Game 1: Who says lightning can't strike twice? Back on May 27 on Memorial Day at the Trop, Nick Schnell hit a 3-run HR off Ken Giles to give the Rays a 6-5 walk-off win. Today, Nick Schnell hit a 2-run HR off Ken Giles in the top of the 9th to give the Rays a 5-4 win on the first game of a quick west coast swing through LA and Oakland. The Rays faced nemesis Garrett Williams, one of those lefties who always shuts them down. So it was surprising to see them score twice after the first three batters of the game as Vidal Brujan singled, Keston Hiura (playing for Wander who will be back tomorrow) doubled, and Austin Meadows singled them both home before the fans could settle into their seats. It was a false dawn, though, as that was all they got off Williams, who went 7 5 2 2 0 9 for the game. Meanwhile the Rays had Matt Manning going and it wasn't his sharpest game as he gave up 3 runs on 5 hits (2 of the infield variety) in the 2nd. Miraculously, despite giving up 10 hits and 2 walks over 6 innings, those were the only runs he allowed as he was aided by a double play and a Meadows outfield assist at the plate. So 3-2 it went and fortunately for the Rays Williams exited and they tied it in the 8th off Jose Soriano when Rafael Devers singled in Brujan. But Mitchell Verburg had his first bad inning as a Ray, putting two on with two out and giving up an RBI single to Kyren Paris to put LA back on top. But that only set the stage for Schnell. After Alec Bohm led off with a single, Schnell drilled a no-doubt shot into the RCF stands for HR #11 and the game winner. Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a leadoff single to Mike Trout but nothing else in the 9th to get save #16, and Verburg somewhat undeservedly got his 2nd Rays win. Baltimore crushed the Cubs (something we couldn't do) to stay 11 back.
Game 2: Tyler Glasnow started and the Rays won 4-0. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well of course it wasn't. Glasnow had to leave after the 1st inning with what turned out after the game to be shoulder tendinitis that will keep him out 2-3 weeks. So this meant it was essentially a bullpen game for the Rays and boy did the bullpen come through. 7 pitchers ended up combining for the shutout, and to make that performance more impressive, all of them except Mitch Keller at the end came in with no margin for error as it was a 1-0 Rays lead until the top of the 9th inning. Here's the pitching line score from the game:
Only Mitchell Verburg, who was tired from last night, and Jasseel De La Cruz, who would have come in had the Rays not made it 4-0 in the top of the 9th, didn't pitch. The Rays had their usual lefty issues, this time with Patrick Sandoval, against whom they could only manage a run in the 3rd inning when Sandoval walked Brujan, Meadows and Devers and then uncorked a wild pitch to score Vidal. Meanwhile there were plenty of tense moments for the pen. Asa Lacy, who got the win, had to survive a leadoff Mike Trout double in the 4th, Will Smith and Sandy Gaston combined to walk the first two batters in the 6th before Gaston got Anthony Rendon to hit into a double play, in the 7th Gaston gave up a leadoff double who went to third on a groundout, and Jose Alvarado had to whiff Nelson Cruz and get a fly out to escape that, and in the 8th Nick Anderson walked and hit the first two batters before getting 2 whiffs and a popup. Finally the Rays got some breathing room in the 9th when Keston Hiura led off with a double, Nick Schnell struck out but reached on a wild pitch, Heston Kjerstad singled home Hiura, Schnell scored on a Brujan groundout, and Meadows singled in Kjerstad. So Mitch Keller had it easy when he came on and struck out the side to end the game in one of the more bizarre wins of the year. Shane McClanahan of course will be up for Glasnow's next scheduled turn but in the meantime look for Ian Hamilton to come back from his rehab assignment at Durham as the bullpen will need a fresh arm. Cubs beat the Orioles so the lead is up to 12.
July 21: Placed P Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day IL with shoulder tendinitis, recalled P Ian Hamilton from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.
Game 3: The good news is that the Rays swept the series from the Angels with a 5-3 win, taking 6 of 7 in the season series. The bad news is that another starting pitcher went down, as Dustin May had to leave in the 7th with a herniated disc and he'll be out a month and a half. This probably means Asa Lacy gets a shot at the rotation, as the best starters not named McClanahan at Durham are Mack Anglin and Emerson Hancock, both of whom aren't on the 40-man and neither of whom I'm interested in starting their service time clock (in case you were wondering about Joe Ryan, he's been dreadful at Durham as he still hasn't gotten his command back from TJS). With these two injuries, Sandy Gaston's roster spot remains safe. As for the game, the Rays jumped out to a 4-0 lead on a Meadows RBI single and solo HRs from Keston Hiura, Rafael Devers and Keibert Ruiz. Devers also had an RBI single of his own, while Vidal Brujan continued to hit, going 4-5 with his MLB-leading 36th steal and raising his average to .334 and OBP to .410. May pitched quite well before leaving, going 6.1 6 2 2 1 4, only giving up a run in the 5th before Nick Solak took him deep in the 7th one batter before his departure. Mitchell Verburg came in and as the PbP screen noted he'd only allowed 1 HR in 42 innings this year, Billy McKinney greeted him with a longball to cut it to 5-3, but Verburg got out of that, pitched the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th with a pair of Ks for save #17. And for the first time in my 4 1/2 years of managing this Rays save, I had a bases-clearing brawl as Nick Schnell was hit in the 2nd by Jose Suarez and charged the mound. He's suspended for 5 games. Hunter Bishop is ready to come back from his rehab assignment so he may come up for May. Baltimore won so the lead remains 12, and in our first magic # update of the season it stands at 59.
Team record: 59-34. Up next: 3 games in Oakland with Buehler, Lynch and Manning the expected starters.