[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays doubled up the Jays 12-6 behind big games from Jasson Dominguez and Jhon Diaz. Dominguez was 3-3 with a HR (#44), walk, hit by pitch and 3 RBI while Diaz was 2-5 with a bases-clearing double and a 3-run HR (#19). Joe Barker was 2-4 with 2 RBI and Ricky Widmar broke out of his lengthy slump with a pair of doubles and an RBI. Mack Anglin started, gave up 2 runs in the 1st, and had to leave with a sore elbow which is described as a moderate 3-4 week injury so this spares him the embarrassment of winning 18 games yet being left out of the playoff rotation. Andy Aparicio came on for him and wasn't his sharpest but still picked up win #6 going 4 5 4 2 1 6. Jordan Diaz and Romulo Canelon each pitched a pair of scoreless innings to finish off the win. The Blue Jays did not clinch the second wild card as the Angels won to pull within 2 games of them.

Playoff Race Update: As alluded to above, the Angels beat the Rangers 4-2 to pull into a tie with Texas atop the AL West; the teams have two more games and a split will give them a third to play on Monday. In the NL, the Dodgers clinched the first wild card with a win and remain 2 behind Arizona with 2 games left for the division. It was a big night for the Cubs, who beat St. Louis and their ace Jack Flaherty 4-2 to move into a tie for the NL Central lead. It could have been a 3-way tie but Milwaukee lost to the Mets, putting them a game behind in 3rd and also a game behind for the second wild card.

MLB Retirements: Three former members of the 2020-2021 Rays recently announced their retirement: Jose "Cafecito" Martinez (who hung on to age 41), Brandon Lowe and Ryan Yarbrough. All 3 played in the minors this year.

September 29: Placed P Mack Anglin on the 15-day IL with a sore elbow, recalled P Tim Siqueiros from AAA Durham.

Siqueiros, who made 3 starts earlier in the year, comes up for the weekend and will pitch in long relief.

Game 2: The Rays outlasted the Jays 3-2 in 12 innings, but the Jays clinched the second wild card anyway (they always were, since the Angels and Rangers were playing each other and one of them had to lose). Dane Ayers' 8th HR of the year leading off the 12th was the game-winner on a day the Rays were offensively-challenged but got some great work from the bullpen. Shane McClanahan got the tuneup for Game 1 of the ALDS and was just OK, going 5 8 2 2 2 3. He ends the regular season 13-9, 3.84 with 167 whiffs in 178 innings. The just-recalled Tim Siqueiros went 2 2/3 scoreless, and Daniel Espino broke his runs allowed streak by going 1 1/3 scoreless. Jose Alvarado pitched the 10th and gave up 2 hits to lead off the inning but got the next 3 out, and Jasseel De La Cruz, another slumping reliever, went 2 innings and picked up his 4th win despite walking a pair in the 12th. The Rays only had 7 hits in the 12 innings with RBI knocks from Dayle Jenkins (2-5 with 3 steals) and Jhon Diaz giving them an early 2-0 lead. The best news was that nobody got hurt.

Playoff Race Update: There was walk-off drama in the two biggest games of the day. In the AL West battle it's advantage Rangers as they dramatically came from behind to beat the Angels 5-3. The Angels took a 3-2 lead in the 8th but Edgar Medina homered leading off the bottom of the 9th to send it to extra innings, where Adrian Ramos hit a 2-run homer off onetime Rays farmhand Resly Linares. The Rangers can now clinch with a win on the final day while the Angels have to win to force a tiebreaker on Monday.

In the NL, the Cardinals took the upper hand when Jakob Runnels blasted a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to break a 1-1 tie with Chicago. St. Louis is now a game up on the Cubs, who in turn are a game up on Milwaukee, which lost again today to the Mets. A Cubs win tomorrow eliminates the Brewers and forces a division tiebreaker game Monday, while a Cardinals win clinches them the division. And in that scenario if Milwaukee beats the Mets, we'll have a tiebreaker game for the 2nd wild card between the Brewers and the Cubs.

Game 3: The main thing is nobody got hurt. The secondary objective was to end the regular season on a winning note and the Rays did that, sweeping the series from Toronto with a 9-3 win. Nate Clark was 3-5 with an RBI double but the biggest thing for him was singling in the 9th and stealing his 30th base, putting him in 30/30 club along with teammate Joe Barker. Barker was 2-5 with an RBI, and Spencer Torkelson and Dayle Jenkins each had 2 hits and 2 RBI. Isaac DeLeon had the only homer of the day for the Rays, a solo shot (#23). Alec Sachais got the win going 5 3 2 2 1 9 to finish the year 14-4, 3.46, and Jordan Diaz, Romulo Canelon and Mike Mooney finished off the game and the regular season. Jasson Dominguez's 44 HR ended up best in the AL as did Mack Anglin's 18 wins. Anglin tied for the MLB lead with the Dodgers' Michel Baez.

Final regular season record: 113-49. Next up: The ALDS against one of these last two teams we played, the Blue Jays or the Yankees.

Final Playoff Race Update: In the AL, Will Diaz led Texas to a 7-3 win over the Angels and their 2nd straight AL West title, where they'll once again play the Tigers in the ALDS. Diaz was 7 5 0 0 3 12 and probably wrapped up the AL Cy Young award with this performance (as well as his 279 whiffs in 233 innings, quite the workhorse). So the AL Wild Card will be Toronto at the Yankees with the winner playing the Rays.

In the NL, the Cardinals also avoided a tiebreaker game by beating the Cubs 5-4 on Anderson Tejada's walk-off single in the 9th. They'll play the Diamondbacks in one NLDS. The news wasn't all bad for the Cubs, though, as the Brewers were swept by the Mets by the score of 2-1 today on a New York walk-off HR by rookie Lupe Mannelli, meaning the Cubs grab the second wild card and will travel to LA to play the Dodgers with the winner of that game playing the 106-win Columbus Lightning in the other NLDS. Milwaukee went 2-8 over its final 10 games to lose a playoff spot.