The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 14

Art Deco · 09-25-2020, 05:09 PM

Game 1: A pretty good pitchers' duel between Daniel Lynch and Kevin Abel was decided in the 7th inning when Brandon Nimmo took Lynch deep for a 2-run HR and the Orioles beat the Rays 5-2 to move back within 3 1/2 games of the division lead and 2 in the loss column. Lynch had given up a first inning HR to Bryson Stott and another in the 4th but the Rays came back both times to equalize, first on Patrick Bailey's first MLB homer (and hit) and then on Spencer Torkelson's RBI single. But with 1 out and a man on in the 7th, the lefty Nimmo homered off the lefty Lynch to decide the game. Liam Hendriks came on and was great, retiring all 5 Orioles he faced including 3 via strikeout, but Aaron Ashby allowed Baltimore an insurance run in the 9th. The Rays were playing without Keibert Ruiz and Keston Hiura, who both needed to be rested, and then Austin Meadows had to leave the game in the 4th with quadriceps soreness after hitting a double. He's DtD for 3 more days after this, so he'll probably be limited to pinch-hitting the rest of this series. The two 1B who can't hit, Renato Nunez and Triston Casas (who played 3B today), were each 0-3 and are now hitting .169 and .174 respectively. Alec Bohm can't come back soon enough (he's still out for another 8 days).

Game 2: The Rays continue to have their problems with Baltimore, losing this one in the 9th 5-3. Today's loss was the 4th straight to Baltimore, all at the Trop, and the O's lead the season series 7-4, which is why they're now within 2 1/2 games and 1 in the loss column. They were done in by Baltimore rookie Druw Jones, son of the legendary Andruw. Jones homered to lead the game off against Matt Manning and then delivered the game-winning hit, a triple off Jose Alvarado in the 9th. The Rays rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game before the 9th, first on a 2-run HR from Brandon Marsh (#12) in the 5th and then on a Vidal Brujan RBI single in the 7th. Both times Bramdon Perez came in to score as the rookie RF filling in for Austin Meadows went 3-4 with a triple. The triple came in the bottom of the 9th but the Rays couldn't get him home. Matt Manning wasn't his best, as his recent not-so-great run sees his ERA rise from just below 2 to now just below 3 at 2.98 after today's 6 8 3 3 0 8. Aaron Ashby pitched a scoreless 7th, Nick Anderson got two outs in the 8th before Alvarado came in and ended up losing it in the 9th.

July 16: Optioned P Dustin May to AAA Durham, activated P Asa Lacy from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

Lacy will get the start tonight with Tyler Glasnow out one more day with his back spasms, and will take over May's long relief role afterwards.

Game 3: Talk about seizing your opportunity. That's what Asa Lacy did today in his spot start for the Rays, pitching 8 shutout innings in a critical 4-0 win over Baltimore to avoid getting swept and to keep the Orioles from getting with 1 1/2 games and level in the loss column. Instead it's 3 1/2 and 2, thanks to Lacy's brilliant 8 5 0 0 1 8 performance on 106 pitches. He got into some trouble off the bat with two men on in the first inning but got out of it and was never in danger after that. Keibert Ruiz did assist him by throwing out a couple of runners trying to steal but this was Lacy's gem. Overlooked before he got hurt was the fact he had pitched well before this and for the season he has a 4/28 BB/K ratio in 26 innings. He got all the offense he would need in the 1st when the Rays scored on a Ruiz single and Bramdon Perez's sac fly. Keibert came through again in the 2nd with an RBI knock to make it 3-0, and Perez got his 2nd RBI when he singled in Keston Hiura in the 7th after Hiura singled and stole second. Wander was 3-5 with 2 runs scored and a steal. Renato Nunez started against a RHP today as Hunter Bishop needed a rest and he was 0-4 and left 6 men on base as he dropped to .163. He's a very good candidate to be DFA'd when Alec Bohm comes back.

Team record: 58-37. Next up: An off-day followed by 3 games at home vs Seattle before we head into the All-Star break.

