped the bed, putting four runners on who scored and Jose Alvarado had to summoned to finish it up and he allowed two hits to score Castillo's baserunners and just got out of it with Josh Donaldson lining out to the OF. Miguel Sano tied Roger Maris with HR #61 earlier in the game, hitting a HR in all 3 games in the series. The Rays end 94-68, the same as their record last year but this time around it only buys them one playoff game.
MLB Playoff Update: In the NL, the Reds beat the Cubs 5-2 behind Sonny Gray to win the NL Central. In the AL Central, the Indians were going up against 20-game loser Brad Keller, he of the 6.83 ERA, and while they got 4 runs off him their pitching staff allowed 10 to Kansas City, with Adalberto Mondesi and Mike Zunino (!) each with 3 hits and 4 RBI. Cleveland got within 10-6 in the bottom of the 9th and had the bases loaded with Lindor at the plate as the tying run with one out, but he grounded into a double play to end the game. That opened the door for the White Sox, who walked right through it with a tense 3-2 win over the Tigers. Jose Quintana was great for the Sox but had to leave after the 4th with injury, so former Ray farmhand Sam McWilliams followed with 3 scoreless innings of relief to bridge the gap and help the Sox to the AL Central title, where they'll play the Astros in the ALDS despite a record 10 games worse than the Rays. Over in the NL, the Braves and Reds will meet for the second straight year while the Dodgers await the winner of the Mets-Nationals Wild Card Game. The Rays-Jays winner of course will face the Yankees.