[Art Deco]

Game 1: Tyler Glasnow was brilliant in the Rays' first game after the All-Star break, twirling 6 shutout innings with 2 walks and 10 Ks in a 7-1 win over Miami. Wander homered in the first to give the Rays a 1-0 lead and for a while that was all Glasnow had to work with. But they broke it open in the 5th when Wander walked, stole second and scored on a Keibert Ruiz single and then Joey Gallo followed with his first Rays HR to make it 4-0. Nelson Cruz made it 7-0 in the 7th with a 3-run shot, his 25th. Will Harris pitched a scoreless 7th but with a 7-run lead Austin Adams shat the bed with four consecutive walks before Dany Jimenez bailed him out with a pair of strikeouts and finished off the game. The Blue Jays continued their habit of shadowing the Rays result with a win of their own, so the lead remains 6 1/2.

Game 2: Joe Ryan was in command as was the Rays offense as they once again took it to the Marlins to the tune of 10-3. Ryan went 7 5 3 3 0 11 which would have been 7 3 1 1 0 11 had I not done my usual thing of bringing starters out one inning too long with a big lead. Wander has decided to get hot again, reaching base all 5 times up, going 3-3 with 2 walks, a HR for the second straight night and 2 RBI. Joey Gallo continues to have at least one big hit a night since joining the Rays, tonight it was a bases-clearing triple in the 2nd that put the team up 5-0 and chased Sixto Sanchez. Vidal Brujan was also 2-5 with a pair of RBI, the job-endangered Ji-Man had a solo shot, and Shane McClanahan whiffed 5 Marlins in his 2 scoreless innings in relief of Ryan, who is now 9-4. The Rays winning of course meant the Jays won, lead stays 6 1/2.

July 24: Traded 22-year-old minor league reliever Rodolfo Sanchez and 31-year-old reliever Austin Adams to the Cincinnati Reds, getting 30-year-old closer Giovanny Gallegos in return.

Adams has been a huge disappointment this season after he looked like the real deal last year, but he dropped from a 4.5-star guy to a 3.0 star guy this year and his control has been atrocious (23 BB in 26 IP). In return I get Gallegos, the Reds' closer this year who has a 10/45 BB/K ratio in 39 innings and has 60 control. Also, he's projected to only make about $3.4M next year in arbitration and he could serve as the team's closer next season if I don't bring Hand back yet again. The price of the upgrade was Sanchez, a potential 2-star middling prospect pitching at High-A Port Charlotte who hasn't distinguished himself so far.

Game 3: Today was a case of the offense not showing up, as they only managed 4 hits on the day in a 6-2 loss. Brendan McKay got the start because I preferred to save Fried and Snell for the Yankees and he had his usual disaster inning, this time in the third when he walked a pair and gave up three singles in a 3-run inning. His final line was 6 4 3 3 3 3, medicore consider the opposition This put the Rays behind 3-0 but Gallo hit his 2nd Rays HR to make it 3-1, and a Nelson Cruz sac fly cut it to 3-2 in a situation the Rays should have scored more runs. It stayed this way until the 9th (Giovanny Gallegos had a 1-2-3 8th in his Rays debut) when the recently-reliable Dany Jimenez got into trouble of his own making with a throwing error on a comebacker and then he yielded a 2-run HR to Jorge Alfaro and then put a couple of more on, one of which who went on to score. Vidal Brujan had 2 of the Rays' 4 hits today. The Jays gained ground with a sweep of Baltimore, so the lead is trimmed to 5 1/2 with the Yankees coming to town for 3.

Team record: 62-37.