First off, some news from the International League:
Gonna be interesting to see how long I can keep Torkelson down on the farm as he hit #20 yesterday and remember the IL didn't start until mid-April.
Game 1: After being called out for their lack of hitting the last two days, the Rays came out on Memorial Day with a vengeance, bombing the Blue Jays 15-5. Brujan and Wander in particular had been the subject of some consternation but both had big days, each with 2 hits and 2 RBI with Wander hitting a double and a triple. Austin Meadows stayed hot with a 2-run HR as part of a 3-5, 3 RBI day, Keibert Ruiz was 2-5 with a HR and 3 RBI, Devers was 2-4 with 2 RBI and Alec Bohm was 3-4 with 2 RBI as the top of the lineup was deadly today. But there's something about Max Fried pitching with a big lead against the Blue Jays and although he wasn't at his sharpest allowing 2 runs through his first 4 innings, in the 5th despite an 11-2 lead he just couldn't get the third out, ending with a 4.2 9 5 5 3 5 line. Fried gave way to the middle inning monster known as Shane McClanahan, who was great again going 2.1 0 0 0 1 4 to get his 3rd win of the year. And Dany Jimenez closed it out with 2 scoreless innings, a positive sign from a guy who has struggled all year despite the situation. The Orioles keep winning (now 32-24) so the lead remains 6 1/2.
Game 2: Max Kepler was the hero tonight as the Rays had to dig themselves out of a 5-2 hole that Noah Syndergaard put them in to pull out a 7-5 victory. Trailing 5-4 in the 6th, Kepler hit HR #6 of the year to tie it, and in the 8th his 2-run triple with 2 out scored a pair to provide the win. Syndergaard started out very shaky, allowing 5 runs in the first 3 innings including a mammoth 3-run blast by Bo Bichette. He did settle down after that to throw 4 scoreless innings to buy the Rays some time to come back (he ended 7 5 5 5 4 6, the walks were a surprise). The Rays were up against Rick Porcello, who bedeviled them earlier this season in Toronto but today they got to him for 2 runs and 4 hits in the 1st inning. Rafael Devers' 2-out triple scored a run to make it 5-3 in the 5th, and then in the 6th Keibert Ruiz hit HR #6 before Kepler's tying blast. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up his first win of the season, and Will Smith got 3 groundball outs in a perfect 9th for save #11. Wander, in a relative slump of late, went 0-4 to see his BA drop below .300. We usually know how that turns out. Yes, Baltimore won again so no change in the division lead.
Game 3: It was almost a carbon copy of yesterday's game, with the starting pitching giving up 5 runs and putting them behind, only for the offense and the bullpen to take over to get the win with the difference between today's score was 8-5 instead of 7-5. Clarke Schmidt looked good through 3 innings but the wheels came off in the 4th when he gave up a leadoff Rowdy Tellez HR and then later in the inning a 3-run shot to Bo Bichette and a 4-0 Rays lead became a 5-4 deficit. This time it didn't take as long to retake the lead as in the bottom of the 4th Wander tripled in Brujan and scored on a Devers groundout. Meanwhile a parade of relievers shut the Jays down over the final 5 innings: Aaron Ashby went 1 2/3, walked a couple but Scott Barlow put out the fire in the 6th by whiffing Vlad Jr. Barlow then pitched a clean 7th, Alvarado put a couple on but then got a pair of strikeouts to end his inning, and Will Smith, who couldn't buy a save situation until recently, got yet another save with a 1-2-3 2K inning, #12. Ashby picked up the win to go 4-0. The bats were going off early against Toronto starter Isaac Mattson with Meadows staying unconscious by drilling a 2-run HR in the first, #15, and they added 2 more in the 3rd on a Meadows groundout (his AL-leading 56th RBI) and a Bohm single. Ronaldo had an RBI single in the 6th to make it 7-5, and a Brujan triple (he scored 4 times) was followed by a Wander groundout for run #8. Somehow they did manage 8 runs on only 6 hits (7 walks helped) as they swept the Jays. Seth Beer was back in the lineup after 5 missing games with a bruised forearm after suffering an HBP in Cleveland and the rust showed as he went 0-4 with 3 Ks. And Baltimore finally lost, so the lead is back up to 7 1/2.
Team record: 39-16.