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Art Deco · 03-30-2021, 09:15 AM

Game 1: The losing goes on as the Rays squandered a 5-1 lead to drop a 7-5 decision in 10 innings to Baltimore at Publix Park, their third straight defeat which dropped them 2 1/2 behind the Orioles. It looked like the rout was on when they jumped out ahead 5-1 after 3 innings with Connor Kirkley driving in 3 on a 2-run HR (a team-best #6) and a groundout and Luis Corpus hitting a solo shot (#2). But Alec Sachais gave Baltimore back 3 runs in the top of the 4th on a pair of homers and finished 6 8 4 4 1 8. Mike Mooney took over in the 7th and was greeted with another Baltimore homer on his first pitch to tie the game, and then Tim Siqueiros, whom I probably shouldn't have pushed to a 2nd inning, gave up a 2-run shot in the 10th to Logan Tanner to lose it. The offense did next to nothing after the five early runs which were also aided by 5 walks from Baltimore starter Jorge Cadena, and ended up with only 8 hits. Having two runners thrown out at home and another caught stealing didn't help matters either.

Game 2: Despite the best efforts of the bullpen to blow another game, the Rays took a 10-4 win when they erupted for 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th and snapped their 3-game losing streak, moving back within 1 1/2 games of Baltimore. Jon Soranno started and pitched great, victimized by his defense when Connor Kirkley's error directly led to a run in the 3rd, and then the victim of an inherited runner scoring when Mike Tudor blew a 4-2 lead in the 8th, allowing a homer to Gunnar Henderson. In the end Soranno went 7.1 7 3 2 0 7 and although he has a 2.73 ERA he's had no-decisions in 3 of his 4 starts. Tudor vultured the win when the Rays teed off on Baltimore's Adrian Luna. First, Kirkley went deep yet again with a man aboard (#7) to make it 6-4, then the next two reached for Luis Corpus to homer for the second straight day as well (#3) to up the lead to 9-4, and for good measure Nate Clark hit #4 as he tries to snap out of his slow start, finally getting over the Mendoza Line today. Danny Medina pitched a scoreless 9th to finish it off. Earlier the Rays took leads to 2-1 and 4-2 with Dane Ayers figuring in both 2-run rallies with an RBI single and an RBI triple and Jaiden Hardaway added a sac fly.

Game 3: No lead seems to be safe with this team, and a game that looked like a cakewalk with the Rays up 8-1 in the 4th turned into a nailbiter as they hung on to win 9-7. Today most of the blame falls on Andy Aparicio instead of the bullpen, though. Given a 7-run lead, Aparicio came unglued in the 6th, giving up hit after hit, culminating in a 2-run Logan Tanner triple that made it 8-5. Mike Mooney came in and wild-pitched Tanner home and AA ended up with one of the worst starts of his career, going 5.1 7 6 6 2 4 although he still picked up his 4th win. And while the bullpen only allowed one run the rest of the way, it wasn't exactly lights-out as Nate Thompson gave up three hits over parts of 2 innings to put men on, and while Jose Alvarado got the final out of the 8th to get Thompson out of his jam, he gave up a leadoff homer in the 9th to Tim Steele to make it 9-7. Jordan Diaz then came in and walked a man to put the tying run on the base but finished with a pair of strikeouts to get his 2nd save. Coming in it looked like Aparicio would have to win a low-scoring game as 4 regulars had to sit with fatigue (Widmar, de Jesus, Kirkley, Corpus) so D'Andre Hodges was in against a lefty and the light-hitting Melvin Gutierrez got a start. But the irregulars came through with Hodges going 3-4 with a ribbie and Gutierrez 2-4 with his first MLB extra-base hit, a double. Another bench guy came through big as Dane Ayers hit a 2-run HR (#1) in the 2nd to put them ahead to stay, and Jaiden Hardaway had a big day, going 4-5 with 2 RBI including a big insurance run in the 8th. Rodolfo Rivas also contributed a 2-run double as the Rays pull within 1/2 game of the division lead, however harrowing today was.

Team record: 12-9. Next up: An off-day then we get our second visit of the year from the Blue Jays over the weekend.

