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Art Deco · 05-09-2021, 09:41 AM

July 21: Optioned OF Nate Boesel to AAA Durham.

This makes room for Ayala on the roster as Guerrero takes Harms' spot.

Game 1: The defending champion Rangers came to town and spoiled the Rays debut of Vlad Guerrero Jr. with a 4-2 win. Guerrero doubled his first time up but had some rough moments afterward, short-circuiting a rally by hitting into a double play and looking at a called third strike in the 9th as the tying run at the plate. The main problem tonight was that the Rays offense couldn't string hits together while the Rangers did. And that stringing together of hits for Texas came in the 5th when they scored three times off Nate Thompson, with the big hit a 2-run Bobby Owens double. Thompson ended a mediocre 5 5 4 4 3 4 and might be giving way to Alec Sachais before long. Jim Connors came in against his old mates and with his 70 stamina he became tonight's long man going 4 4 0 0 1 5 on 60 pitches. Both Tampa Bay runs came on solo homers: #25 for Rodolfo Rivas in the 4th to briefly tie the game at 1, and #34 for Victor de Jesus in the 8th. Danny Ayala also made his Rays debut as a pinch-hitter in the 7th and walked. Meanwhile Mike Harms homered in his Orioles debut of course.

Game 2: The Rangers hit Rays ace Leo Ortega hard for 6 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings (with Ortega only managing one whiff) and took a 6-1 lead, and then they roughed up another Rays all-star, Danny Medina, for 3 runs and 6 hits in 2 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, Texas starter Tony Cardozo was blowing away the Rays with a line of 5 4 1 1 1 10. And despite all of that the Rays won the game in 10 innings 10-9, overcoming Ranger leads of 6-1 and 9-5. Obviously it was rough in the early going, with the only Tampa Bay run off Cardozo Vlad Guerrero's first Rays RBI on a double. And although they got to old teammate Jon Whiteleather for a Victor de Jesus HR (#35) in the 6th and a bases-clearing double by Will Quintana to cut the lead to 6-5, Texas answered right back with 3 in the 7th off Medina to make it 9-5. But the Rays immediately responded with another 4-run inning on a 2-run double by Rodolfo Rivas and a 2-run homer from Bo Angeac (#27) off another former Ray, Alexander Beltre. Jordan Diaz came in and went 1 2/3 scoreless, and Kikuo Kawase pitched the 9th and 10 and struck out 4 Rangers to keep it tied going to the bottom of the 10th. Quintana singled and was pinch-ran for by Erik Batchelder then Danny Ayala pinch-hit for Melvin Gutierrez and stroked a double to the RF corner. Batchelder looked like he'd score the winning run but Bobby Owens' throw nailed him at the plate to keep the game tied. No matter, Jaiden Hardaway laced a single to right and this time Owens' throw was no match for Ayala, who came home with the winning run in his first big contribution for the Rays. Kawase notched his 5th win of the season in the process.

Game 3: Coming off a 2-hit complete game against Oakland, Andy Aparicio continued his dominant post-ASB run with 7 brilliant innings against a much tougher lineup as the Rays waxed Texas 9-2. Aparicio went 7 3 1 1 0 12 on 113 pitches to go to 13-4, 3.46 as he's looked like his Cy Young/MVP 2031 self lately. Kevin Kerstetter went the final 2 innings and allowed an unearned run. The bats jumped all over Ranger starter Keider Montero for 6 runs in the first 3 innings starting with yet another Victor de Jesus homer, #36 with Vlad Jr on base. de Jesus has now matched last year's HR total of 36 in approximately 200 fewer ABs. Speaking of Vlad, he had an RBI single in the 2nd to make it 3-0 before Rodolfo Rivas (solo, #26) and Alex Buitrago (2-run, #17) homered to key a 3-run 3rd. Danny Ayala got his first Rays start today in LF, giving Nate Clark a day off, and went 1-3 with a double, a walk and 2 runs scored.

Team record: 77-22. Next up: Mike Harms and the Orioles visit for 3 games.

