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Art Deco · 11-07-2022, 11:09 PM

Make that "at Boston (2)" as Sunday's game was rained out and won't be made up until July 28. The Rays split the games, one of which featured another bullpen meltdown and the other a vintage James Hays performance. With the rainout and an off-day on Monday, Baltimore played a bunch more games, winning 3 of 4 and moving to 1/2 game behind but 2 in the loss column.

Things looked like they were going the Rays' way in the opener as they held a 5-2 lead after a good start from John Swanda. But Mike Moore and Dax Fulton literally threw away that lead in the 7th, sending us to an interminable extra-innings slog that was finally terminated when Kendall Williams (0-1), the human homer machine, served up a 2-run walk-off blast to Boston to let them walk it off in the 15th inning. Before it went bad they got homers from Willi Castro (#4, leading off the game) and Joshua Baez (#12) and Swanda was an effective 6.1 4 3 3 2 6 but probably shouldn't have come out for the 7th when he gave up a hit with a man on. That led to Moore being ineffective and then with a chance to get out of it after being brought in to face a lefty, Fulton's poor season continued when he walked two men and gave up a single to the third man he had to face, righty Christian Arroyo. The bullpen was great from there including 3 1/3 scoreless from Slade Cecconi, but we finally had to turn to Williams who lasted three batters before giving up the walkoff jack, the third straight appearance in which he let the opponent go deep.

Well I finally had enough of Williams, so he was shipped to Houston in this deal:

Aside from getting Williams out of my sight the deal brings us the veteran reliever Heuer, who still is rated highly at 60/60/60 and had 26 whiffs in 21 IP for Houston. He's a rental but it wasn't like Williams was in our future plans either. The price to get some salary retained was Troutman, a marginal catching prospect.

Meanwhile in the second game it was another vintage outing from James Hays, who took a no-hitter into the 8th inning in a 4-2 win. Hays (6-1) gave up an infield single to lose the no-no and finished 8.1 1 0 0 2 6 before leaving with a dead arm which will set him back a week. We won't IL him, instead his next start will be pushed back which'll be no problem with the rainout and the off-day. Of course the bullpen had to make it an adventure - Gavin Bruni came in and made a mess putting two on with one out and then Kevin DiCostanzo gave up a 2-run triple before getting the final out for save #10. Making Hays' start all the more impressive is that he had to battle with a slender 1-0 lead most of the way until the Rays got 3 in the 8th on back-to-back jacks from Kelly Crumpton (#13) with a man on and Orlando Tosado (#3/#5).

Team record: 29-21. After an off-day we're back home again for 3 vs the Yankees and a reunion with Andy Kelley (and Raimfer for the Yanks).

11-07-2022, 11:09 PM	#907
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,598	May 30-June 1, 2031: at Boston (3) Make that "at Boston (2)" as Sunday's game was rained out and won't be made up until July 28. The Rays split the games, one of which featured another bullpen meltdown and the other a vintage James Hays performance. With the rainout and an off-day on Monday, Baltimore played a bunch more games, winning 3 of 4 and moving to 1/2 game behind but 2 in the loss column. Things looked like they were going the Rays' way in the opener as they held a 5-2 lead after a good start from John Swanda. But Mike Moore and Dax Fulton literally threw away that lead in the 7th, sending us to an interminable extra-innings slog that was finally terminated when Kendall Williams (0-1), the human homer machine, served up a 2-run walk-off blast to Boston to let them walk it off in the 15th inning. Before it went bad they got homers from Willi Castro (#4, leading off the game) and Joshua Baez (#12) and Swanda was an effective 6.1 4 3 3 2 6 but probably shouldn't have come out for the 7th when he gave up a hit with a man on. That led to Moore being ineffective and then with a chance to get out of it after being brought in to face a lefty, Fulton's poor season continued when he walked two men and gave up a single to the third man he had to face, righty Christian Arroyo. The bullpen was great from there including 3 1/3 scoreless from Slade Cecconi, but we finally had to turn to Williams who lasted three batters before giving up the walkoff jack, the third straight appearance in which he let the opponent go deep. Well I finally had enough of Williams, so he was shipped to Houston in this deal: Aside from getting Williams out of my sight the deal brings us the veteran reliever Heuer, who still is rated highly at 60/60/60 and had 26 whiffs in 21 IP for Houston. He's a rental but it wasn't like Williams was in our future plans either. The price to get some salary retained was Troutman, a marginal catching prospect. Meanwhile in the second game it was another vintage outing from James Hays, who took a no-hitter into the 8th inning in a 4-2 win. Hays (6-1) gave up an infield single to lose the no-no and finished 8.1 1 0 0 2 6 before leaving with a dead arm which will set him back a week. We won't IL him, instead his next start will be pushed back which'll be no problem with the rainout and the off-day. Of course the bullpen had to make it an adventure - Gavin Bruni came in and made a mess putting two on with one out and then Kevin DiCostanzo gave up a 2-run triple before getting the final out for save #10. Making Hays' start all the more impressive is that he had to battle with a slender 1-0 lead most of the way until the Rays got 3 in the 8th on back-to-back jacks from Kelly Crumpton (#13) with a man on and Orlando Tosado (#3/#5). Team record: 29-21. After an off-day we're back home again for 3 vs the Yankees and a reunion with Andy Kelley (and Raimfer for the Yanks). Last edited by Art Deco; 11-07-2022 at 11:11 PM.