Game 1: Jon Hayes failed in his bid to become the Rays' first-ever 23-game winner, so he'll have to settle for a tie with Andy Aparicio on 22 wins for the team record after a 5-4 loss to Toronto. Hayes was not very good today, going 3.2 9 5 5 2 5 with Danny Ceja allowing the last two runs to score off him on a double. He finishes the regular season at 22-5, 3.00* with a 43/202 BB/K ratio in 210.1 innings (*his ERA is actually 2.995 so he finishes below 3 even if it gets rounded up), good for 6.3 WAR. Again, a Cy Young-worthy season but he has about 2/3 the WAR Aparicio accumulated. Ceja pitched well after giving up that double, going 3 1/3 scoreless and Chris Hicks made his MLB debut in impressive fashion with 2 scoreless innings, whiffing a pair and allowing only one hit. The offense consisted of a makeshift lineup, and until the 9th inning all they had was a Rodolfo Rivas solo homer in the 4th. But they nearly came all the way back when Rivas led off the 9th with his second solo homer (#20), and they put a couple of more on who Dane Ayers doubled in to cut the lead to 5-4. But Dayle Jenkins grounded out against Eric Woodliff, who blew the save last week against us and nearly did again, to end the game.
MLB Playoff Race Update: A big night for Detroit as they beat the White Sox and LA and Cleveland both lost, keeping Cleveland 1/2 game up in the Central but allowing Detroit to pull within 1/2 game of the Angels for the second wild card. That Monday makeup game between Detroit and Cleveland is looming large. Over in the NL the Diamondbacks and Dodgers both won to stay tied atop the West, and for some reason the Nationals and Phillies were both off today and will play doubleheaders tomorrow.
Game 2: Some late-season drama at Publix Park as Nate Clark's walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 9th scored Dayle Jenkins to give the Rays a 7-6 win over Toronto. It was a back-and-forth game with Christian Little struggling in his final regular season start, going 5 8 4 4 1 7 although he was still in line for the win before the bullpen blew a 6-4 lead. He finishes the year 17-7, 3.64 with 292 in 197 innings and 5.4 WAR. Mike Mooney and Jon Whiteleather conspired to allow a couple of runs between them although Whiteleather's was unearned when Jenkins dropped a fly ball. Nate Thompson struck out the side in the 9th to pick up win #5. Clark had earlier homered (#38) and Jenkins was 3-5 with 2 RBI while Rodolfo Rivas added a 2-run single. One scare tonight: Jasson Dominguez had to leave in the 1st inning with a sprained elbow, but it's considered minimal and will bother him for about a week so he'll rest tomorrow and be ready for the ALDS.
MLB Playoff Race Update: The Tigers beat the White Sox and the Angels lost while Cleveland won. This means Cleveland has pretty much clinched the AL Central - they'd have to lose tomorrow and the game on Monday with Detroit and the White Sox would have to win to force a tie - and Detroit has moved ahead of the Angels by 1/2 game for the second wild card and the White Sox are only ahead of Detroit by 1/2 game for the first wild card so it's wide open there. In the NL the Nationals swept their doubleheader with the Mets while the Phillies split theirs with Columbus meaning Washington is ahead by a game going into the final day and simply needs to win or the Phillies need to lose. It's the same story in the NL West where Arizona won but the Dodgers lost meaning they lead the division by a game.
Meanwhile...
I think he's ready. Gonna be interesting to see what we do with Connor Kirkley.
Game 3: The Rays closed out their record-setting regular season with win #127, a 10-0 rout of the Blue Jays. Jon Soranno was brilliant in his 5 innings of work, retiring the first 14 Jays he faced until Gabriel Moreno singled. But after getting the final out of the 5th he had to leave with a calf strain and will miss 3 weeks which is a shame because he was going to be on the playoff roster. Still, his 5 1 0 0 0 5 performance got him the win and he finished an impressive 7-1, 2.80 in his 9 starts with the big club, earning 1.2 WAR in the process. Brad Ballmann closed the regular season on an actual positive note going 3 1 0 0 1 4, and Chris Hicks loaded the bases in the 9th with nobody out but got out of it with a whiff and a double play ball to keep the team shutout intact. The offensive came primarily via the home run with five balls leaving the park and coming from some unlikely sources. Jakob Runnels hit #4 with a man on in the 2nd and then Rylan Bannon went back-to-back with him for his 1st and only homer in his Rays reunion. Victor de Jesus (#23) and D'Andre Hodges (#4) hit 2-run homers in the 6th before Eloy Jimenez connected on #14 as a Ray and finishes his overall season with 57 HR, 143 RBI and 8.7 WAR between Houston, Colorado and here.
Final regular season team record: 127-35, the best in MLB history. Next up: The ALDS against an opponent to be determined.
MLB Playoff Update: So yeah, we have a bit of a mess with the AL Wild Card. Cleveland clinched the Central with a win today so that's settled, but the two wild cards remain wide open among 3 teams. Detroit beat the White Sox which means if Detroit wins their makeup game against Cleveland, they clinch a wild card. But the White Sox and Angels are tied for the second one and will have to have a playoff. And if Detroit loses the makeup game, well then we have a 3-way tie for the two wild cards and playoffs galore. So right now as it stands in the AL, Cleveland will go to Texas for one ALDS and the Rays will play whoever survives the wild card playoff(s) and the wild card game.
In the NL, the Diamondbacks and Nationals each won to clinch their respective divisions, meaning Washington will travel to Arizona in one NLDS and Cincinnati will play the winner of the Cardinals-Dodgers wild card game.
UPDATE: Detroit won the make-up game 7-3 over Cleveland so they have clinched the first wild card in the AL and will host the winner of the Angels-White Sox tiebreaker game in the wild card game.