[Art Deco]

Game 1: Stop the presses! The Rays lost! Christian Little didn't have one of his better outings (although it wasn't terrible) and the offense couldn't get enough done against Patrick Sandoval as the Astros prevailed 5-3. Little was down 3-1 after 4, but some of it was due to his own fielding error, and some to a Nate Clark dropped fly ball. Mix in a couple of walks and a balk and Little ended up 5 5 3 2 3 8. Jack Leiter pitched the final 3 innings and gave up a 2-run HR to Eloy Jimenez, which turned out to be the difference in the end. Keibert Ruiz had RBI singles in the 3rd and 5th for the Rays' first two runs, but he hit into a double play to short-circuit a 9th-inning rally that saw Jasson Dominguez single in a run and put two on with nobody out.

Game 2: After last night's aberration the Rays were back in the win column tonight with a 5-1 decision as Blake Money went to 16-0. Money took a no-hitter into the 6th but he was wild, walking 5, so even if Alex Bregman hadn't singled with 2 out in the 6th he wouldn't have been long for the game. Bregman went to 2nd on Nate Clark's error and scored on a single, but with thanks to a wild pitch later in the inning the run was earned so Money went 6 2 1 1 5 6 and lowered his ERA to 2.62. Jeremy Bowers, Daniel Espino and Evan Godwin each pitched a scoreless inning to finish out the game. Ricky Widmar kick-started the offense in the same manner he's done quite a bit lately, with the longball. He led off the game with HR #14 and that stood up until the top of the 6th when Nate Clark doubled the advantage with HR #27 and later in the inning Jhon Diaz went yard with a man on for #16. Gavin Lux added an RBI triple in the 7th to round out the scoring. Jasson Dominguez tweaked something in his back and has a "moderate" 1-2 week injury so he'll probably go on the IL with Diaz shifting back to center and Luis Berdin coming up again.

August 5: Placed OF Jasson Dominguez on the 10-day IL with a strained back, recalled OF Luis Berdin from AAA Durham.

Game 3: The Rays jumped out to an 8-0 lead by the 4th inning but had to hang on for a 9-7 win after a weird 5th inning that saw Houston score 6 times. Alec Sachais got the start and like Blake Money last night no-hit the Astros early but threw a lot of pitches in doing so. Also like yesterday Alex Bregman broke up the no-hitter, this time leading off the 5th and after a walk the newly-re-recalled Luis Berdin dropped a fly ball. Houston picked up a couple of runs on groundouts and another on a single, and then with two out Eloy Jimenez homered to make it 8-5 and Ramon Laureano went back-to-back with him to make it 8-6. Sachais ended up going 6 6 6 1 2 6 so with only one run earned he lowered his ERA to 2.11 and improved to 11-1. Christian Chamberlain pitched a perfect 7th but Daniel Espino gave up another homer, Laureano's 2nd of the game, before Jose Alvarado had a perfect 9th to get save #9. The offense mostly came early with Bobby Witt Jr taking one-time Ray farmhand Taj Bradley deep for #15 in the 2nd, and then Gavin Lux kick-started a 7-run 3rd with a 2-run HR, #29. Jud Fabian doubled in a run, Witt singled in another, Jhon Diaz had a 2-run triple, and Berdin scored one with a groundout. After Houston pulled to within 8-6, Fabian had his 2nd RBI double of the game in the 6th.

Game 4: The Rays won a wild one in 10 innings 7-6 after coming back, blowing the lead in the 9th and coming back again. Ryan Jeffers' 2-out RBI single in the 10th to score Bobby Witt Jr turned out to be the game-winner. Shane McClanahan looked good through 3 innings and then the wheels fell off in the 4th as he allowed Houston to bat around and score 5 times including the obligatory Eloy Jimenez 2-run HR. This put the Rays down 5-2 but they came back with a 2-run HR from Connor Kirkley (his 2nd of the game and 5th of the year) to cut it to 5-4, and Joe Barker's sac fly in the 6th tied it at 5. We stayed there until the 9th when Barker took Jorge Guzman deep (#8) to put the Rays on top, but Jose Alvarado gave up a Jimenez hit with 2 out and with Ramon Laureano coming up, Jasseel De La Cruz came in and promptly gave up 3 straight hits including one to score the tying run. He did get out of the bases-loaded jam to get us to extras, and stayed on and walked the leadoff man in the 10th which was enough for me. Evan Godwin came in and got two out but had to leave with back spasms (he'll be fine for the next game in 2 days) and Jeremy Bowers ended up getting his 1st Rays save. Earlier in the game Yordan Alvarez hit #24 for the Rays, and Jack Leiter went 2 1/3 in relief of Mac and whiffed 5.

Team record: 83-28. Next up: An off-day then it's finally back to the Trop with 3 against the Yankees.