Art Deco · 09-26-2020, 11:06 AM

Game 1: 4 was the number of the night as the Rays rode a 4-4 performance from Vidal Brujan, 4 solo HRs and 4 shutout innings from the bullpen to a 6-4 win over Seattle. Naturally the score was 4-4 in the 6th inning when Triston Casas greeted Addison Reed with a solo HR into the RF stands, his 8th of the season, to break the tie and deliver the winning run. Austin Meadows hit #13 for some insurance in the 7th, Jose Alvarado pitched a filthy 8th whiffing two and Jasseel De La Cruz made us ride the Jasseelacoaster once again by loading the bases in the ninth (including two HBPs) before getting Miguel Andujar to pop to first for his 23rd save. Tyler Glasnow got the start and he was pretty awful, going 5 11 4 4 1 3 and being bailed out by a couple of double plays. The Rays took 2-0 and 4-2 leads which Glasnow gave back and he just hasn't been right the last 6 weeks or so with his nagging injuries and lousy performances. Mitch Keller took over in the 6th and pitched two scoreless innings to pick up win #5. They got 2 in the first when Brujan led off with a single, stole second (steal #40) and scored on a Wander double with Wander scoring on Keston Hiura's sac fly. Brujan (#7) and Keibert (#13) went deep in the 2nd to make it 4-2 after Glasnow gave up 2 in the top of the inning, and Brujan missed the cycle by a triple, walking in his 5th plate appearance. Baltimore won yesterday on our off-day but lost tonight in KC so the lead is now 4 games.

Game 2: They had it won, they blew it, and then they won it again as the Rays came from behind twice to beat Seattle 4-3. Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR (#8) in the bottom of the 8th to greet Seattle reliever Michael Lorenzen was the difference in the game. This came after Miguel Andujar hit a rare HR off Jose Alvarado, a 2-run shot in the top of the inning to put the Mariners up 3-2. For the first half of the game Shane McClanahan and Zach Davies traded zeroes before a bout of wildness for Mac led to a Mariner run in the top of the 5th, culminated by a bases-loaded walk to Jarred Kelenic. But the Rays, who spent most of the game pounding the ball into the ground off Davies with 17 (!) ground outs, finally got to the Seattle righty in the bottom of the inning and loaded the bases for Vidal Brujan who delivered a 2-out, 2-run single. Nick Anderson had a perfect 7th and stayed on to retire former Ray Michael Brousseau to lead off the 8th, only for Alvarado to run into trouble allowing a hit and then Andujar's blast, only the 2nd off him this season. But Keston Hiura singled, stole second and then came home on Bishop's blast in the bottom of the inning. With Jasseel De La Cruz pitched out from his adventurous save last night, Liam Hendriks came on in the 9th and unlike De La Cruz had a stress-free 1-2-3 9th inning to pick up his first Rays save. Alvarado vultured the win, his 3rd. And the news was good from elsewhere as Kansas City topped Baltimore again to boost the Rays' division lead to 5.

Game 3: The Rays dropped a not-as-close-as-the-score-appears 9-6 decision to Seattle today, as they scored three times in the 8th and 9th to make a blowout look respectable. The pitching didn't have it today as Mitchell White was vicitimized for HRs by Jarred Kelenic, Jason Martin and Julio Rodriguez on his way to a 4.2 5 5 5 3 2 outing and dropping to 10-4, 3.33, and then Mitch Keller came in and gave up a big 3-run HR to Michael Brosseau which blew the game open in the 6th after the Rays had battled back to get within 5-3. Only Aaron Ashby (a perfect 1.2 with 2 Ks) and Mitchell Verburg (a 1-2-3 inning) pitched well as Daniel Lynch was not effective being used in relief with the All-Star break coming up as he put the runners on which Keller allowed to score. Keibert Ruiz was 4-5 with an RBI double, Hunter Bishop drove in 3 runs with a fielder's choice and a 2-RBI single and Spencer Torkelson had 3 hits including 2 of the infield variety. Baltimore beat KC to pull back within 4.

Team record: 60-38. Next up: The All-Star break, which comes late this year (the Rays have already played 98 games). We'll have a post up shortly with the All-Star rosters and the results of the game and the HR Derby.

Art Deco · 09-26-2020, 05:23 PM

First off, here's at look at the standings and leaders at the break:

And here are the All-Star teams. The Rays again are well represented with the surprise being Torkelson (who won the DH vote) in over Meadows (who granted is having a bit of a down year). Wander led all AL players in votes.

