[Art Deco]

Game 1: Blake Snell got the start, and it didn't start off too well as he walked Kolten Wong and Aaron Judge to lead off the game. But he bounced back to get the next 3, and rolled the rest of the way as the Rays pounded the Yankees 9-1. Snell ended with an excellent 6 4 1 1 3 7 line as he looked his old dominant self, the only blemish a 6th inning solo HR by Gleyber Torres. Meanwhile the offense got to work right away with (who else?) Joey Gallo clubbing a 2-run first inning HR off Deivi Garcia, Wander doubling and scoring on a wild pitch in the 3rd, and Nelson Cruz hitting #26 for 2 more in the 4th. Later on, Vidal Brujan had a 2-run double and Keibert Ruiz hit a solo shot, his 15th HR of the year, and everyone in the lineup had at least one hit. The Twins, who killed us right before the break, did us a favor by beating the Jays and bringing the lead back up to 6 1/2.

July 26: Activated OF Brandon Marsh from the 10-day IL, optioned P Shane McClanahan to AAA Durham.

I continue to kick the can down the road with respect to Ji-Man, as McClanahan pitched two innings yesterday and was an easy choice to send down.

Game 2: Max Fried pitched well, but it wasn't enough as the Yankees eked out a 3-2 win over the Rays. He was staked to a 2-0 lead after Toro walked, was doubled to 3rd by Marsh, then scored on a wild pitch and Marsh came home on Brujan's sac fly. Aaron Hicks homered to cut the lead in half in the 5th, and then Luke Voit hit a 2-run shot off Fried in the 6th to put the Yankees ahead to stay. The Rays had a chance to tie or win in the bottom of the 9th off Aroldis Chapman when with two out, pinch-hitter Alec Bohm and Toro singled, and pinch-hitter Whit Merrifield walked to load the bases, but Brujan struck out to end the game. Joey Gallo had his first unproductive day as a Ray with an 0-4. And Toronto beat Minnesota to cut the lead back to 5 1/2 games.

July 27: Claimed P Trevor Gott on waivers from the Chicago Cubs, optioned P Dany Jimenez to AAA Durham.

Gott has been an excellent reliever for the past 2 1/2 years now, and I'm not sure why the Cubs waived him (and the Mets waived him at the start of the season and the Cubs beat me out for the claim back then). He saved 29 games for SF in 2020 with a 2.85 ERA and then after a rough start in 2021 in SF, he was traded to the Mets and had a 1.52 ERA in 41 IP with a 13/41 BB/K ratio. And this year with the Cubs he had a 1.45 ERA in 18 innings with a 3/20 BB/K ratio. So no I'm not going to turn down a free pitcher of this caliber, and I had a 40-man roster spot open. Jimenez has been great this year but only went down because he was tired, he'll be back up very soon.

Game 3: Tyler Glasnow was not sharp to start this game, to say the least. With one out and a man on first to start the game, Glasnow walked Torres, struck out Stanton, but then walked Luke Voit and Aaron Hicks to force in a run and followed that with a walk to Gary Sanchez, forcing in another run. Then in the 2nd he allowed two singles for first and third to lead off the inning and a Judge sac fly made it 3-0. Max Kepler hit a 459-ft HR to make it 3-1 in bottom of the inning but Glasnow gave it right back with Aaron Hicks going to deep top 3 to make it 4-1. It was going to be one of those nights. Wander singled in Toro who had doubled to cut it back it 4-2 after 3, and Glasnow finally got through an inning unscathed in the 4th, setting the stage for a 6-run sixth inning that amusingly enough started and ended with a Joey Gallo strikeout. In between Kepler tripled, Cruz singled him home, Ji-Man walked, Toro singled in Cruz to tie the game, Marsh singled to load the bases and then Vidal Brujan stepped up with his specialty, the bases-clearing double. Wander singled him home, and it was 8-4. And that was the final score as Glasnow made it through 6 to get the win with a semi-ugly 6 5 4 4 5 4 line, and Trevor Gott (in his Rays debut), Alvarado and Nick Anderson all pitched scoreless innings to finish it out. Unlike last season, when the Rays struggled to beat the Yankees after an early season sweep at Yankee Stadium, the win makes the Rays 9-3 so far this year against the boys from the Bronx. And the good news continued in Toronto, where the Twins knocked off Toronto 3-2 to put the lead back up to 6 1/2.

Odd note: In a game between Washington and Milwaukee that went 7-7 to the 15th inning, the Brewers won on a grand slam from pitcher Sean Doolittle with two outs after they had exhausted their bench. The blast came off former Rays closer Emilio Pagan, who was known to give up a HR or two in his time.