Game 1: It started off great for the Rays, then quickly got ugly as they fell 8-3 to Kansas City. Shane McClanahan got the start and looked great through 3 innings as the Rays built an early 3-0 lead. But the bottom fell out in the 4th when he gave up 5 runs, capped by a 3-run Thairo Estrada homer. After putting the leadoff man on in the 5th, he was pulled with his pitch count already about 90, so Asa Lacy came on, got out of the inning, but then had to leave in the 6th with a strained back. Enter Kirby Yates, who stunk up the joint and allowed Lacy's runner and 2 of his own to score, giving up 3 hits and a walk in 2/3 of an inning. I now see why Pittsburgh waived him. I was hoping for length from Lacy and for Yates to at least get into the 7th, but instead I had to bring on Sandy Gaston who excelled again, going 1 1/3 with 3 more Ks. And with Mitch Keller unavailable, I had to use Jose Alvarado in the 8th and Will Smith in the 9th, both of whom got through it but normally not the guys I want to use down 8-3. The offense, meanwhile, had another lousy game even with the 3 early runs. They were mainly the result of brief former Ray Lucas Sims walking 3 guys in the 3rd, including Tork with the bases loaded, and another run came on a Ronaldo Hernandez GIDP. Sims settled down from there, and went 7.1 6 3 3 3 5 with the 6 hits all the slumping offense got. At least I got the answer tonight as to who's going down when Matt Manning comes back.
Another trade:
Hamilton is a solid reliever but the White Sox were so desperate to get rid of his $6.5M contract that not only did they take Yates they even took back 30% so it only ended up costing us about $1M in salary. You can see from his excellent numbers above that he was probably what I thought I was getting in Yates before discovering he had lost his stuff (Also you've noticed I decided to go with OOTP's "light" skin to change things up).
Game 2: The May mediocrity continues as they lose again to the Royals, this time by a 6-3 score. Again they took an early lead, again the starting pitching blew up in the middle innings, again the middle reliever made things worse, and again I had to use high-leverage guys in the late innings down by several runs. Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR in the 3rd off Kyle Gibson made it 2-1 Rays, but Dustin May couldn't hold the lead, giving up 2 in the 5th and then getting into more trouble in the 6th. The newly-acquired Ian Hamilton did his best Kirby Yates impression, allowing the inherited runners to score and making a mess in the 6th as well. May ended 5.1 9 5 5 2 3 in his worst start of the season and Hamilton, who hardly ever walks anybody, walked a pair and gave up 3 hits in his 2/3 of an inning. Jasseel De La Cruz had to go two innings and today I had to use Nick Anderson as the bullpen has become worn down. Keston Hiura started for the tired Vidal Brujan and homered in the 5th to make it 3-3 and that was it for the Rays scoring. But unlike the last few nights where they didn't get many hits, tonight the problem was getting them home as they had 13 on the night. The primary culprits were Rafael Devers and Alec Bohm, both of whom were 0-5 and had opportunities to drive in runners, including in the 9th when they got 2 on with 1 out and both of them came up empty as Bohm struck out to end the game.
Game 3: Another gut punch loss and another bullpen meltdown. When you go into the 8th inning of a game up 5-1 with Walker Buehler on the mound you should win, right? Nope, not today. JJ Bleday, once a Rays farmhand who was traded to San Diego in the Paddack/McKay deal and then waived by the Padres and picked up by KC, hit the second of his 2 HRs today off Buehler to cut it to 5-3. Buehler then got the next two out before giving up a double, and Jose Alvarado shat the bed, giving up 2 hits and a walk to allow KC to tie it up. Nick Anderson got him out of the inning and then Will Smith came on for the 9th in a tie game. Smith should have gotten out #1 but Vidal Brujan threw wildly on a grounder to let the leadoff man on who was doubled to 3rd and then scored on a sac fly to put KC up 6-5, which turned out to be the final score. Although the run was unearned Smith gave up the double and a walk and continues to be shaky and is pitching his way out of the closer's role. The Rays jumped out to what looked like would be a winning lead off old friend Drew Strotman thanks to a Triston Casas (playing for Bohm) HR, a run scoring on a wild pitch, a Spencer Torkelson groundball, a Rafael Devers RBI double and a Wander sac fly. Buehler ended 7.2 8 4 4 1 7 with obviously the pair of Bleday HRs being his downfall. Brujan singled with two out in the ninth but Wander struck out as he continues mired in a slump that's seen his average drop to .284. Keibert Ruiz was also 0-4 and is 277/322/375 with 1 HR and 11 RBI so he hasn't been producing either as the team has gotten into a malaise. Baltimore lost today so the lead remains 3 1/2 games.
May 16: Optioned P Shane McClanahan to AAA Durham, activated P Matt Manning from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.
Manning starts tonight as the Rays try to salvage a win from this 4-game home series against a sub-.500 club.
Game 4: The offense built a lead that was bullpen-proof and mediocre start-proof and the Rays rolled to a 13-1 win to snap out of their recent funk which saw them lose four of the last five with the only win a miracle 2-1 comeback in the 9th on Sunday. Matt Manning came off the DL and was brilliant, going 6 6 1 1 0 12 to go 2-0 in his two Rays starts this season. The Royals actually led the game with a run in the top of the 4th before the Rays scored all 13 of their runs over the 4th and 5th innings. Rafael Devers got things started with a 3-run blast, his 4th of the year, to make it 3-1, and as Ron Burgundy would say, it escalated quickly as Nick Schnell hit his own 3-run HR (#6) to cap a 7-run 3rd and then 6 more were added in the 4th including a Devers RBI double as part of his 4-hit, 4-RBI game. Speaking of snapping out of it, Wander went 3-5 with an RBI, while Spencer Torkelson was 2-4 with 2 RBI. Mitch Keller whiffed 4 in his 2 scoreless innings in relief of Manning, giving him 28 in 16 innings, and Sandy Gaston extended his MLB career-starting scoreless streak to 9 1/3 innings with a clean 9th and a total of 15 strikeouts.
Team record: 25-12. Up next: a weekend visit to Fenway Park.