[Art Deco]

Game 1: Plenty of early fireworks in this July 4th game as Texas scored 3 times in the top of the 1st only to see the Rays answer with 6 in the bottom of the frame as Tampa Bay topped Texas 10-5. For the second straight start Matt Manning had a rough 1st inning, walking a couple, hitting one with the bases loaded and then seeing two runs score on a Keston Hiura throwing error with 2 out. But the offense picked him up immediately as Vidal Brujan led off with a triple, Wander Franco singled him home and a couple of batters later Hiura atoned for his error with a 2-run single to tie it up. And then the red-hot Hunter Bishop stepped up (against a lefty, no less) and drilled an opposite-field homer (#6) to left with two on to make it 6-3. They tacked on 3 more in the 4th on a 2-run Austin Meadows double and another RBI single from Hiura as the offense has been on quite a roll this week. Manning ended up going 6 4 5 2 3 8 to improve to 10-5, 2.52. Dean Christidis got another chance after his awful MLB debut and wasn't much better, giving up 2 hits and only getting 2 outs, but Mitchell Verburg got him out of it, and tried to finish up but ran into some trouble in the 9th so Nick Anderson had to get the final 2 outs of the game. Baltimore won (they're hosting the Yankees this weekend so don't look for any help) so the lead stays at 3 1/2.

Game 2: The good news is that Tyler Glasnow made it through his outing without a minor injury, the first time in 3 starts he's accomplished that. The bad news is that he had to leave after 3 innings anyway because he was terrible, allowing 7 runs in an 8-3 loss to Texas. It didn't start off that way as he struck out the side in a perfect 1st, but things totally unraveled in the 2nd, giving up a run and loading the bases for Stephen Wrenn, who hit a grand slam and ended up having a career day after tripling in 2 more in the next inning off Glasnow and then capping his 7-RBI day with an infield single to score a run off Dustin May in the 4th. Glasnow was an ugly 3 7 7 7 3 5 as his ERA balloons to 4.26. Gonna need to get him straightened out. Wander Franco and Brandon Marsh were in need of rest today, so Greg Jones started at SS and his 2-run double was pretty much the offense in a 3-run 5th with the other run scoring on a Vidal Brujan groundout as the team only managed 6 hits on the day. Baltimore routed the Yankees 9-2 as expected, getting them to within 2 1/2 games (and 1 in the loss column).

Game 3: Mitchell White was dominant in bouncing back from his poor start last time out and the Rays rode his performance to a 5-1 win. White went 6.2 5 0 0 1 8 and gave us a strong indication of his performance when he allowed Jose Devers to lead off the game with a single, steal second, and go to third on a wild pitch but then striking out the next 3 batters to get out of it. Triston Casas had a nice day to pace the offense, first doubling in a run in the 2nd to make it 1-0, and later tripling in the 6th and scoring. Brandon Marsh made it 2-0 in the 5th leading off with a 486-ft shot (#11) to dead center, and Wander Franco had an RBI triple later in the inning and scored on Keibert Ruiz's grounder. The troika finished the game off with Jose Alvarado getting into a little trouble with a pair of walks but no damage, and then Jasseel De La Cruz (in a non-save situation) got into even more trouble allowing a run and a couple of baserunners although the man who scored did so after reaching on a wild pitch strikeout. And of course Baltimore won 7-0 over the Yankees so they remain 2 1/2 back.

Team record: 53-33. Next up: An off-day followed by a pair in Miami.