Game 1: The bats took a siesta as the Rays fell to the Mets 7-1 at Citi Field in the opener. Luis Barela did hit HR #28 to get them within 2-1 in the 4th but that was as good as it got. Chris O'Brien (8-6) wasn't terrible at 6 8 3 3 1 2 but Mel Mejia and Joel Byers were behind him.
Game 2: Bob Riley's the kind of pitcher who relies on his defense, and today a couple of key errors cost him as the Rays dropped another one to the Mets 8-6. Errors by Nelson Bocardo and Luis Barela meant 4 of the 6 runs off Riley were unearned as he fell to 10-5 with a 5.1 9 6 2 1 2 outing. Doug Johns hit HR #29 and drove in a pair, Dave Frick had a 2-run shot (#8) and a 2-run 9th-inning rally fell short as they left the bases loaded.
Game 3: The Rays suffered their first series sweep of the season as they were edged 4-3 by the Mets in the finale. Satoshi Sato (8-3) was nicked for a run in the 8th to break a 3-3 tie after they got a solid start from Dave Rose (6 5 3 3 1 4). Luis Barela was 2-3 with an RBI to top the offense.
Team record: 72-32. Next up: An off-day then we head to the desert to play 3 against Arizona.
Getting swept in a series is the closest thing to a crisis for this team, so of course we had to make a trade as the rotation could use some bolstering despite our gaudy record:
Gardner is a rental and as you can see from the numbers above he's pitched really well this year. He's 60/60/60-rated too. Akua has some potential to be decent but we can live without him. To make room for Gardner in the rotation and on the roster, Chris O'Brien is being optioned to Durham. Although he's pitched decently of late he was still the weak link in the rotation and Gardner gives us someone who can pitch a playoff game for us.