The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

A little over three weeks ago I was surprised when this team won a game, now I'm surprised when they lose. And there were no surprises in this series as the Rays swept the Royals in rather convincing fashion at the Trop to make it 20 wins in 22 games after winning only 19 in their first 50.

Game 1 saw the Rays trail 3-1 in the 5th before 4 runs in the bottom of the inning and 4 more in the 7th gave them a 9-3 win. They managed those 9 runs with the benefit of only extra-base hit, a double, with Jarren Duran (3-5 with 2 RBI) and Vidal Brujan (a 2-run single in the 5th which broke a 3-3 tie) leading a balanced attack. Joe Ryan gave up a pair of homers of course but nothing else and finished 6 4 3 3 0 9 for the win with Shane McClanahan going the final 3 scoreless with 4 whiffs for his first MLB save.

Tyler Glasnow wasn't his sharpest in Game 2, going 5 6 4 4 4 8, but it didn't matter as the suddenly-explosive offense put 8 more on the board in an 8-4 win. This time they did blast 3 homers with Jarren Duran 3-5 with #9 and 3 RBI, Adley Rutschman going deep again for (#8/#17), driving in 2 and taking over the AL OPS lead, and Lewin Diaz blasting #12 off a lefty. Glasnow did improve to 6-4.

Game 3 was a 6-0 romp as Jarren Duran stayed red-hot with a pair of solo homers to give him 11 as part of a 3-hit day and Griffin Canning was brilliant with 6 1/3 shutout innings and 7 whiffs for his 2nd Rays win. Lewin Diaz homered again (#13) as well and drove in a pair.

Team record: 39-33, now in sole possession of 2nd place in the AL East and only 1 game back of the Yankees, who took 2 of 3. Next up: An off-day then San Antonio visits the Trop for 3 before we hit the All-Star Break.

[Art Deco]

No team in MLB wants to see the All-Star Break coming less than the Rays, who not only made it 9 straight and 23 of 25 with another series sweep but thanks to a Houston sweep of the Yankees have moved 2 games into first place. Truly a remarkable turnaround from 19-31 to 42-33.

Game 1 saw the Rays jump all over San Antonio's Dallas Keuchel for 6 runs in the 2nd only to have to hold on to win 7-4 when Matt Peacock ran into trouble. The righty did pick up the win with a mediocre 5 7 3 3 2 4 outing and could be the odd man out if/when we go back to a 5-man rotation. Nick Anderson picked up save #14. Wander Franco was the hitting star, going 3-4 with a 2-run double in that 2nd and a big insurance RBI single in the 8th, adding a steal as well.

Adley Rutschman suffered a minor hamstring cramp in the finale of the previous series against KC, so Joey Bart's been getting a chance to play and boy did he make the most of his chance in the Game 2 10-2 attack on the Alamos. The young catcher tied a team record by blasting 3 homers, including an inside-the-parker, and drove in 6 in a career game. His first HR, a 2-run shot to dead center, tied the game and his 6th-inning inside-the-park job gave the Rays the lead to stay before Vidal Brujan made it 4-2 with his 5th longball. Brandon Lowe added a 3-run shot (#16) to blow it open later. Tarik Skubal was overpowering, going 5.1 6 2 1 0 10 but since he didn't finish the 6th when they took the lead Nick Sandlin got the win in relief.

The Rays completed the sweep with the toughest win of the three, a 5-4 edging of the Alamos. Joe Ryan put them in a quick hole by allowing a 3-run 1st-inning homer to Nick Castellanos, but the bats answered back with 3 in the bottom of the inning on a Jarren Duran solo job (#12) and a 2-run single from Jorge Ona. San Antonio re-took the lead in the 5th at 4-3, but Carter brought out the Kieboomstick with a 2-run 6th-inning blast (#4) to make it 5-4 and the bullpen held from there with Devin Williams getting the relief win and All-Star Nick Anderson grabbing save #15.

Team record: 42-33, as mentioned above 2 up on the Yankees and Blue Jays. We hit the break now, and come back for 3 games in Houston.

[Art Deco]

Standings/leaders at the break:



The teams:





Tyler Glasnow, Adley Rutschman and Nick Anderson were the only Rays selected.

