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Art Deco · 07-08-2023, 09:36 PM

The Rays came into this series with the possibility of losing sole possession of the division lead they'd held for about a month as they entered the 4-game series up 4 games. But instead thanks to a couple of dramatic comebacks they are AL East Champions once again and remain in pole position for a World Series threepeat.

It didn't seem that way at first as the Yankees took the opener 5-1 and moved within 3 games of the division lead, scoring 4 times in the first against Joe Marlette (12-7), who finished 5 5 4 4 2 5. Arturo Gutierrez reached the 40-homer mark for the second time in three seasons with a solo shot in the 5th for the only Rays run. Also Danny Charlton was hit by a pitch, suffering a bone bruise which will sideline him the rest of the series.

Nails were being bit and stomachs were churning in the second game as the Yankees built a 5-2 lead after 7 and looked like they'd bring the Rays' division lead down to a slim two games. But up stepped Nate Strickland with two men on in the top of the 8th and he deposited a Rayner Castillo fastball into the short Yankee Stadium porch in RF to tie it (his 32nd), and Kevin Alcantara delivered the biggest hit of his short Rays career with an RBI single in the 9th as the Rays snuck away with a 6-5 win, meaning the division title would be theirs with one win in the next two games. Before that though Danny Morales had a rough 5th, giving up a grand slam in an inning prolonged by his own fielding error and finished 5 2 4 0 4 2. Nathan Dettmer (8-3) wound up with the win and Mike Moore closed it out for save #35 with a 1-2-3 9th. Arturo Gutierrez earlier homered again, his 41st.

The Rays went into the third game with a chance to clinch the division but New York held the late lead again, taking a 2-1 lead in the 7th when Devon Williams surrendered a homer and holding that lead into the 9th. But once again that man Nate Strickland came to the plate and gave Yankee fans nightmares again, hitting an opposite-field shot to left to tie it (#33) and two innings later Danny Arroyave's RBI double was the difference as the Rays came from behind again to beat the Yankees 3-2 in 11 and clinch the AL East with their 100th win of the season. After leading the AL in OBP and OPS last year and earning 5.3 WAR, Strickland has slumped seriously in 2034 despite 33 homers and 104 RBI. His triple slash line is a pedestrian 246/303/447 and coupled with no defensive value he's at 0.5 WAR for the season and has lost some at-bats to Danny Charlton. But none of that will matter to Rays fans thanks to his clutch homers the last two nights which clinched a division title they looked in the process of blowing. On the pitching side tonight Kevin DiCostanzo went a pretty good 5.2 4 1 1 5 8, Matt Cronin (2-0) earned the win and Mike Moore finished again for save #36.

The Rays emptied their bench tonight with the division clinched but still pounded a demoralized Yankee squad 7-2 in the finale. Agustin Lopez has done nothing but hit since coming up September 1, and today he was 2-5 with his 2nd homer and 3 RBI to lead the way, Joe Stack hit his 29th homer as the rookie will try to reach the 30-homer mark over the final weekend, and Nate Strickland rubbed more salt in the Yankees' wounds by homering for the third straight night (#34). Lopez is now hitting .462 (12-26) in part-time play. Chris Ferguson finished his regular season 16-7, 3.91 after going 5 2 1 0 2 4 for the win.

Team record: 101-58. Next up: We'll close out the regular season with 3 games in Baltimore and hope nobody gets hurt. Orlando Tosado, whom we thought was going to be ready for the playoffs, might not be now as he's had a setback and now faces an uncertain return date.

MLB Playoff Race Update: As mentioned last time, the field is set but a couple of divisions were up for grabs. Cleveland is now 3 up on Kansas City with 3 games left so they should be good while Oakland is only 1 up on the Rangers in the AL West. The Rays' taking 3 of 4 from the Yankees dropped them into a tie with Toronto as those two are vying to see who hosts their wild card series. In the NL wild card entrant St. Louis suffered a serious blow when they lost superstar Juan Soto to a fractured foot. The LF was having a renaissance season, leading the NL in OPS at 1.022 and third in the circuit with 6.0 WAR.