Joey Gallo beat Yordan Alvarez 24-23 in the final round to win the HR Derby.

In the All-Star Game, the AL prevailed 2-1 with the difference being Wander Franco's HR in the 4th inning off former teammate Noah Syndergaard. Among the three Rays that started, Wander was 1-4, Spencer Torkelson was 0-2, Keibert Ruiz was 0-3 and Matt Manning pitched a scoreless inning allowing a hit and a strikeout. Tyler Glasnow pitched a scoreless 8th with a walk and a strikeout. Keston Hiura did not get into the game.

Next up for the Rays: 3 games in Toronto to start the "2nd half".

Art Deco · 09-26-2020, 09:22 PM

July 23: Sent 1B Alec Bohm to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

Bohm has played a couple games at Durham already and was 1-8 with a triple. I'll probably let him go the weekend to get some more ABs and activate him for the homestand starting Monday. Odds are Renato Nunez gets DFA'd although I could send down Bramdon Perez, which would have been the original plan. But the problem for Nunez, aside from the fact he's hitting about .165 in extended playing time, is that Hunter Bishop has been hitting lefties (276/356/550), obviating the need to bench him and play Torkelson in LF and Nunez at DH.

Game 1: Not the usual slugfest at Rogers Centre but the Rays did enough to eke out a 5-4 win in the first game back from the All-Star break. Wander Franco's 7th inning RBI single broke a 3-3 tie and a Spencer Torkelson sac fly in the 8th gave the Rays an insurance run they cashed in after Nick Anderson ran into some trouble in the bottom of the frame. Shane McClanahan got the start and was up and down, going 4.2 5 3 3 3 3 with Mitchell Verburg having to bail him out with men on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out in the 5th. Verburg stayed on to throw a perfect 6th and that ended up earning him his 1st win of the season. Brandon Marsh singled in a run in the 2nd and Austin Meadows continues to love this building as he hit #14 in the 3rd. Still the Rays trailed 3-2 going into the 7th but Triston Casas, heating up of late, blasted HR #9 to tie the game before a couple of men got on ahead of Franco who delivered the go-ahead hit. Jose Alvarado had an uneventful 7th, but Nick Anderson gave up 3 hits and a run in the 8th after retiring the first batter on a strikeout and he needed to be bailed out by new late-inning weapon Liam Hendriks and the 36-year-old righty got a pair of whiffs to keep the Rays in front. Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a one-out hit and had to face Vlad Jr. who hit the ball hard but right at Hunter Bishop, and then he got a grounder to end the game and grab save #24. And good news from Baltimore as Blake Snell and Mets beat them in extra innings to make the lead 5 games.

Game 2: This was a more typical Rogers Centre affair at 9-8, but the Rays were on the wrong end of the score as they blew 3 different leads in the game and lost it in the bottom of the 9th. They jumped on Eleiser Medrano for 4 runs in the 1st but in shades of Game 4 of the 2022 ALDS, Daniel Lynch channeled Max Fried and gave that lead right back by the second inning and it was 5-4 Jays. But Vidal Brujan launched HR #8 with a man on in the 4th to make it 6-5 Rays and they added a run in the 6th to make it 7-5 on a Toronto error. But Lynch and Mitchell Verburg combined in the 6th to allow the Jays to tie it at 7, and although Triston Casas and Vidal Brujan hit doubles to put the Rays back ahead in the top of the inning, Nick Anderson allowed an Aaron Ashby runner to score to tie it at 8. Jose Alvarado got a pair of strikeouts to close out the 8th and stayed on to face the leadoff lefty in the 9th, whom he struck out but he walked Justin Ellison. Liam Hendriks came on and had his first bad Rays outing, giving up a single and a walk to load the bases, and then gave up an RBI single to Ryan McKenna to let Toronto walk it off. Austin Meadows, Keibert Ruiz, Hunter Bishop and Spencer Torkelson all had RBI hits in the 1st, but Lynch had a poor 5 7 6 6 3 4 outing, his first such one since rejoining the rotation. Fortunately Baltimore lost another extra-inning game to the Mets so the lead remains 5.

