July 31: Placed OF Mario Saro on the 10-day IL with a separated shoulder, recalled OF/P Josh Schwartzlow from AA Montgomery.
Schwartzlow is an interesting two-way player we acquired in a minor league deal with the Mets a couple of years ago. He's bounced around our high minors and he's pitched decently as a starter and outside of this year, hit very well. He's rated 65 contact, 60 power and a 60 in LF, with a 35 eye. As a pitcher he's 50/65/40 so while passable he's probably more likely to stick as an OF.
Game 1: The Rays were up 3-0 until a 4-run 6th by Houston and fell 5-3 in the series opener at Minute Maid Park. Doug Johns broke out of his slump and blasted a couple of homers (#26 and 27) and drove in 3 to give them the lead but Jim Brophy got into trouble in the 6th, loading the bases with nobody in. Enter Dave Lugo (1-3), who took a match to the gasoline by walking a man to force in a run and then giving up a bases-clearing triple. Brophy ended 5.2 6 3 3 3 5 and deserved a better fate (and better relief).
Game 2: Tampa Bay bats were largely silenced as the Rays dropped their third straight in a 5-2 loss to the Astros. Greg Bookhart was outstanding at 7 4 1 1 2 3 and it was a 1-1 game into the 8th when the bullpen failed again as the normally reliable Ben Moses and Mike Robichaux made a mess leading to 4 Houston runs, 3 charged to Moses who drops to 2-3. The only highlight for the Rays came in the 9th when Josh Schwartzlow pinch-hit and in his first MLB at-bat drilled a homer into the Crawford boxes.
Game 3: The Rays took out their frustrations of the past several days by annihilating Houston 19-2, including a cycle from one of their more unlikely guys, catcher Tony Cordova, who completed it by chugging into 3rd on a triple in the 9th. Otherwise this is one of those times it's just best to copy the box as far as the hitters go:
Gordie Ager (13-5) went 6.2 9 1 1 0 6 for the win.
Game 4: The Rays took a split of the series with a 6-4 win over the Astros, holding on at the end. They could have scored many more than the 6 runs they did, leaving 13 on base, but it was enough. The offense was led by Chris Parham, 4-6 with 3 runs scored and a pair of steals, and Tomas Laboy who had 4 RBI on a pair of 2-run singles. Josh Schwartzlow also continued to impress by homering for the second time in three games. Marc Gibson was solid if not sharp to go to 2-2 as a Ray with a 5.2 3 2 2 4 2 outing, but Ismael Vargas made a mess in the 9th up 4 by putting men on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Willie Minier gave up a pair of singles to score those runners but finished the game off with a double play to earn his 3rd Rays save and 22nd overall.
Team record: 76-34. Next up: Back home for some interleague action with 3 against Milwaukee.