Another tight win...
Once again the Rays had to overcome a deficit, but this time they did it a little earlier as Paul Mayes' 2-run homer in the 7th broke a 3-3 tie and the Rays went on to beat the White Sox 5-3 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their ALDS. Elijah Whitaker, like Dave Rose the day before, pitched well outside of a rough inning that saw him relinquish the lead with today's problems coming in the 4th. But they came back to tie and then go ahead with the bullpen doing a terrific job again, especially Devin Tadlock who picked up a 2-inning save while fanning 5. Although it looks in the box like he had a clean 9th, he actually hit a man and defensive replacement Alex Brown committed an error, so Chicago had 2 on in the 9th before Tadlock whiffed the final two batters to preserve the win. Jorge Barraza, nearly untouchable over the second half of the season, goes for the clincher on the South Side in a couple of days.
Meanwhile all four DSes are now 2-0 after Texas took down the Twins again:
