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Art Deco · 12-30-2021, 06:36 PM

The Rays swept Texas to make it 24 wins in their last 29 games since sitting at 46-46 on July 15. Toronto finally had its win streak snapped at 11 but still took 2 of 3 from Kansas City as the Rays pull back within 2 games of the division lead. The wild card is looking much more secure as they're 5 games up on both the Yankees and Detroit, and the Yankees just lost Gerrit Cole for the season. But the news wasn't all good for the Rays as they suffered three injuries in the finale, one of which will be a severe blow.

Dustin May was dominant in the opener and the 2 runs the Rays scored in the 2nd stood up for a 2-0 win. May went 7.2 3 0 0 1 9 and improved to 12-7, 3.89, finally bringing his ERA below 4. Matt Foster picked up his 2nd Rays save despite allowing a couple of hits. Matt Chapman had an RBI fielder's choice and Vidal Brujan an RBI single for the two runs.

The Rays had a homer-fest in a 16-4 thrashing of Texas in the second game. In fact the offense was so widespread I'm going to my old standby, cutting and pasting the hitting section of the box score to save recapping. Here goes:

Poor Matt Chapman, the skunk at the party with 5 strikeouts in 5 times up. He's following a long tradition of star rentals in both this save and my 2020 Rays save who underachieved after being acquired. At least he's still playing his customary Gold Glove defense. On the pitching side Tarik Skubal got off to an awful start, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits in the first three innings. But once the Rays blew the game open he settled in, allowing only one hit over the next 4 and finishing 7 10 3 3 1 4 to go to 10-7, 4.78.

The Rays took a 5-4 win in the finale, but it was an extremely costly win. Three players had to leave the game and I'll give them in reverse order of severity. Matt Chapman had to leave the game with knee soreness, it's minimal and he's DtD for a week. Carter Kieboom will spell him for most of this stretch. Heliot Ramos, who had just taken the everyday RF job from Nick Schnell, and was 2-2 with an RBI before leaving, has chronic back soreness and will be out 3 weeks. And most cruelly of all, rookie star Andrew Greckel broke his kneecap while running the bases and is done for the year. Greckel ends his fine maiden season with 25 HR, 75 RBI and a 273/339/537 line and will not be easily replaced. As for the game Mrs. Lincoln, Adley Rutschman's 2-run double in the 7th broke a 3-3 tie and Joe Ryan, while not at his best, went 6.1 6 4 4 2 6 for the win and is now 15-5, 3.08. Aaron Fletcher got the final 4 outs with 3 strikeouts for save #4.

Team record: 71-52. Next up: A day off to lick our wounds then we host the AL's top team (tied with Atlanta for MLB's best) the 80-43 Cleveland Guardians for 3.

Transactions: Greckel was placed on the 60-day IL and Ramos on the 10-day, and we recalled Kody Hoese, a right-handed 1B/DH bat whom we acquired from the Dodgers earlier this year for Matt Peacock, and purchased the contract of OF Garrett Whitley, who finally makes the bigs after being our #1 pick in 2015 and spending 10 years in the minors. Whitley is also a RH bat as our roster was very lefty-heavy, and he's an elite defender in LF, has good power and a good eye. The reason why he's spent the last several years at Durham though is that he doesn't make good contact and his hit about .240 there, meaning he probably hits .220 here. Hoese meanwhile can hit, he's been a combined 316/402/450 in AAA with 8 HR and 46 RBI and mashes lefties. He'll see a lot of DH time with Vidal Brujan shifting to the outfield as well as spelling Angelo DiSpigna at 1B against tough lefties. Neither of these guys will really replace Greckel though.

12-30-2021, 06:36 PM	#398
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,543	August 13-15, 2025: at Texas (3) The Rays swept Texas to make it 24 wins in their last 29 games since sitting at 46-46 on July 15. Toronto finally had its win streak snapped at 11 but still took 2 of 3 from Kansas City as the Rays pull back within 2 games of the division lead. The wild card is looking much more secure as they're 5 games up on both the Yankees and Detroit, and the Yankees just lost Gerrit Cole for the season. But the news wasn't all good for the Rays as they suffered three injuries in the finale, one of which will be a severe blow. Dustin May was dominant in the opener and the 2 runs the Rays scored in the 2nd stood up for a 2-0 win. May went 7.2 3 0 0 1 9 and improved to 12-7, 3.89, finally bringing his ERA below 4. Matt Foster picked up his 2nd Rays save despite allowing a couple of hits. Matt Chapman had an RBI fielder's choice and Vidal Brujan an RBI single for the two runs. The Rays had a homer-fest in a 16-4 thrashing of Texas in the second game. In fact the offense was so widespread I'm going to my old standby, cutting and pasting the hitting section of the box score to save recapping. Here goes: Poor Matt Chapman, the skunk at the party with 5 strikeouts in 5 times up. He's following a long tradition of star rentals in both this save and my 2020 Rays save who underachieved after being acquired. At least he's still playing his customary Gold Glove defense. On the pitching side Tarik Skubal got off to an awful start, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits in the first three innings. But once the Rays blew the game open he settled in, allowing only one hit over the next 4 and finishing 7 10 3 3 1 4 to go to 10-7, 4.78. The Rays took a 5-4 win in the finale, but it was an extremely costly win. Three players had to leave the game and I'll give them in reverse order of severity. Matt Chapman had to leave the game with knee soreness, it's minimal and he's DtD for a week. Carter Kieboom will spell him for most of this stretch. Heliot Ramos, who had just taken the everyday RF job from Nick Schnell, and was 2-2 with an RBI before leaving, has chronic back soreness and will be out 3 weeks. And most cruelly of all, rookie star Andrew Greckel broke his kneecap while running the bases and is done for the year. Greckel ends his fine maiden season with 25 HR, 75 RBI and a 273/339/537 line and will not be easily replaced. As for the game Mrs. Lincoln, Adley Rutschman's 2-run double in the 7th broke a 3-3 tie and Joe Ryan, while not at his best, went 6.1 6 4 4 2 6 for the win and is now 15-5, 3.08. Aaron Fletcher got the final 4 outs with 3 strikeouts for save #4. Team record: 71-52. Next up: A day off to lick our wounds then we host the AL's top team (tied with Atlanta for MLB's best) the 80-43 Cleveland Guardians for 3. Transactions: Greckel was placed on the 60-day IL and Ramos on the 10-day, and we recalled Kody Hoese, a right-handed 1B/DH bat whom we acquired from the Dodgers earlier this year for Matt Peacock, and purchased the contract of OF Garrett Whitley, who finally makes the bigs after being our #1 pick in 2015 and spending 10 years in the minors. Whitley is also a RH bat as our roster was very lefty-heavy, and he's an elite defender in LF, has good power and a good eye. The reason why he's spent the last several years at Durham though is that he doesn't make good contact and his hit about .240 there, meaning he probably hits .220 here. Hoese meanwhile can hit, he's been a combined 316/402/450 in AAA with 8 HR and 46 RBI and mashes lefties. He'll see a lot of DH time with Vidal Brujan shifting to the outfield as well as spelling Angelo DiSpigna at 1B against tough lefties. Neither of these guys will really replace Greckel though. Last edited by Art Deco; 12-30-2021 at 06:45 PM.