[Art Deco]

September 10: Activated P Andrew Kittredge from the 15-day IL, optioned P Ryan Thompson to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays were staring at another defeat, down 3-0 through 7 innings and being held to one hit by Spencer Turnbull and Matthew Boyd. But Manuel Margot started a rally with a single and Brandon Lowe came through as he has so often this year, drilling a 3-run HR (#39) off Boyd in top of the 8th to tie the game. And in the 9th Ji-Man Choi led off with a double, Willy Adames singled him to third, and Kevin Padlo came through with an RBI single to give the Rays a 4-3 lead. Then Margot stepped up and drilled his 3rd homer of the year to score Adames and Padlo and the Rays went from 1 hit to having 7 runs in the space of an inning-plus. Tyler Glasnow started and pitched decently, but left going 6 5 3 2 3 4 with no support. Andrew Kittredge, just off the IL, went two scoreless innings and with the 4-run lead Chaz Roe came on for the 9th. He struggled putting men on 2nd & 3rd with one out, so Nick Anderson came in after all, and after whiffing Spencer Torkelson, did what he's done so often lately and that's give up a homer with Jeimer Candelario's blast making it 7-6. But Anderson got the final out for a shaky save #28 while Kittredge picked up his 6th win in relief. Toronto won so the magic number drops to 7.

Game 2: The Rays jumped all over Tigers rookie starter Matt Manning for 6 runs in the 1st inning, culminated by a bases-clearing double from Francisco Mejia, and looked to be on their way to a romp. But Rich Hill had other ideas and he immediately gave the Tigers 3 back in the bottom of the inning, and then 6 (!) more in the 2nd without retiring a batter. Hill, who had a no-hitter in the 6th his last time out, was just atrocious giving up 3 homers in all with a 1 7 9 8 1 1 line. Chris Mazza (3), Brian Moran (2) and Hunter Strickland (2) combined for 7 scoreless innings to keep the game close, and the Rays added an RBI triple from Willy Adames and an 8th-inning homer from Mejia (#7) to get within 9-8. But they couldn't get over the hump and somehow lost a game they were up 6-0 in. The magic number still dropped to 6, though, as the Blue Jays lost at Baltimore.

Game 3: The Rays couldn't get Victor Reyes out today and it cost them in an 8-5 loss to Detroit to continue their mediocre September. The Tiger CF hit for the cycle today, and his bases-clearing triple in the 6th off Rafael Dolis turned a 4-3 Rays lead into a 6-4 Detroit advantage and then his 2-run homer off Chaz Roe in the 8th gave the Tigers insurance. Luis Patino started for the Rays and pitched well, if not efficiently, as his only bad stretch came in the 3rd when he gave up a single to Reyes, an infield single to Willi Castro and then grooved a 3-1 pitch which Spencer Torkelson deposited into the LF stands, the Tiger rookie's 25th HR of the year. But the Rays bounced right back to score 4 times in the 4th on a bases-clearing triple from Willy Adames and Kevin Kiermaier's sac fly. Patino left 5 5 3 3 2 8 on 99 pitches and gave way to Rafael Dolis in the 6th. The righty reliever got the first two outs before he totally lost the plot in a rare bad outing as a Ray, leading to Reyes' bases-loaded triple. Andrew Kittredge went 1 1/3 scoreless before Roe came on and gave up the Reyes homer after Joey Wendle got the Rays within 6-5 on an RBI double in the top of the 8th.

Team record: 91-52. Magic number: down to 5 after the Jays lost yet again as the Rays seem like they're going to back their way into the division title. Next up: We cross the border to take on those Jays, depending on what the Yankees do a sweep could clinch the division but with the way the Rays have played lately (4-7 in September) a Toronto sweep seems more likely.

MLB News: Lucas Giolito struck out 13 today in a win over Boston today to give him 312 strikeouts.