Game 1: Congratulations Vladimir Guerrero Jr! The 7-time MVP and future Hall of Famer did this:
He might have spent most of his illustrious career with the Blue Jays and the Yankees (as well as a pit stop with tonight's opponent Atlanta) but he's now had two of his biggest career moments as a Ray: winning a World Series last October and tonight, career hit #3000. There weren't too many accomplishments I haven't achieved in this save but given how even our best players usually spend no more than 6-7 years with the club we don't often celebrate big-number career milestones. Oh by the way there was a game tonight, and Guerrero played a big part in it. The Rays took an 8-1 decision over Atlanta and Guerrero's two-run double in the 1st (hit #2999) supplied the only runs Tampa Bay would need. #3000 came in the 3rd on a single and immediately thereafter Bo Angeac had a 2-run HR (#9) after a brief stoppage in play. Angeac also had a sac fly in the 1st and a run-scoring groundout later for a 4-RBI day while Jaiden Hardaway waited until his final at-bat in the 8th to extend his hitting streak to 23 games with an RBI single. The big story though (aside from Guerrero's 3000th) was the return to form of Nate Schultz, who had already lost more games (3) than he did in all of 2033. The righty was dominant tonight, going 6.2 4 1 0 3 10 including 5 straight whiffs at one point. He's now 2-3 and the ERA drops to a still-ugly 6.02, but a definite step in the right direction. Tim Siqueiros got the final out of the 7th when it was 5-1, but after the lead expanded Edgar Rios came in and went the final 2 innings scoreless.
Game 2: The Rays followed yesterday's 8-1 win over Atlanta by going one better and beating them 9-1 tonight. Leo Ortega has been this year's most consistent starter and he had his best outing of the season to date, a brilliant 7 4 0 0 0 9 to go to 6-0, 3.32. Mike Wherry had a 1-2-3 2K 8th against his old team and Billy Hoyte lost the shutout in the 9th with a 2-out wild pitch, a run that was unearned due to a Jon Jimenez error, while he fanned 3 in his inning. Jaiden Hardaway was a beast again, getting the hitting streak to 24 right off the bat (literally and figuratively) and going 3-4 with a walk and an RBI. He now actually has better triple slash #s than last season, currently at 388/482/655. Also putting up insane numbers is Victor de Jesus, 2-4 tonight with HR #13. He's at 419/494/787 and already has 3.1 WAR (on pace for 14.7). Danny Ayala had a 3-run homer (#9) after whiffing his first 3 times up and Vlad Guerrero Jr now has 3,003 hits after going 3-4.
Team record: 26-8. Next up: Another off-day followed by 4 games in Baltimore over the weekend, including a Saturday doubleheader.