[Art Deco]

Game 1: Andrew Knizner was the offense tonight, belting 2 HRs in a 3-2 win over Baltimore. The night started off rough for Knizner, as Baltimore got the 2nd run of their 2-run 3rd inning when he threw the ball into outfield as a runner attempted to steal third (the first runs off Matt Manning in 18 1/3 innings) but he quickly made up for it with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. And then down 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th, Nick Gonzales doubled off Orioles starter Zac Lowther and Knizner went deep again to give the Rays their winning margin. Knizner's always been regarded as a good-hitting catcher, hitting over .300 in 2 of his previous 3 seasons, and he's 302/348/628 with 3 HR in 43 AB since signing in late April. Manning of course recovered from that rough 3rd to go 6 4 2 2 3 4. Steven Casey took over in the 7th and put 2 on with 2 out, and Evan Godwin got him out of that and pitched the 8th, picking up his 2nd win. And Jasseel De La Cruz was impressive in getting save #6, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 inning.

Note from the farm: 1st round draft pick Mike Champagne made his professional debut with Class-A Bowling Green and was an impressive 7 3 0 0 3 6 on 84 pitches.

Game 2: A pitiful performance from the offense - especially with runners on base - and some lousy bullpen work combined to waste an impressive spot start from Hayden Johns as the Rays fell 4-0 to Baltimore. Johns started off shaky, walking the bases loaded in the 1st, but he got out of it and only a Xavier Bussey triple followed by a Druw Jones double in the 3rd kept him from throwing 6 shutout innings as he went an impressive 6 3 1 1 3 9 on 106 pitches (30 of them in the 1st). But that one run would be all the Orioles would need as the offense got nothing going early, and once they started putting runners on base they couldn't do anything with them. The primary culprit was Judson Fabian, who came up in both the 6th and the 8th with either a man on 3rd and one out or the bases loaded with one out and whiffed in the 6th and hit a shallow fly ball in the 8th. And both times Hunter Bishop followed him and made the 3rd out. At that point it was only 2-0, but Jose Alvarado was not at his best today, allowing Jack Filby's inherited baserunner to score in the 8th and then putting two on in the 9th, one of which Cole Patten allowed to score and other by Liam Hendriks who had to come in for Patten when Patten tweaked his hamstring. Boston beat the Yankees to keep the lead at 9 1/2.

Game 3: The offense once again could barely hit its way out of a wet paper bag, and the pitching ran out of gas in a 5-2 loss. Blake Money started, and was very good for 5 innings but I left him in a bit too long in the 6th and although he got two outs he then gave up a pair of hits that plated 3 runs and that was a death knell considering how the offense has gone lately. Mike Bayley gave up 2 more in the 7th, including a HR to Adley Rutschman and that was that. The Rays were up against a tough customer in Bryar Johnson, of the AL's best, but they did get through for 2 runs with 2 out in the 3rd. Brandon Marsh singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Nick Gonzales's RBI single, and then Gonzales stole second and scored on Wander Franco's single. Johnson left with 2 out in the 6th, and the Rays couldn't manage another baserunner in the final 3 1/3 off Baltimore's bullpen as they scored a whopping 5 runs in the 3-game series. Yordan Alvarez had showed some signs of life before going on the IL and shortly after coming off it, but has gone cold again and is hitting 239/307/378 while Bramdon Perez, sent to Houston in the deal that brought Alvarez here, is hitting 337/404/564. I mean we're still tied for 1st in runs scored and sit 8 1/2 games up, but the recent quiet bats have been frustrating, even for a lower-scoring environment this year. The mediocrity at the Trop this year continues as they drop to a 22-17 home record.

Team record: 47-26. Next up: An off-day, followed by 3 games in Toronto, which has been known in the past to perk up the bats.