The HR Derby:



And the game itself:



Adley Rutschman didn't play, probably because of his nagging injury. Tyler Glasnow started and fanned 3 in his inning of work, while Nick Anderson tossed a scoreless frame with 2 Ks.

[Art Deco]

It finally happened - the Rays dropped a series for the first time in over a month as they lost 2 of 3 to the Astros.

Things started well though in Game 1 as the Rays made it 10 straight wins and 24 of 26 as they came from behind with a 4-run 7th to take a 7-4 win over the Astros. Adley Rutschman lived up to his "Clutchman" nickname with a 3-run homer to put Tampa Bay on top for good, his 9th with the club and 18th overall. Vidal Brujan was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI while Brendan McKay got the win with 3 innings of scoreless relief after Chris Sale struggled with 4 runs allowed in the first 4 innings. Aaron Fletcher got save #2.

Transaction: Randy Arozarena comes off the IL, Hunter Bishop is optioned to Durham.

The winning streak ended in the second game when Alex Bregman walked it off with an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to give Houston a 5-4 win. Tarik Skubal pitched decently (6 5 4 2 1 8) but surrendered 3 homers, and the loss in the 9th went to Pete Fairbanks. The Rays tied it up in the 8th on a Brandon Lowe RBI single and earlier Jarren Duran led off the game with a longball (#13) and Carter Kieboom had a 2-run shot (#5).

The series finale saw the Rays drop a 7-3 decision to Houston and it was all downhill after Randy Arozarena's 1st-inning homer (#7). Joe Ryan went 6 8 4 4 1 8, giving up a homer, and Shane McClanahan was roasted for 3 more runs in the 7th. Vidal Brujan did hit a 431-foot shot in the 6th for his 6th homer of the year as he's shown some surprising power.

Team record: 43-35. The two games dropped allowed the Blue Jays to move back into a tie with us atop the AL East after they swept Texas. The Yankees remain 2 games back, and will be our next opponent as they visit the Trop for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Tampa Bay welcomed one of its direct competitors to the Trop for a holiday weekend series and the Rays were not the greatest hosts, taking 2 of 3 from the Yankees to stay atop the AL East.

The Rays took an 8-4 win in the series opener, jumping all over Matt Krook in a 5-run second inning that sent them on their way. The key blow was a 2-out grand slam from Adley Rutschman (#10/#19) but the thorn in New York's side all day was Wander Franco, who had a career-high 5 hits and tied the club record. Jarren Duran added a 2-run HR (#14) and 3 RBI on the day. Griffin Canning got his 3rd win going 5 5 2 2 4 8 and things got dicey enough in the 9th that Nick Anderson had to come in for the final out and pick up save #16.

Game 2 saw the Rays send Tyler Glasnow to the mound but the Yankees had their way, blowing out Tampa Bay 8-1. Glasnow wasn't terrible, going 6 6 4 4 2 8, but New York blew it open against Brendan McKay, scoring 4 runs on 6 hits off him in 2 innings. His ERA ballooned to 6.67 in 55 innings as we still look for the pre-injury Cy Young contender from last year.

The Rays snapped back in the rubber game, edging the Yankees 3-2. Matt Peacock picked a great time to pitch his best game of the season, going 7 2 1 0 0 8 as he improved to 6-5, 4.10. The offense came courtesy of a pair of longballs: a solo shot from Lewin Diaz (#14) and a 2-run game-winning blast in the 5th from Vidal Brujan (#7), who continues to surprise with his power, slugging .545. Nick Anderson got save #17 despite allowing a Giancarlo Stanton homer in the 9th.

Team record: 45-36, as we hit the halfway mark on a 26-5 run. Toronto dropped 2 of 3 to Detroit so we're up by a game on them and 3 on the Yankees. Next up: The homestand continues with the White Sox coming to town for 3.

