Game 1: 5-7 L (11). LP-Sears (0-3). Starter-Khattak (5.1 7 2 2 2 6). HR-Luciano (11), Franco (15). A tough one to swallow as the Rays held a 5-2 lead after 6 only to see Okuda give up 3 in the 7th and Sears two more in the 11th. Luciano's homer was a slam.
Game 2: 3-4 L (12). LP-Sears (0-4). Starter-Evans (4.1 4 2 2 3 6). Another rough loss as once again JP Sears couldn't get it done (we had to go with him in the 12th). Wander was 3-5 with 2 RBI in the loss.
Annoyed by these two losses and with the trade deadline approaching I swung a trio of deals to shake things up and provide more pop for the mediocre offense.
Finally had it with Santana, who was hitting 179/245/287 with 7 HR after belting 45 last year. He showed no signs of breaking out and probably would have been a non-tender or trade in the offseason with a projected $6M salary, so why not deal him now? And in exchange we got another powerful-but-struggling OF but one who's a rookie making the minimum and has some real promise. Hardy was hitting 197/336/402 with the Phillies but is rated 55 contact/60 power/55 eye as well as 65 defense in the corners. He'll platoon with James Wood for now but could take the full-time job if he hits and Wood doesn't get his act together.
The O's were shopping free-agent-to-be Casas and any time you have a chance to add a guy who's already hit 37 HR and 91 RBI you don't pass it up. Even if it means playing him at 3B where he isn't great and even if it means benching your 3B of the last few years whom you signed to a 3-year extension in Marco Luciano. Of course Luciano hitting 192/246/321 (and that's after picking it up of late) made the call a lot easier. Lopez is a B-/C+ prospect who's probably destined for the bullpen, so no big loss there. Casas will likely play every day with Luciano spelling him against some tough lefties, otherwise Luciano will become our utility infielder.
And in the third deal - which doesn't warrant a screenshot - our incumbent utility infielder Amed Rosario (who had complained about his lack of PT, good riddance as he was hitting 185/250/242) was shipped to Arizona for a 19-year-old pitcher named Matt Ware who could be a bullpen piece in the future, making room for Casas.
Game 3: 6-5 W. WP-R.Rodriguez (3-7). Starter-German (5.2 6 2 2 2 9). HR-Hardy 2 (2). What looked like another crushing loss (blowing a 4-1 lead as Houston got a 2-run single with two out in the 9th to go up 5-4) turned into an exhilarating win when the Rays rallied for a pair in the bottom of the 9th, scoring the winner on a walk-off walk to Junior Caminero. And talk about paying immediate dividends - Alistair Hardy homered in his first two at-bats as a Ray, driving in 3 runs. The newcomer with the British-sounding name became an instant fan favorite and was more productive than Natanael Santana has been in ages.
Team record: 57-46, still 3 behind Boston. Next up: An off-day then we're off to Seattle to play 3 against the 52-51 Mariners.