The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Off to a great start...



The Rays easily handled the Yankees 10-3 in the ALDS opener at Publix Park, thanks in large part to Gordie Ager and Tony Cordova. Although Josh Alexander was named PotG, his two homers and double came after the outcome was no longer in doubt. Instead it was Cordova, whose 2-out, 2-run double in the 2nd made it 3-0 and whose 2-run triple (!) in the 4th truly broke it open. Meanwhile Ager picked up where he left off in the regular season with 6 brilliant innings for the win. Jim Brophy will get the ball for Game 2 as the Rays' quest for 4 straight titles is off to a flying start.

In the other DS:



The White Sox won 109 and 110 games the previous two seasons only to bow out in the ALDS, and they're not off to a good start in this year's either.

[Art Deco]

Ugh..



The Rays truly found a way to lose Game 2 of the ALDS tonight, doing all the little things wrong. A key Luis Barela error was instrumental in allowing the Yankees to erase an early 4-0 Rays lead, and despite pounding out 17 hits, the Rays left 12 men on base, squandering opportunity after opportunity to either add to the lead or take the lead late as they bounced into 5(!) double plays and had a man thrown out at the plate. Eventually it caught up to them in the 12th when Ed Pretty gave up a leadoff single and Doug Johns overran the ball for an error and Pretty could not manage his regular season effectiveness tonight. Jose Mendoza didn't help by giving up a 2-run single. So instead of being all but in the ALCS the Rays are now back to square one as this series is a best-of-3. Brad Jackson will try to give them an advantage in Game 3 in two days at Yankee Stadium.

In the other DS games:



The White Sox are looking doomed to lose in the ALDS for the third straight year while the Cubs and Mets take early leads.

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

It's now do or die time...



For the last 17 seasons the Rays have had a binary outcome: either lose in the ALDS or win the World Series. Right now it's looking more like the former than the latter after another tough extra-inning loss to New York, putting them in a 2-1 hole and needing two straight wins to advance. Once again they had a lead with Tomas Laboy hitting his first postseason homer to greet Jesus Zamorano who entered after a 55-minute rain delay. But Brad Jackson, while pitching well overall, gave up a homer to Rays-killer Elias Aragune to tie it, and then for the second straight game they were dominated by Yankee closer Jake Cross over 3 innings, buying New York enough time to score. So now their season is in the hands of Johnny Soland, their most inconsistent starter this year who takes the mound tomorrow in Game 4.

At least they're not the White Sox (yet):

[Art Deco]

Back to Tampa...



The Rays took care of business tonight, scoring early and often to blow out the Yankees 9-1 and force a decisive Game 5 at Publix Park in two days. Doug Johns had an RBI single in the 1st and a bases-loaded walk in the 2nd to bring in the first two runs while Dan Gregory and Dave Frick had consecutive RBI singles to break it open. Johnny Soland, who wouldn't have been starting this game had Greg Bookhart and Joel Gird not been injured, turned in an excellent performance over 5 innings around another rain delay and Jose Mendoza dominated over the final 4. Gordie Ager will look to replicate his Game 1 performance and try to get the Rays to the ALCS to face Seattle.

Over in the NLDS, the Reds take the advantage while the Giants stay alive:

[Art Deco]

The Mets were the NL's top team with 102 wins, but a lot of good it ended up doing them in the NLDS. The Rays will try to avoid the same fate tomorrow. Meanwhile the Giants have come back from 0-2 down in the series to force a Game 5 with the Cubs.

[Art Deco]

Phew...



