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Art Deco · 02-17-2021, 10:20 AM

Game 1: The Rangers' bats were red-hot coming into this game but Jon Hayes cooled them off in one of his best starts of the season and the Rays took a 5-2 win over Texas. Hayes went 7 4 2 1 1 6 with the only run of his doing being a Wander Franco homer. He's now 14-4, 3.23 with 4.5 WAR, second best in the league to the guy they beat tonight, Victor Presas. Jordan Diaz whiffed a pair in a perfect 8th, and JDLC (finally coming around? 6 straight scoreless appearances now) had a perfect 9th for save #12. The offense was supplied by Ricky Widmar's 2-run HR in the 5th to give them the lead (#11 and his first since July 8), a Bobby Witt Jr RBI single in the 6th, and a 2-run shot from Dayle Jenkins (#17) in the 9th which provided some much-needed breathing room.

Game 2: Another great pitching performance led to another win over Texas 6-1. Jack Leiter and Andy Aparicio combined on a 2-hitter as Leiter went 7 2 1 1 3 4 to improve to 11-7 while Aparicio whiffed 3 in 2 perfect innings to get save #5. Nate Clark kicked off the scoring with HR #39 leading off the 4th and that propelled the team to a 4-run inning which saw Bobby Witt Jr get an RBI double and Isaac DeLeon bring in two more with a double of his own. Gabriel Moreno, giving Adley Rustchman a breather, hit a 2-run shot (#9) in the 9th to pad the lead. Everyone in the lineup had a hit except Dane Ayers, coming back to Earth in a 3-29 slump dropping his average to .314.

Game 3: The homer-prone Marc Wagner, who had curbed his excesses in that department recently, was prone again allowing three 2-run homers to Texas in an 8-3 loss. Wagner was victimized by Dylan Carlson and a couple of former Rays as Wander Franco and Carlos Perez also took him deep. Perez has suddenly decided to start hitting since joining Texas and is now 300/364/675 with 4 HR and 10 RBI in 40 AB since the trade a few weeks back. Wagner got his strikeouts and ended 7 8 6 6 1 10. Corbin Martin continues to stink, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 1/3 of an inning and making it 12 ER allowed in his last 11 1/3, as Mike Mooney had to get the final two outs of the 8th. The Rays offense came via the HR as well, with Jasson Dominguez hitting #31, a 2-run shot in the 5th to briefly tie it up at 2, and Isaac DeLeon added #11 with the bases empty in the 7th as they were otherwise shut down by reigning AL Cy Young winner Wil Diaz. Diaz leads MLB in HR allowed with 31, and Wagner is not too far behind him now at 28, so the five combined longballs tonight were not a surprise.

Game 4: Well that was something. The Rays blew leads of 5-0 and 7-3 and nearly blew a 10-7 lead in extras before holding on to beat Texas 10-9 in 11 innings. And the biggest thorn in their side was none other than Carlos Perez, who continues to channel Johnny Bench since we traded him to Texas. Perez did the unthinkable: he hit a 2-run 9th inning homer off Jose Alvarado to tie the game, only the 2nd homer Alvarado has allowed all season and the first time all year he's blown a save. And then Perez homered again in the 11th off Jasseel De La Cruz to start a Ranger rally which just fell short. It all started nicely enough for the Rays as they built a 5-0 lead on a 3-run Joe Barker homer in the first inning (#23), a Jasson Dominguez infield RBI single in the 2nd and a D'Andre Hodges solo homer (#6) in the 6th. Christian Little meanwhile was mowing 'em down until he ran out of gas as usual in the 6th, giving up a solo HR to Edgar Medina and then a 2-run HR to Dylan Carlson to cut it to 5-3. But it looked like the Rays would coast when they got two back in the 8th off Chris Youngpeter, the other guy we traded with Perez to Texas, on RBI doubles from Barker and Hodges. And with Andy Aparicio on the mound and dominating Texas through the 7th, things looked good. But AA was touched for a 2-run Bobby Owens homer to make it 7-5, and that set up Alvarado's rough 9th. Not only did Alvarado give up the 2-run HR to Perez but with nobody out Nico Hoerner tripled. At that point it all looked lost and Jordan Diaz was brought in, as was the infield and outfield. Diaz then heroically got two strikeouts, including one of Adrian Ramos, and then got Wander Franco to line out to end that threat. After Diaz shut Texas down in the 10th as well, Isaac DeLeon led off the 11th with HR #12 and the Rays kept the rally going, culminating in a 2-run Nate Clark double that proved to be essential. That's because JDLC, after giving up the leadoff homer to Perez, had a man reach on a Connor Kirkley error between getting two outs and then gave up an RBI single to Franco to make it 10-9. But he got Medina, 2nd in the AL in batting average at .337, to line to center to mercifully end the game. Diaz picked up the win, which he more than earned, and JDLC muddled through for save #13. I've seen enough of Texas for a while now, but we could very well face them in the playoffs for the third straight season.

Team record: 90-31. Next up: Back home to Publix Park to host the Yankees for a 3-game weekend series.

