Game 1: A rare low-scoring Rays-Orioles game at Camden Yards went Tampa Bay's way as Daniel Vasquez brought home the winning run with an 8th-inning sac fly in a 2-1 win. Bo Angeac hit HR #22 in the 2nd to put the Rays up 1-0 but Danny Roush, a former Rays farmhand, took Alfredo Vega deep in the bottom of the inning to tie it up. That would be all Vega would allow in an excellent 6 4 1 1 0 9 outing. The win however went to Jim Golunski, who struck out the side in the 7th in his first appearance in 10 days, his 3rd of the year. Tim Siqueiros got the 8th and Kikuo Kawase had a 2K 1-2-3 9th for save #33.
Game 2: It was a Trade Challenge matchup at Oriole Park tonight as Josh Carsello squared off against Nate Schultz with the two having been dealt for each other this past winter. Schultz has had a rough debut season with Baltimore (and probably his only one as he's set to be a free agent), coming in 8-8, 5.01 while Carsello has thrived with the Rays especially after his recent run. And tonight only widened the gap between their respective seasons as the Rays jumped all over Schultz in a 7-2 win. Jim Gebers got to him in the 2nd with a 2-run shot (#17) and they chased him in the 4th after 5 runs on 7 hits, including a Jaiden Hardaway RBI single as the three-time MVP later added a HR (#18) as part of a 3-hit night. Also having a big game was Danny Ayala, 3 for 3 with HR #39 and 2 RBI as he eclipsed the 100-RBI plateau once again. Carsello meanwhile was excellent aside from a pair of 3rd-inning solo homers, finishing 6 4 2 2 2 9 to improve to 17-5, 3.66 and adding to his AL-leading 214 strikeouts. Billy Hoyte saw his first action in 11 days and went 2 scoreless while Mike Wherry took care of the 9th.
Game 3: Last night's game was rained out so we're playing a doubleheader today and in the first game the Orioles took a shocking 7-6 walk-off win over the Rays to snap their 12-game win streak. Shocking because Kikuo Kawase, who had allowed only 2 homers in the last 3 seasons with his 80-rated movement, was touched for a pair in the 9th including a 3-run walk-off blast from former Ray Mike Harms as he lost a 6-3 lead. Earlier in the inning Danny Roush homered again against his former organization (as did Gavin Lux earlier in the game) but that was the only earned run of the batch as a Jaiden Hardaway error prolonged the inning. They had built a 6-3 lead earlier on Omar Rodriguez's 2-run HR (#22), a solo shot from Jim Gebers (#18) and a 2-run Hardaway single. Jon Soranno started and went 7 5 2 2 3 6 and Danny Medina gave up a run in the 8th before Kawase's meltdown, his 5th blown save of the season.
Game 4: The Rays rebounded from the Game 1 fiasco to take a hard-fought 3-1 win over Baltimore in the nightcap which saw 4 Rays pitchers combine to hold the Orioles to 2 hits. Nate Thompson started in search of a team record-tying 22nd win, but was forced to leave in the 4th with a sore shoulder which should sideline him a week. We'll probably leave him off the IL since we can bring up an extra starter in a few days. Willie Bertone took over and went 2 2/3, allowing the lone run and picking up win #5. Tim Siqueiros got through 1 1/3 and Jim Golunski pitched the final 1 2/3 for save #4. He allowed no hits or runs and whiffed 3 in his stint, giving him an extremely impressive 5/77 BB/K ratio in 43 innings. The bats generated just enough offense on 5 hits, with the big blows RBI doubles from Jon Jimenez and Omar Rodriguez.
Team record: 109-25. Next up: We close out August with a 3-game set at Publix Park vs Boston.
So how about that AL Central?
Houston will get to play one of these jokers in the ALDS while we'll have to face a better wild card team.