[Art Deco]

Game 1: Picking up where the series in Minnesota left off, another Rays game came down to the 9th inning as they took a walk-off 4-3 win when Keibert Ruiz singled in Jhon Diaz with the winning run. Texas had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd against Shane McClanahan on homers from Dylan Carlson and Josh Jung but Mac hung in there after that and kept his pitch count down, allowing him to go 7.2 6 3 3 0 4. He left with a man on in the 8th and Andy Aparicio put two more on to load the bases, but he got out of it and had a 1-2-3 9th, enabling AA to pick up his 4th win. The Rays chipped away at that Texas lead, first with a monster shot from Ruiz (#12) in the bottom of the 3rd, then a Bobby Witt Jr sac fly in the 6th before Judson Fabian's RBI double in the 7th tied it up. In the 9th, Witt led off with a single but was thrown out trying to steal, but Diaz doubled, Connor Kirkley was intentionally walked, and Ruiz singled to right to win the game.

September 18: Activated OF Spencer Torkelson from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned 1B Chris Sharp to AAA Durham.

Tork is finally ready to come back and we'll get a look at him over the final two weeks to see if he goes on the playoff roster or whether it's Dayle Jenkins.

Game 2: Jasseel De La Cruz continued his inconsistent second half by imploding in the 9th inning, allowing a 3-run HR to Heston Kjerstad to turn a 4-2 Rays win into a 5-4 loss. JDLC gave up singles to the first two hitters, then Kjerstad took him deep into the RF stands to cost Christian Little his first win since May 18. Little in his first start since June 10 was excellent, going 5.1 4 2 0 2 8 before running out of gas in the 6th. The two unearned runs against were the result of Jordan Diaz's throwing error on a grounder which would have been the third out of the 6th. Diaz got through that inning and retired the Rangers in the 7th, and Jose Alvarado had a 1-2-3 8th before JDLC blew the game. The Rays had built a 4-0 lead on a Joe Barker double and consecutive wild pitches from Daniel Tillo, Jasson Dominguez's AL-leading 41st HR of the year and a 2-run shot from Nate Clark (#34), who'd been quiet the last couple of weeks. Spencer Torkelson returned to the lineup for the first time in over a month and a half and doubled in his first plate appearance, only to have to immediately come out with a hip flexor strain, a minimal 3-day injury as he remains fragile as ever.

Game 3: Masterful pitching from the Rays tonight as Alec Sachais and Andy Aparicio combined on a 1-hit shutout in a 6-0 Rays win. Sachais gave up a 1-out, first-inning triple to Wander Franco and stranded him there, and that would be the only hit the Rangers would get for the night. Sachais had to leave after 6 as his pitch count was up to 98 and he left with a 6 1 0 0 3 7 line which sends him to 13-3, 3.38. Aparicio pitched the final 3 innings, allowing only a walk and whiffing 4 in one of his typical outings as he's credited with save #4. AA has a 2.81 ERA in 89 1/3 innings with a 21/148 BB/K ratio. He may be in next year's rotation, but on the other hand he may just stay in this role as he's been worth 2.5 WAR in it. On the offensive side of things Nate Clark was the star tonight. He seems to be heating up again as his 2-run 1st-inning HR (#35) gave the Rays all the runs they'd need and he added an RBI triple in the 8th. Jasson Dominguez, Bobby Witt Jr and Isaac DeLeon all had RBI singles for the other 3 runs. DeLeon has been quite the RBI machine this year as he now has 71 in only 83 games played.

Game 4: The Rays lost to Texas 6-5 thanks to more late-inning bullpen woes. Daniel Espino (albeit in his second inning of relief though he only threw 9 pitches in his first) gave up a double and single with two out in the 9th to allow Texas to take a 6-5 lead and get a split of the series. The Rays came back from deficits of 2-0 and 5-2 against of the league's better pitchers (and likely AL Cy Young winner) Wil Diaz before coming up short in the end. Blake Money didn't have one of his best starts, going 5.2 11 5 5 2 7 as he lost it in the 6th after coming in at 2-2. Romulo Canelon came on for him and unluckily gave up a couple of infield singles to let the 5th run score, and he pitched through the 7th before Espino came on. Offensively, Joe Barker hit #36 off Diaz with a man on to tie it at 2 in the 4th, and then Dayle Jenkins had a big 2-run single in the 6th before Barker beat out a potential double play ball at first to bring home the tying run in the 7th.

Team record: 107-45. Next up: The final 4 home games of the regular season in a weekend wraparound series with Baltimore, who's on the periphery of the wild card race.