[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays got back in the win column after their season-high 3-game losing streak thanks to 6 strong innings from Alec Sachais and a monster slump-busting night from Judson Fabian in a 7-0 victory. Although the final score was lopsided, it wasn't until the late innings that the Rays put it away. Sachais wasn't his sharpest but managed to go 6 6 0 0 2 7 and is now 9-1, 2.29 as he's now only 3 innings away from qualifying for the league ERA lead. Fabian, meanwhile, came into the game in a dreadful 0-28 slump and hadn't had a hit in two weeks. He changed that quickly tonight, hitting 3 doubles and his 13th HR of the year to cap the scoring in the 8th. His second double in the 4th got the Rays on the board with the game's first run and Connor Kirkley followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. That score stood until the Rays exploded for 4 in the bottom of the 7th on a 2-run Bobby Witt Jr double and a 2-run HR by Nate Clark (#24) off the generically-named White Sox rookie Tommy Pitcher. On the mound, four relievers combined to finish the final 3 innings as Daniel Espino put two on with one out in the 7th when it was still 2-0 and Jose Alvarado had to bail him out. Alvarado came out after it was 6-0 so Evan Godwin pitched the 8th and Jordan Diaz the 9th.

Game 2: Joe Barker's 2-run HR (#19) broke a 4-4 tie in the 8th and gave the Rays a 6-4 win over the White Sox. With two out and nobody on, Nate Clark tripled off Sox reliever Tyson Miller and Barker followed up with his game-winning dinger. Jasseel De La Cruz got the Sox in the 9th for save #16 while Daniel Espino picked up yet another relief win (his 7th of the year and 17th in a season and a half) with a scoreless 8th. Jack Leiter started and put the Rays in an immediate 3-0 hole with a bad first inning, but hung in there to go 6 7 4 4 3 5. The Rays chipped away at the lead starting with a Keibert Ruiz RBI double in the 3rd, and then Spencer Torkelson hit HR #7 with a man on in the 4th to tie it before Connor Kirkley gave the Rays their first lead with an RBI single later in the inning. After the Sox tied it up off Leiter, Evan Godwin pitched a scoreless 7th. Judson Fabian continued his extra-base streak to 5 at-bats with a first-inning double.

Game 3: Yet again a Rays starting pitcher put his team in an early hole, as Blake Money gave up 3 in the 1st inning. And it didn't get any better from there in a 10-1 White Sox win as the Rays have struggled to get decent starting pitching from anyone not named Alec Sachais. Money gave up another run and left with the bases loaded in the 5th for Andy Aparicio and he immediately gave up a 2-run double and later a couple of runs of his own as he wasn't as effective as usual either. Romelo Canulon had a nice 8th but stayed in while tired and gave up the final 2 in the 9th as he took one for the team. The offense wasn't any better either, with only Dane Ayers' RBI triple in the 5th standing between them and being shut out. Jhon Diaz had to leave with back stiffness, described as a "moderate" 3-week injury, so the IL beckons for him.

Team record: 61-27. Next up: 4 at home vs Minnesota.