[Art Deco]

Game 1: 1-2 L. LP-Fairbanks (3-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 6 1 1 1 7). The Rays only managed 3 hits and Fairbanks gave up a Vlad Jr homer in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie in Toronto's favor as the Jays pull within 2 of the Rays for the final wild card.

Game 2: 2-1 W (10). WP-Rogers (3-1). Starter-Chirinos (6 5 1 1 1 6). HR-J.Bell (8/27). Josh Bell has been booed mercilessly by the Trop faithful, and with good cause considering he's hit below the Mendoza line as a Ray. But tonight he turned the boos to cheers with a dramatic 9th-inning homer to tie the game at 1, and then Whit Merrifield's sac fly in the 10th won it after Wander came off the bench with a big double and the Rays restored their 3-game lead over Toronto.

Transaction: Chris Gau developed forearm inflammation and heads to the IL while Calvin Faucher is called up from Durham.

Game 3: 5-2 W. WP-Baz (5-9, 5 5 2 2 3 5). S-N.Anderson (1). HR-B.Lowe (29). Lowe's homer and an Arozarena RBI triple were the big hits while Nick Anderson picked up his first save in over a year, and the Rays expanded their lead to 4 over Toronto.

Game 4: 4-3 W. WP-Kittredge (7-4). Starter-McClanahan (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-J.Bell (9/28). It's taken a long time but Josh Bell is finally paying dividends for the Rays as his RBI single in the 5th tied the game and his solo homer in the 8th won it.

Team record: 81-72. Not only did we knock Toronto out of the playoff race and went from 66% to make the playoffs after losing the opener to 96% after winning the next three, but we moved into the second wild card and are only 1/2 game behind Houston for the first spot and the right to host a series. The rest of the schedule isn't going to be easy though as the final 9 games are on the road. After an off day we're starting with 3 in Cleveland, whose playoff hopes are on life support 4 1/2 behind Texas for the 3rd wild card.