[Art Deco]

Game 1: Danny Ayala took some heat last postseason when he failed to hit a homer after blasting 42 during the regular season, and he's said that criticism has motivated him this year. And who are we to argue after nights like tonight? He hit his MLB-leading 12th longball of the season and drove in 5 runs to pace the Rays to an 11-2 rout of the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in the first of a 4-game series. His RBI single got the Rays on the board in the 1st, and he added a 2-run homer in the 5th and a 2-run double in the 9th. Jon Jimenez had a 2-run double in the 4th to make it 3-0 and Eric Titcombe hit HR #5 with a man on in the 9th. This was plenty for Josh Hanna, who didn't have a single clean inning tonight but pitched around his runners to the tune of 6 7 1 1 2 3 to go to 3-0, 3.00. Edgar Rios, Mike Wherry and Kevin Kerstetter each went one frame with Wherry allowing an unearned run.

Game 2: The Rays got an excellent emergency long relief outing from Danny Medina and just enough hitting to take a 4-1 win over Kansas City. After Nate Thompson had to leave after an inning with back stiffness (which he should be able to pitch through in his next start), Medina came on and went 5 5 1 1 0 2 to save the day and pick up his 3rd win. Willie Bertone, Tim Siqueiros and Kikuo Kawase combined for 5 walks in their 3 innings but didn't allow any hits or runs and Kawase notched save #7. Jaiden Hardaway (who had 3 hits) and Dayle Jenkins hit back-to-back doubles in the 3rd to get them on the board, and a Jon Jimenez RBI double and a Jeff Baez sac fly tripled the lead in the 4th. Omar Rodriguez added HR #6 leading off the 6th for their final run.

Game 3: The 5th starter slot has been a problem for the Rays this year. First Jon Soranno went down for the season, then Ron Adams had his struggles and got hurt and will be out a couple of more weeks. So it fell to Eric Riley today and it did not go well at all. He was hit for 5 runs in the first two innings, which took him 59 pitches, before settling down a little from there, going 3 more innings and only allowing a solo homer but his final line of 5 7 6 6 2 3 was awful as the Rays fell 6-2 to the Royals today. He'll get another start while we wait for Adams to come back but did this one didn't build up any goodwill. Kevin Kerstetter, who's probably thinking "what do I need to do to get a chance to start?", went 3 perfect innings in relief. Of course the bats weren't any help today and until Victor de Jesus led off the 7th with a double they didn't even manage a hit. Danny Ayala doubled home de Jesus and Mike McKee hit a solo homer (#2) but that was it for the offense.

Game 4: As poor a start as they got yesterday from Eric Riley they got a great one from Nate Schultz today in a 3-1 win to take the series by the same margin. Schultz gave up a single to the first man he faced and then didn't allow another hit until the 7th as he went 8 2 1 1 3 10 in a dominant performance. The righty is now 4-0, 2.78 after Kikuo Kawase had a 1-2-3 2K 9th for save #8. The bats banged out 12 hits but needed two solo homers to help score three runs today, with Dayle Jenkins (#2) going deep in the 1st and Jaiden Hardaway (#5) in the 7th. Three straight singles culminating in Omar Rodriguez's RBI knock brought home the other run as O-Rod had a 3-hit day along with Jenkins.

Team record: 23-8. Next up: We head to Baltimore for 2 and then have a rare Sunday off.