[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was a game they had no business winning until they got 5 in the 7th to take a 7-5 lead, and then they blew it, losing 9-7. Matt Manning got the start and he was struggling throughout, giving up 5 runs through 6 (2 on bases-loaded walks!) with the Rays trailing 5-2 and their only runs coming on a Wander Franco 2-run shot (#20) in the 6th. But they rallied for 5 runs, first on Spencer Torkelson's 12th HR of the year to make it 5-4 and then on a 3-run blast from Keibert Ruiz (#8) to make it 7-5. Manning was at 94 pitches, plus Alvarado & De La Cruz were tired from the last 2 days in Miami so he was left in. He got two outs but ended up putting 2 on, so I turned to Mitch Keller and he was just terrible. He gave up a single to score one run to make it 7-6 and then wild-pitched the runners over to 2nd and 3rd whereupon he gave up another single to score them both. Thanks to a Keston Hiura error he also allowed a run in the 8th for the final 9-7 margin. Manning ended up 6.2 6 7 7 3 3 in maybe his worst outing of the year, and it might be time to upgrade the pen as outside of the troika I can't seem to count on anyone else in a high-leverage situation. Baltimore was idle to the lead drops to 3 1/2.

July 11: Traded 26-year-old minor league right fielder Zach DeLoach to the San Diego Padres, getting 36-year-old reliever Liam Hendriks, retaining 20% in return. Optioned P Nick Frasso to AAA Durham, designated SS Alejandro Pie for assignment and placed him on waivers.

Time to upgrade the pen. Hoping the vet has something left in the tank and it appears he does, with a 2/29 BB/K ratio in 23 innings this year with San Diego. DeLoach is now 26 and hasn't lived up to the potential he had as a first-round pick in 2020, stagnating at AA/AAA. To make room on the 40-man, I had to waive Pie even though I would rather not have. He's a SS with pop, and at one point I saw him as a possible Wander successor should it come to that. But he didn't hit at AAA and while there's some power that, the overall hit tool is lacking. Hoping he clears, though.

Game 2: A pathetic performance by the offense doomed them in a 2-1 loss to the White Sox today. They only managed 4 hits against Patrick Sandoval and a trio of relievers with the only one run coming when Hunter Bishop doubled, went to third on a Sandoval balk, and then scored when Michael Chavis mishandled Brandon Marsh's grounder at 1st. This actually gave them a 1-0 lead in the 5th but Tyler Glasnow gave it right back when Connor Wong homered in the bottom of the inning. For the third time in four starts, Glasnow had to leave with a nagging injury, this time more back spasms which will keep him out 5 days and means someone else will have to start against Baltimore next Wednesday. He did have his best outing in several starts going 6 3 1 1 2 5. Liam Hendriks made his Rays debut and looked good, pitching a perfect 7th with a strikeout, but Nick Anderson couldn't get the job done in the 8th giving up 3 hits as Chavis atoned for his error by hitting an RBI double with two out. The Rays went meekly in the 9th with a pair of whiffs against Sox closer Jacob Webb and they've lost two straight for first time in a while. The Jays helped us out by beating Baltimore, so no ground lost in the division.

July 12: Activated P Aaron Ashby from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned P Luke Little to AAA Durham.

Game 3: Order restored at Guaranteed Rate Field as the Rays took care of the White Sox 6-1. Or should I say Keibert Ruiz and Mitchell White took care of the White Sox. The Rays' All-Star catcher blasted a pair of homers, most importantly a 2-run shot in the 6th which broke a 1-1 tie, while White went 8 5 1 1 1 3 to improve to 10-3, 3.04. Until Ruiz's blast, it was looking a carbon copy of yesterday's game where the Rays took a 1-0 lead thanks to a Hunter Bishop double (he scored on a Vidal Brujan sac fly) and the Sox tied it right back up. But Keibert took care of business and then made sure there wouldn't be any Chicago comeback with a 3-run blast in the 8th giving him a 5-RBI day (and giving him 10 HR and 67 RBI for the season, the latter total among the AL leaders). Mitchell Verburg pitched a perfect 9th to finish off the game. Meanwhile it would be good for Austin Meadows to break out of his 5-39 slump, while Keston Hiura has cooled off and is in a 1-15 mini-slump. Baltimore beat the Jays so the lead remains 3 1/2.

Game 4: Shane McClanahan pitched his best game as a major leaguer, shutting out the White Sox 4-0. Mac was dominant, going 9 8 0 0 1 9 on 121 pitches. The Rays led 2-0 for most of the way and he probably would have been gone after 8 but the offense added a couple of runs in the 9th to give him a cushion. Those two early runs came courtesy of HRs from Wander Franco in the 1st (#21) and Hunter Bishop in the 2nd (#7), the latter off old friend Anthony Banda, who came in after Bobby Wahl opened. Keston Hiura and Bishop had RBI singles in the 9th to make it more comfortable for Mac and he improves to 4-5, 3.60. Baltimore lost so the lead grows to 4 1/2 games ahead of their series at the Trop. (*a very different version of this game was recapped a little while ago where the Rays won 9-8 but OOTP crashed on me before I could save, so good for McClanahan in this alternate version of alternate reality).

Team record: 57-35. Next up: 3 big ones against the Orioles at the Trop as Baltimore is 4 1/2 back but only 3 out in the loss column.