[Art Deco]

It's been quite a ride during this first half of the season, starting 19-31, making 3 major trades in one day, 4 overall, and going 26-5 to finish it out. Adley Rutschman of course has been everything as advertised but Griffin Canning and Tarik Skubal have definitely helped the rotation. It remains to see how much Chris Sale will help, as his stuff has diminished and he's had trouble staying healthy, meaning we may have lit $40M or whatever we're going to end up paying him on fire. Anyway, here are the midseason standings and leaders:



Rays team stats:



These numbers have obviously turned around quite a bit from last time we looked, with the pitching an unsung aspect of the turnaround as the offense has gotten all the publicity with its 180-degree flip. Also I find it very interesting we're 20-5 vs LH starters but 25-31 against righties as that includes the times we were going bad.

Individual hitting stats:



The new guys have done well (Rutschman and Kieboom), but not to be overlooked in the team's renaissance is the return of Vidal Brujan from injury as he missed most of the first 6-7 weeks.

Individual pitching stats:



As you can see we've gone through a fair number of pitchers this season, but the current group looks like keepers. WAR doesn't like Canning and Skubal because they're somewhat homer-prone but they pile up the strikeouts and don't give up much else.

[Art Deco]

For the second straight series we've Meat Loafed the opposition as our 2 of 3 matched Toronto's so the Rays remain a game up in the AL East.

Chris Sale got the start in Game 1 and pitched pretty well, going 5.2 7 1 1 2 6 to improve to 2-0 as a Ray in a 5-2 win. Homers were the coin of the realm today as Adley Rutschman keeps on keepin' on with #11/#20 opening the scoring, Brandon Lowe hit a 2-run shot (#17) and Carter Kieboom added a solo blast (#6). Nick Anderson picked up save #18.

The second game was one of the ugliest we've had since turning the season around as Tarik Skubal coughed up 5 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings, 3 of which were homers as the Rays were routed 7-0. Dylan Cease made sure we ceased hitting, going 6 4 0 0 2 8.

The Rays returned the favor in Game 3 by blowing out the White Sox 9-1 behind a masterpiece from Joe Ryan and plenty of hitting. Ryan took a 2-hit shutout into the 8th before giving up a Max Kepler homer and finished 8.2 5 1 1 0 5 to improve to 6-5, 4.32. Adley Rutschman (#12/#21) and Jarren Duran (#15) homered, Brandon Lowe drove in 3 with a double and a sac fly, and Wander Franco had another 3-hit game, scoring 3 times and driving one in to lead the hit parade.

Team record: 47-37. Next up: We head west to Seattle for 3.

[Art Deco]

It was a lost weekend that could probably be described as "Hitless in Seattle" as the Rays were swept, scoring a grand total of 5 runs over the 3 games and bringing back memories of the season's early days. And adding injury to insult was the loss of a starting pitcher for the rest of the season. The only silver lining is that Toronto too was swept in their trip out west as they fell thrice to the Angels.

Game 1 saw Tyler Glasnow go head-to-head with Mariners rookie sensation Cooper Stinson, who came in with a 2.88 ERA. The starters battled to a 1-1 draw as Glasnow went 5.2 1 1 1 3 8, dinged only for a Julio Rodriguez homer. But the bullpen battle went to Seattle as Devin Williams was touched for a pair of homers in the 7th and Alex Vesia gave up a 2-run shot in the 8th, dooming the Rays to a 5-2 loss. Randy Arozarena's solo shot in the 9th (#8) was the offensive highlight.

In the second game the Rays were befuddled by soft-tossing lefty Marco Gonzales, who shut them out for 8 4-hit innings in a 3-1 Seattle win. And the loss was costly as Rays starter Griffin Canning was hit for 3 runs in 3 2/3, leaving with shoulder inflammation which will sideline him the rest of the season.

Transaction: Canning went on the 60-day IL and reliever Colin Poche was called back up from Durham as we'll return to a 5-man rotation.

The third game saw the Rays suffer their toughest loss of the series, 3-2. Jarren Duran (#15) and Lewin Diaz (#16) had solo homers and it was 2-2 going into the bottom of the 7th with Chris Sale pitching decently. But Sale was touched for the go-ahead run, and although the Rays loaded the bases with one out in the 8th and put two on in the 9th they couldn't get the tying run across.

Team record: 47-40, still one up on Toronto. Next up: A day off as we have the 2023 Amateur Draft, then back home for 3 vs Boston.

[Art Deco]

Our picks in detail:









I didn't bother posting Miller's particulars because it turns out he wants a $9M bonus or he goes to college, so that was a wasted pick.

