[jksander]

September 9, 2025: Sean Burke (6-13, 4.77 ERA, 132.0 IP, 142 K’s, 1.42 WHIP) pitched against Tampa’s Taj Bradley (7-8, 3.75 ERA, 163.0 IP, 188 K’s, 1.23 WHIP) in our first of three games here at Rate Field. Tampa had a 4-0 lead going in the middle of the fourth, but RBI singles for Vargas and Tauchman got us on the board in the bottom of the inning and a Brandon Valenzuela RBI single in the sixth got us back within a run. But a solo homer for Christopher Morel got the Rays back to a two-run lead heading into the stretch, and they added on in the ninth to put the game well out of reach, beating us 7-3 in the process. Burke lost his 14th game of the season despite striking out nine batters, allowing them six hits and four earned runs. Tampa outhit us 11-9, with Vargas leading our bats with two hits and two runs.

September 10, 2025: Brandon Pfaadt (9-12, 4.14 ERA, 171.2 IP, 176 K’s, 1.19 WHIP) pitched against Zach Littell (8-15, 5.09 ERA, 173.1 IP, 155 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) in game two, and Tampa took the lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI single by Jonny DeLuca. Pfaadt got us through the sixth, with Martin Perez taking the ball in the seventh still trailing 1-0. But in the bottom of the inning Michael A. Taylor hit a two-run blast out of right, his 17th homer of the season, to shoot us into the lead. Unfortunately in the top of the eighth they tied us on a solo homer by DeLuca, so it was up to Vargas to hit an RBI single in the bottom of the inning to get us back on top heading into the ninth, leading the Rays by one run. Noah Syndergaard struck out a pair and then quietly got them to ground out to end it from there as we held tough to win 3-2! Craig Kimbrel got the win, improving to 3-3 with a 6.05 ERA, getting through his inning with two walks and a strikeout, and Syndergaard saved his second game of the year to bring his ERA to 3.40 through 111.1 innings. We outhit them 9-5, led by Michael A. Taylor with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

September 11, 2025: Yu Darvish (10-10, 4.19 ERA, 148.1 IP, 140 K’s, 1.29 WHIP) pitched in our final game against the Rays, taking on Shane McClanahan (7-10, 4.33 ERA, 162.0 IP, 181 K’s, 1.35 WHIP). We traded runs in the first inning, but we took the lead in the bottom of the third off an RBI single by Michael A. Taylor, scoring another when Starling Marte reached on an E5 error that allowed Tauchman to score from third. But we blew it in the top of the sixth when, with one out, Yandy Diaz hit a two-run slam out of left to tie the score at 3-3. Pat Murfee came out to get the final two outs, and we went into the stretch still knotted at three-all. Kimbrel got us through the eighth without giving up any runs, and with two outs in the ninth and Ben Rortvedt on first we brought out Eduard Bazardo to get Jonny DeLuca to pop out to right and give us a chance in the bottom of the inning. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Starling Marte on second, Kyle Teel hit a single into left, giving Marte enough time to slide home as we pulled out the 4-3 win, our first series win since beating Atlanta two out of three on the road in late August. Bazardo got the win, improving to 4-2 on the season with a 3.02 ERA, through 44.2 innings, and we outhit them 7-6, led by Tauchman who hit three times for two runs and an RBI.

The win improves our record to 60-87 ahead of our road trip to face the 75-72 Guardians.