Game 1: 5-6 L. LP-Fairbanks (5-5). Starter-Montas (1.2 5 4 4 3 1). HR-Franco (30), N.Santana (11/25). It looked like the Rays had pulled out a thrilling victory on Cartaya's RBI single in the 9th (his second of the day) but Pete Fairbanks picked a bad time to allow his first runs in 21 appearances, allowing the O's to score twice in the bottom of the inning without recording an out. With the Yankees winning the division lead was reduced to 1 and with the Yanks holding the tiebreaker the Rays' margin for error is gone.
Game 2: 11-1 W. WP-Swanda (10-10, 7.1 4 1 1 2 6). HR-N.Santana 2 (13/27), Torkelson (43/47). They bounced back admirably from last night's heartbreak in routing Baltimore. It was a 3-man offense with Santana hitting a pair of 2-run homers, Tork knocking in 3 and Rene Pinto driving in 3 with a double and single. Swanda meanwhile remains the team's hottest pitcher and is set to pitch on the final day of the regular season in what could be a make-or-break game.
Game 3: 7-4 W. WP-Moran (4-4). S-Ruegger (2). Starter-Rasmussen (3.2 8 4 4 0 4). HR-Torkelson (44/48), N.Santana (14/28). Ras put them in a 4-1 hole but they fought back and Santana's 3-run homer in the 9th, his 4th in 3 games this series, won it. 5 1/3 scoreless from the pen was huge as well.
Game 4: 4-3 W. WP-Castillo (9-10, 6 6 3 3 3 3). S-Fairbanks (30). HR-Cartaya (10), Albies (18). Luis Castillo gave up 3 in the 1st and they were down early once again, and once again they fought back with Albies' 2-run shot, his 3rd hit of the game, in the 6th the difference. The pen came through again with Gau, Ruegger and Fairbanks tossing scoreless frames.
Team record: 85-74. Unfortunately the Yankees swept their 4-game series with the Red Sox, so they remain a game back and only need to tie the Rays to win the division. The good news for Tampa Bay is that there's a possible escape route via the wild card as Cleveland has also dropped to 85-74. However the Guardians also have the tiebreaker on the Rays as they have a better intradivision record (the teams split their 6 games this season). The even better news is that Cleveland and the Yankees will play each other on the final weekend while the Rays are in Toronto. This means that the Rays can guarantee a playoff spot by winning two of three regardless of what happens in New York. Of course a sweep of Toronto guarantees the division and a sweep by either the Yankees or Cleveland would mean the Rays are in with one win. Should they take the division they'll likely get a bye as Seattle, tops in the west, is 2 back of them.
MLB Playoff Update: Aside from the scenarios involving the Rays detailed above, the AL Central remains as wild as ever with Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit all tied and one game up on Cleveland. Seattle leads its division by 3 on Texas but the Rangers do hold the tiebreaker so they'd have to win all 3 and Seattle lose all 3. The playoff field in the NL is set but two divisions are up for grabs: Philly leads Atlanta by a game and Colorado leads Arizona by the same margin. Milwaukee has clinched the Central and St. Louis has clinched a wild card.
A surprise AL Rookie of the Month winner:
We've used him sparingly of late but he's produced when called upon.