September 18: Off-Day.
September 19: at Texas 2-4 L. LP-Scott (2-3). Starter-McGee (6 4 0 0 1 6). A heartbreaker for the Rays as they took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th before Baumeister and Scott combined to give up 4 runs with the killer blow a 3-run Wyatt Langford homer off Scott.
Transaction: A tough blow for the Rays as the loss was even costlier when
Jordan Westburg separated his shoulder and will be out three weeks. This means he'll miss the rest of the regular season as well as the wild card round should we be playing in it.
Brayden Taylor is up from Durham to take his place and Mead should become the regular 2B.
September 20: at Texas 3-2 W. WP-Maldonado (5-6). S-Bautista (31). Starter-Pepiot (6 5 2 2 1 7). HR-Mead (7), Kjerstad (8). It was the Rays' turn to administer the heartbreak as Kjerstad's pinch-homer in the 9th won it for Tampa Bay.
September 21: at Texas 1-2 L (11). LP-M.Rodriguez (3-1). Starter-Bradley (6.2 4 1 1 2 9). HR-O.Cruz (14/24). Rays starters gave up 3 runs over 18.2 IP in this series but thanks to an anemic offense and an inconsistent bullpen they lost 2 of those games although we'll hang today's loss on the bats as they managed only 4 hits over 11 innings and continue to lose their grip on the division.
September 22: at LA Angels 5-7 L. LP-Baumeister (3-2). Starter-H.Smith (4 5 3 3 4 4). HR-Isaac 2 (42). He may be 37 now and not the superstar he once was but you overlook Mike Trout at your peril as the future Hall-of-Famer belted 3 homers to send the Rays to defeat. Isaac tried to keep up with him, going over the 100-RBI mark again with a pair of 2-run homers of his own, but it wasn't enough and the Rays suffer another loss they can't afford if they want to win the division, now a game back of Boston.
September 23: at LA Angels 7-4 W (10). WP-McMillon (5-2). S-Maldonado (11). Starter-Guan (5 4 2 2 3 3). HR-Keegan 2 (2), Cermak (26). Dominic Keegan, ladies and gentlemen. The rookie C/DH picked a great time to hit his first two MLB homers, the second of which was a 3-run shot in the 9th to erase a 4-1 Angels lead. Cermak then followed with a 3-run blast of his own in the 10th to win it and keep the Rays one game behind Boston.
September 24: at LA Angels 1-2 L. LP-McGee (4-3, 5 5 2 2 2 6). HR-Morel (24). Once again the offense deserted the Rays at a critical time as they were dominated by former farmhand Tobias Myers, who went 7.1 2 1 1 0 9 against them. Of course they got Junior Caminero for Myers way back in 2021 so it was a steal of a deal but it haunted them today. And with Boston winning the Rays are now two games back in the division going into the final week of the season. They do hold the tiebreaker but it's still going to be a tough pull.
Team record: 92-64. Next week: After a day off we close out the regular season at home with 3 against Toronto and Cincinnati.
Players of the Week:
AL: Kyle Teel (BOS), 11-20, 0 HR, 8 RBI (first time I can remember someone winning this without homering)
NL: Nolan Gorman (STL), 11-25, 3 HR, 11 RBI
MLB News: Here's a look at the standings around the league going into the final week:
Not shown here due to space limitations are the wild card trailers. In the AL Baltimore is the only team with a shot, albeit a long one at 2 1/2 back. In the NL it's all over but the shouting as Atlanta is 4 1/2 back there.