Game 3: A nightmare of a game that saw the Rays lose starter Mitchell White after an inning to elbow inflammation which will keep him out 4-5 weeks and the bullpen blow it again, this time losing a 6-2 lead in the 8th to drop a 7-6 decision. After Spencer Torkelson hit HR #13, Vidal Brujan singled in Triston Casas who had tripled, and Brandon Marsh had a 2-run triple of his own, the Rays opened a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the 8th. Mitch Keller got the first two outs of the inning but gave up a double to Vlad Jr and with two lefties due in the next 3 batters Aaron Ashby came in and simply couldn't get anyone out. He gave up consecutive singles to score a run and then gave up a 3-run HR to lefty Ryan Noda to tie the game. He gave up 2 more hits after that before Jasseel De La Cruz had to get the final out, and then De La Cruz allowed a single to lead off the 9th. He threw out the lead runner at 2nd on a bunt attempt, but Vlad Jr got an infield single and Luis Toribio followed with a single to right to score the winning run. Asa Lacy, who'll take White's place in the rotation, went 4 4 2 2 0 6 in relief with the second run scoring when Keller gave up a double to score his runner. Earlier in the game Wander hit #22 to give the Rays a 2-0 first-inning lead. The only solace they could take today was that the Mets swept Baltimore at Camden Yards so the division lead remains 5.

Team record: 61-40. Next up: 3 at home vs the Yankees.

Art Deco · 09-27-2020, 01:11 PM

July 28: Traded 24-year-old minor league left fielder Erickvi Celedonio and 24-year-old minor league catcher Enrique Romero to the Chicago Cubs, getting 24-year-old closer Evan Godwin and 24-year-old minor league first baseman Chris Sharp in return.

Placed P Mitchell White on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation, recalled P Nick Frasso from AAA Durham.

Activated 1B Alec Bohm from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, designated 1B Renato Nunez for assignment and placed him on waivers.

A whole lotta moves. We'll start with the deal for Godwin, a young lefty I really like and who the Cubs had just made their closer. He had a 2.88 ERA and 59 Ks in 40 innings. Aaron Ashby had been pitching well but his meltdown yesterday has me uneasy so now I have a 3rd lefty to use as Asa Lacy moves into the rotation. The price wasn't terribly high; Romero is a good catching prospect but behind Bailey, Cardenas and Britton in the system, and Celedonio has regressed in his second straight year at AA Montgomery. And Sharp was the Cubs' 1st-round pick last season and is an interesting power-hitting 1B prospect, although he's potentially more of a 20-HR guy with doubles and walks.

The other moves are fairly self-explanatory, although Frasso just comes up for tonight to give us a fresh arm before I officially activate Godwin tomorrow as he was used yesterday by the Cubs.

Game 1: At 30-71 the league has had their way with the Yankees this year, but one team that hasn't is the Rays, as they've just about split their games. And tonight, in perhaps one of the more pathetic performances of the season the Yanks drubbed them 9-3 at home. With a tired bullpen I was hoping for length from Matt Manning, but the ace righty has been anything but an ace the last month and was terrible again, especially with his control as he walked 5 and hit a man in 5 innings that went 5 5 7 3 5 7. Raudy Read's grand slam off him in the 5th produced 4 unearned runs thanks to an Alec Bohm error but that was nice for his ERA and nothing else. Nick Frasso went 3 mop-up innings to relieve the rest of the pen. The offense couldn't do anything against the immortal Miguel Yajure, except for a 2-run Wander HR, #23 and giving him an AL-leading 84 RBI. Keston Hiura had an RBI single late. Having lost 3 straight, the only thing going for them right now is that Baltimore has been just as bad, losing again tonight in Boston so they remain fortunate to be up 5.

Game 2: Keibert Ruiz had a 5-RBI night and Tyler Glasnow threw 6 strong innings to pace the Rays to a 6-0 win over the Yankees. Glasnow wasn't pitch-efficient but he was effective in going 6 4 0 0 2 6 on 109 pitches and it was good enough to get him his 11th win of the season. Ruiz was the offense, singling in a run in the 1st, hitting a sac fly for a run in the 3rd and then blasting a 3-run homer to break it open in the 7th, #12 on the year. With the game still on the line at 2-0 in the 7th, Nick Anderson had a perfect 3K 1-2-3 inning and after the Rays made it 6-0 Mitch Keller pitched the final 2 innings to close it out. Meanwhile the Orioles' free-fall continues with another loss at Boston and the division lead is now a season-high 6 games.

