October 31: Placed P Mitch Keller on the 60-day IL with a ruptured UCL, activated P Dustin May.
Game 3:
Holy Halloween, Alec Bohm! After setting a World Series record in Game 2 with 7 RBI, what does he do for an encore? He goes 3-4 with a double and 2 HR, driving in 4 as the Rays pounded Atlanta 9-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. Bohm got the Rays on the board in the 2nd with an RBI double as they scored 5 times in the frame, including a 2-run Nick Gonzales double and a Vidal Brujan RBI single to go with a run scoring off a Cal Raleigh passed ball. Bohm then hit the first of his 2 HRs leading off the 4th and hit the 2nd one with a man on off rookie Tyler Owens once again in the 7th to cap a 3-run inning that completed the scoring. While Bohm was doing his thing with the bat, Shane McClanahan was in control with his arm, keeping the Braves off-balance and going 6 4 1 1 1 6 in his best career postseason start. Liam Hendriks, Mitchell Verburg and Christian Little (in his postseason debut) each threw a scoreless inning to finish things off. Last year's World Series hero for the Dodgers, Mitchell White, gets the ball for the Rays in Game 4 tomorrow as they look to put a stranglehold on the series.
November 1, Game 4:
One win away. That's what the Rays are from becoming World Champions for the second time in three years after an 8-4 win over the Braves to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Mookie Betts tried his hardest to keep the Braves in it, homering in the 2nd to give them a 1-0 lead and hitting a 2-run double in the 6th to tie the game at 3, but to beat the Rays these days the way their offense is going you'll need more than one guy hitting the ball. Brandon Marsh answered Betts' 2nd inning HR with one of his own to tie it, and then in the 3rd Austin Meadows went deep after Keibert Ruiz was hit by a pitch to make it 3-1 Rays. And after Betts tied it up in the 6th the Rays erupted for 5 runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away. The wildness of Atlanta's bullpen came back to bite them again, as after Hunter Bishop doubled to lead off the inning, a pair of walks loaded the bases for Vidal Brujan, who singled to make it 4-3. Keston Hiura fouled out, but Ruiz ripped a 2-run single to center making it 6-3, Meadows singled to re-load the bases and then Spencer Torkelson walked to force in a run and Alec Bohm gave the crowd a thrill with a deep fly ball to left that didn't go for another grand slam but did get the 8th run home. All the while Mitchell White was solid, shutting down the Braves outside of Betts. He did give up a leadoff double in the 8th that came around to score so his line ended up 7 6 4 4 2 5 but it was a solid effort and worthy of the win. Nick Anderson got through the 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz briefly made things interesting by allowing a pair of singles to start the 9th up 8-4, but got a double play and a whiff to end the game. So tomorrow the Rays have the chance to be champions again, but it won't be easy as they'll face Mike Soroka, who shut them down in Game 1, the one game the Braves ended up winning in the series. Matt Manning will look to replicate his own Game 1 performance for the Rays.
November 2, Game 5:
Hold the champagne. Mike Soroka, Mookie Betts, and the Braves struck back tonight with a 7-0 win to stay alive and force the series back to Atlanta for a Game 6. Soroka picked up where left off in Game 1 with a 6.2 6 0 0 1 6 outing and Tyler Owens, the rookie who was victimized earlier in the series, bounced back to complete the shutout with 2.1 scoreless of his own. Meanwhile Betts continued to wield a hot bat going 4-5 with a HR and 4 RBI tonight. His homer was his 8th of the postseason, tying the single-season postseason record held by several, most recently Will Smith of the Dodgers in 2020. For the Rays, Matt Manning was decent but he would have had to have been perfect given Soroka and Owens. And the normally reliable bullpen coughed up 3 runs over the final 2 innings but it made no impact on the game. The Rays will try again to win it in two days' time at Truist Park with Tyler Glasnow on the mound facing Ian Anderson as they reprise their Game 2 matchup.