[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was the typical Trop game for the Rays where they get just enough offense to back great pitching as they took care of the Roughnecks 5-1 behind Matt Manning. The righty continued to roll, going 6 5 1 1 3 6 to lower his AL-leading ERA to 1.81 and improve to 5-2, and while it was a 3-1 game Jose Alvarado (perfect inning, 2 Ks) and Nick Anderson (perfect inning, 1 K) did their thing. After the Rays added insurance in the eighth to make it 5-1, Asa Lacy finished out the game against his old team with a pair of Ks of his own in the 9th. The Rays scrounged for their first 3 runs, getting them on a groundout and a couple of sac flies with Alec Bohm getting one of each and Keibert Ruiz the other scoring fly ball. Spencer Torkelson's 2-out, 2-run double in the 8th was their only RBI hit of the night as they only had 6 hits for the game. The Red Sox won for the second straight night against Detroit, so they remain 1/2 game up on the Rays.

Game 2: The Rays dropped a tough one today 4-3 to Miami. Dustin May was rolling along through 5 innings with a 2-0 lead but Miami strung together a walk, several hits, and a key Wander Franco error to score all 4 of their runs in the 6th, with the big hit a 2-run single by onetime Rays farmhand Lucius Fox. May went 5.1 7 4 3 2 7 and the pen did a good job keeping them in it the rest of the way with Daniel Lynch in particular getting all 6 of his outs on whiffs. Keibert Ruiz was the offensive star, going 4-5 with an RBI but unfortunately the one out he made was the last one of the game. Alec Bohm had a sac fly for RBI #40 and Bramdon Perez, getting a start in his first Rays appearance, drove in the other run with a fielder's choice but went 0-4. Meanwhile the Red Sox keep winning so they're back up 1 1/2 games.

Team record: 27-17. Next up: another off-day followed by 3 weekend games in New York against the 11-33 Yankees.