Game 1: Dave Rose closed the regular season on a high note and the Rays roasted the Red Sox 6-0 in the opener at Fenway. Rose matched his career high in wins, finishing 18-6, 3.29 after going 5 4 0 0 2 4 for the win and will take the ball in Game 1 of the ALDS at Publix Park in about 10 days. The big hits were longballs off the bats of Angel Gonzales (who else, a 2-run shot for #39) and Dantel Chinchilla, a 3-run job over the Monster (#14) which broke the game open.
Game 2: The Rays got the best of Boston again 5-1 behind Elijah Whitaker and some timely hitting. Whitaker put a cap on his regular season by going 6 4 0 0 2 3 and ended up 17-5, 2.69, taking the AL ERA crown and giving Tampa Bay a pair of aces come playoff time. Angel Gonzales didn't waste any time hitting HR #40, a 2-run blast in the 6th for the game's first runs, and Henry Dominguez added a 2-run double in the 9th for some breathing room.
Transactions: Starting C Ryan Rivera tweaked a hamstring and will miss the final games of the regular season but will be back for the playoffs. Since we don't want to IL him catching prospect Omar Gaitan, acquired in a midseason trade, will come up and also 2B Aaron White comes back from his rehab assignment to join the team for the first time in almost six weeks. To make room for the two, IF Xavier Bush and OF Jalen Diaz are optioned back to Durham, whose season is over (more on that in a bit).
Game 3: The Rays emptied the bench for the series finale with Boston and trailed 4-2 in the 9th but a couple of regulars came off the bench to lead a 2-out rally and enabled Tampa Bay to complete the sweep with a 5-4 win. With 2 out and nobody on, newly-activated Aaron White capped a 4-4 return with a single, pinch-hitter Jesus Avalos walked to keep the game alive, and then Henry Dominguez stepped off the bench to wrap one around the Pesky Pole for a 3-run homer (#16) to win it. White had early rapped a 2-run double for the first Rays runs. Steve Swords had an ugly start to close out his season, going 3.2 9 4 4 2 3 to end up 11-10, 4.16 and he'll be the odd man out of the playoff rotation. Human win magnet Victor Boria (9-0) got the decision and Devin Tadlock struck out the side in the 9th to hit the 30-save plateau.
Team record: 109-50. Next up: A day off then we head to Detroit for 3 games to close out the regular season.
MLB Playoff Race Update: I'll just show you the races for the AL West and the 2nd NL Wild Card:
The Angels and Astros play each other over the final weekend.
Technically Columbus is still alive in the NL as well, one game behind Atlanta, but that might be pushing it.
None of these NL hopefuls play each other over the final weekend.
Remember we play under the old tiebreaker rules that require Games 163 (and 164?) in the event of ties for playoff spots, so the postseason may be delayed.
Durham update: After scoring 1 run in 15 innings to eke out a Game 4 win the Bulls could only score 1 run again in the deciding Game 5 of their IL Championship series and this time it wasn't enough in a 3-1 loss to Columbus so they were denied the title.