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Art Deco · 01-12-2025, 02:51 PM

A rough start to the traditional second half of the season as the Rays emerged from the All-Star break losing 3 of 4 in Toronto thanks largely to poor pitching and saw their lead over the Yankees sliced to 1 1/2 games.

The Rays trailed 5-3 after 3 innings in the opener and fought back to equalize, only to lose on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th 6-5 to Toronto. Danny Morales struggled big-time early but settled in to pitch into the 7th, going 6.2 7 5 5 1 8 and the Rays got even on Billy Doughty's single in the 8th as the backstop finished 3-5 with 2 RBI on the day. But in the bottom of the 9th Branden Gammage (3-3) came on to face lefty Hector Carr, and the 23-year-old Jays star took Gammage deep for his second homer of the game to win it. Tony Fisher hit HR #27 in a losing cause.

Once again the Rays came back from an early deficit, this time going ahead 3-2, before succumbing to Toronto 5-3. The Jays took a 2-0 lead against Jake Bridgewater in the second, but he pitched well otherwise and finished 5 6 2 2 1 2. Meanwhile Luis Berumen's 2-run double in the 5th gave Tampa Bay the lead but it all fell apart in the 7th with Branden Gammage (3-4) facing Hector Carr for the second straight night and with the same result as Carr once again took him deep with 2 men on to win the game for Toronto.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the 2nd on Justin Blackwell's 5th homer of the game the Rays were not competitive and lost their third straight to the Jays 6-1. Gabe Bryant (4-4) was decent at 6 4 3 3 2 10 but gave up a couple of costly homers and the bullpen let it get out of hand after that.

Tampa Bay did salvage the finally - just barely - holding on to beat Toronto 8-7 in a wild back-and-forth affair. Chris Ericson wasn't as successful as he was in his first start since returning to the Rays and one thing that he didn't do well last time out (4 walks in 6 IP) returned today as he issued four more free passes and went 3 4 5 5 4 2 to put his team in an early 5-2 hole. But the bats responded powerfully and Billy Doughty's 3-run homer in the 6th (#14) put the Rays up 6-5. Then in the 7th Jeremy Begley (#27) and Luis Berumen (#18) added solo shots to make it 8-5 and that became important when Tony Alicea served up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th while holding on for save #23. Danny Mauricio (1-2) picked up the relief win.

Team record: 55-38. Next up: We'll hope for better results in Baltimore where we'll play a pair against the Orioles.

01-12-2025, 02:51 PM	#1476
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,568	July 15-18, 2038: at Toronto (4) A rough start to the traditional second half of the season as the Rays emerged from the All-Star break losing 3 of 4 in Toronto thanks largely to poor pitching and saw their lead over the Yankees sliced to 1 1/2 games. The Rays trailed 5-3 after 3 innings in the opener and fought back to equalize, only to lose on a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th 6-5 to Toronto. Danny Morales struggled big-time early but settled in to pitch into the 7th, going 6.2 7 5 5 1 8 and the Rays got even on Billy Doughty's single in the 8th as the backstop finished 3-5 with 2 RBI on the day. But in the bottom of the 9th Branden Gammage (3-3) came on to face lefty Hector Carr, and the 23-year-old Jays star took Gammage deep for his second homer of the game to win it. Tony Fisher hit HR #27 in a losing cause. Once again the Rays came back from an early deficit, this time going ahead 3-2, before succumbing to Toronto 5-3. The Jays took a 2-0 lead against Jake Bridgewater in the second, but he pitched well otherwise and finished 5 6 2 2 1 2. Meanwhile Luis Berumen's 2-run double in the 5th gave Tampa Bay the lead but it all fell apart in the 7th with Branden Gammage (3-4) facing Hector Carr for the second straight night and with the same result as Carr once again took him deep with 2 men on to win the game for Toronto. After taking a 1-0 lead in the 2nd on Justin Blackwell's 5th homer of the game the Rays were not competitive and lost their third straight to the Jays 6-1. Gabe Bryant (4-4) was decent at 6 4 3 3 2 10 but gave up a couple of costly homers and the bullpen let it get out of hand after that. Tampa Bay did salvage the finally - just barely - holding on to beat Toronto 8-7 in a wild back-and-forth affair. Chris Ericson wasn't as successful as he was in his first start since returning to the Rays and one thing that he didn't do well last time out (4 walks in 6 IP) returned today as he issued four more free passes and went 3 4 5 5 4 2 to put his team in an early 5-2 hole. But the bats responded powerfully and Billy Doughty's 3-run homer in the 6th (#14) put the Rays up 6-5. Then in the 7th Jeremy Begley (#27) and Luis Berumen (#18) added solo shots to make it 8-5 and that became important when Tony Alicea served up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th while holding on for save #23. Danny Mauricio (1-2) picked up the relief win. Team record: 55-38. Next up: We'll hope for better results in Baltimore where we'll play a pair against the Orioles.