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Art Deco · 09-01-2021, 10:26 PM

The Rays were an epic bullpen meltdown away from a sweep, although they were nearly one bullpen meltdown away from losing 2 out of 3. Instead they continued their run of taking 2 of 3 with these home games against the Mariners, who are 4 games up on Oakland for the 2nd wild card.

The opener saw the Rays take a 6-1 lead into the 9th inning only to end up losing 7-6 in 10. Tarik Skubal was overpowering again, going 5 2 1 1 3 10, Brandon Lowe (#24) and Austin Meadows (#16) homered, Taylor Walls drove in a pair and it looked like a comfortable win. But Nick Sandlin was dreadful in the 9th, failing to retire the first four men he faced and leaving the bases loaded up 6-2, so Nick Anderson came in. And Anderson did something he hadn't done in his last 33 save situations going back to last year, and that was blow one. He allowed three straight singles to enable Seattle to tie it up, and Pete Fairbanks was touched for a run in the 10th.

The second game was deja vu all over again as the Rays took a 4-1 lead into the 8th inning behind a great game from Mike Clevinger (6.2 4 1 1 1 4) and homers from Wander Franco (#9, a 2-run shot) and Randy Arozarena (#17). But this time it was Aaron Fletcher's turn to implode, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits to allow Seattle to tie. Fortunately though the Rays pulled this one out in the bottom of the 9th on an RBI double from Jarren Duran which made a winner of Justin Dunn (3-0 as a Ray) after he got his old teammates out in the 9th.

No bullpen meltdown in the finale as the Rays romped over the Mariners 8-0. Matt Peacock was in 2022 form going 6 5 0 0 2 7 as he improved to 9-6, 4.11 with Jack Little and Colin Poche combining with Peacock for the shutout. After the Rays put 3 on the board in the 1st including a Lewin Diaz RBI single, Diaz doubled the lead in the 6th with a 3-run homer (#24) putting the game out of reach.

Team record: 79-53. Toronto continues in free-fall and was swept, so these three days lopped 5 off the magic number to drop it to 19. Next up: 3 games in Boston.

MLB News: The Astros entertained their fans as Jose Alberto Rivera no-hit the Twins for 7 2/3 innings and Cristian Javier did likewise for 1 1/3 before Houston walked it off in the bottom of the 9th to take a 1-0 win on a combined no-hitter.

09-01-2021, 10:26 PM	#226
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,579	August 26-28, 2023: vs Seattle (3) The Rays were an epic bullpen meltdown away from a sweep, although they were nearly one bullpen meltdown away from losing 2 out of 3. Instead they continued their run of taking 2 of 3 with these home games against the Mariners, who are 4 games up on Oakland for the 2nd wild card. The opener saw the Rays take a 6-1 lead into the 9th inning only to end up losing 7-6 in 10. Tarik Skubal was overpowering again, going 5 2 1 1 3 10, Brandon Lowe (#24) and Austin Meadows (#16) homered, Taylor Walls drove in a pair and it looked like a comfortable win. But Nick Sandlin was dreadful in the 9th, failing to retire the first four men he faced and leaving the bases loaded up 6-2, so Nick Anderson came in. And Anderson did something he hadn't done in his last 33 save situations going back to last year, and that was blow one. He allowed three straight singles to enable Seattle to tie it up, and Pete Fairbanks was touched for a run in the 10th. The second game was deja vu all over again as the Rays took a 4-1 lead into the 8th inning behind a great game from Mike Clevinger (6.2 4 1 1 1 4) and homers from Wander Franco (#9, a 2-run shot) and Randy Arozarena (#17). But this time it was Aaron Fletcher's turn to implode, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits to allow Seattle to tie. Fortunately though the Rays pulled this one out in the bottom of the 9th on an RBI double from Jarren Duran which made a winner of Justin Dunn (3-0 as a Ray) after he got his old teammates out in the 9th. No bullpen meltdown in the finale as the Rays romped over the Mariners 8-0. Matt Peacock was in 2022 form going 6 5 0 0 2 7 as he improved to 9-6, 4.11 with Jack Little and Colin Poche combining with Peacock for the shutout. After the Rays put 3 on the board in the 1st including a Lewin Diaz RBI single, Diaz doubled the lead in the 6th with a 3-run homer (#24) putting the game out of reach. Team record: 79-53. Toronto continues in free-fall and was swept, so these three days lopped 5 off the magic number to drop it to 19. Next up: 3 games in Boston. MLB News: The Astros entertained their fans as Jose Alberto Rivera no-hit the Twins for 7 2/3 innings and Cristian Javier did likewise for 1 1/3 before Houston walked it off in the bottom of the 9th to take a 1-0 win on a combined no-hitter. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-01-2021 at 10:35 PM.