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Art Deco · 08-25-2024, 12:15 PM

The Rays pulled off the sweep of a struggling Atlanta squad, extending their lead in the AL East to 6 1/2 games and reducing their magic number to clinch the division to 20. Included among the three games was a remarkable performance by a rookie.

Rookie Danny Rodriguez tied it with a homer in the 3rd and Luis Berumen's 2-run shot (#29) later in the inning won it to back a dominant outing from Joe Marlette in a 4-1 Rays win over Atlanta. Rodriguez, who famously homered and started a brawl in his MLB debut in Toronto, hit his 2nd big league homer and Marlette (12-8) went 6 4 1 1 1 10 to lower his ERA to 3.11. Jadon Smith had an uneventful 9th for save #29.

Tampa Bay had to go overtime to beat Atlanta again as Joe Stack's walk-off homer (#21) in the bottom of the 10th gave the Rays a 5-4 victory. The Rays clung to a 2-1 lead after solo shots from Justin Blackwell (#17) and Danny Rodriguez (#3) going into the 7th but Mario Urizar put two men on and Jake Bridgewater came in and surrendered a 3-run homer to put them in a 4-2 hole. Fortunately they immediately responded with a pair in the bottom of the inning to tie it, including a solo blast from Luis Berumen (#30). Urizar finished 6.1 6 3 3 1 6 and Jadon Smith (3-7) was dazzling in relief, fanning 5 over two perfect innings to pick up the win.

After winning a couple of tight affairs the Rays had their way with Atlanta in the finale, routing them 13-2. The big story was two more homers from rookie Danny Rodriguez, who hit 4 over the 3 games of the series and has 5 in only 28 at-bats as a big-leaguer. And he threw in a triple as well giving him a cool .929 slugging percentage. He's only rated 50 for power (with 60 potential) but is on quite the tear right now. Also coming through big was Danny Charlton, who's been deadly in the second half of the season and went 3 for 4 tonight with HR #25 and 4 RBI. Justin Blackwell also homered again with his 18th being a 3-run shot. Gabe Bryant (7-5), who's had to suffer no-decisions in over half his starts this year, was well-supported for a change and was a solid 6 7 2 2 2 6.

Team record: 78-59. Next up: Oakland visits for 3 games. The A's are 70-66 and a game out of the last AL wild card so it's a big series for them.

MLB News: A couple of big milestones were reached with Boston's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doing something his daddy was unable to do in a Hall of Fame career as he collected hit #3000. Vladito will no doubt be joining his father in Cooperstown at some point in the future. Also former Ray and current Padre Joey Bart, still productive at 40 on his way to a 3+ WAR season, clubbed his 300th career homer which is quite an accomplishment for a catcher.

08-25-2024, 12:15 PM	#1411
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,823	September 4-6, 2037: vs Atlanta (3) The Rays pulled off the sweep of a struggling Atlanta squad, extending their lead in the AL East to 6 1/2 games and reducing their magic number to clinch the division to 20. Included among the three games was a remarkable performance by a rookie. Rookie Danny Rodriguez tied it with a homer in the 3rd and Luis Berumen's 2-run shot (#29) later in the inning won it to back a dominant outing from Joe Marlette in a 4-1 Rays win over Atlanta. Rodriguez, who famously homered and started a brawl in his MLB debut in Toronto, hit his 2nd big league homer and Marlette (12-8) went 6 4 1 1 1 10 to lower his ERA to 3.11. Jadon Smith had an uneventful 9th for save #29. Tampa Bay had to go overtime to beat Atlanta again as Joe Stack's walk-off homer (#21) in the bottom of the 10th gave the Rays a 5-4 victory. The Rays clung to a 2-1 lead after solo shots from Justin Blackwell (#17) and Danny Rodriguez (#3) going into the 7th but Mario Urizar put two men on and Jake Bridgewater came in and surrendered a 3-run homer to put them in a 4-2 hole. Fortunately they immediately responded with a pair in the bottom of the inning to tie it, including a solo blast from Luis Berumen (#30). Urizar finished 6.1 6 3 3 1 6 and Jadon Smith (3-7) was dazzling in relief, fanning 5 over two perfect innings to pick up the win. After winning a couple of tight affairs the Rays had their way with Atlanta in the finale, routing them 13-2. The big story was two more homers from rookie Danny Rodriguez, who hit 4 over the 3 games of the series and has 5 in only 28 at-bats as a big-leaguer. And he threw in a triple as well giving him a cool .929 slugging percentage. He's only rated 50 for power (with 60 potential) but is on quite the tear right now. Also coming through big was Danny Charlton, who's been deadly in the second half of the season and went 3 for 4 tonight with HR #25 and 4 RBI. Justin Blackwell also homered again with his 18th being a 3-run shot. Gabe Bryant (7-5), who's had to suffer no-decisions in over half his starts this year, was well-supported for a change and was a solid 6 7 2 2 2 6. Team record: 78-59. Next up: Oakland visits for 3 games. The A's are 70-66 and a game out of the last AL wild card so it's a big series for them. MLB News: A couple of big milestones were reached with Boston's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doing something his daddy was unable to do in a Hall of Fame career as he collected hit #3000. Vladito will no doubt be joining his father in Cooperstown at some point in the future. Also former Ray and current Padre Joey Bart, still productive at 40 on his way to a 3+ WAR season, clubbed his 300th career homer which is quite an accomplishment for a catcher.