September 28-30, 2048: at Toronto (3)
Game 1: The Rays made it 9 straight wins with a 6-3 decision over Toronto at Rogers Centre. Mario Saro had 3 hits, including a 2nd-inning grand slam which sent Tampa Bay on its way and gave him 31 HR and 99 RBI for the season. Greg Bookhart (16-6) was decent at 6 6 3 3 2 2 for the win and Satoshi Sato recorded the final 4 outs, all via strikeout, for his 7th save.
Game 2: Melvin Delgado ended his personal 6-game losing streak in grand fashion and extended his team's win streak to 10 as he and Steve Falcon combined to shut out the Jays 3-0. Delgado (9-10) won for the first time since July 26 thanks to a masterful 8 6 0 0 0 4 performance. He took a 4-hitter into the 9th but gave up a pair of singles leading Falcon to come on for his 31st save. Delgado got all the support he needed from an Alex Duran solo homer in the 4th (#13) and a 2-run Juan Davila shot (#8).
Game 3: The Rays' win streak came to an end in Toronto as the Jays roughed up Dave Rose in a 6-1 loss. Rose was 4.1 9 4 3 1 4 and finishes the regular season 15-6, 3.87 with a team-high 197 Ks in 193 IP. He'll likely start Game 2 of the ALDS at Publix Park. Luis Barela's RBI double was the lone Rays score, his 132th RBI of the year.
Team record: 107-51. Next up: We close out the regular season with 4 games at Yankee Stadium.
Playoff race update: The White Sox and Tigers remained tied atop the AL Central with the loser guaranteed the first wild card. Oakland meanwhile has opened up a commanding 2-game lead with only 3 games left for the second wild card over Minnesota and Boston. In the NL the only race is for the second wild card with Arizona now a game up on the Cubs and 2 on the Mets. Those teams have 4 games left.
|