The Rays were 6 outs away from an ALDS exit but finally got to Yankee closer Jake Cross for 2 runs in the 8th to take a 5-4 win over the pesky New Yorkers and advance to the ALCS to take on Seattle. Cross looked like business as usual when he whiffed Doug Johns to lead off the 8th with New York up 4-3 - at that point he had gone 6 1/3 hitless against the Rays in this series with 11 Ks. But Dan Gregory singled off him and stole second, and Tomas Laboy singled to left to bring home Gregory with the tying run. Cross retired Dave Frick, but Jose Mendez pinch-hit for Tony Cordova and drilled a triple into the LCF gap to score Laboy and give the Rays the lead. The job still wasn't done of course and although Chris Martin gave up two singles in the 9th, he erased the first one with a double play and got a called third strike to start the celebration, one more of relief than elation. Josh Alexander had a 2-run homer to erase an early 2-0 Yankee lead and was named MVP of the series, but was almost a goat when he tried stretching a double into a triple in the 7th with the Rays trailing 4-3 but was thrown out.

Next up: Game 1 of the ALCS at Publix Park against the Mariners, with Jim Brophy on the bump.

[Art Deco]

A wild one in Chicago goes the Cubs' way:

[Art Deco]

Jim Brophy had a good season even if his ERA didn't reflect it thanks to the BABIP gods. But one way to overcome bad BABIP luck is to not let them put the ball into play and that's what Brophy did today as he dominated the Mariners to help the Rays to a 1-0 ALCS lead, striking out 10 in 6 1-hit innings. Tony Cordova and Dan Gregory (who had a 4-hit day) had RBI singles to put them up early, and then Josh Alexander continued his playoff homer binge with a 3-run shot to break the game open. Brad Jackson will try to send the Rays to Seattle with a 2-0 lead when he takes the mound tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

The Rays head to Seattle up 2-0 after taking a hard-fought 4-3 win Game 2 of the ALCS at Publix Park. Luis Barela came up with his first big hit of the playoffs, delivering a 2-out RBI single in the 8th to break a 3-3 tie. Chris Martin made it an adventure again in the 9th, giving up a pair of singles to start the inning but was bailed out by Doug Johns, who threw out a Seattle runner trying to advance to 3rd on a one-out fly ball to end the game. It turned out that Martin had a reason for his relative ineffectiveness though, as he was diagnosed with an elbow strain after the game and is done for the playoffs (and likely his Rays career as he's a free agent). Tony Cordova came up with another big playoff hit, a 2-run homer in the 5th to tie the game. Gordie Ager will try to help the Rays put a strangehold on the series when he takes the mound in Seattle for Game 3 in 48 hours.

Meanwhile the Reds get a leg (a redleg?) up in the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

The Reds take the first two in Chicago and head home with a chance to wrap it up there. Two former Rays properties among the 3 stars above, with Melanson a 12th-round pick of ours in 2034 who's carved out a decent MLB career including an All-Star appearance after we traded him to Milwaukee for a pitching prospect who never really panned out (Dan Moone, who's been mopping up at Durham for the last few years). The other is Willie Duran, whom we had twice, first as a July 2 signing in 2030 before we traded him to the Mets to rent Francisco Alvarez back in 2032 and then after re-acquiring him in 2039 in a minor league deal from New York. The Cubs claimed him on waivers in the winter of 2041-42 when we needed a 40-man spot and he's had an OK run with them.

[Art Deco]

The Killer Gs have the Rays within one game of the World Series after (Dan) Gregory and Gordie (Ager) led the Rays to an 8-2 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park to give them a 3-0 series lead. Gregory was 3-4 with 3 runs scored, a solo homer and a steal and seemingly in the middle of every Rays rally, including their 5-run outburst in the 4th after they had been retired in order over the first three innings. Ager meanwhile was in fine form as you can see above. Joel Gird and Greg Bookhart came off the IL for this series and Gird got an inning of work in while Bookhart recovered faster than anticipated. Nevertheless Johnny Soland will get the start tomorrow to try and complete the sweep as he pitched well in an elimination game in the ALDS.

[Art Deco]

Hold the champagne...