03-30-2021, 09:15 AM	#788
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,845	April 26-28, 2032: vs Baltimore (3) Game 1: The losing goes on as the Rays squandered a 5-1 lead to drop a 7-5 decision in 10 innings to Baltimore at Publix Park, their third straight defeat which dropped them 2 1/2 behind the Orioles. It looked like the rout was on when they jumped out ahead 5-1 after 3 innings with Connor Kirkley driving in 3 on a 2-run HR (a team-best #6) and a groundout and Luis Corpus hitting a solo shot (#2). But Alec Sachais gave Baltimore back 3 runs in the top of the 4th on a pair of homers and finished 6 8 4 4 1 8. Mike Mooney took over in the 7th and was greeted with another Baltimore homer on his first pitch to tie the game, and then Tim Siqueiros, whom I probably shouldn't have pushed to a 2nd inning, gave up a 2-run shot in the 10th to Logan Tanner to lose it. The offense did next to nothing after the five early runs which were also aided by 5 walks from Baltimore starter Jorge Cadena, and ended up with only 8 hits. Having two runners thrown out at home and another caught stealing didn't help matters either. Game 2: Despite the best efforts of the bullpen to blow another game, the Rays took a 10-4 win when they erupted for 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th and snapped their 3-game losing streak, moving back within 1 1/2 games of Baltimore. Jon Soranno started and pitched great, victimized by his defense when Connor Kirkley's error directly led to a run in the 3rd, and then the victim of an inherited runner scoring when Mike Tudor blew a 4-2 lead in the 8th, allowing a homer to Gunnar Henderson. In the end Soranno went 7.1 7 3 2 0 7 and although he has a 2.73 ERA he's had no-decisions in 3 of his 4 starts. Tudor vultured the win when the Rays teed off on Baltimore's Adrian Luna. First, Kirkley went deep yet again with a man aboard (#7) to make it 6-4, then the next two reached for Luis Corpus to homer for the second straight day as well (#3) to up the lead to 9-4, and for good measure Nate Clark hit #4 as he tries to snap out of his slow start, finally getting over the Mendoza Line today. Danny Medina pitched a scoreless 9th to finish it off. Earlier the Rays took leads to 2-1 and 4-2 with Dane Ayers figuring in both 2-run rallies with an RBI single and an RBI triple and Jaiden Hardaway added a sac fly. Game 3: No lead seems to be safe with this team, and a game that looked like a cakewalk with the Rays up 8-1 in the 4th turned into a nailbiter as they hung on to win 9-7. Today most of the blame falls on Andy Aparicio instead of the bullpen, though. Given a 7-run lead, Aparicio came unglued in the 6th, giving up hit after hit, culminating in a 2-run Logan Tanner triple that made it 8-5. Mike Mooney came in and wild-pitched Tanner home and AA ended up with one of the worst starts of his career, going 5.1 7 6 6 2 4 although he still picked up his 4th win. And while the bullpen only allowed one run the rest of the way, it wasn't exactly lights-out as Nate Thompson gave up three hits over parts of 2 innings to put men on, and while Jose Alvarado got the final out of the 8th to get Thompson out of his jam, he gave up a leadoff homer in the 9th to Tim Steele to make it 9-7. Jordan Diaz then came in and walked a man to put the tying run on the base but finished with a pair of strikeouts to get his 2nd save. Coming in it looked like Aparicio would have to win a low-scoring game as 4 regulars had to sit with fatigue (Widmar, de Jesus, Kirkley, Corpus) so D'Andre Hodges was in against a lefty and the light-hitting Melvin Gutierrez got a start. But the irregulars came through with Hodges going 3-4 with a ribbie and Gutierrez 2-4 with his first MLB extra-base hit, a double. Another bench guy came through big as Dane Ayers hit a 2-run HR (#1) in the 2nd to put them ahead to stay, and Jaiden Hardaway had a big day, going 4-5 with 2 RBI including a big insurance run in the 8th. Rodolfo Rivas also contributed a 2-run double as the Rays pull within 1/2 game of the division lead, however harrowing today was. Team record: 12-9. Next up: An off-day then we get our second visit of the year from the Blue Jays over the weekend. Last edited by Art Deco; 03-30-2021 at 01:18 PM.