Game 3: Although he pitched a complete-game shutout against the White Sox 4 starts ago, tonight's 7-inning stint from Shane McClanahan was probably the best-pitched game of his career in a 5-0 win over the Yankees. He took a no-hitter into the 7th, losing it with one out on Giancarlo Stanton's single after Wander Franco had made an error and finished 7 1 0 0 1 10 on 97 pitches. Evan Godwin made his Rays debut and struck out the side around a walk in the 8th, and Mitchell Verburg completed the team shutout in the 9th. They got all the offense they would need in the 1st when Vidal Brujan singled, stole second, and eventually scored on an Alec Bohm RBI single and Keston Hiura followed Bohm with a 2-run homer, #10. Patrick Bailey and Austin Meadows added RBI singles in the 5th and 6th to complete the scoring. Although Bailey isn't hitting much (2-20), at least he's coaxing good performances out of the staff unlike Chris Betts. And Boston completed the sweep of Baltimore, who has lost all 6 of its game since the break and has now fallen 7 games back of the Rays.

Team record: 63-41. Next up: 4 at home vs Boston, who has moved to within 2 games of Baltimore after going through a huge slump of their own.

Art Deco · 09-27-2020, 08:40 PM

Game 1: The Rays continue to have their problems with Boston as they drop an 8-2 decision today. The game was effectively over in the 2nd when the Red Sox hit Daniel Lynch for hit after hit with an HBP and a walk mixed in and an error to cap off a 5-run inning. A couple of starts ago after a good outing I wondered why I ever took Lynch out of the rotation but his two starts since the break reminded me why as he went 5 11 7 6 1 5 today. The Rays' two runs came courtesy of a Wander Franco triple, as he knocked one in and then scored on a Keibert Ruiz sac fly. That was all they could manage against longtime nemesis Caleb Smith, who pitched 7 strong innings today. Baltimore finally got a win, beating Shane Baz and the Tigers to pull within 6 while the Red Sox move within 8.

Game 2: Groundhog Day at the Trop as the Red Sox had another big second inning and went on to rout the Rays 13-2. Things got so bad Triston Casas pitched the 9th, and actually was the best Rays pitcher on the day with a scoreless inning. Asa Lacy was nothing like his brilliant spot start against Baltimore a couple of weeks ago, and was pounded for 4.2 11 6 6 1 3 after a 4-run 2nd inning. Liam Hendriks and Mitch Keller combined to allow another 7 runs, while Aaron Ashby joined Casas with a scoreless inning. The Rays offense, such as it was, consisted of Alec Bohm's #16th HR, a near-500 foot shot off Cionel Perez, who pitched a complete-game 7-hitter. Hunter Bishop doubled and scored on a Brandon Marsh single for the other run. The Rays are now 4-7 against Boston this year and these last two games have been two of the ugliest of the year, especially at home. I considered making a splash at the deadline by picking up a big-time starter like Tarik Skubal or Jesus Luzardo but the prices were steep as I wasn't ready to part with Christian Little or Andy Aparicio, two up-and-coming power pitchers ranked as the 6th and 9th overall prospects in MLB at the moment. Little is at Durham right now with his 80 stuff and since promotion has a 9/59 BB/K ratio in 38 innings although he's been hit a bit hard when he's been hit, with 5 HR allowed and a 4.46 ERA. He is coming off a 7 1 0 0 1 12 performance, though. He could be seen before season's end but he's not on the 40-man. Anyway back to the current depressing situation: the Rays are 3-5 since the break, and Baltimore beat Detroit again to climb back within 5.

Christian Little update: He went 7 3 0 0 2 14 against Lehigh Valley, the defending IL champion and team with the second-best record behind Durham. The 14 Ks were a Durham record. He's on the same schedule as Asa Lacy, just sayin...