The Rays' hitters apparently thought they had already clinched so they didn't bother showing up today as Luis Barela's solo shot was all they managed in a 6-1 loss to the Mariners to make it a 3-1 series. Johnny Soland wasn't as sharp as his DS start but wasn't terrible either and Dan Anderson pitched 3 perfect innings to keep them in it down 2-1. But Ed Pretty wasn't pretty once again this postseason and Seattle blew it open off him in the 8th. Pretty has now allowed 7 runs in 2/3 of an inning over 2 postseason appearances which is how you get that lovely 94.50 ERA. Game 1 starter Jim Brophy takes the ball tomorrow night with a chance to make it a gentleman's sweep.

Over in the NLCS, it's all but over there as despite tonight's loss we still look headed for a Rays-Reds World Series for the third time in four years, and it could have been four straight had the Reds not lost to the Giants in Game 7 of last year's NLCS:



A couple of former Rays figured into things with Jordan Perez starting and going 5 2/3 no-hit innings and Chris Toombs blowing the save in the 8th but vulturing the win after the Reds came back to win.

[Art Deco]

Fall Classic-bound again...



The recap above says that Seth Williams was the series MVP (never minding his ridiculous quote that "everyone didn't think we'd make it this far"; after 120 wins and 3 straight Series titles, everyone did think they'd make it this far), but the real MVP was Jim Brophy. The lefty started Games 1 and 5, won them both, and had a combined line of 13 4 0 0 2 21. If that's not dominance I don't know what is, but OOTP never likes giving pitchers series MVPs or weekly awards. Tony Cordova's sac fly in the 2nd plated the only run Brophy needed but it wasn't until they broke it open with 3 in the 7th that anyone could get comfortable. So now it's off to face the Cubs or the Reds, most likely Cincinnati, but...



the Cubs finally broke through for a win, much like Seattle did yesterday. We'll find out tomorrow if Cincinnati will follow in our footsteps and complete their own gentleman's sweep.

[Art Deco]

And it's Rays-Reds III as Cincinnati goes overtime to eliminate the Cubs, so once again we square off against old friends like Jordan Perez, Billy Haroutunian and Chris Toombs:

[Art Deco]

Three more for four...



The Rays took the opener of the 2044 World Series 5-1 over the Reds behind a big game from Doug Johns and quality pitching. Johns, whose homer total dropped from 28 to 15 this season despite 66 more at-bats, had also been quiet in the longball department this postseason but blasted his first two of the playoffs tonight and singled in a run as well to carry the offense. Dan Gregory was also in the middle of things, going 2-4 with a triple, steal and 2 runs scored. Gordie Ager pitched well and while his line above looks sterling, he was a bit off with his pitch efficiency and had to get a whiff of Cincinnati slugger Nelson Gamez with 2 out and 2 on in the 5th to qualify for the win. The pen took it from there, including 1 2/3 hitless from Satoshi Sato, who has 1 walk and 15 whiffs in 8 2/3 hitless innings in relief this postseason. Jim Brophy, who has been nearly unhittable in his 3 playoff starts this year, will take the ball for Game 2 tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

I'm really not sure what the AI sees in Chris Toombs. He's not a terrible pitcher, but he doesn't seem to be closer material even if he did save 38 games for the Reds this year, and his habit of coming up small is one of the reasons I had no trouble trading him in the deal to Cincinnati which brought us tonight's starter and playoff hero Jim Brophy. And having already blown 2 saves in this postseason Toombs made it a 3rd when he gave up a 3-run homer to Tomas Laboy which turned a 4-3 Reds lead into what finished a 6-5 Rays win to put Tampa Bay up 2-0 and two games away from their 4th straight World Series title, a feat not accomplished since the 1949-53 Yankees won 5 in a row. It was a real back-and-forth affair tonight with Jim Brophy pitching well but not as dominant as he was in his 3 previous starts this postseason and after Jose Mendoza coughed up a couple of runs in the 6th the Rays found themselves behind. But Luis Barela and Doug Johns led off the 8th with singles off Toombs, and one batter later Laboy changed the game. Satoshi Sato gave up his first hit (and first run) of this postseason making things a bit too interesting in the 9th but recovered to get the final out. Now we head to Cincinnati, where Brad Jackson will try to give us a 3-0 lead.