05-09-2021, 09:41 AM	#893
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,418	July 22-24, 2033: vs Texas (3) July 21: Optioned OF Nate Boesel to AAA Durham. This makes room for Ayala on the roster as Guerrero takes Harms' spot. Game 1: The defending champion Rangers came to town and spoiled the Rays debut of Vlad Guerrero Jr. with a 4-2 win. Guerrero doubled his first time up but had some rough moments afterward, short-circuiting a rally by hitting into a double play and looking at a called third strike in the 9th as the tying run at the plate. The main problem tonight was that the Rays offense couldn't string hits together while the Rangers did. And that stringing together of hits for Texas came in the 5th when they scored three times off Nate Thompson, with the big hit a 2-run Bobby Owens double. Thompson ended a mediocre 5 5 4 4 3 4 and might be giving way to Alec Sachais before long. Jim Connors came in against his old mates and with his 70 stamina he became tonight's long man going 4 4 0 0 1 5 on 60 pitches. Both Tampa Bay runs came on solo homers: #25 for Rodolfo Rivas in the 4th to briefly tie the game at 1, and #34 for Victor de Jesus in the 8th. Danny Ayala also made his Rays debut as a pinch-hitter in the 7th and walked. Meanwhile Mike Harms homered in his Orioles debut of course. Game 2: The Rangers hit Rays ace Leo Ortega hard for 6 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings (with Ortega only managing one whiff) and took a 6-1 lead, and then they roughed up another Rays all-star, Danny Medina, for 3 runs and 6 hits in 2 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, Texas starter Tony Cardozo was blowing away the Rays with a line of 5 4 1 1 1 10. And despite all of that the Rays won the game in 10 innings 10-9, overcoming Ranger leads of 6-1 and 9-5. Obviously it was rough in the early going, with the only Tampa Bay run off Cardozo Vlad Guerrero's first Rays RBI on a double. And although they got to old teammate Jon Whiteleather for a Victor de Jesus HR (#35) in the 6th and a bases-clearing double by Will Quintana to cut the lead to 6-5, Texas answered right back with 3 in the 7th off Medina to make it 9-5. But the Rays immediately responded with another 4-run inning on a 2-run double by Rodolfo Rivas and a 2-run homer from Bo Angeac (#27) off another former Ray, Alexander Beltre. Jordan Diaz came in and went 1 2/3 scoreless, and Kikuo Kawase pitched the 9th and 10 and struck out 4 Rangers to keep it tied going to the bottom of the 10th. Quintana singled and was pinch-ran for by Erik Batchelder then Danny Ayala pinch-hit for Melvin Gutierrez and stroked a double to the RF corner. Batchelder looked like he'd score the winning run but Bobby Owens' throw nailed him at the plate to keep the game tied. No matter, Jaiden Hardaway laced a single to right and this time Owens' throw was no match for Ayala, who came home with the winning run in his first big contribution for the Rays. Kawase notched his 5th win of the season in the process. Game 3: Coming off a 2-hit complete game against Oakland, Andy Aparicio continued his dominant post-ASB run with 7 brilliant innings against a much tougher lineup as the Rays waxed Texas 9-2. Aparicio went 7 3 1 1 0 12 on 113 pitches to go to 13-4, 3.46 as he's looked like his Cy Young/MVP 2031 self lately. Kevin Kerstetter went the final 2 innings and allowed an unearned run. The bats jumped all over Ranger starter Keider Montero for 6 runs in the first 3 innings starting with yet another Victor de Jesus homer, #36 with Vlad Jr on base. de Jesus has now matched last year's HR total of 36 in approximately 200 fewer ABs. Speaking of Vlad, he had an RBI single in the 2nd to make it 3-0 before Rodolfo Rivas (solo, #26) and Alex Buitrago (2-run, #17) homered to key a 3-run 3rd. Danny Ayala got his first Rays start today in LF, giving Nate Clark a day off, and went 1-3 with a double, a walk and 2 runs scored. Team record: 77-22. Next up: Mike Harms and the Orioles visit for 3 games. Last edited by Art Deco; 05-09-2021 at 02:59 PM.