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Art Deco · 11-29-2021, 06:38 PM

Game 1: The Rays romped in the opener of their 4-game set in Minnesota, scoring 5 times in the first on their way to a 12-5 rout of the Twins. Daniel Malone hit his second grand slam of the month (HR #12) in that 1st, Josh Alexander had a monster game (4-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI to give him 29 and 75 for the year) and Andy Ruggles was 3-5 with HR #21 and 3 RBI. Jordan Perez pitched well with all this support, although he had one bad inning (the 5th) in which he allowed all his runs in a 6 7 3 3 2 8 outing to improve to 7-6, 5.29.

Game 2: Vinny Willard wasn't quite as good as he was in his first two starts since joining the rotation, but he did enough in concert with the bullpen to help the Rays to a 5-1 win. Willard went 4 scoreless before running into trouble in the 5th, allowing a run, loading the bases and up to 86 pitches with the game at 3-1. Ed Pretty, used as the fireman this year whatever the inning, came in and got the final 2 outs without allowing further damage and ended up with his 8th win. Josh Alexander, who had been fairly quiet the last 3 weeks or so before last night's outburst, came through again with a 2-run double in the 5th to make it 3-0 and Jim Gebers was 2-4 with an RBI double in the 9th to make things more comfortable.

Game 3: One step forward, two steps back for Jeff Brockman, who can't quite seem to achieve consistency since joining the team in May as he was hit hard in a 12-6 loss to Minnesota. Two Ramon Ruiz errors led to half of the Twins runs being unearned, including 3 against Brockman who shouldn't really use it as an excuse after going 3.2 8 6 3 1 3 and is now 6-2, 5.10 with Tampa Bay. Andy Ruggles (#22) and Danny Ayala (#24) each had 3-run homers to supply the offense.

Game 4: The Rays made it 3 of 4 over the Twins going into the All-Star Break with a gritty, come-from-behind 5-4 win. Tim Gates was back in the rotation taking the place of the injured Jose Mendoza, and he reminded us all why he lost his spot when he allowed 4 runs in the first 4 innings. While Gates was giving up those runs the boiling hot Josh Alexander had a 3-run HR, his MLB-leading 30th and it stood at 4-3 Twins until the 7th when Alexander doubled and scored on a Ramon Ruiz sac fly, and the Rays took the win in the 8th on a pinch-triple from Andy Ruggles and Mike McKee's RBI single. Joe Trader picked up win #3 in relief and Kikuo Kawase headed to the All-Star Game with save #23.

Team record: 62-32. There's no shaking the Red Sox, who won 3 of 4 in the same time frame as well to remain 3 1/2 back. Next up: The All-Star break, which isn't much of a break for the Rays as usual with seemingly half the team headed to Seattle. When we do resume play the following weekend it'll be at home with 3 vs Columbus.

11-29-2021, 06:38 PM	#1492
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,504	July 12-15, 2040: at Minnesota (4) Game 1: The Rays romped in the opener of their 4-game set in Minnesota, scoring 5 times in the first on their way to a 12-5 rout of the Twins. Daniel Malone hit his second grand slam of the month (HR #12) in that 1st, Josh Alexander had a monster game (4-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI to give him 29 and 75 for the year) and Andy Ruggles was 3-5 with HR #21 and 3 RBI. Jordan Perez pitched well with all this support, although he had one bad inning (the 5th) in which he allowed all his runs in a 6 7 3 3 2 8 outing to improve to 7-6, 5.29. Game 2: Vinny Willard wasn't quite as good as he was in his first two starts since joining the rotation, but he did enough in concert with the bullpen to help the Rays to a 5-1 win. Willard went 4 scoreless before running into trouble in the 5th, allowing a run, loading the bases and up to 86 pitches with the game at 3-1. Ed Pretty, used as the fireman this year whatever the inning, came in and got the final 2 outs without allowing further damage and ended up with his 8th win. Josh Alexander, who had been fairly quiet the last 3 weeks or so before last night's outburst, came through again with a 2-run double in the 5th to make it 3-0 and Jim Gebers was 2-4 with an RBI double in the 9th to make things more comfortable. Game 3: One step forward, two steps back for Jeff Brockman, who can't quite seem to achieve consistency since joining the team in May as he was hit hard in a 12-6 loss to Minnesota. Two Ramon Ruiz errors led to half of the Twins runs being unearned, including 3 against Brockman who shouldn't really use it as an excuse after going 3.2 8 6 3 1 3 and is now 6-2, 5.10 with Tampa Bay. Andy Ruggles (#22) and Danny Ayala (#24) each had 3-run homers to supply the offense. Game 4: The Rays made it 3 of 4 over the Twins going into the All-Star Break with a gritty, come-from-behind 5-4 win. Tim Gates was back in the rotation taking the place of the injured Jose Mendoza, and he reminded us all why he lost his spot when he allowed 4 runs in the first 4 innings. While Gates was giving up those runs the boiling hot Josh Alexander had a 3-run HR, his MLB-leading 30th and it stood at 4-3 Twins until the 7th when Alexander doubled and scored on a Ramon Ruiz sac fly, and the Rays took the win in the 8th on a pinch-triple from Andy Ruggles and Mike McKee's RBI single. Joe Trader picked up win #3 in relief and Kikuo Kawase headed to the All-Star Game with save #23. Team record: 62-32. There's no shaking the Red Sox, who won 3 of 4 in the same time frame as well to remain 3 1/2 back. Next up: The All-Star break, which isn't much of a break for the Rays as usual with seemingly half the team headed to Seattle. When we do resume play the following weekend it'll be at home with 3 vs Columbus. Last edited by Art Deco; 11-29-2021 at 06:40 PM.