Game 1: 5-3 W. WP-Buckman (5-2). S-R.Rodriguez (12). Starter-Khattak (3.1 6 3 3 3 4). HR-Cedillos (9). Carson Williams' 2-run double and Cedillos' 2-run homer staked them to a 4-0 lead that the struggling Khattak almost blew, but the bullpen saved the day with 5 2/3 scoreless.
Game 2: 4-5 L. LP-Eldridge (4-1, 5 7 3 3 1 3). HR-Solano (4). Rays fell behind 5-0 in this one before a late comeback made it close. Elijah Green's 2-run double in the 9th put the tying run in scoring position but they couldn't get him home.
Time for a trade:
The bullpen's been good but there's no reason it can't get better so we made this swap as Texas had Watters on the block. The righty saved 30 games for the Rangers last year and 9 this season and he'll take some pressure off Gerald Ogando, who as the primary setup man has 25 stamina. And I was glad to see Onyshko out the door (and glad to see Texas was willing to take him in exchange) as he was beginning to become a DFA candidate with a 9.92 ERA earned by allowing 7 homers in 16 IP this year including 7 runs allowed in his last 4 outings. He did have 26 whiffs in those 16 innings but also walked 11. The deal leaves us with only one lefty in the pen (Armenta) and I might remedy that in the future.
Game 3: 5-3 W. WP-Okuda (4-1, 5 4 1 1 1 3). S-R.Rodriguez (13). HR-C.Williams (3). Carson's grand slam in the 6th broke a 1-1 tie and the Rays held on to take the series. New acquisition Jacob Watters had a rough debut though, giving up 2 runs in the 7th while retiring only one man to let Atlanta back in the game.
Team record: 27-18, and with Toronto losing 2 of 3 in Washington the division lead is up to 1 1/2. The bad news is that next up are those same Nationals, who bring the best record in baseball at 31-14 to the Trop for 3 games.