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Art Deco · 12-22-2020, 04:26 PM

Game 1: The Rays prevailed 7-5 in 10 innings thanks to the longball, but the win was a costly one as Bobby Witt Jr's disappointing first season with the Rays came to a disappointing end. While beating out an infield single in the 9th, Witt strained his groin and will be out 2 months. Theoretically he could be ready if we make the World Series but practically he's done. He did hit HR #17 to tie the game up at 4 in the 7th before having to leave and ends his maiden Rays season an underwhelming 236/305/411 with 17 HR and 65 RBI, good for 1.8 WAR. Fortunately we have a capable replacement in Isaac DeLeon, who should be able to at least duplicate those numbers if not exceed them, and he's a 65 defender at 3B as well. As for the game, Nate Clark continued his HR binge (6 in his last 4 games) by hitting his 2nd of the night (#33), a 2-run shot in the 10th. Gavin Lux also hit #33 tonight, a solo shot in the 3rd which was his 300th career round-tripper. Keibert Ruiz's RBI single was the only non-homer scoring for the Rays. Mack Anglin started and was mediocre, going 6 8 4 4 2 6, and after Daniel Espino pitched a scoreless 7th, Jose Alvarado blew the lead in the 8th. Jack Filby pitched a 1-2-3 9th and got a man in the 10th for his 3rd win, and JDLC got the final two outs for save #26. With the Yankees losing, the magic # is down to 13.

August 19: Placed 3B Bobby Witt Jr. on the 10-day IL, recalled 3B Mike Lammers from AAA Durham.

Considered putting Witt on the 60-day IL, but we already have two slots open on the 40-man after Spencer Torkelson and Julio Cedillo were put on it. Tork will be back in early September so we'll need one of those slots, but since we're past the trade deadline the only likely scenario I'd need the open slot would be to promote someone in the org already not on the 40-man and I don't really see any candidates in that situation. Lammers comes up and he's been what we expected when we acquired him from Milwaukee in a deal for Gustave D'Elia last summer: big-time power (75 rating), a decent eye (60 rating) and mediocre contact and defense (45 in each). He's hit 36 HR and driven in 116 in 166 games over the last year-plus with Durham and hit around .260-.270. DeLeon was the only other player on the roster who can play 3B aside from Witt, so the call-up here is a no-brainer.

Game 2: The Rays left it late but scored twice each in the 8th and 9th to beat Toronto 5-1 for win #90 behind another dominant performance from Christian Little. Snapping back from his rough outing in Cleveland to start the week, Little gave the Jays nothing except for a Justin Ellison homer in the 6th, going 7 4 1 1 1 12 and improving to 13-5, 2.43. Jose Alvarado and Christian Chamberlain finished out the game with a scoreless inning each. Isaac DeLeon, now the regular 3B, immediately responded to his new opportunity by blasting HR #9 in the 2nd inning to put the Rays up 1-0. Mike Lammers made his MLB debut starting at DH by singling in his first at-bat and was later walked intentionally. The 1-1 stalemate was broken in the 8th on a Gavin Lux RBI double and after he went to 3rd on the unsuccessful throw home he scored on a Nate Clark sac fly. They added 2 more in the 9th on a Ricky Widmar infield single with 2 out and the bases loaded before Lux walked to force home a run.

Game 3: The Rays swept their series with Toronto thanks to a second straight 5-1 win. Today it was Blake Money who shut down the Jays, going to 18-1, 2.60 off a 6 3 0 0 2 6 performance. He ran a lot of deep counts so it took 103 pitches to make it through 6 despite the limited number of baserunners. Now we're well beyond the point where wins are judged as the primary barometer of how good a starting pitcher is, but 18-1 is 18-1, and if Money ended his season today he'd tie Roy Face for the all-time winning percentage in a single season at .947, although Face primarily did it in relief back in 1959. Barring injury he should be a lock to win 20, and no 20-game winner in MLB history has lost fewer than 3 times, most notably Ron Guidry in 1978 when he went 25-3 for the Yankees. It'll be interesting to see his final record, and it's one of things to watch as there's no team drama with respect to the race and the playoffs (although the team is still on pace for 119 wins, which would break the MLB record of 116 set by the Cubs in 1906 and tied by Seattle in 2001, however the 06 Cubs' winning percentage of .763 is out of the question). Anyway, back to today's game. The dynamic duo of Gavin Lux and Nate Clark continued their power surge and battle for AL Player of the Week as both hit HR #34 today, with Lux going deep in the 7th to make it 3-0 and Clark homering after Lux had tripled in the 9th to give us the 5-1 final score. Before that the Rays scored twice in the first on a Jud Fabian sac fly and Isaac DeLeon's RBI single. Evan Godwin relieved Money and went 1 1/3 with a HR allowed, and Daniel Espino pitched the final 1 2/3, whiffing 3 and picking up his 4th save after Clark's homer took away a potential save situation in the 9th for JDLC.

Team record: 91-33. Next up: Back to the Trop for 3 against Boston.