[Art Deco]

After forgetting to bring their bats to Seattle, the Rays found them where they left them and swept the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. The sweep was important because the Blue Jays took 3 from Kansas City as well, so the lead stays a slender 1 game.

Game 1 was a 9-2 triumph with Tampa Bay scoring all its runs by the 4th inning. Wander Franco's 2-run double keyed a 4-run 2nd, and Austin Meadows (a 3-run shot #8), and Carter Kieboom (a solo blast, #7) paced a 5-run 5th. Jarren Duran was 3-5 with 2 RBI. Tarik Skubal got the win to go to 4-2, 3.32 as a Ray with a 6 4 1 1 4 9 performance.

The Rays took a 7-2 decision in the second game with Matt Peacock continuing to round into form, going 5 6 2 2 1 5 for the win as he's now 7-5, 4.08. Austin Meadows homered for the second straight day as his 2-run shot in the 4th (#9) put the Rays ahead to stay. Also homering again was Carter Kieboom (#8) with a 2-run blast to provide some insurance.

The third game was the toughest of the bunch with the Rays having to come back from 2-0 down before ultimately prevailing 5-2. Tyler Glasnow turned in a dominant performance (6 4 2 2 1 10) but left with the game tied so Aaron Fletcher picked up win #4 when Lewin Diaz homered in the 7th (#16) to break the deadlock after having an RBI double earlier. Wander Franco added an RBI double later in the inning to make it 4-2, and Adley Rutschman added an 8th-inning solo shot (#13/#22) for the final margin. Nick Anderson notched his 19th save.

Team record: 50-40. Next up: 3 tough games in Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

A not-so fun weekend in the Twin Cities as the Rays dropped 2 of 3 and saw their starters have to leave early in two of those games.

The first game saw Joe Ryan have to leave with a back tweak after 3 dominant innings. It's nothing serious and he'll make his next start but Brendan McKay immediately gave up a 3-run homer to Josh Donaldson in the 4th. The game stayed at 3-0 until the 7th when the Rays equalized on a 2-run Jarren Duran double, but Alex Vesia coughed up a homer to Nick Gordon in the bottom of the 10th and Minnesota won 4-3.

It was deja vu again in the second game when Chris Sale (surprise, surprise) also had to leave after 3 scoreless innings with a minor injury (mild hamstring strain, also won't miss a start). Unlike McKay yesterday, Shane McClanahan came on and did the job, chucking 3 scoreless innings for the win as the Rays took a 4-1 decision. Jarren Duran and Brandon Lowe had RBI singles in the 3rd and Vidal Brujan continued to flex with HR #8. Nick Anderson got his 20th save, a 4-out job.

In the finale Tarik Skubal had a nightmare first inning, allowing 3 runs and throwing 30 pitches, and although he settled down from there the damage was done as the bats were held in check in a 4-1 loss. Randy Arozarena's 9th HR in the 7th was the only Rays run in a game which saw them whiff 12 times.

Team record: 51-42, tied for first with Toronto after the Jays took 2 of 3 from San Antonio. Next up: Cleveland visits the Trop for 3.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took the first two from the Guardians at the Trop, but dropped the 3rd game. Luckily Toronto lost its first two against Houston before winning their third game, so the net result is that the Rays are a game up in the AL East.

In Game 1 it was Bucs 14, Browns 3 or something like that. The Rays put up their first TD + extra point in the first 3 innings to go up 7-0 and the rout was on. 5 Rays homered: Brandon Lowe (#18), Carter Kieboom (#9), Jorge Ona (#12), Vidal Brujan (#9) and Adley Rutschman (#14/23). All except Rutschman's (a solo blast) were 2-run homers. Ona also had a 2-run single to give him a 4-RBI day. Matt Peacock was the beneficiary of all the support, going 6.2 6 2 2 1 8 to improve to 8-5, 3.98.

The second game was a relatively comfortable 6-2 win behind another strong effort from Tyler Glasnow as the Rays ace went 6 6 2 2 1 9 to up his record to 7-5, 3.39. Jorge Ona picked up where he left off yesterday with an RBI single in the 2nd to get them on the board, and Carter Kieboom went boom again with #10 while Lewin Diaz also went yard with his 17th of the season.

