[Art Deco]

Game 1: There's a very likely chance the Rays will be matched up with the Yankees for the third straight season in the ALDS and if they are, they're going to have to figure out a way to beat this team. After tonight's 4-2 loss to New York, the Yankees have won 10 of their 17 meetings this year and have clinched the season series. Alec Sachais started and was done in by his familiar bugaboo, the home run. Joe Allen hit a 2-run shot in the 1st and Ivan Vega a solo blast in the 3rd to account for 3 of the 4 runs he allowed on what was otherwise a decent performance at 6.2 8 4 4 0 8. Mike Mooney mopped up for the final four outs. Of course the homers wouldn't have hurt so much if the offense could get anything going but Dave Falco and the Yankee pen held them in check with only a Dayle Jenkins RBI single and a Nate Clark sac fly leading to runs.

Game 2: This game was rained out on Wednesday night, so we're playing a doubleheader on Thursday. And the day off didn't change anything as the Rays continue to play bad baseball, losing again to the Yankees 7-6 in 11 innings after blowing leads of 3-0 in the 5th and 6-4 in the 9th. Blake Money started and was brilliant through the first 4, then came undone in the 5th, with walks, wild pitches and finally a 3-run HR by Derek Crum giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead. But the Rays got 3 back in the 8th with the help of a Yankees error and Bobby Witt Jr's 2-run triple and after Evan Godwin got Money (who went 6.1 6 4 4 2 8) out of the 7th, Jose Alvarado was brilliant in the 8th going 1-2-3 striking out the side. But Jasseel De La Cruz's struggles continue and he allowed the Yankees to tie it up in the 9th. The leadoff walk was a bad sign and it unraveled from there with a 2-out Hyo-Jun Park single tying the game. The Rays squandered a 1st-and-3rd with 1 out in the 10th and after Mike Mooney pitched a scoreless inning, he wasn't as sharp in the 11th and old friend Vidal Brujan singled in the winning run with nobody out. JDLC is really a cause for concern as he had blown only 2 saves through July 28, and now has blown five since then, seeing his ERA rise from 1.46 to 4.04, with 4 of those 5 blown saves being multi-run meltdowns. Not the way you want to go into the postseason.

Game 3: While the back half of the bullpen has been a disappointment in the second half, one member of the staff most certainly hasn't: Jack Leiter. And Leiter was brilliant again today in a 4-1 win in the 2nd game of the doubleheader as the Rays finally beat the Yankees. Leiter left after 7 2/3 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits, walking 2 and whiffing 7. He's finishes the regular season 13-3, 3.34 and is the likely Game 4 (or Game 3, depending on how the schedule plays out with Christian Little's injury) starter for the ALDS. Actually by all measures he should be starting Game 1, but we're going with Shane McClanahan. Alec Sachais is looking at Game 2, meaning Blake Money and Mack Anglin are the odd men out of the rotation. Money in particular should play well in multi-inning relief, and if JDLC and Daniel Espino continue to struggle, Andy Aparicio might get the late-inning call with Money taking over his middle-man role. Speaking of Espino, he gave up a 2-out HR in the 9th to spoil the shutout, marking his 5th straight appearance allowing a run. The offense wasn't any great shakes again in the nightcap, as they only managed 6 hits and scored all 4 runs in the 4th with the help of a Yankee error. The big hit was Joe Barker's RBI double while Nate Clark had an RBI single, Jasson Dominguez an RBI groundout, and Spencer Torkelson had a 2-out RBI single for the 4th run.

Team record: 110-49. Next up: A final weekend in Toronto in which the Jays have a magic # of 1 to take the second wild card and travel to New York early next week for the right to play the Rays in the ALDS.

Playoff Race Update: Going into the final weekend, things are pretty much all set with the Rays and Tigers winning their divisions and the Yankees and Blue Jays locks for the wild cards. This leave the AL West where the Angels shocked the Rangers in the first of their 4-game series with 8 runs in the 9th inning to turn a 6-2 loss into a 10-6 win and pulled within one game of Texas. Had it gone the other way, the Rangers' magic # would have been one. Now the Angels can at least force a one-game playoff by taking 2 of the 3 games.

In the NL, aside from Columbus clinching everything is still wide open. In the Central, St. Louis leads both the Cubs and Milwaukee by only 1 game while the Diamondbacks are 2 up on the Dodgers in the West. To make matters even more interesting, the Cubs and Cardinals are playing each other this weekend. The Dodgers are 2 up on the Cubs and Milwaukee for the first wild card. Arizona should make it as division winner and the Dodgers as a wild card, leaving the 3 Central teams playing for 2 spots.