Game 1: After allowing 21 runs and 31 hits the last two games, Rays pitching led by Danny Romero restored order to the universe in a 3-0 win at Oakland. Romero went 6 2 0 0 3 4 on 98 pitches to improve to 13-2, 3.15, and Ken Burgess, Mike Wherry and Kikuo Kawase were immaculate in relief with the latter picking up save #22. The Rays scored all 3 of their runs in a 3rd-inning rally with the key hits a Bo Angeac RBI single and a Danny Ayala RBI double. Ray batters did whiff 15 times in total with Kevin Morley wearing the golden sombrero.
Game 2: The switch from Coors Field to the Oakland Coliseum couldn't be more pronounced as for the second straight Rays pitching hurled a shutout with Tim Gates leading the way in a 2-0 win. Gates took a no-hitter into the 7th before the leadoff man singled and he finished 6.2 2 0 0 2 5 to up his record to 12-3, 3.29. Chris Toombs turned in 1 1/3 hitless innings to lower his ERA to 1.01 and Kikuo Kawase once again took care of the 9th for save #23. All of the offense came from Omar Rodriguez, who launched a solo homer (#20) in the 4th and delivered an RBI single in the 6th.
Game 3: Rays pitching was dominant again as they shut Oakland out for the third straight game in a 4-0 win. This time it was a one-man affair as Ron Adams showed off his 70 stamina by pitching a 6-hit shutout on 127 pitches which would have made Old Hoss Radbourn proud. He walked one and fanned 12 as he lowered his ERA to 3.63 and improved his record to 14-2. Couple that with leading the AL in pitcher WAR at 3.5 and strikeouts with 144 and he has to be considered the AL Cy Young front-runner right now. Omar Rodriguez was once again the key to the offense, going 3-4 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI while Jim Gebers and Jon Jimenez had RBI singles. Daniel Malone did his best Jaiden Hardaway impression leading off tonight as J-Hard got the night off, going 2 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored and a steal.
Time for some moves:
Adios, KK. The only pitcher in MLB to win 20 games twice in the last three years, it seems like a meager return (Stephens is a quality relief prospect but not an elite one) and in some measures it is. But Kerstetter isn't better than the five guys we have starting (although Josh Carsello begs to differ with the way he's pitched lately) and has been terrible in long relief. Throw in an $10M salary that's only going to go up in arbitration and hence the move. And we needed the roster spot for this guy:
July 25: Claimed P Joe Trader on waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Like Kerstetter, Trader had a big 2037 earning 2.7 WAR as a swingman who made 23 starts with the Dodgers, made the All-Star game and fanned 148 in 134.2 IP. Also like KK, Trader's mainly found himself out of the rotation this year. He has 70 stuff as a lefty reliever and 65 as a starter and surprisingly the Dodgers put him on waivers and we pounced. He'll take the long relief role Kerstetter had and if we need another starter, he'll get a shot.
Game 4: The Rays put their 27-inning shutout streak in the hands of Josh Carsello today, and sure enough he gave up 2 runs in the first to Oakland to end it. However that's all he gave up and he pitched well but the offense remained in its funk (15 runs in its last 6 games) and the Rays fell 3-2 to the A's in 10 innings. Doing the damage for Oakland was former Rays slugger Rodolfo Rivas, who homered off Carsello in the 1st and then delivered the game-winning hit in the 10th, an RBI single and his 4th safety of the day. Carsello went 5.1 3 2 2 2 8 and the pen pitched well until I left Ken Burgess in for a second inning when he's really a one-inning guy. Jim Gebers dramatically tied the game in the 9th on a solo homer, his 16th, and Ben Hill had his best game as a big leaguer going 3-4 with his 3rd double.
Team record: 71-27. Next up: A day off then our western swing continues with 2 games in Dodger Stadium.