The good times came to a halt in the finale as Joe Ryan struggled in a 7-4 loss. Ryan gave up 3 in the 3rd and then he and Nick Sandlin had a nightmarish 6th which saw the Guardians put 4 more on the board with help from a Wander Franco error. That made it 7-0 before Brandon Lowe blasted a 3-run shot to dead center (#19) and Austin Meadows hit #10 in the 8th to make it a game before they went out meekly in the 9th.

Team record: 53-43. Next up: 3 games in Oakland.

[Art Deco]

An impressive weekend for the Rays as they sweep a team with a better record than them (coming in, at least) in their ballpark.

The Rays started off the first game quickly, putting 3 on the board as Jarren Duran led off the game with a homer (#17), Randy Arozarena had a sac fly and Lewin Diaz stroked an RBI double. Chris Sale started and pitched decently but ran up quite a pitch count and couldn't make it through the 5th, finishing 4.1 6 2 2 3 7 on 101 pitches. Devin Williams took over, held it at 3-2 and picked up his 4th win with Nick Anderson grabbing save #21. Diaz made things more comfortable with his 18th homer to cap a 3-hit day.

Game 2 was a wild slugfest the Rays won 15-8, seeing them open up a 10-3 lead only for Oakland to cut it to 10-8 before piling on the runs again. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit but the star of the show was Vidal Brujan, 4-5 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI. Jarren Duran led the game off again with a homer (#18) as part of a 3-hit, 3-RBI day, and Brandon Lowe had a big 3-run homer (#20) after Oakland closed within 10-8. Tarik Skubal started and got win #5. While his 5.1 5 5 5 3 8 line doesn't look great, it was marred by Brendan McKay, who gave up 2 hits to score Skubal runners and then surrendered a 3-run homer as I've just about had it with him. Alex Vesia went 2 1/3 perfect to calm things down.

The finale was the most satisfying win of the bunch as the Rays looked dead and buried down 4-1 going into the 7th before rallying for 4 runs in the inning to take a 5-4 win. Wander Franco and Adley Rutschman delivered big 2-run singles in the inning to turn things around. Shane McClanahan picked up the win in relief and Nick Anderson hurled a 2-inning save (#22), largely because I lost track of the innings and thought the 8th was the 9th when I brought him in but it worked out anyway.

Team record: 56-43. Despite the sweep the Rays didn't gain any ground on Toronto as the Jays swept the Yankees. We get an off day then comes the biggest series of the season to date as the Toronto comes to Tropicana Field for 3.

[Art Deco]

As mentioned above, I've had it with Brendan McKay and after yet another terrible outing I was ready to move on. As a reliever, Dunn has 70 stuff, 55 movement and 50 control and Seattle was using him as their closer, but I plan on having him pitch multi-inning middle relief with an eye toward making him a starter next year (or this year should we have another injury, always a possibility with Chris Sale in the rotation). We were a bit too lefty-heavy in the pen with Poche, Vesia, McClanahan and Fletcher already on the staff so this move gives us balance too.

[Art Deco]

No need to hype this series - with the Rays and Jays in mortal combat for first place the last few weeks, a decisive outcome for either team could give them a serious leg up with little more than 1/3 of the season left. And a decisive outcome is what the Rays delivered, sweeping the Jays and opening up a 4-game lead in the division. And "decisive" also described the three games as the Rays outscored Toronto by an aggregate of 20-5.

Nominally the first game was the closest as the Rays won 4-2 but even that was a bit deceiving as Toronto scored twice in the 9th. But the Rays first had to deal with adversity as Tyler Glasnow had to leave the game in the 2nd inning with what was diagnosed as a bone spur in his elbow, which will shelve him 2-3 weeks. So it was a bullpen game and the bullpen did the job, starting with new acquisition Justin Dunn immediately pressed into action. He went 2 2/3 scoreless and picked up the win and Nick Sandlin was also huge with 3 scoreless and 4 Ks. The offense came via 2 in the first on RBI doubles from old standbys Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows, and then a 2-run homer in the 4th from Vidal Brujan (#10), who continued his improbable power surge (rated 40!).

