September 6-8, 2032: at Oakland (3)
The Rays dropped 2 of 3 to Oakland but have the magic number for the division down to 12 and they officially clinched a postseason berth.
Francisco Morales' recent woes continued and the 4 runs he allowed in the 2nd inning were enough to enable the A's to take a 4-3 win in the opener. The lefty fell to 8-3 after going 4 8 4 4 3 4 and has allowed 12 runs in his last 10.2 IP over three starts. Cristian Hernandez drove in a pair for the Rays.
Yesterday's subpar performance from the offense looked like a scoring frenzy compared to today's game as they were held to 2 hits in a 2-0 loss to Oakland. Joe Marlette (17-7) was the hard-luck loser despite going 6 4 2 2 2 9 as a 2-run homer in the 2nd was enough to do him in.
The bats finally woke up in the finale and Kevin DiCostanzo was dominant as the Rays salvaged a 7-1 win. DiCostanzo (16-5) went 7 4 1 0 1 11 and was backed in large part by Jonathan Gutierrez, who had an RBI single and a 2-run homer (#15). Joshua Baez chipped in a 2-run shot (#27) as well.
Team record: 92-48. Next up: An off-day then back home for 3 against Seattle.
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