02-17-2021, 10:20 AM	#664
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,574	August 12-15, 2030: at Texas (4) Game 1: The Rangers' bats were red-hot coming into this game but Jon Hayes cooled them off in one of his best starts of the season and the Rays took a 5-2 win over Texas. Hayes went 7 4 2 1 1 6 with the only run of his doing being a Wander Franco homer. He's now 14-4, 3.23 with 4.5 WAR, second best in the league to the guy they beat tonight, Victor Presas. Jordan Diaz whiffed a pair in a perfect 8th, and JDLC (finally coming around? 6 straight scoreless appearances now) had a perfect 9th for save #12. The offense was supplied by Ricky Widmar's 2-run HR in the 5th to give them the lead (#11 and his first since July 8), a Bobby Witt Jr RBI single in the 6th, and a 2-run shot from Dayle Jenkins (#17) in the 9th which provided some much-needed breathing room. Game 2: Another great pitching performance led to another win over Texas 6-1. Jack Leiter and Andy Aparicio combined on a 2-hitter as Leiter went 7 2 1 1 3 4 to improve to 11-7 while Aparicio whiffed 3 in 2 perfect innings to get save #5. Nate Clark kicked off the scoring with HR #39 leading off the 4th and that propelled the team to a 4-run inning which saw Bobby Witt Jr get an RBI double and Isaac DeLeon bring in two more with a double of his own. Gabriel Moreno, giving Adley Rustchman a breather, hit a 2-run shot (#9) in the 9th to pad the lead. Everyone in the lineup had a hit except Dane Ayers, coming back to Earth in a 3-29 slump dropping his average to .314. Game 3: The homer-prone Marc Wagner, who had curbed his excesses in that department recently, was prone again allowing three 2-run homers to Texas in an 8-3 loss. Wagner was victimized by Dylan Carlson and a couple of former Rays as Wander Franco and Carlos Perez also took him deep. Perez has suddenly decided to start hitting since joining Texas and is now 300/364/675 with 4 HR and 10 RBI in 40 AB since the trade a few weeks back. Wagner got his strikeouts and ended 7 8 6 6 1 10. Corbin Martin continues to stink, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits in 1/3 of an inning and making it 12 ER allowed in his last 11 1/3, as Mike Mooney had to get the final two outs of the 8th. The Rays offense came via the HR as well, with Jasson Dominguez hitting #31, a 2-run shot in the 5th to briefly tie it up at 2, and Isaac DeLeon added #11 with the bases empty in the 7th as they were otherwise shut down by reigning AL Cy Young winner Wil Diaz. Diaz leads MLB in HR allowed with 31, and Wagner is not too far behind him now at 28, so the five combined longballs tonight were not a surprise. Game 4: Well that was something. The Rays blew leads of 5-0 and 7-3 and nearly blew a 10-7 lead in extras before holding on to beat Texas 10-9 in 11 innings. And the biggest thorn in their side was none other than Carlos Perez, who continues to channel Johnny Bench since we traded him to Texas. Perez did the unthinkable: he hit a 2-run 9th inning homer off Jose Alvarado to tie the game, only the 2nd homer Alvarado has allowed all season and the first time all year he's blown a save. And then Perez homered again in the 11th off Jasseel De La Cruz to start a Ranger rally which just fell short. It all started nicely enough for the Rays as they built a 5-0 lead on a 3-run Joe Barker homer in the first inning (#23), a Jasson Dominguez infield RBI single in the 2nd and a D'Andre Hodges solo homer (#6) in the 6th. Christian Little meanwhile was mowing 'em down until he ran out of gas as usual in the 6th, giving up a solo HR to Edgar Medina and then a 2-run HR to Dylan Carlson to cut it to 5-3. But it looked like the Rays would coast when they got two back in the 8th off Chris Youngpeter, the other guy we traded with Perez to Texas, on RBI doubles from Barker and Hodges. And with Andy Aparicio on the mound and dominating Texas through the 7th, things looked good. But AA was touched for a 2-run Bobby Owens homer to make it 7-5, and that set up Alvarado's rough 9th. Not only did Alvarado give up the 2-run HR to Perez but with nobody out Nico Hoerner tripled. At that point it all looked lost and Jordan Diaz was brought in, as was the infield and outfield. Diaz then heroically got two strikeouts, including one of Adrian Ramos, and then got Wander Franco to line out to end that threat. After Diaz shut Texas down in the 10th as well, Isaac DeLeon led off the 11th with HR #12 and the Rays kept the rally going, culminating in a 2-run Nate Clark double that proved to be essential. That's because JDLC, after giving up the leadoff homer to Perez, had a man reach on a Connor Kirkley error between getting two outs and then gave up an RBI single to Franco to make it 10-9. But he got Medina, 2nd in the AL in batting average at .337, to line to center to mercifully end the game. Diaz picked up the win, which he more than earned, and JDLC muddled through for save #13. I've seen enough of Texas for a while now, but we could very well face them in the playoffs for the third straight season. Team record: 90-31. Next up: Back home to Publix Park to host the Yankees for a 3-game weekend series. Last edited by Art Deco; 02-17-2021 at 05:22 PM.