Transaction: Tyler Glasnow placed on the 10-day IL, Taj Bradley recalled from AAA Durham.

Bradley is a quality starter prospect but he'll go into long relief with Justin Dunn moving into the rotation in Glasnow's spot. After being promoted to Durham, Bradley pitched to a 2.13 ERA in 38 IP over 6 starts with a 10/42 BB/K ratio and is rated for 65 stuff as a reliever.

The Rays didn't fool around in the second game, scoring all 8 of their runs in the first two innings and blanking the Jays 8-0. Toronto and Nate Pearson were nearly out of the first with two out but Randy Arozarena shook out of his season-long doldrums to deliver a big 2-run single and Lewin Diaz singled home Arozarena. In the second inning Jorge Ona had to come in for Austin Meadows who left with knee tendinitis (minimal, but DtD for about 10 days) and all he did was deliver a grand slam (HR #13). Meanwhile Joe Ryan (7-6) owned Jays hitters to the tune of 7.2 3 0 0 2 8, leaving with two on and two out in the 8th. Enter Taj Bradley in his MLB debut, who struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and then two more Jays in a 1-2-3 9th.

Tampa Bay picked up where it left off in Game 2 by putting up another snowman in an 8-3 win. Chris Sale started and struggled against the almost exclusively righty-hitting lineup of the Jays and gave up runs in the first two innings, battling baserunners throughout but got the win despite a 5 9 3 3 1 2 line. That's because the Rays answered those single runs in the top of the 1st and 2nd with a pair of 3-spots, bringing the boomsticks. After Adley Rutschman tied it in the first with a single, Randy Arozarena hit a 2-run blast (#10), and in the 2nd Jorge Ona homered again (#14) and "Babe" Brujan went deep with a man on (#11) and the Rays never really looked back, something they'd also like to say about the division after this series.

Team record: 59-43. Next up: 3 games in Texas where the Rays will try to avoid a letdown.

[Art Deco]

The fear here was that after the big sweep of Toronto, there'd be a letdown in this series against the lowly Rangers. And for 1 game and 8 innings it looked that way before the Rays salvaged Game 2 with 2 runs in the 9th and then clubbed the Rangers in the finale to take 2 of 3. That's what Toronto did against Seattle as well, so the lead remains 4 but 3 days have come off the calendar.

Tarik Skubal struggled with his control in Game 1 and gave up 3 runs in the 3rd inning as the Rays lost 4-3. Skubal walked 5 in 5 innings including one with the bases loaded in the third, although he did fan 7. Still the Rays battled back to tie it up on a Jarren Duran homer (#19) and a Brandon Lowe RBI double. But Duran's throwing error contributed to Texas getting the winning run in the 8th off Aaron Fletcher. Adley Rutschman hit #15 as a Ray and #24 overall in the 2nd.

Things weren't looking much better in the second game when Matt Peacock also battled wildness, walking the bases loaded ahead of a Jesse Winker slam in the 1st and after another homer in the 2nd it was 5-0 Texas. Peacock made it through 4 1/3 and then the bullpen did a fine job holding the Rangers at 5, buying time for a comeback which started in the 6th with 4 runs with the big hit a 2-run Vidal Brujan double. Then in the 9th they got 2 in scoring position and Wander Franco delivered a single to score them both for the win. Yesterday's loser Aaron Fletcher got win #5 and Nick Anderson notched save #23.

No need for a comeback in the finale as the Rays raced out to leads of 8-1 and 10-3 before eventually winning 12-6. Vidal Brujan shows no signs of reverting to the singles hitter he's rated as with yet another homer (#12), a 3-run shot in the 2nd to get the Rays going. Randy Arozarena hit #11 (and who'd have thought in late July Brujan would have more homers than Arozarena?), Jarren Duran had a bases-clearing double in the 3rd, and the rout was on as they banged out 17 hits. Justin Dunn got the start and the win but wasn't that great, going 5 9 3 3 2 4 and escaped some jams, while Taj Bradley didn't fare as well in his 2nd MLB appearance, giving up 3 runs on a pair of homers in 1 2/3 innings.

Team record: 61-44. Next up: 3 in Detroit.