12-22-2020, 04:26 PM	#497
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,937	August 18-20, 2028: at Toronto (3) Game 1: The Rays prevailed 7-5 in 10 innings thanks to the longball, but the win was a costly one as Bobby Witt Jr's disappointing first season with the Rays came to a disappointing end. While beating out an infield single in the 9th, Witt strained his groin and will be out 2 months. Theoretically he could be ready if we make the World Series but practically he's done. He did hit HR #17 to tie the game up at 4 in the 7th before having to leave and ends his maiden Rays season an underwhelming 236/305/411 with 17 HR and 65 RBI, good for 1.8 WAR. Fortunately we have a capable replacement in Isaac DeLeon, who should be able to at least duplicate those numbers if not exceed them, and he's a 65 defender at 3B as well. As for the game, Nate Clark continued his HR binge (6 in his last 4 games) by hitting his 2nd of the night (#33), a 2-run shot in the 10th. Gavin Lux also hit #33 tonight, a solo shot in the 3rd which was his 300th career round-tripper. Keibert Ruiz's RBI single was the only non-homer scoring for the Rays. Mack Anglin started and was mediocre, going 6 8 4 4 2 6, and after Daniel Espino pitched a scoreless 7th, Jose Alvarado blew the lead in the 8th. Jack Filby pitched a 1-2-3 9th and got a man in the 10th for his 3rd win, and JDLC got the final two outs for save #26. With the Yankees losing, the magic # is down to 13. August 19: Placed 3B Bobby Witt Jr. on the 10-day IL, recalled 3B Mike Lammers from AAA Durham. Considered putting Witt on the 60-day IL, but we already have two slots open on the 40-man after Spencer Torkelson and Julio Cedillo were put on it. Tork will be back in early September so we'll need one of those slots, but since we're past the trade deadline the only likely scenario I'd need the open slot would be to promote someone in the org already not on the 40-man and I don't really see any candidates in that situation. Lammers comes up and he's been what we expected when we acquired him from Milwaukee in a deal for Gustave D'Elia last summer: big-time power (75 rating), a decent eye (60 rating) and mediocre contact and defense (45 in each). He's hit 36 HR and driven in 116 in 166 games over the last year-plus with Durham and hit around .260-.270. DeLeon was the only other player on the roster who can play 3B aside from Witt, so the call-up here is a no-brainer. Game 2: The Rays left it late but scored twice each in the 8th and 9th to beat Toronto 5-1 for win #90 behind another dominant performance from Christian Little. Snapping back from his rough outing in Cleveland to start the week, Little gave the Jays nothing except for a Justin Ellison homer in the 6th, going 7 4 1 1 1 12 and improving to 13-5, 2.43. Jose Alvarado and Christian Chamberlain finished out the game with a scoreless inning each. Isaac DeLeon, now the regular 3B, immediately responded to his new opportunity by blasting HR #9 in the 2nd inning to put the Rays up 1-0. Mike Lammers made his MLB debut starting at DH by singling in his first at-bat and was later walked intentionally. The 1-1 stalemate was broken in the 8th on a Gavin Lux RBI double and after he went to 3rd on the unsuccessful throw home he scored on a Nate Clark sac fly. They added 2 more in the 9th on a Ricky Widmar infield single with 2 out and the bases loaded before Lux walked to force home a run. Game 3: The Rays swept their series with Toronto thanks to a second straight 5-1 win. Today it was Blake Money who shut down the Jays, going to 18-1, 2.60 off a 6 3 0 0 2 6 performance. He ran a lot of deep counts so it took 103 pitches to make it through 6 despite the limited number of baserunners. Now we're well beyond the point where wins are judged as the primary barometer of how good a starting pitcher is, but 18-1 is 18-1, and if Money ended his season today he'd tie Roy Face for the all-time winning percentage in a single season at .947, although Face primarily did it in relief back in 1959. Barring injury he should be a lock to win 20, and no 20-game winner in MLB history has lost fewer than 3 times, most notably Ron Guidry in 1978 when he went 25-3 for the Yankees. It'll be interesting to see his final record, and it's one of things to watch as there's no team drama with respect to the race and the playoffs (although the team is still on pace for 119 wins, which would break the MLB record of 116 set by the Cubs in 1906 and tied by Seattle in 2001, however the 06 Cubs' winning percentage of .763 is out of the question). Anyway, back to today's game. The dynamic duo of Gavin Lux and Nate Clark continued their power surge and battle for AL Player of the Week as both hit HR #34 today, with Lux going deep in the 7th to make it 3-0 and Clark homering after Lux had tripled in the 9th to give us the 5-1 final score. Before that the Rays scored twice in the first on a Jud Fabian sac fly and Isaac DeLeon's RBI single. Evan Godwin relieved Money and went 1 1/3 with a HR allowed, and Daniel Espino pitched the final 1 2/3, whiffing 3 and picking up his 4th save after Clark's homer took away a potential save situation in the 9th for JDLC. Team record: 91-33. Next up: Back to the Trop for 3 against Boston. Last edited by Art Deco; 12-22-2020 at 08:21 PM.