Game 3: The Rays finally broke through against the Red Sox, turning the tables with a 10-4 pounding of their own. The Rays scored their 10 runs on only 7 hits, thanks in large part to Justin Dunn's 6 walks and a very timely homer. After a couple of walks from Dunn in the 3rd allowed the Rays to tie it at 1 on a Wander Franco sac fly, the dam burst in the 5th inning when Dunn walked the first three batters of the inning, gave up a Vidal Brujan single for a run and after striking out Wander, walked Austin Meadows to force in another run. Alec Bohm then hit a sac fly to make it 4-1 and Keston Hiura stepped up and hit #11 just inside the LF foul pole to make it 7-1. Matt Manning pitched his best game in some time while all this was going on (7.1 3 2 2 3 7), and left with one on and one out in the 8th and things got a bit dicey. Evan Godwin came in and got what should have been an out and probably a double play, but Wander threw it away for a 2-base error, scoring a run. Godwin then gave up a bloop single to load the bases and another single to score another run, then walked Yasmani Grandal to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. He got the lefty Tirso Orenlas out but with Monte Harrison up, Nick Anderson came on and gave up a single to make it 7-4 but Yoan Moncada foolishly tried to score and was gunned down by Brandon Marsh to allow the Rays to escape the inning. In the bottom of the 8th they put it out of reach on back-to-back HRs from Hunter Bishop (a 2-run shot for #9) and Spencer Torkelson (#14), and Anderson stayed on to pitch the 9th and collect save #4 while Manning improved to 11-6. The win was important because Baltimore won again to keep the lead at 5.

Game 4: After being routed in the first two games of this series, the Rays completed the 180-degree turn by routing Boston again 11-1. For the second straight day Keston Hiura had a key HR, tying the game in the bottom of the 2nd and Vidal Brujan followed later in the inning with a 2-run double to make it 3-1 and the Rays never looked back. Also homering for the second straight day was Spencer Torkelson (3-4 today) and his 2-run HR (#15) in the 4th made it a more comfortable 5-1, Wander Franco added a 2-run triple in the 6th to make it 7-1 and Alec Bohm, Hiura, Brujan and Keibert Ruiz had RBI hits in the 8th to round out the scoring. Tyler Glasnow was in his rocking chair throughout, going 6 6 1 1 1 3 but put two men on in the 7th. Evan Godwin came in and snuffed out the nascent Sox rally and ended up throwing two perfect innings while Mitchell Verburg finished it off as Glasnow grabbed his 12th win. Baltimore kept the pressure on by winning and keeping the division lead at 5 ahead of their 2 games at Camden Yards coming up.

Team record: 65-43. Next up, an off-day followed by 2 big games in Baltimore.

Art Deco · 09-28-2020, 04:12 PM

Game 1: A terrible performance all around as the Orioles blasted the Rays 8-1. They were bad in all phases of the game as Shane McClanahan went 4.2 7 5 5 3 5 and Mitch Keller relieved him and immediately gave up an RBI double and then allowed a 3-run HR of his own in the 6th. The offense did its part too by only managing 4 hits for the entire game one of which was Wander Franco's RBI single in the 8th to avoid being shut out. And Wander's error in the 5th, while not causing any unearned runs, made the inning a lot tougher. So now Baltimore has pulled within 4 games, making tomorrow's game pivotal.

August 6: Optioned P Mitchell Verburg to AAA Durham, designated C Noah Cardenas for assignment and placed him on waivers, purchased the contract of P Christian Little from AAA Durham.

Well this one falls into the category of YOLO and "Let's just do it and be legends". Not only am I sending down a player I don't want to send down and waiving a player I don't want to waive to make room on the 26 and 40-man rosters respectively for Little, I'm throwing a rookie in to start the biggest game of the year in a ballpark made for hitters. But hey, it's only a game, right? I do hope Cardenas clears waivers as after dealing Enrique Romero a couple of weeks ago, the catching depth could be quite thin in the upper levels of the organization. Verburg will be back up but someone will have to be down at Durham now, although Little could always go back there if things don't work out.

