October 13:
Well that couldn't have gone any worse. Not only did we get another ****ty performance from a starter, we burned through the bullpen with guys like Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado throwing 2 innings apiece, and we still lost in 13 innings. Now it's up to Mitchell White to save the season tomorrow! Good luck boys! McClanahan went 4.1 6 7 7 1 5 and not shown there is that he hit 2 batters. And did he walk the first man he faced? Yes, of course he did. So in 3 games we had the AL WAR leader (Manning) give up 6 runs, the AL Wins & Ks leader (Glasnow) give up 9, and the ERA champ (McClanahan) give up 7. Cleveland's offense is pretty good, but it ain't the 1927 Yankees. Like in Game 2, the offense valiantly tried to keep up, and did, no more dramatically than when Keston Hiura homered with one out in the 9th to tie the game. They got 5 runs off the really good Kantaro Yokoyama, including HRs from Austin Meadows (his 2nd in 2 days) and an absolute blast to dead center with a man on from Spencer Torkelson. (By the way that little win probability surge in the 12th for the Rays came when they had the first two men single only for the next 3 to whiff). And the bullpen did it again with 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball, at least until Jasseel De La Cruz took the mound to start to 13th and gave up a HR to Lewis Brinson (his 2nd of the game) to win it for Cleveland. De La Cruz only threw 3 pitches so he'll be rested for tomorrow but given his penchant lately for surrendering HRs that's a mixed blessing. Otherwise Anderson threw 28 pitches and Alvarado 21 but it still will be all hands on deck tomorrow in an elimination game.
In the other ALDS:
and in the remaining NLDS:
Congrats to the Braves, who will take on St. Louis in the NLCS. The win was costly for them, though, as star 2B Ozzie Albies strained a rib cage muscle and is done for the playoffs.
October 14:
Well if yesterday's game couldn't have gone any worse for the Rays, today's couldn't have gone any better. Be honest: who had 8 shutout innings from Mitchell White on their bingo card? After the "3 aces" got roughed up in the first 3 games White should have been tagged for 10 runs by the transitive property. But instead he showed his postseason moxie once again going 8 6 0 0 1 7; after all he beat the Rays twice in last year's World Series for the Dodgers which was one of the main inspirations for trading for him. Anyway he was masterful, never giving up more than a baserunner an inning until he allowed a double and a walk to start the 9th so Evan Godwin came in and got a strikeout and double play to end it. Not only did White get the job done but his 8 innings meant the beleaguered bullpen finally got a rest and with a day off tomorrow they should be at full strength for Game 5. Nick Gonzales, who had a rough Game 4, got the Rays on the board to break up a tense 0-0 tie in the 5th with a 2-run HR off Spencer Howard, and then just as it looked like the Rays would squander a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity in the 6th after Hunter Bishop hit into a force at the plate, Alec Bohm came through with a 2-run single. And Brandon Marsh made it very comfortable in the 9th with a 2-run shot off one-time Cleveland ace Shane Bieber, now relegated to relief. So it's down to one all-or-nothing game back at the Trop with a rematch of Game 1 starters Matt Manning and Luis Castillo. That went horribly wrong the first time around, here's hoping for a reversal of fortune.
The other ALDS:
And if the Rays make it back to the ALCS it'll be a rematch of the one in 2023 as the Angels topped the Twins to win the series in 4 games behind 2 HRs from Mike Trout.