[Art Deco]

August 25: Activated OF Jasson Dominguez from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned OF Luis Berdin to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Phillies came to town as one of the few (only?) teams that could boast they've gotten the better of the Rays this year as they took 2 of 3 in come-from-behind fashion in Philadelphia earlier this season. But although they came back again today to tie up the game in the late innings, the Rays had the last laugh and evened the season series with a 5-2 win which reduces their magic # to 2. Christian Little started and was great as usual, although he was his own worst enemy as his fielding error led to Philly's first run and may have cost him a win when he departed in the 7th after the Phillies tied it at 2. He went 6.1 5 2 1 1 10 and lowered his ERA to 2.39 in the no-decision. Evan Godwin relieved him and got two big outs with men on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out, allowing neither to score. Daniel Espino then pitched a perfect 8th and ended up with his 7th win when the Rays rallied for 3 in the bottom of the frame. Jasson Dominguez singled, stole second, and scored on Gavin Lux's single to put the Rays in front, and Nate Clark followed with an RBI single ahead of Jud Fabian's sac fly to pad the lead. JDLC had a 1-2-3 2K 9th for save #27. Earlier the Rays had scored on a Jhon Diaz RBI double and Widmar's 18th HR of the year, a solo blast in the 6th. The news wasn't all good, though, as Widmar had to leave during that 8th inning rally with knee inflammation and will be out about 3 weeks so a roster move is forthcoming. Looks like Isaac DeLeon will be sliding over to SS and Mike Lammers will get everyday ABs at 3B.

August 26: Placed SS Ricky Widmar on the 10-day IL with knee inflammation, purchased the contract of IF/OF Dane Ayers from AAA Durham.

Hopefully the 3 weeks off doesn't derail Widmar's Rookie of the Year campaign. It shouldn't since Widmar sits at 5.1 WAR while his closest AL pursuer is Cleveland's Ismael Mena at 3.7. Ayers is an interesting player, the closest the franchise has had to another Ben Zobrist in terms of versatility. Ayers is a 55 3B, a 45 SS, a 70 LF and a 60 CF (he also can pitch in a pitch, 45 stuff, 50 movement, 40 control). His bat is decent too, he projects as a .265 hitter with 38 2B/21 HR power. The only place the Zobrist comparison falls apart is in batting eye; while Zobrist had a great one, Ayers doesn't draw that many walks. Anyway his versatility makes him a valuable guy on the bench and I had kind of planned on him being on the team in 2029 so we'll get a preview here. He was our supplemental 1st round pick out of Ohio State back in 2025 and was .275-13-63 at Durham.

Game 2: Blake Money and the Rays (along with Money's 18-1 record) looked to be in big trouble when Miguel Sano and Jordan Groshans each hit 2-run HRs off him in the 1st inning to give Philadelphia a 4-0 lead, but the Rays came back from that early deficit to win 11-5 and leave Money with a no-decision. They actually came back to give Money a 5-4 lead and shot at win #19, but Daniel Espino gave up a homer in the top of the 7th to allow the Phillies to tie. After that rough first inning he was nearly unhittable, going 6 5 4 4 1 11. Espino vultured the win (#8) when the Rays scored 3 times in the bottom of the 7th, and they tacked on 3 more in the 8th after Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless inning, with Jack Filby mopping up the 9th. The star on offense was Keibert Ruiz, 5-for-5 tonight with a couple of RBI, tying the team record for hits in a single game. Also crushing it was Jud Fabian, 3-5 with a HR (#16), double and RBI, Jasson Dominguez, 2-5 with a HR (#16/#24) and an RBI, and Isaac DeLeon, 2-6 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. And Jhon Diaz, Mr. WPA, had the go-ahead RBI double in the 7th. The Rays blasted 19 hits in all, although Nate Clark once again was the skunk at the party going 0-6 and leaving 13 men on base. After his AL Player of the Week performance last week, Clark is 1 for his last 18. Meanwhile the Yankees won so no division-clinching party today, but the magic # is down to 1.

Also around MLB, Mike Trout hit his 600th HR today.

Game 3: Today was Philadelphia's turn to flex its muscles in a 11-4 rout of the Rays. Francisco Lindor went deep twice, Jordan Groshans victimized the Rays again, and Steele Walker's grand slam off Jack Leiter in the 7th blew the game open for Philly. Alec Sachais started and was sharp through 3 with 5 whiffs, but Groshans took him deep for a 3-run shot in the 4th and Lindor hit the first of his two in the 5th to make it 4-0. The Rays climbed back in the game to make it 4-3 on a Jasson Dominguez solo shot (#17/#25) and a 2-run HR from Joe Barker (#10) after Dane Ayers had his first MLB hit, a double (he also walked, going 1-3 in his debut). Leiter relieved Sachais in the 6th, and gave up a double to allow one of his runners to score, with Sachais ending 5.1 7 5 5 3 7 in one of his poorer outings. And in the 7th Leiter loaded the bases with two out and served up the grand slam to Steele to end any hope of a Rays comeback. Lindor added a 2-run shot off Jeremy Bowers in the 8th. Ryan Jeffers hit his 2nd HR of the year in the bottom of the 9th for a consolation run, while Nate Clark continued his slump with an 0-5. Despite the loss, the Rays clinched their 7th straight AL East title as the Yankees fell 7-4 to Baltimore.

Team record: 96-34. Next up: Off to Fenway Park for 3.