Game 2: Welp, that did not go well at all. The Christian Little debut looked great for 3 innings but turned out to be a disaster after that. Interestingly, the Orioles were making contact early in the count throughout and he only struck out 2 in the first 3 innings but hadn't given up a hit on only 31 pitches. He gave up a 2-run HR to Anthony Santander in the 4th, and then they started hitting him hard in the 5th and got two more on a double. Stubbornly I brought him out for the 6th and he gave up three more hits and a run, and the other two runners scored when Daniel Lynch allowed a Druw Jones grand slam. So yeah, it was another Baltimore blowout, this time 9-1 as Little went 5 8 7 7 0 2 in his MLB debut. So I may have lost a perfectly good player (Cardenas) to roll the dice here. The only consolation I can take in the decision is that Little would have to have pitched a shutout to alter the outcome of this game as once again the offense was AWOL. Baltimore starter Bryar Johnson went 7 4 1 1 1 10 against them with the only run coming on Brandon Marsh's 13th HR of the year which cut the lead to 2-1 at the time. Lynch would have received the start otherwise and he demonstrated tonight he wasn't pitching a shutout either. Not sure if I'm going to send Little back or give him another start. Since it would be in Fenway, I'm probably sending him back. And now the division lead is down to 3 games (2 in the loss column).

Team record: 65-45. Next up: 4 games in Seattle, the second leg of three on this long road trip.

Art Deco · 09-28-2020, 06:46 PM

Game 1: The Rays continue to circle the drain as they dropped their third straight and fifth in their last seven 5-4 to the Mariners. There was a distinct air of "here we go again" when Julio Rodriguez took an Asa Lacy pitch deep for a three-run HR in the first, and it was definitely "here we go again" as the offense could only manage 1 run and 3 hits off Nick Margevicius through 7 as they struck out 9 times. It took a 3-run rally in the 8th to make a game of it as Wander had a 2-run single to go with his earlier RBI hit (giving him an AL-leading 93) and Alec Bohm singled in another run, but with men on 1st and 2nd and 1 out Spencer Torkelson grounded into a double play to end the uprising and they went 1-2-3 in the 9th. Earning my ire again is Austin Meadows, 0-4 tonight and down to 277/353/431 as he seems these days more concerned with his next contract (he's a FA at year's end). Lacy settled down nicely after his rough 1st inning before giving up a run on a pair of hits in the 6th and ending 5.1 6 4 4 0 7. Lacy has a great 5/44 BB/K ratio in 40 1/3 innings but has allowed a whopping 52 hits. Some of that is the lousy defense behind him (we're now last in zone rating in the AL, possibly all of MLB) but he has (although not really tonight) given up too many hits. Mitchell Verburg gave up another run in the 7th which proved to be costly, and Liam Hendriks had a scoreless 8th. But in the small miracles department, the Yankees actually beat Baltimore (holding them to 1 hit, no less!) so the lead remains a precarious 3.

Game 2: The Rays stopped the rot with a tight 4-3 win over the Mariners, despite striking out 15 times against Seattle pitching. Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR (#10) in the 4th gave the Rays a 2-0 lead which Matt Manning gave right back in the bottom of the inning, but the slumping Austin Meadows had a big 2-run bases-loaded single in the 7th to make it 4-2. Manning pitched pretty well although he ran a lot of deep counts which is why it took him 103 pitches to go 6 7 2 2 0 5. He still improved to 12-6 and got some fine relief help from Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado, each with 1-2-3 innings. In a statistical quirk, each of them have now pitched 28.1 innings with 42 strikeouts. The relief wasn't so fine from Jasseel De La Cruz, who gave up a HR to the leadoff man in the 9th, Evan White, and then proceeded to walk two men with two out before getting Grae Kessinger to fly out to deep RF to end the game. Still it was enough for save #25. And amazingly they gained ground on Baltimore when the Yankees hit 7(!) HRs in an 11-6 win to beat the Orioles for the second straight night and are now back up 4 games.

Game 3: The Rays continued to break out of their funk tonight with a 13-3 thrashing of the Mariners. They put 4 on the board in the first against the newly-signed Sonny Gray, who was wild (5 walks) and hittable, on a Keston Hiura sac fly, a wild pitch, and RBI singles from Hunter Bishop and Spencer Torkelson. They added 5 more in the 4th to truly blow it open with an RBI triple from Wander, an RBI single from Alec Bohm, a 2-run double from Torkelson and an RBI single from Patrick Bailey, giving Keibert Ruiz a night off. In the 5th, the hopefully-snapping-out-of-it Austin Meadows hit a 2-run HR (#15) and Bailey went deep as well with a 2-run HR (#2) in the 8th. As in his last start, Tyler Glasnow was well-supported and went 6.2 6 2 2 3 10 to go 13-5, 3.85 and Mitch Keller pitched the final 2.1 allowing a run. They had 16 hits and drew 7 walks on the night with Wander and Bailey each having 3-hit, 1-walk nights. Only Brandon Marsh (0-5) didn't get the invite to the party. Baltimore wasn't going to lose a third straight game to the Yankees and didn't, so the lead remains 4.

