[Art Deco]

Game 1: Boston won its afternoon game by thrashing the Angels 11-0, so the pressure was on the Rays to keep pace. And they did, just barely, in a 4-3 win over the Orioles which saw another outstanding effort from Matt Manning. He took a 1-hitter into the 7th with that only hit being a Jo Adell homer and had a 4-1 lead, but he gave up a couple of hits around a Vidal Brujan error and Baltimore got an unearned run to cut it to 4-2. And with his pitch count at a reasonable 95, he started the 8th and faced Adell again, with the same result as the first time with another solo homer. He then came out for Jose Alvarado who got through the rest of the inning with a walk, and Jasseel De La Cruz got save #12 despite allowing a 2-out double. Manning improves to 7-3 with his 7 4 3 2 0 7 outing and his ERA ticks up to 2.04. The offense took a while to arrive but they got a pair in the 5th on a Brandon Marsh RBI single and a Wander Franco RBI double, and then two more in the 6th on Hunter Bishop's 2nd HR of the year, with a man on.

Game 2: Wander Franco went 4-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI, Keston Hiura was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI, and Mitchell White threw 6 strong innings to lead the Rays to an easy 8-1 win over Baltimore. Franco and Hiura each had 2-run doubles in a 4-run 2nd, and with White in control they never looked back. The righthander went 6 4 1 0 2 7 to improve to 6-3, 3.14 and Nick Frasso got his first major league save with 3 innings of shutout ball. In 13 2/3 innings so far, the rookie righty has an 0/13 BB/K ratio and 1.32 ERA and may have found himself up to stay. Vidal Brujan was 3-5 and now finds his average up to .254, and Hunter Bishop had another nice game with a pair of hits. Boston won in Oakland so the Rays remain 3 1/2 back; after 4 years, it looks like the Rays finally have a worthy AL East challenger.

Game 3: The Rays couldn't get the bats going today and lost 3-1 to Baltimore. Bryar Johnson was tough on them, not allowing a hit until Chris Betts singled with two out in the fifth and went 7 4 1 1 3 5. Hunter Bishop's RBI double in the 6th was the only Rays run, although they looked like they might mount a rally in the 8th when Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco led off with singles, but Austin Meadows grounded into a double play and Renato Nunez struck out. And in the 9th Keston Hiura and pinch-hitter Keibert Ruiz singled with 2 out, but Brandon Marsh grounded out to end the game. Shane McClanahan was decent today (6.1 7 3 3 2 6) but Greg Diechmann's 2-run HR in 4th was his undoing. Mitch Keller got McClanahan out of the 7th and after he put a couple on in the 8th, Aaron Ashby struck out the next 3 batters as the bullpen continues to pitch well. The A's beat Boston so at least no ground was lost.

Game 4: This really is started to look like a wild-card, rather than division-winning, caliber team as they can't get the bats going once again and lose 6-1 to Baltimore. Gave Dustin May one more chance to start, given how well he's pitched at the Trop but he wasn't that good today, going 4.1 5 3 3 3 4 and he and his 6.49 ERA are now out of the rotation. We have an off day coming up so need immediate need to replace him but Daniel Lynch will probably get first crack. Sandy Gaston could get another shot, and Jimmy Lewis and Emerson Hancock are pitching very well at Durham right now so there are options. The other choice today would have been to start Tyler Glasnow, but with the offense only mustering one run and six hits it was probably the right move to pass as unless he pitched a shutout it would have been a wasted start. Unlike yesterday, the bullpen didn't keep it close as Lynch, Mitchell Verburg and Aaron Ashby each allowed a run to let Baltimore win comfortably. A Wander sac fly accounted for our only run, while Triston Casas led off the 5th with a triple but was stranded in their other best chance to score. And Boston won today so their lead is now up to a season-high 4 1/2.

Team record: 36-25. Next up: An off-day followed by a pair of games at CitiField against the Mets.