The Rays romped to a sweep over Boston by an aggregate score of 23-5, opened up a 12-game lead in the AL East and now have the best record in MLB in case you were wondering how things were going. As a result (and also because the price for our only need, starting pitching, was prohibitive) we stood pat at the trade deadline.
Tampa Bay rolled in a 9-1 rout in the opener, even though the pitching gave up 12 hits to Boston. Of course if you hear "lots of hits allowed, few runs" you'd probably guess
Joe Scheu started and you'd be right as the lefty went to 10-5 after going 5.1 6 0 0 1 5 although today it was the pen giving up 6 hits in 3 2/3.
Joe Stack was 3-5 with HR #17 and 3 RBI,
Justin Blackwell was 3-4 with a double and 3 RBI, and
Luis Berumen had a pair of hits including homer #13.
The Rays had to work their hardest in the second game, coming back with a late barrage of offense to prevail 7-3 over the Red Sox. Down 3-1 in the 6th,
Luis Berumen started the comeback with a solo shot (#14) and RBI singles from Berumen (who ended up 3-5 with 3 RBI) and
Danny Charlton put them ahead in the 7th.
Alex Rivas then broke it open with a bases-clearing pinch-double in the 8th.
Nick Wallerstedt had his struggles at 4.1 6 3 3 3 3 but
Mike Moore (2-2) picked up the win in relief.
A 7-1 win in the finale gave the Rays the sweep as
Joe Stack went deep twice and
Joe Marlette was in his usual ace form. Stack had solo shots in the 4th and 7th to give him 19 on the year and
Luis Cisneros in a rare start had a big day with 2 doubles, HR #5 and 3 RBI. Marlette improved to 13-2, 2.90 with a typical 6 4 1 1 2 7 outing.
Team record: 67-35. Next up: Some real competition as 63-39 Houston comes in over the weekend for 3.
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