September 13-15, 2032: vs Minnesota (3)
The 87-55 Twins were supposed to give the Rays some competition but instead they left St. Petersburg 87-58 and outscored 25-6 over the three games as the Rays have their magic number for the AL East down to 5.
Joe Marlette's quest for 20 wins stayed on track as he pitched the Rays to a 7-2 win over Minnesota in the opener. The lefty improved to 18-7 after a dominant 6 5 2 2 0 10 performance and had ample support. Arturo Gutierrez homered to lead off the game (#39) and backup catcher Diego Cartaya continued his incredible year off the bench by homering twice and driving in 3. Cartaya now has 5 homers and is hitting 361/424/546 in 119 AB, good for 1.4 WAR. Kelly Crumpton was 3-4 with a solo homer (#44) as well.
The Rays trounced the Twins 11-0 in the second game as Kevin DiCostanzo was even better than Marlette yesterday and the bats came through big again. DiCostanzo went to 17-5 and also has a shot at 20 with three more starts projected after going 7.2 3 0 0 0 9 tonight. Arturo Gutierrez stayed hot going 3-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI and is one ribbie short of 100, while his former Dodgers teammate Orlando Tosado was 2-4 with HR #27 and 3 RBI and Wander Franco chipped in a 2-run shot (#21).
Tampa Bay had to work a bit harder in the finale but still prevailed 7-4 to complete the sweep. It was a 3-3 game going into the bottom of the 7th before Cristian Hernandez doubled in a run to break the tie and then the Tropicana Field crowd was treated to the sight of a 3-run inside-the-park homer from Kelly Crumpton (#45), not a noted speedster. Crumpton earlier doubled in a run and has 125 RBI on the season. Chris Gutierrez was 3-5 with a 2-run double as well. Wes Mendes turned in his usual mediocre start (5 6 3 3 2 4, befitting of his 4.77 ERA for the year), and the win went to Garrett Crochet (1-1) in relief. DeMarcus Evans pitched the 9th with a 7-3 lead, loaded the bases and issued his 3rd walk of the inning to force in a run before getting the final out. He's struggled with his control since joining the Rays (11 walks in 12 IP after 13 in 41 with Cleveland).
Team record: 97-49. Next up: An off-day then 3 games in Baltimore as we continue to play out the string.
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