[Art Deco]

We have a series now...



A trio of former Rays combined to shut them out for 8 2/3 innings to give Cincinnati a 2-0 win and a lifeline in the World Series, cutting the lead to 2 games to 1. Jordan Perez (traded for Johnny Soland), Billy Haroutunian and Chris Toombs (traded for Jim Brophy) took care of business tonight with Toombs missing out on the save when had to leave with was a strained oblique, ending his season. Rays hitters never mounted much of a threat as they only twice put a pair of men on in an inning. Brad Jackson pitched decently but took the L. Tomorrow we're going with Greg Bookhart as the Reds' best hitters are lefties but rust will be a concern with him, so Soland will be ready to go as will Joel Gird if Bookhart struggles early.

[Art Deco]

The Rays' bullpen has been one of their many strengths this year, but it let them down badly in a 14-inning loss to the Reds which has allowed Cincinnati to tie the Series at 2. A 3-1 lead going into the 7th should be money in the bank, but Satoshi Sato let the Reds back in it with a run in the 8th and Sean Forbes allowed the equalizer in both the 9th and 11th innings before Ed Pretty was finally the victim in the 14th. The offense didn't help matters much either, squandering numerous run-scoring opportunities and having two men picked off first base, including pinch-runner Mike Willis in the 11th who would have scored on Dan Gregory's ensuing double and made that inning a big one instead of the one run they scored which wasn't enough. Ironically the biggest worry coming into the game was starting Greg Bookhart for the first time in over a month coming off an injury but he was great; who knew the pen would be the problem? So now Gordie Ager will take the mound in a pivotal Game 5 and we're assured of coming back to Tampa to play at least one.

[Art Deco]

Holy crap...



To quote the legendary Jack Buck, "I don't believe what I just saw". Trailing 5-0 going to the top of the 9th and staring in face of a 2-3 deficit in the Series, the Rays improbably rallied to score 7 times in the inning, taking a 7-5 win and a 3-2 series lead going back to Tampa. Cincinnati ace Josh Ward had completely shut down the Rays on 2 hits through 8 innings and actually retired the first man in the 9th as Tony Cordova flew to right, but he walked Dan Gregory and came out on 123 pitches. The Rays went to work on Luis Razo and Josh Alexander had an RBI single but even then it still looked like a consolation run. But Luis Barela walked to load the bases and up stepped Doug Johns, who took a pitch from former Ray Billy Haroutunian into the LF seats to tie the game. And after Mike Willis (who shouldn't have even been in the game, more on that in a minute) walked and went to second on a Haroutunian wild pitch, Dave Frick of all people took him deep with a 2-run shot to win it. There was still the issue of closing out the game as the bullpen was burned from last night's 14-inning affair so 2-way guy Chris Parham, who in retrospect got what was a key double play to get out of the 8th after the Reds scored three times, had his biggest moment of the season by getting a demoralized Cincinnati 1-2-3 in the 9th for his first-ever postseason win. So we head back to Tampa in two days' time when former Red Jim Brophy will try to clinch a 4th straight title for the Rays.

(Willis was only in the game because I screwed up the substitutions when Tomas Laboy was injured after hitting a double in the 3rd. I intended to bring in Jeff Googins for Laboy but mistakenly dragged Googins onto Jose Mendez's spot in the lineup, so I lost Mendez as well and had to put Willis in for him against the lefty Ward, and he was 0-2 against him. The Reds were already up 2-0 so I wasn't going to Ctrl+Alt+Delete the game to rectify the error. As for Laboy he tweaked his back, is day-to-day and could play in Game 6)