Game 1: It's now 16 straight wins for the Rays but unlike most of them it wasn't easy tonight as they edged the Yankees 4-3 at the Stadium. Jon Jimenez, who put the Rays on the board in the 5th with a 2-run single, broke a 2-2 tie in the 8th with his 20th homer of the year and his fourth in five games. Two batters later Bo Angeac hit #14 to make it 4-2 and that turned out to be important when Ivan Vega homered off Jim Golunski in the 8th. Speaking of Vegas, Alfredo started and went a solid 6 4 2 2 3 6 before giving way to Danny Medina, who picked up win #2 with a scoreless 7th. After Golunski gave up the homer in the 8th, Kikuo Kawase had a 1-2-3 9th for save #24 and consecutive win #16.
And a good month for our 2033 #1 pick who's had to battle injuries:
Game 2: The win streak has now reached 17 as the Rays handled the Yankees 8-4 in New York. Jeff Baez drove in 3 with a pair of singles, Eric Titcombe had a 2-run single, and Jeff Hayes hit HR #12 to lead the offense. Josh Carsello started and had the typical Josh Carsello game, 6 7 3 3 3 8 and he's now 11-2, 4.21. Ron Adams went the final 3, allowing a run and fanning 4 to get save #3.
Game 3: The Rays blew a 9-2 lead, but it didn't stop them from extending their winning streak to 18 thanks to a monster game from Danny Ayala as they prevailed 11-9 in 11 innings. The all-star LF drove in 8 runs on the day, first on a pair of 3-run homers in the 1st and 3rd off former teammate Tyler Jefferson, and then came through with a clutch 2-out, 2-run single in the 11th to rescue the game and the streak. Ayala now has 29 HR and 72 RBI on the year. Dayle Jenkins also contributed a 2-run HR (#18) as they built a huge lead that Jon Soranno had trouble holding onto. He limped through the 5th and finished 5 10 5 5 3 5 and it turned out his struggles were due to a sore elbow and he'll be out a couple of weeks. Willie Bertone had 2 scoreless innings to keep it at 9-5, but Mike Wherry gave up a run in the 8th and then Kikuo Kawase really struggled, walking the first two in the 9th and then allowing a 2-out, 2-run double which tied the game at 9. Jim Golunski got the final out of the 9th and then pitched the 10th and 11th, retiring all 7 men he faced, 5 on strikes, to pick up his 2nd win of the year.
Team record: 74-13. Next up: 4 games in Detroit.