Game 1: You know you're in Coors Field when the score is 8-3 after two innings. Fortunately the Rays had the 8 and strangely enough there was only one more run scored in the game after that as Tampa Bay beat Colorado 9-3. All 7 Rays runs in the 2nd inning came with two out and the big hit was a bases-clearing double from Ricky Widmar. Dayle Jenkins brought Widmar home with a single and then Nate Clark and Rodolfo Rivas went back-to-back for #s 27 and 17 respectively. Clark added #28 in the 7th for the only run scored after the 2nd. Christian Little started and struggled with his control, walking 4 in the first 2 innings and surrendering a 3-run homer to Corbin Carroll. But he did calm down after that and made it through 5 on 103 pitches at 5 3 3 3 4 8 to improve to 10-2. Little's outing was followed by some excellent relief pitching from Bob Sirna and Chris Hicks, who threw two scoreless innings apiece.
Game 2: A brutal day for the Rays. Not only was their 9-game win streak snapped today but they lost Alec Sachais for the rest of the season with an arthritic elbow as the pitching injuries continue. Sachais had to leave in the 1st, and tomorrow's expected starter Danny Medina (due to the doubleheader this past weekend) had to come in and was not very good, going 3.1 5 4 4 3 0 although it didn't help that he left the bases loaded for Tim Siqueiros, who promptly walked the first guy he faced and hit the next one to force in a pair of Medina's runners. Siqueiros did OK from there, going 2 1/3 scoreless, but the damage was done, and Jose Alvarado gave up a solo homer in his two innings of work. The Rays' scoring all came in the 4th on a 3-run HR from Jasson Dominguez (#24) and a solo shot from Jaiden Hardaway (#9). So now they're going to need a starter for tomorrow and one to replace Sachais in the rotation. That will probably be Medina, but with the trade deadline in about 10 days I may need to deal from my hitter surplus for one.
...and I didn't waste any time:
Checked the trading block and the Pirates were desperate to get anything for Carmona, a free agent at season's end. He's a quality starter with 60 stuff, 65 movement and 60 control who's averaged about 3.5 WAR the last two seasons and was on pace for about that this year. He'll make an excellent #4 starter for us, and we didn't really give up anything as Baldridge is a marginal prospect and Pittsburgh is eating 90% of Carmona's salary, leaving us on the hook for only $800K. Unfortunately he can't start tomorrow so we'll still have to call someone up to throw to the wolves in Coors, probably Kevin Lovetere who's already on the 40-man.
July 21: Placed P Alec Sachais on the 60-day IL with an arthritic elbow, recalled P Brad Ballmann from AAA Durham.
He's baaaack! Remember Brad Ballmann? I had kind of forgotten about him too. After providing middling middle relief the last season and a half since being acquired from Texas, he was sent to Durham this year to be a starter, and frankly it didn't work out so hot. When we wasn't missing about six weeks with forearm inflammation he was struggling with a 5.01 ERA and only 38 Ks in 50 1/3 innings. Nevertheless he's going to start for us today in Coors since he's rested and on the 40-man. Whatever we get from him will be a bonus.
Game 3: With Brad Ballmann getting an emergency start today the fact that the Rays lost to Colorado isn't a surprise. What is the surprise is that Ballmann wasn't the problem, he left the game with a 4-2 lead in the 6th. Instead it was the bullpen and the defense which let them down today in a 5-4 loss. Ballmann actually did pitch pretty well, going 5.2 7 2 2 3 2 and getting numerous ground balls, a good thing in this park. It looked like it might be a long day for him when he loaded the bases with nobody out in the 1st, but he pitched out of it and hung in there admirably. Instead it was the pen that was our downfall. Jon Whiteleather struck out the last man in the 6th to get Ballmann out of a jam but didn't do so well putting two men on in the 7th. With middle-relief righties Tim Siqueiros and Danny Medina unavailable, Chris Hicks came in and gave up a hit to score a run and then wild-pitched in another to tie it. And in the 8th the defense was the culprit as Dane Ayers threw away a grounder that directly led to the winning run on a Yordys Valdes RBI single off Alex Beltre. Of course if the offense hadn't taken the game off after the 3rd inning they might have had more margin for error, but after D'Andre Hodges and Bo Angeac came through with RBI doubles in the 2nd and Nate Clark hit another homer at Coors, a 2-run shot in the 3rd (#29), Rockies pitching retired 16 straight Rays before Jaiden Hardaway got his 3rd hit of the game in the 8th, and then four straight after that to finish the game.
Team record: 63-31. Next up: We head farther west to play 4 in Oakland. Alexis Carmona will make his Rays debut tomorrow.