[Art Deco]

I'll lead off here by saying for the first time playing OOTP I had an "injury, diagnosis pending" turn out to be basically nothing as my trainer informed me Shane McClanahan had a minor abdominal strain and is good to go. Too bad I put him on the 15-day DL yesterday. Enjoy the two weeks off, Shane!

Game 1: This looked like it might be an easy win as the Rays went up 3-0 against Tyler Phillips, hardly a Cy Young candidate. But Phillips settled in after a 1st inning that had Max Kepler deliver a key 2-run single (the Rays loaded the bases again in the inning but couldn't score) and a subsequent Meadows sac fly. Meanwhile Yonny Chirinos was pitching another fine game, up 3-1 after 6. But he ran into trouble in the 7th when Nick Ciuffo singled home Rougned Odor who had doubled. Enter Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado and Brad Hand once again to close the door, and Kiermaier added insurance with a solo HR as the Rays won 4-2. Meadows ended 3-3 on the night with the sac fly, and Keibert Ruiz had two more hits and was hit by a pitch. Yonny goes to 3-0 off his efficient 6.1 7 2 2 1 3 line and Hand gets save #6. One true oddity from this game: the Rays did not strike out a single time, which I'm pretty sure is the first time in my 2+ years of managing the Rays this has happened.

Game 2: A high-drama affair at the Trop as Blake Snell pitched far and away his best game of the season, but was matched pitch-for-pitch by one of the league's worst starters the last few years, Texas's Kyle Gibson. The Rays came closest to scoring of either team through the first 7 innings when Joey Gallo gunned down Whit Merrifield at the plate in the 2nd, but it wasn't until Kyle Seager hit a 2-out solo HR off Snell in the top of the 8th that the ice was broken. Snell got through the inning and had a brilliant 8 3 1 1 1 8 line on an efficient 96 pitches. But in the bottom of the 8th, Kiermaier led off with a solo HR off Gibson and later in the inning Meadows hit a 2-out double and came around to score on Ji-Man's single, this time testing Gallo's arm and passing. So with Brad Hand tired, Nick Anderson came on for the save in the 9th but ran into quick trouble, allowing an Elvis Andrus leadoff single and after a Willie Calhoun double put runners on 2nd and 3rd, Danny Santana's sac fly tied the game. With Gallo due up Jose Alvarado came on, got him to ground out and struck out Lewin Diaz. Texas brought on their closer Jose LeClerc in the bottom of the inning and he walked Nelson Cruz to start the inning. Vidal Brujan came in to pinch run but it was more like pinch jog as Abraham Toro drilled a LeClerc offering into the RF stands to give the Rays a 4-2 walk-off win and improve them to 14-3. The Jays fell to Kansas City so the Rays up their lead to 1 1/2 games.

Game 3: Brendan McKay took the hill today, and the Rays' most consistent starter over the last 2 seasons was coming off perhaps the worst two-start stretch of his career, torched for 11 runs in 5 innings combined. But like Blake Snell yesterday, he came through with a dominating start (6.1 3 1 1 3 12) and like Snell yesterday he wasn't provided with much run support. The Rays struggled some with wily veteran Johnny Cueto, although it helped him that Wander got his first day off and Nelson Cruz and Keibert Ruiz also sat for this Wednesday matinee. Brujan got his first start at SS and immediately booted his first chance in the 1st inning but McKay pitched around it. Still, Rougned Odor's solo shot in the 2nd had Texas up early, but a walk to Meadows, a single from Alec Bohm and another single from Toro enabled the Rays to equalize in the 4th. And then in the 6th Ji-Man took Cueto the opposite way for his 2nd HR of the season (he's hitting a cool .414 at the moment) to put the Rays up 2-1. Ryne Stanek and Austin Adams bridged the gap in the 7th and 8th, and in the bottom of the 8th Meadows hit an inside-the-park HR off Brandon Workman to make it 3-1. That run proved huge as Brad Hand gave up a leadoff double which came around to score but he struck out Sam Huff to end the game and earn save #7. McKay goes to 2-1 and brings his ERA down to a still-unsightly 6.87. McKay and Snell were aided the last two days by a very lefty-heavy Texas lineup but it was still good to see them back in form, especially now that the offense is cooling off. Max Kepler continues to have trouble hitting his way out of a paper bag, now down to .140 with 0 HR. Renfroe isn't doing much better with Minnesota, with only 1 HR himself. Still a minor blemish on what is an MLB-best 15-3 record, but a record only good for a 1.5 game lead as Toronto won.

Team record: 15-3. Day off tomorrow before a 3-game home set against Minnesota and our good buddy Renfroe.