July 31: at Miami 4-0 W. WP-Guan (1-0, 5.1 3 0 0 2 3). S-Maldonado (6). HR-Caminero (26). Guan was outstanding in his Rays debut although he is stamina-challenged (40) which is why he departed after 85 pitches.
August 1: at Miami 3-4 L. LP-Bautista (4-3). Starter-McGee (5 11 2 2 0 6). HR-Caminero (27). Just when we thought Bautista had turned the corner on his HR problems he gave up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th to lose it for Tampa Bay, his 10th surrendered in 35 IP although it was the first he'd allowed since mid-June. Miami had left 12 men on base beforehand so they probably felt they should have won anyway.
August 2: at Miami 7-5 W. WP-Pepiot (13-5, 5 6 4 4 1 6). S-Bautista (21). HR-J.Lowe (16), Cermak (19), Isaac (34). Rays were up 5-0 after 2 and then had to hold on, with Bautista bouncing back after last night's blown game. JLowe was 3-5 with a 2-run homer and Cermak had a 2-run single in the first and a solo shot in the 5th.
August 3: Off-Day.
August 4: vs NY Yankees 2-10 L. LP-H.Smith (5-8, 3.2 7 4 3 1 5). HR-O.Cruz (4/14). Rays were smoked by a lousy Yankee team, only avoiding the shutout on Cruz's 2-run homer in the 9th as Smith struggled again.
August 5: vs NY Yankees 1-6 L. LP-Bradley (12-5, 6 5 4 4 2 8). HR-Isaac (35). Tampa Bay got its lunch handed to them again by New York with Taj giving up 4 in the 2nd and the offense toothless.
August 6: vs NY Yankees 8-2 W. WP-Guan (2-0, 6.1 3 1 1 2 6). HR-Mead (6). Rays salvaged the finale behind a second win in as many starts from Guan while Mead was 3-3 with a walk, homer and 2 RBI.
Wilderd Patino made his first hit for Tampa Bay count, a 2-run single which got a 6-run 4th going.
Team record: 65-48. 4 behind Boston in the division, 4 up in WC1. Next week: The homestand continues with an off-day then 3 against Houston and 3 vs Oakland.
Players of the Week:
AL: Daulton Varsho (OAK), 10-20, 2 HR, 9 RBI
NL: Nolan Jones (COL), 9-18, 3 HR, 9 RBI
Players of the Month (July):
AL Batter: Jasson Dominguez (NY), .426-10-21
NL Batter: Jordan Walker (STL), .392-10-32
AL Pitcher: Jhoan Duran (MIN), 11 SV, 0.00 ERA, 19K in 13IP
NL Pitcher: Keider Montero (COL), 5-0, 1.69, 29K in 32IP
AL Rookie: Kisuke Sugiyama (HOU), .239-10-19
NL Rookie: Victor Mesa Jr (CHI), .325-3-11
Also getting PotM honors was one of our top prospects:
Moreno is the #54 prospect in baseball.
MLB News: Things have gone from bad to worse for Washington's James Wood, who will miss another 7 weeks with his badly sprained ankle. As the Nats are sitting at 42-71 this essentially ends his season. Meanwhile there were mostly minor deals at the deadline with the biggest seeing Pittsburgh ship their young 24-year old regular Termarr Johnson to Padres for a couple of prospects.