Congratulations Atlanta...
The Rays' 2030 went out with a whimper, not a bang as Atlanta crushed them in Game 6 to take the title from them. Michael Chavis, who was a minor league veteran throw-in by the Rays to Atlanta in the deal which brought over
Cristian Hernandez (who was pretty much a zero for Tampa Bay all the way through today), turned out to be the one administering the final dagger as his two-out, 3-run homer in the 1st off
Joe Marlette pretty much decided the game. And although
Kelly Crumpton answered in the 2nd with a solo homer to make it 4-1, three more off Marlette in the 3rd erased all doubt. So while it was still a great season for the Rays, when you've been to the mountaintop like they were last year falling just short is going to sting. We say goodbye to some impending free agents, most notably
Andrew Greckel who hit 185 homers for us the last six seasons, as well as bullpen fixtures
Tylor Megill and
Wennington Romero. And of course rental starter
Johnny Kuykendall, who didn't get a chance to pitch Game 7, is also bound elsewhere.
Ed Howard was named Series MVP despite the loss, having gone 14 for 24.
Final playoff stats:
Marlette, who had an 0.44 ERA in his 3 starts in the ALDS and ALCS, was torched by Atlanta for 11 runs in 6 2/3 innings in the World Series.