[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the 6th inning and hung on to beat the Phillies 8-5 in their first trip to Citizens Bank Park since 2015. Despite the high score, until the 5th inning it was a pitchers' duel between Shane McClanahan and Jack Patterson with the Phillies up 1-0 on a 1st inning run scored due to a Gavin Lux error. But that changed in the 5th. Keibert Ruiz and McClanahan were retired to start the inning, but Ricky Widmar singled, Lux walked and Nate Clark stepped up and blasted HR #14 to make it 3-1. And the Rays really busted it open in the 6th on a 2-run double from Jasson Dominguez and a 3-run blast (#4) from Widmar. Mac was cruising through 5, whiffing 8 and only allowing 3 hits but the Phillies got to him in the bottom of the 6th on a 2-run single from Francisco Lindor and a 2-run HR by Brendan Rodgers. So it was up to the bullpen, a bullpen with Godwin, Alvarado and JDLC unavailable. So Jack Filby got through the 7th, Aaron Ashby whiffed Bryce Harper and got another out in the 8th, and Daniel Espino grabbed a 4-out save with 3 whiffs, his 1st of the year. Mac improved to 5-2 although he saw his ERA rise to 4.24. The Yankees beat the Mets so the lead stays at 8.

May 27: Optioned P Hayden Johns to AAA Durham, activated P Mack Anglin from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

So the 6-man rotation it is, Johns is an MLB pitcher but he had options and was the most logical choice to go down. Anglin will return with a baptism of fire at Citizens Bank Park.

Game 2: It what will go down as one of the wildest games of the year, the Rays came back from a 1st inning 5-0 deficit to eventually go ahead 9-6, only to end up losing 11-9 on a Jordan Groshans 2-run walk-off HR off Jasseel De La Cruz. Mack Anglin was activated off the IL today and man, it did not go well in the 1st inning. He gave up the cycle, including a 2-run HR to Bryce Harper in an inning that saw the Phillies score 5 times on 6 hits. With Hayden Johns down in Durham we don't really have a long reliever now and the bullpen continues a bit thin so he stayed in and actually pitched well over the next 4 innings, allowing only a Francisco Lindor longball to end up 5 8 6 6 2 2. And this bought the Rays enough time to come back, first with a 3-run HR from Gavin Lux (#11) in the 3rd, then a 2-run shot by Bobby Witt Jr (#5) in the 4th, an RBI single and a sac fly from Nate Clark in the 5th and 7th, and Jasson Dominguez's 2nd Rays HR and 10th overall in the 6th, and after 6 1/2 it was 9-6 Rays with Christian Chamberlain pitching a 1-2-3 6th. But Chamberlain didn't have it in the 7th, giving up two infield singles and then a 3-run HR to the same-handed Harper to tie the game. Chamberlain put a couple of more on and Aaron Ashby bailed him out and also pitched through the 8th, but JDLC gave up a Lindor single and then the HR to Groshans for Philly to walk it off in the 9th. Ricky Widmar had himself a day in a losing effort, going 4-5, scoring 3 runs and stealing a base. These two teams have the best records in their respective leagues right now and it would be quite a wild World Series if they met up in a rematch of 2008. The Yankees did finally gain ground on the Rays by beating the Mets, so the lead is down to 7.

Game 3: It was deja vu all over again as the Rays bullpen once again blew a 3-run lead in the late innings and lost on a walk-off homer to the Phillies. Today it was an 8-7 final and Tyler Freeman was the HR hero, blasting a shot to center off Jose Alvarado leading off the 9th. The lack of options hurt the Rays again, with Evan Godwin in his second inning of work pitching to Miguel Sano with no real fully rested RHP available in the pen, and he gave up a 2-run HR that made it 7-6 in the 8th, put a couple more on, and a slightly-tired Jack Filby gave up the tying run. Alec Sachais started and had a game he'll never forget. Not for his pitching, which was OK at 6 5 4 4 2 6 considering the park and the opponent, but for his hitting as he drilled a HR in the 3rd inning off Ryan Rolison, the first HR by a Rays pitcher I've had in this save. In fact the first 4 Rays runs all scored on solo HRs: Gavin Lux (#12) in the 1st, Sachais in the 3rd, Joe Barker (#6) in the 5th and Bobby Witt Jr (#6) in the 7th. They then added 2 more in the 7th on back-to-back doubles by Jasson Dominguez and Keibert Ruiz and a Jhon Diaz pinch-hit RBI single. Barker added an RBI single in the 8th to make it 7-4, but you can never have enough runs in this park as the Rays found out the last two days. The Yankees won again, so the lead is cut to 6 with a series in NY looming and a beleaguered bullpen.

Team record: 35-18. Next up: Out of the frying pan and into the fire at Yankee Stadium for 3 big games with New York. Maybe going to a 7-man bullpen wasn't the greatest idea.