The original post was getting unwieldy with all the playoff race and Durham updates so I'm breaking it into two.
Game 3: It's never been done before but Kevin Kerstetter has done it - the first pitcher to go 20-0 in MLB history. And he did it in style, coming within one out of pitching a 1-hit shutout. After retiring the first two in the 9th, he gave up a pair of singles and with the tying run coming to the plate in tough righty Josh Peterson and his pitch count at 109, Tim Siqueiros came in and retired a lefty pinch-hitter to end the game, get save #5 and keep the win streak going at 16 with the 3-0 decision. By the way Kerstetter didn't even allow that first hit until one out in the 6th. Just because it's such an accomplishment I'll present it here in black and white:
For awhile though it looked like Kerstetter might not get any run support as his counterpart Mario Candelaria was no-hitting the Rays himself until Omar Rodriguez led off the 5th with a single. But Jaiden Hardaway struck the key blow, a 2-run homer (#27) in the 7th to make it 2-0 Tampa Bay, and Rodriguez's sac fly in the 8th made things more comfortable. Now back to Kerstetter, we could skip his final start so as not to risk his perfect record (and also his MLB win % record, which Blake Money set for the Rays in 2027 going 21-1). Stay tuned.
Playoff race update: Atlanta ended its losing streak and got losses from San Diego and St. Louis, so they crept up from 2.5% to make it to 7.5% but still trail the Padres by 2 1/2, 3 in the loss column. The Cardinals loss to the Cubs make their division hopes unlikely as Chicago now is up 4 with 6 games left, although they do play each other on the final weekend.
Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls are one win away from another Governor's Cup thanks to a 5-4 win in Rochester to go up 2 games to 1. Considering they had 17 hits on the day it should have been a more comfortable win but they left 13 on base and couldn't get big hits when they needed them to put it away. Ricky Limongelli and Zach Mathis each had 3 hits and an RBI to pace the offense while Mike Fields went 6 for the win. Vinny Willard whiffed 5 over the final 2 innings for the save but it took him 36 pitches so he likely won't be available for Game 4.
Game 4: Down 5-0, being no-hit through 5 innings? No problem for the Rays as they stormed back to take consecutive win #17 in a 7-5 victory over Boston. Nate Schultz lost his shot at 20 wins by being hit unusually hard today, 5.1 10 5 5 1 4. But Ron Adams took over and threw 2 2/3 scoreless for his 8th win and Kikuo Kawase nailed down save #40. The rally began in the 6th when they put four on the board thanks to a Dayle Jenkins sac fly, Victor de Jesus RBI single and a 2-run Danny Ayala single, and then the comeback was completed in the 7th with three more on a Jenkins RBI single (he's now at 98 RBI), and a 2-run homer from de Jesus, his 37th.
Team record: 127-30. Next up: 2 games at home versus the Yankees as we now only need to win 3 of the last 5 to break our MLB single-season wins record of 129 set in 2033.
Playoff race update: A bad night for the Cardinals. Although they still look secure for a wild card, they lost tonight which pretty much dooms their division hopes. And they lost star slugger and former Ray Nate Clark for 3 weeks to a torn thumb ligament. That's on top of losing one of their better pitchers, another former Ray Jeremy Bienick, to elbow inflammation for two weeks. San Diego and Atlanta were idle.