[Art Deco]

Game 1: Syndergaard was in vintage form today and the White Sox had Noah chance of winning with the Rays taking care of business 6-2. Thor was 8 5 2 2 2 11 in going to 14-4 and lowering his ERA to 3.43 as the Rays captured their 73rd win in 100 games this season. Look out AL, Austin Meadows is heating up as he had a 2-run shot in the 1st inning. Syndergaard did have his usual 3-4 batter sequence where he struggles, and the White Sox capitalized on that for a pair of runs in the 3rd to tie it up, but order was quickly restored in the bottom of the 4th when Alec Bohm and Seth Beer had RBI doubles to make it 4-2. And in the 5th, Vidal Brjuan went deep for #6 of the season (equaling last year's total) as part of a 2-3 game with 3 runs scored and 2 stolen bases to keep him 2nd in the AL with 25. Wander drove him in with a double for the Rays' final run in the 7th. Scott Barlow pitched the 9th with his usual busy-on-the-basepaths outing allowing a hit and a walk but no runs. For those keeping score at home, the lead is 18 1/2 and the magic number is 45.

Game 2: It was empty-the-bench day as Ronaldo was in for Keibert, Bannon in for Devers, Yusniel Diaz in for Marsh, and Casas in for Bohm and as a result the offense struggled for a while, although they did have a golden chance in the 2nd with the bases loaded and one out but Ronaldo grounded into a double play. Or maybe it was just trouble with Marcus Walden who is pitching to a 3.05 ERA this year and shut them out through 6 before having to leave with an injury. Either way, Chris Paddack was pitching well but not getting his usual run support. He gave up a Luis Robert HR in the 4th and left the game after 6 trailing 1-0 and putting up a 6 6 1 1 1 10 line. But finally in the 7th they broke through. Casas walked (he was on all 4 times up on a single and 3 walks), and one out later was doubled home by Bannon, and one out after that Wander singled him home to make it 2-1. And in the 8th Yusniel had a 1-out double and after an intentional walk to Casas and a single by Ronaldo, Bannon came through again with his own single to drive in 1 and two batters later Wander did it again with an RBI single to make it 4-1. Ty Buttrey pitched the 7th and got a double play in between a pair of walks, while Nick Anderson walked a man but struck out the other 3 he faced, and Will Smith closed it out with another perfect inning (remember earlier in the season when he was channeling Don Stanhouse?) featuring 2 Ks for save #21 in 21 tries. Buttrey picked up his first Rays win.

Game 3: Every so often this year some no-name pitcher shuts down the Rays' league-leading offense and today was one of those days. My upcoming games widget in the upper right corner said Lucas Giolito was going to start for the White Sox but instead it was somebody named Matthew Thompson who was making his second MLB start after being called up from AA Birmingham. And shut the Rays down he did, going 7.2 3 0 0 2 5 in a 5-1 White Sox win. Only Austin Meadows' 26th HR of the year in the 9th off reliever Tyler Johnson kept the Rays from being skunked. Daniel Lynch pitched poorly again, this time really poorly (3.2 8 4 4 1 2), allowing 2 runs in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th with two men on. Dany Jimenez, in only his 3rd appearance this month, came in and went 2 1/3 scoreless, and TJ McFarland went 2 shutout innings himself. Scott Barlow pitched the ninth and it would not surprise you if I noted he gave up a run in the 9th. Of course at this point wins are nice but I'm just glad nobody got hurt.

Team record: 74-28.