Game 1: After a no-hitter and a 6-inning one-hitter, Christian Little didn't have it tonight and nor did the rest of the team in a 7-3 loss to Toronto that wasn't even that close. Despite getting his strikeouts Little was hit hard, often and early going 3 9 7 7 1 7. The loss was only his 3rd of the season as he drops to 14-3. Andy Aparicio went 4 4 0 0 1 7 in relief of Little, and allowed his last couple of runners to score. Evan Godwin had a 1-2-3 8th mopping up. The bats were AWOL as well; before Dane Ayers hit a 2-run HR (#8) with two out in the ninth, they only had one run and four hits to show for the game with the first run scoring on a Nate Clark groundout, his 130th RBI of the season. One game closer to the playoffs I say.
Game 2: The Rays dropped another one thanks to another anemic performance from the offense, losing a walk-off 3-2 to the Blue Jays. Danny Ceja started and made it 3-for-3 in dazzling starts, shutting out the Jays through 6 before putting the first two men on the 7th. Jordan Diaz came in and made a mess, wild-pitching both runners into scoring position and then giving up a 2-run single to put Toronto up 2-1. But with two out and nobody on in the top of the 9th, Caleb Picciotti walked and Dane Ayers hit a dramatic RBI double to tie it up. But after JDLC got Toronto in the 8th, Jose Alvarado came in and proceeded to give up a leadoff double. He got two out, and as often seems to happen with Rays pitchers in these situations, after doing the hard work to get to 2 out he gave up an RBI single and that was that. The Rays took an early 1-0 2nd inning lead on Adley Rustchman's 3rd homer with the team and 26th overall, but Rustchman failed to come through a couple of innings later when he whiffed with the bases loaded and 2 out. Ceja meanwhile was excellent yet again, and ended up 6 4 2 2 1 4 despite Diaz letting his runners score in the 7th. Still, two runs and six hits isn't going to cut it most nights and today it was the regular lineup in place, albeit the regular lineup without Witt, Widmar and Dominguez.
Durham Playoff Update: What a game and what a performance from Tim Sandstrom as the Bulls beat Gwinnett 1-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their first round IL playoff series. The lefty was brilliant in pitching a complete game shutout under the most pressure-packed of circumstances, going 9 2 0 0 2 9. Things got a little tense in the bottom of the 9th when he walked the leadoff man, but he got former Rays farmhand Garrett Whitley to ground into a 5-4-3 double play and induced a popup for the final out. The game was scoreless until Mike Harms led off the 7th with a homer to deep left for the game's only run. #1-ranked MLB prospect Jaiden Hardaway had 3 hits for Durham.
Meanwhile, WTF?
How did a 3-4 week injury go to a 3-month one? Did he try to smash the cast off with a hammer or something? Welp, there goes my hope of getting one of the injured back for the ALDS which leaves Ricky Widmar maybe available for the ALCS. Looks like the present group is going to have to get it done on their own.
Game 3: Take a bow, Alec Sachais. The Rays righty became the sixth pitcher in club history to win 20 games and has a shot at breaking the team record of 21 set by Blake Snell in 2018 and Blake Money in 2028 after a 5-2 win over the Blue Jays today. Sachais was 6.2 5 2 2 1 9, running out of gas late with homers allowed in the 6th and 7th innings and leaving with a man on in the latter. Jordan Diaz got him out of that and made up for blowing Danny Ceja's lead yesterday by whiffing a pair in a 1-2-3 9th. And also making up for yesterday was Jose Alvarado, who lost that game in the 9th but struck out the side in a 1-2-3 9th for save #19. The other three Rays to win 20 were David Price in 2012, Tyler Glasnow back-to-back in 2025 and 2026, and Shane McClanahan in 2027. Chris Paddack won 20 in 2022 as a Ray, but 10 of them came with San Diego. Sachais (20-3) also sports a ridiculous W/L record of 48-10 in his 3 seasons with the Rays. His run support came early today, as the red-hot Dane Ayers hit HR #9 in the 3rd to make it 1-0, Nate Clark tripled in the 4th and scored on Joe Barker's sac fly, and Adley Rutschman clubbed a 2-run HR in the 6th to make it 4-0. That was Rutschman's 4th HR as a Ray, 27th overall, and third in his last five starts as he's finally looking like the guy we thought we acquired (and we'll need him like this in the playoffs with all the injuries). Mike Lammers added a shot to dead center in the 9th (#3) to give them a little insurance.
Team record: 111-39. Next up: Back home to entertain the Yankees for 3 at Publix Park.
Durham Playoff Update: We're heading back to Durham as this series will go the distance after Gwinnett edged the Bulls 5-4 in Game 4. The Bulls took a 2-0 lead on an RBI double and an RBI single from Mike Harms, but a Melvin Gutierrez error leading off the Gwinnett 4th proved costly. This led to a 3-run homer, and then with two out, a 2-run homer as the Stripers scored all 5 of their runs in that inning but only two were earned against Gil Wayne, one of the Rays' top young pitching prospects. The 21-year-old struck out 10 in 6 2/3 but the two longballs and the error cost him. Kyle Tucker hit a 2-run homer in the 9th to bring them close but the next two batters couldn't reach so Game 5 it is, with Malachi Benford on the mound.