Game 1: Some rough pitching doomed the Rays in a 9-6 loss to the Yankees at Publix Park. Greg Bookhart (13-5) has had a tough go of late and today was no better as he finished 4 5 6 6 3 6. He left the bases loaded for Tony Pasillas, who allowed all of those runners to score and 3 more of his own. Luis Barela remains a bright spot as always as he homered (#42) and drove in 3 while Tomas Laboy contributed a solo shot (#15).
September 1: Recalled IF/OF Tony Olivo and P Tim James from AAA Durham.
These two are up keeping roster spots warm for Melvin Delgado and Chris Parham until they come back. Olivo was up briefly early in the season and James will be making his MLB debut. He's a fireballing reliever acquired in a deal from the Giants a few years ago and has been at AA/AAA since, striking out a lot but walking quite a few with his 40 control.
Game 2: Another brutal evening on the mound for the Rays as they fell again to the Yankees 9-5. Bob Riley was today's victim as the lefty dropped to 12-8 after an awful 3.1 9 6 6 2 2 outing. The one pitching bright spot was the MLB debut of Tim James, who pitched two perfect innings and whiffed four. Alex Duran had a pair of homers to give him 10 and drove in 3 while Luis Barela bolstered his triple crown bid by going 4-4 with 2 RBI. He's 2nd in BA at .335 to New York's Alex Barnes (.336), first in homers with 42 and tops in RBI with 117.
Game 3: The Rays salvaged a game from the series and not coincidentally they got a good start from Dave Rose in an 8-4 win. Rose (13-3) was excellent at 6 4 2 2 2 8 and got the support he needed when his teammates scored 7 runs over the 5th and 6th innings. Akio Suzuki's 2-run double was the big hit to put them ahead, Mario Saro had an RBI single and homer (#27) and Tomas Laboy drilled a 2-run pinch-homer (#16) in the 6th.
Team record: 91-43, with the division-clinching magic number down to 7. Next up: An off-day then we head to Fenway for 3 against the red-hot Red Sox, who just had their 9-game winning streak snapped. With barely a month left, here's where things stand in the pennant races:
In the AL the divisions are spoken for but we have quite a wild race for the second wild card with six teams in the thick of it. Over in the NL the East sees 3 teams tied for first (note the Nationals and Mets tied with the Phillies) with the wild card a less likely option for them.