[Art Deco]

I wasn't looking to make a deal at the deadline, but in a rare case of getting a trade offer from the AI which made sense and addressed a need, I made this deal just before the deadline (with the only difference from the original offer having Detroit pick up 35% of his salary):



Clevinger isn't the ace he was in the late teens with Cleveland, and he did miss the last two seasons with injury after being traded to San Diego, but he's still a useful starting pitcher. That, coupled with the less than impressive start from Justin Dunn we just got, motivated me to accept the offer. I know I didn't give Dunn much of a chance, but the deadline was here. Dunn will go back to middle relief. Clevinger is a free agent at year's end so this is purely a rental. Among those traded away, only Doxakis looks like a decent bet to be a big leaguer and he seems like a potential 5th starter/swingman to me.

Also this remarkable game took place:



Since there's never been a double no-hitter, this ties the MLB record of fewest hits combined for both teams in a game (1), set in this game.

[Art Deco]

This was not a great weekend in Detroit, with the Rays being blown out in the first two games before salvaging the third game and with a key player going down with a 2-month injury. But despite all of that they still gained a game on the Blue Jays, who were swept in Boston, and the lead is now 5 games as we move into August.

The final score of the first game was 10-2 Detroit, but it was a close game until the wheels came off in the 7th, when the Tigers scored 7 times. Since all Mike Clevinger had to do was walk across the stadium to the visitors' locker room, he made his Rays debut and it was a mixed bag, going 4.1 4 3 3 3 4. He left in the 5th thanks to a 64-minute rain delay and when we came back Alex Vesia took over and allowed 2 of Clevinger's runners to score. Then Nick Sandlin and Colin Poche imploded in that 7th inning after the Rays closed within 3-2. But the worst aspect of the game is that Vidal Brujan suffered a serious back strain and will miss nearly 2 months. Brujan has been the sparkplug of this team as well as an unexpected source of power and he'll be missed.

Transaction: Vidal Brujan to the 10-day IL, Hunter Bishop called up from AAA Durham. Bishop wasn't exactly lighting it up at Durham but I still think he's the best choice over Joey Gallo or Heliot Ramos. Bishop will get a chance to DH (or play OF while one of the OFs DH) against righties and Jorge Ona will see some more PT.

The second game wasn't much better than the first with the Rays going down 8-3 after Joe Ryan allowed 7 runs on 4 homers, including a pair from former teammate Mike Zunino. Randy Arozarena drove in a couple of runs to pace the relatively moribund offense.

The Rays snapped back in the series finale, beating Detroit by the same 8-3 score they lost by yesterday. Chris Sale ended up with the win and pitched well overall (7 6 3 3 1 3) but had a bad 3rd inning in which he allowed all 3 runs and put Tampa Bay in a 3-1 hole. But a big 6-run 4th which saw Jorge Ona hit a 3-run HR (#15) and Adley Rutschman a 2-run blast (#16/#25) propelled them to victory. Randy Arozarena, another one of our offensive cornerstones who had a miserable first half, homered in the 9th (#12) and is hopefully starting to snap out of it.

Team record: 62-46. Next up: Back home for 3 vs Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

(That should say 2023, not 2037, sometime I lose track of which dynasty I'm in)

The Rays took 2 of 3 from Baltimore and increased their lead over Toronto to 6 games, but it was a rough series injury-wise.

The opener went the Rays' way 9-4, but Tarik Skubal blew a 4-1 lead before the Rays got him off the hook with a couple of runs in the 7th and then broke it open with 3 more in the 8th. The first in our run of injuries happened when Jorge Ona was beaned with a pitch and suffered a concussion which will sideline him about a week. But his replacement on the night, Hunter Bishop, came through with his first 2-HR game in MLB including the tiebreaker in the 6th as he doubled his season total. Also going deep were Adley Rutschman in the 1st with a man on (#17/26), Brandon Lowe who went back-to-back with him for #21, and Lewin Diaz who followed Bishop in the 6th with #19. Skubal went 6 7 4 4 0 8 and improved to 6-3, 4.20 as a Ray.

Transaction: Jorge Ona placed on the 10-day IL with his concussion, Heliot Ramos called up from AA Montgomery.

