Game 1: The Rays won their first game in Rogers Centre this season with a 7-1 decision over the Blue Jays behind an excellent outing from Andy Aparicio. It didn't start off great for AA as he allowed a homer to the first hitter of the game, and needed 4 double plays in the early-to-mid innings to get through, but around the 5th he went into cruise control and finished 8 6 1 1 2 9. He's now 17-4, 3.04 and leads the league in pitcher WAR at 4.9 so he's got to be the Cy Young frontrunner. Bob Sirna pitched a scoreless 9th and the offensive start tonight was Luis Corpus, 3-4 with a pair of doubles and RBI. Vlad Jr also had a 3-hit night in his old stomping grounds while Victor de Jesus (#42) and Rodolfo Rivas (#32) hit back-to-back jacks in the 8th. The win puts them at 96-24, or with an otherworldly .800 winning percentage. It's also their 11th straight and 19th out of 20.
Game 2: The Rays won another football game tonight, beating the Argonauts, er Blue Jays, 17-7. It was their latest offensive orgy but the Rays would have traded being shut out for the injury news they received tonight when Jon Soranno had to leave in the 2nd inning with what turned out to be shoulder inflammation and he's done for the year. He might have been the best #4 starter in the league and while seeing Nate Thompson struggle in the #5 spot was a luxury they could afford suddenly he's now the #4 starter with the playoffs looming. A couple of pitchers held an impromptu audition for the now-open rotation spot in relief of Soranno. Kevin Kerstetter came in first and was pretty terrible, walking 4 in 1 2/3 innings and allowing 3 runs. He picked up the win by virtue of his timing as the Rays already had an 8-0 lead when Soranno departed but did himself no favors. More reliable as usual was Danny Medina, who went 3.2 4 1 1 0 4 following Kerstetter and is my choice at the moment to take Soranno's spot. Jim Connors went the final two innings and allowed 3 runs. Also Rodolfo Rivas had to come out of the game with a sore hamstring but his injury is considered minimal for a week. On offense, I'm just going to give you the batting section of the box score rather than try to recap 17 runs of offense:
August 17: Placed P Jon Soranno on the 60-day IL with shoulder inflammation, recalled P Chris Hicks from AAA Durham.
Soranno concludes his breakout season with a 15-3 record and 3.08 ERA with 42 walks and 144 whiffs in 137 1/3 innings. Hicks was great last year, struggled this year, but has pitched very well at Durham so he'll get a second chance. He has 65 stamina so he'll get used in long relief as Danny Medina moves into the rotation.
Game 3: The Tampa Bay Rays may lose a game someday, but today was not that day. Nate Schultz pitched a complete-game 2-hit shutout to extend the Rays' winning streak to a baker's dozen as Tampa Bay took a 3-0 win over Toronto. Schultz missed a "Maddux" by one pitch as he ended with exactly 100 pitches going 9 2 0 0 1 8 and the Jays failed to advance a runner beyond first base. He's now 17-1, 3.14 as he continues to duel teammate Andy Aparicio for the AL Cy Young Award. The bats were up against a tough customer in Toronto ace Jimmy Shaffer but their most powerful weapon, the home run, won the day for them. Vlad Guerrero Jr hit HR #8 as a Ray (#27 overall) in the first to make it 1-0 and Bo Angeac hit #37 with a man on in the 4th, his 4th homer in 5 games. That would be all they'd get but it was more than they needed with Schultz on the mound.
Game 4: Bit of a Groundhog Day feel to today's game as the Rays got another shutout and relied on the longball for offense in a 7-0 win that makes it 14 straight. Nate Thompson, perhaps motivated by moving up to the #4 starter slot, pitched his best game of the season going 6 5 0 0 1 7 on 96 pitches to improve to 5-3, 4.72, and Tim Siqueiros, Jordan Diaz and Chris Hicks pitched a scoreless inning each to keep Toronto off the board for the second straight day. Three 2-run homers supplied the offense: Nate Clark's 45th in the 1st, Danny Ayala's 4th in 4th, and Bo Angeac's 38th in the 8th as he can't stop hitting home runs. A 7th run scored on an Jays error in the 9th. Vlad Guerrero Jr singled in his last at-bat to extend his hitting streak to 22 games.
Team record: 99-24. By the way, their magic # to clinch the division is down to 6 here in mid-August. Next up: 3 at home vs Seattle.
MLB News: Cody Bellinger hit his 600th career homer tonight for the Phillies. Also after losing his first three starts since joining San Diego, Alec Sachais had an excellent outing for the Padres tonight, going 6.1 4 0 0 1 4 in a win over Washington.