[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was tense, and the Rays could never add to the 4 runs they scored in the first 3 innings, but somehow they made it through thanks to strong relief pitching in a 4-2 win. Asa Lacy got the start and he continued to give up base hits galore, going 5 9 2 2 1 0, but he got a couple of double plays and avoided serious damage, managing to pick up win #3. Mitchell Verburg had a scoreless 6th, Jose Alvarado got through the 7th and got the leadoff lefty in the 8th, Nick Anderson finished the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz got save #26, allowing a hit but nothing else. Keibert Ruiz was the primary source of offense, hitting a 2-run HR over the Monster in the 1st and getting an RBI groundout in the 3rd while Austin Meadows drove in the 4th run with a single. Baltimore lost last night while the Rays were idle but won tonight so they're 3 1/2 back (3 in the loss column).

Game 2: Holy crap. Down 8-3 with a man on and two out in the 9th, the Rays scored 7 runs to pull out the most improbable of comebacks in a 10-8 win over Boston. Keston Hiura whiffed to start the inning, Alec Bohm singled, but Hunter Bishop grounded out. Brandon Marsh singled, and Vidal Brujan doubled in Bohm to make it 8-4 as I figured "OK, they're getting a consolation run." Sox closer Nelson Berkwich came in and I thought "I guess he'll qualify for the save with the tying run on deck". Wander Franco singled to score Marsh and Brujan and I thought "interesting, the tying the run now is at the plate". Then Keibert Ruiz singled, putting runners on first and third, and Austin Meadows doubled into the gap, scoring Wander and Ruiz and suddenly we were tied and just as suddenly Spencer Torkelson launched one over the Monster (#16) to amazingly put the Rays ahead 10-8. In a nice bit of symmetry, Hiura whiffed to end the inning as well. With Boston featuring two lefties in the 9th and Jose Alvarado tired from last night, Evan Godwin came in and got the Sox 1-2-3 to notch his first Rays save, and Mitch Keller (who wasn't that good, he walked 3 in 1 2/3 and somehow got out of the 8th unscathed) picked up his 6th win in relief. Before the madness struck I was ready to write about the mistake I made in skipping the Daniel Lynch rotation slot and going with Matt Manning even though he was on regular rest. Manning had it rough, going 5.2 10 5 5 3 4, and Mitchell Verburg had a bad 6th giving up 3 runs and it looked like the typical Fenway game for the Rays this season, last night notwithstanding. Earlier Bohm had hit HR #17, Brujan had an RBI single and Keibert had an RBI double which actually got them within 4-3 after falling behind 4-0. And the good news was all around as Baltimore fell to Cleveland to boost the lead to 4 1/2 games.

Game 3: We have officially entered the darkest timeline. Not only were the Rays crushed by Boston 10-3, Wander Franco is lost for the season with a torn labrum. He injured it making an attempted double play throw. Needless to say this is a crippling blow to a team that really hasn't been playing good baseball over the last month or so and there's no replacing one of the best players in baseball. As for the options to replace him, I see three: 1) move Vidal Brujan to SS, Keston Hiura back to 2B and play Triston Casas at 3rd, 2) play Greg Jones more, or 3) move Brujan to SS and call up Nick Gonzales from Durham and give him a run at 2B. Gonzales is ranked the #31 prospect in baseball by BNN and while that may be a bit high, he's had 2 full years at Durham where he's averaged 285/330/440 with great doubles/gap power. All of these options will make a mediocre defensive infield worse, as Brujan is not a natural SS nor is there really one in system ready to step right in. Alejandro Pie has hit .210 or so at both Durham and Montgomery after being demoted this year. Not really sure how much Jones can hit either. Anyway as for the game I did go to Daniel Lynch as opposed to Tyler Glasnow on full rest and Lynch was horrible again, going 5 11 7 6 1 1. Brandon Marsh homered (#14) in the 9th, Brujan had an RBI groundout and Wander had one last RBI on a sac fly as he ends the year .306-23-97 with an OBP of .349 and slugging .539 and finishes with 4.1 WAR. Baltimore crushed Seattle to pull back within 3 1/2 as that division lead looks shakier than ever with Wander out.

Team record: 69-48. Next up: 3 games at home vs the Yankees.