The second game was brutal as the Rays fell 5-3 and lost two third baseman to injury. Wander Franco started at 3B with Carter Kieboom in need of a rest, and he left with what turned out to be a sore elbow in the 1st. So Kieboom came in and strained his hip in the 7th, and Hunter Bishop ended up playing 3B. Franco's injury is relatively minor but will nag him for 2-3 weeks while Kieboom is ruled out for 4 weeks. Jarren Duran led the game off with HR #20 but that was the high point of the night as Matt Peacock pitched OK but was hurt by his defense, going 7 6 5 3 1 6.

Transaction: Kieboom goes on the IL with the strained hip and Mike Brosseau is recalled from Durham.

The third game saw the Rays and Mike Clevinger make it through the 6th up 2-0 before Devin Williams gave up 2 unearned runs in the 7th (off an Adley Rutschman passed ball) to allow Baltimore to equalize. But in the bottom of the inning Rutschman atoned for his miscue by drilling a HR into the Rays tank (#18/27) and Lewin Diaz singled in a run to lead the Rays to a 4-2 win. Clevinger was excellent (5.2 5 0 0 2 8) and Pete Fairbanks got win #3 in relief with Nick Anderson notching save #24. Brandon Lowe hit #22 earlier in the game. For a change, nobody left the game injured.

Team record: 64-47. Next up: An off-day then we head to Anaheim for 3 against the team with the best record in baseball, the 74-37 Angels (with old friend Willy Adames).

[Art Deco]

A fine showing against the team with MLB's best record as the Rays took 2 of 3 and should have had a sweep. Coupled with the Jays dropping 2 of 3 to Cleveland, and the Rays now have a 7-game lead in the AL East.

We made a couple of moves when we weren't sure how bad Wander Franco's injury was and with Carter Kieboom out, but since it's day-to-day and he can play they're not quite as significant. Johan Camargo was claimed on waivers, he can play a 60 3B and is an adequate hitter, but nothing special. To make room for him on the 40-man, Josh Lowe was put on the 60-day IL as he was hurt at Montgomery and will miss 5 weeks. We also signed utility guy Marwin Gonzalez to a minor league contract, a similar .250-type hitter to Camargo. Mike Brosseau was optioned to Durham to make room for Camargo.

As for the games with the Angels, the opener was a tough one to lose for the Rays - after jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first and chasing Andrew Heaney, Joe Ryan squandered the lead giving up a pair of Shohei Ohtani 2-run homers and the Rays lost 6-5, also due to not scoring on other golden chances later in the game. Adley Rutschman had a 3-run blast in that first inning (#19/28) and they kept the rally going with a couple more runs but couldn't score another the rest of the way. Ryan's had 3 bad starts in his last 4.

Transaction: Tyler Glasnow activated from the IL, Colin Poche optioned to Durham. Glasnow will go right back into the rotation since he only missed a couple of weeks, and Joe Ryan is being moved to long relief. A 4.55 ERA and 28 homers allowed in 128 innings will do that.

The second game was a back-and-forth affair with the Rays trailing 2-0, going ahead 3-2, and seeing LA tie it at 3 before Austin Meadows hit a mammoth homer to dead center (#11) in the top of the 9th to win it for Tampa Bay 4-3. Chris Sale turned in another good start (6 2 2 2 3 2), Aaron Fletcher got win #6 despite allowing the game-tying hit, and Nick Anderson secured save #25. Earlier, Hunter Bishop had an RBI double and Jarren Duran a 2-run single to put the Rays ahead for the first time.

The Rays brought the bats out in the finale, taking a 9-5 win which had some echoes of the first game when Tyler Glasnow gave up a pair of homers in the 6th to allow LA back within 7-5 after the Rays opened a 7-2 lead, but the bullpen held and they tacked on two more when the player of the game, Hunter Bishop, hit the second of his two 2-run homers to give him 6 in total. Austin Meadows and Taylor Walls each drove in a pair as well. Glasnow got the win to go to 8-5 despite a tarnished 5.2 5 5 5 2 6 line which saw him imitate Joe Ryan with 3 homers allowed.

Team record: 66-48. Next up: Back home for 3 vs Kansas City.