September 17: Placed P Ben Bowden on the 15-day IL with biceps tendinitis, recalled P Luke Little from AAA Durham.
Decided to go with Little instead of bringing back Chamberlain as Little had pitched much better in the 2nd half of the season at Durham and deserved a callup.
Game 1: Since tonight was kind of a big deal, I'll post the game story from the box:
The cycle was the second of Wander's career after getting one early in his rookie season in 2021.
The Rays can smell the division title as they throttled the Orioles 18-3. Aside from Wander, here were the other offensive stars tonight: Triston Casas was 3-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI, giving him 13 HRs on the year; Judson Fabian was 3-6 with a HR (#32), double and 3 RBI; and Keibert Ruiz was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Spencer Torkelson, in a deep slump, managed to hit #42 for his only hit in 5 trips tonight. All this run support allowed Mack Anglin to get the win as he had his best start for a while going 6 4 2 2 4 7 and improved to 11-4. Luke Little pitched a scoreless inning whiffing a pair, and Austin Vernon threw the final 2, allowing a run and striking out a pair. The win reduces the magic # to 3.
Game 2: The division coronation will be delayed at least an extra night as the Orioles bounced back from last night's beating and turned the tables in a 6-1 win. It was quite the pitching matchup as Tyler Glasnow faced Bryar Johnson but it was the Baltimore hurler who was the better pitcher tonight. Glasnow gave up a 2-run HR to old friend Austin Meadows in the 1st, and then another 2-run shot to Druw Jones in the 3rd and a couple more runs in the 5th to finish with a rough 5 9 6 5 1 8 line as he was denied in his first bid this year to win #20. Johnson meanwhile struggled through the first few innings as the Rays put multiple baserunners on each time but couldn't get the hit they needed and he settled down from there, holding them to 7 3 0 0 4 8. Keibert Ruiz kept the Rays from being shut out with HR #20 in the 8th off Ruben Galindo but they only managed 4 hits on the night after scoring 18 runs the night before. Luke Little pitched another scoreless inning and Hayden Johns pitched a pair, getting out of a bases loaded jam with a rare 4-2-3 double play in the 8th. The magic # remains 3 and the Rays could still clinch this weekend but will now need to win both games to do so.
Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls dropped the opener of the IL Championship Series 5-3 to Indianapolis in a bizarre game. Jack Leiter got the start and was dealing, shutting out Indy through 4 with 7 whiffs. He gave up a 2-run HR in the 5th and then hit the next batter, triggering a brawl which led to his ejection. Deivy Florido came in and was terrible, allowing the hit batter to score along with 2 runs of his own and they were down 5-0. The Bulls battled back on a Nick Loftin HR and some fine hitting from Christian Knapczyk (2-5 with 2 steals) and Julio Cedillo (3-3 with a walk, steal and RBI) but it wasn't enough in the end. They'll need a Game 2 win to avoid falling into a serious hole.
Game 3: What a insane game. I'm posting this just to show the win probability chart:
So here's how it went in a nutshell: Spencer Torkelson hit a 3-run HR (#43) in the first, but Asa Lacy gave it right back and then some, giving up HRs to Austin Hays in consecutive innings and a 2-run HR to Austin Meadows as he went 1.2 7 6 5 2 2. Mitchell White relieved him and wasn't much better, allowing back-to-back HRs to Druw Jones and Jo Adell and it was 8-3 Orioles. The Rays rallied to get back within 8-6 but White gave up 2 more runs and it was 10-6. And it stayed there for awhile. Aaron Ashby had 2 strong scoreless innings for a change and 2-run HRs from Judson Fabian (#33) and the red-hot Tristan Casas (#14, his fifth in 5 games) tied the game at 10 in the 7th. Steven Casey struck out the side in a perfect bottom 7, and Wander Franco went deep (#37) to give them an 11-10 lead going into the bottom of the 8th. But Jose Alvarado crapped the bed, giving up 4 straight hits leading to a run and leaving with the bases loaded and nobody out. Enter Liam Hendriks, who struck out Austin Riley and got Jones to hit into the second 4-2-3 double play they've pulled off this week, keeping the game tied. And in the 9th, they mounted a 4-run, 2-out rally as Keston Hiura hit #25 to break the tie and then after hits from Casas and Brandon Marsh, Vidal Brujan (who ended with a 4-hit, 4-RBI day) blasted #9 to make it 15-11. Hendriks stayed on and got a 1-2-3 9th and a well-deserved 5th win to reduce the Rays' magic #1, meaning they clinch the division tomorrow with a win.
MLB Note: San Francisco's Paul Campbell pitched a no-hitter against St. Louis, walking 5 and whiffing 10 and going 143 pitches to do so. Campbell was once a Rays farmhand, lost to Washington in the Rule 5 draft back in the 2020-21 offseason. He's pitched decently for the Nats and Giants over the years, nothing spectacular - except for tonight.
Durham Playoff Update: Things look bleak for the Bulls after Indianapolis trounced them 9-2 tonight to go up 2-0 in their best-of-5 Championship Series. The game was tied at 1 going into the 6th before Indy erupted for 5 runs off Emerson Hancock and Tommy Mace, and the Bulls squandered several scoring opportunities in the early innings which doomed them. They'll have to win in Indianapolis in two days' time or their season is over.
Game 4: The ball was flying out of Camden Yards as usual, and Rays pitching allowed 8(!) homers in a 14-5 shellacking today. Matt Manning had the bad combo of issuing walks and giving up homers, with 3 of the former and 4 of the latter on his way to a horrid 5.1 7 7 7 3 6 line, Austin Vernon continued to show he's not ready for prime time by allowing 3 more homers in 1 inning of work for 4 runs, and Hayden Johns gave up a 3-run shot in his 1 2/3 innings. The Rays hit 3 longballs of their own: Spencer Torkelson (#44), Wander Franco (#38) and Judson Fabian (#34). If the Orioles win their wild card game it's going to be a wild ALDS with them, especially Games 3 and 4. For now the division championship celebration is put on hold for a day or two.
Team record: 103-46. Next up: An off-day (on which they can still clinch if Baltimore loses to Boston), then mercifully back home for 3 games vs the Yankees.