Game 1: Jeremy Curtis was matched up against Lightning ace Josh Doyle, the reigning NL Cy Young winner and the MLB pitching WAR leader. And it was advantage Curtis tonight as he pitched a gem while the Rays got to Doyle in a 5-1 win. The lefty acquired from St. Louis went 6.2 6 1 1 0 8 and continued on his roll (5 ER in 24 2/3 IP over his last 4 starts) to improve to 13-5, 3.40. It was a 1-0 Rays lead into the 6th when they blew it open with 4 in the 6th on an Omar Rodriguez RBI single and a 3-run blast from Danny Ayala (#34). Jim Golunski picked up save #6 when Danny Medina walked a pair in the 9th to bring the tying run on deck.
Honors from the minors:
Mendoza was a scouting discovery from 2031 who has 80 stuff but only 40 control, so I'm not sure of his MLB future. Pretty, who finished 2nd, has a little more of a chance. We're awash in live bullpen arms with Ken Burgess and Jeff Reece (who was up earlier) ready for MLB and with Tim Siqueiros a free agent and Danny Medina getting expensive (not to mention Jim Golunski), the bullpen could look a lot different next season, although I'll pony up for Kawase as 4-WAR relievers don't grow on trees.
Game 2: In his final chance to make a statement in this year's AL Cy Young race, Josh Carsello made an emphatic one by pitching the team's best game of the season, a 1-hit shutout of playoff-bound Columbus in a 4-0 win, the Rays' 17th straight. Carsello went 9 1 0 0 2 10, walking the two in the 9th with 2 out before fanning former Rays superstar Victor de Jesus to end the game with an exclamation mark. He finishes his 2037 season 17-6, 2.97, with an AL-high 241 whiffs and takes over the AL pitcher WAR lead at 6.0. The Rays got all their offense in the 1st inning with a Bo Angeac RBI single followed by a 3-run Eric Titcombe homer, his MLB-best 46th.
Playoff Race Update: The Royals haven't gained any ground on Detroit or Seattle, so the AL is pretty much set. The NL West and the wild card race on the other hand are completely insane:
More monthly hardware:
Game 3: The 17-game win streak is over as the Rays were beaten almost single-handedly by their former superstar OF Victor de Jesus, who hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam, and drove in 7 in a 9-5 Columbus victory. de Jesus victimized Jon Soranno first, for the slam, as Soranno went 5 3 6 6 5 7 in another consistently inconsistent outing. He then hit a 2-run shot off Tony Rey in the 7th after the Rays had pulled within 6-5. The Rays received a couple of bases-loaded walks in the 6th and a 2-run Mike McKee single, but with several regulars getting a rest there wasn't a miracle comeback.
Team record: 120-38. Next up: 3 games at home vs Toronto, which would normally close out the season but we have that makeup game at Fenway.
Playoff race update going into the final weekend:
If things stay like this until the end, OOTP may break.