07-08-2023, 09:36 PM	#1193
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,070	September 25-28, 2034: at NY Yankees (4) The Rays came into this series with the possibility of losing sole possession of the division lead they'd held for about a month as they entered the 4-game series up 4 games. But instead thanks to a couple of dramatic comebacks they are AL East Champions once again and remain in pole position for a World Series threepeat. It didn't seem that way at first as the Yankees took the opener 5-1 and moved within 3 games of the division lead, scoring 4 times in the first against Joe Marlette (12-7), who finished 5 5 4 4 2 5. Arturo Gutierrez reached the 40-homer mark for the second time in three seasons with a solo shot in the 5th for the only Rays run. Also Danny Charlton was hit by a pitch, suffering a bone bruise which will sideline him the rest of the series. Nails were being bit and stomachs were churning in the second game as the Yankees built a 5-2 lead after 7 and looked like they'd bring the Rays' division lead down to a slim two games. But up stepped Nate Strickland with two men on in the top of the 8th and he deposited a Rayner Castillo fastball into the short Yankee Stadium porch in RF to tie it (his 32nd), and Kevin Alcantara delivered the biggest hit of his short Rays career with an RBI single in the 9th as the Rays snuck away with a 6-5 win, meaning the division title would be theirs with one win in the next two games. Before that though Danny Morales had a rough 5th, giving up a grand slam in an inning prolonged by his own fielding error and finished 5 2 4 0 4 2. Nathan Dettmer (8-3) wound up with the win and Mike Moore closed it out for save #35 with a 1-2-3 9th. Arturo Gutierrez earlier homered again, his 41st. The Rays went into the third game with a chance to clinch the division but New York held the late lead again, taking a 2-1 lead in the 7th when Devon Williams surrendered a homer and holding that lead into the 9th. But once again that man Nate Strickland came to the plate and gave Yankee fans nightmares again, hitting an opposite-field shot to left to tie it (#33) and two innings later Danny Arroyave's RBI double was the difference as the Rays came from behind again to beat the Yankees 3-2 in 11 and clinch the AL East with their 100th win of the season. After leading the AL in OBP and OPS last year and earning 5.3 WAR, Strickland has slumped seriously in 2034 despite 33 homers and 104 RBI. His triple slash line is a pedestrian 246/303/447 and coupled with no defensive value he's at 0.5 WAR for the season and has lost some at-bats to Danny Charlton. But none of that will matter to Rays fans thanks to his clutch homers the last two nights which clinched a division title they looked in the process of blowing. On the pitching side tonight Kevin DiCostanzo went a pretty good 5.2 4 1 1 5 8, Matt Cronin (2-0) earned the win and Mike Moore finished again for save #36. The Rays emptied their bench tonight with the division clinched but still pounded a demoralized Yankee squad 7-2 in the finale. Agustin Lopez has done nothing but hit since coming up September 1, and today he was 2-5 with his 2nd homer and 3 RBI to lead the way, Joe Stack hit his 29th homer as the rookie will try to reach the 30-homer mark over the final weekend, and Nate Strickland rubbed more salt in the Yankees' wounds by homering for the third straight night (#34). Lopez is now hitting .462 (12-26) in part-time play. Chris Ferguson finished his regular season 16-7, 3.91 after going 5 2 1 0 2 4 for the win. Team record: 101-58. Next up: We'll close out the regular season with 3 games in Baltimore and hope nobody gets hurt. Orlando Tosado, whom we thought was going to be ready for the playoffs, might not be now as he's had a setback and now faces an uncertain return date. MLB Playoff Race Update: As mentioned last time, the field is set but a couple of divisions were up for grabs. Cleveland is now 3 up on Kansas City with 3 games left so they should be good while Oakland is only 1 up on the Rangers in the AL West. The Rays' taking 3 of 4 from the Yankees dropped them into a tie with Toronto as those two are vying to see who hosts their wild card series. In the NL wild card entrant St. Louis suffered a serious blow when they lost superstar Juan Soto to a fractured foot. The LF was having a renaissance season, leading the NL in OPS at 1.022 and third in the circuit with 6.0 WAR. Last edited by Art Deco; 07-08-2023 at 09:38 PM.