Game 4: A really rough loss for the Rays as the broke a 0-0 tie in the 8th with 3 runs in the top of the inning, only for Nick Anderson to give up a 3-run HR to none other than Michael Brosseau, and Seattle won in the bottom of the 9th off Liam Hendriks. Shane McClanahan and Zach Davies were hooked up in a scoreless duel but the Rays finally got to Davies in the 8th as Brandon Marsh scored on a Wander sac fly, Keibert Ruiz knocked in Vidal Brujan and a third run scored on a Seattle fielding error. McClanahan, having gone 7 4 0 0 1 4 on 101 pitches, was pulled for Anderson with 3 of the 4 hitters due up righties. Ironically it was only the lefty Anderson retired as he put the first two on ahead of Brosseau, who took him deep to LCF to tie the game. Wander hit a 2-out triple in the top of the 9th but Keibert flew out, and then Liam Hendriks gave up a leadoff triple to Evan White who scored on a Miguel Andujar single to give Seattle the walk-off win. And a tough loss got tougher with Baltimore beating the Yankees and moving back within 3 games.

Team record: 67-47. Next up: An off-day followed by 3 tough games at Fenway Park.

Art Deco · 09-29-2020, 04:52 PM

Game 1: It was tense, and the Rays could never add to the 4 runs they scored in the first 3 innings, but somehow they made it through thanks to strong relief pitching in a 4-2 win. Asa Lacy got the start and he continued to give up base hits galore, going 5 9 2 2 1 0, but he got a couple of double plays and avoided serious damage, managing to pick up win #3. Mitchell Verburg had a scoreless 6th, Jose Alvarado got through the 7th and got the leadoff lefty in the 8th, Nick Anderson finished the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz got save #26, allowing a hit but nothing else. Keibert Ruiz was the primary source of offense, hitting a 2-run HR over the Monster in the 1st and getting an RBI groundout in the 3rd while Austin Meadows drove in the 4th run with a single. Baltimore lost last night while the Rays were idle but won tonight so they're 3 1/2 back (3 in the loss column).

Game 2: Holy crap. Down 8-3 with a man on and two out in the 9th, the Rays scored 7 runs to pull out the most improbable of comebacks in a 10-8 win over Boston. Keston Hiura whiffed to start the inning, Alec Bohm singled, but Hunter Bishop grounded out. Brandon Marsh singled, and Vidal Brujan doubled in Bohm to make it 8-4 as I figured "OK, they're getting a consolation run." Sox closer Nelson Berkwich came in and I thought "I guess he'll qualify for the save with the tying run on deck". Wander Franco singled to score Marsh and Brujan and I thought "interesting, the tying the run now is at the plate". Then Keibert Ruiz singled, putting runners on first and third, and Austin Meadows doubled into the gap, scoring Wander and Ruiz and suddenly we were tied and just as suddenly Spencer Torkelson launched one over the Monster (#16) to amazingly put the Rays ahead 10-8. In a nice bit of symmetry, Hiura whiffed to end the inning as well. With Boston featuring two lefties in the 9th and Jose Alvarado tired from last night, Evan Godwin came in and got the Sox 1-2-3 to notch his first Rays save, and Mitch Keller (who wasn't that good, he walked 3 in 1 2/3 and somehow got out of the 8th unscathed) picked up his 6th win in relief. Before the madness struck I was ready to write about the mistake I made in skipping the Daniel Lynch rotation slot and going with Matt Manning even though he was on regular rest. Manning had it rough, going 5.2 10 5 5 3 4, and Mitchell Verburg had a bad 6th giving up 3 runs and it looked like the typical Fenway game for the Rays this season, last night notwithstanding. Earlier Bohm had hit HR #17, Brujan had an RBI single and Keibert had an RBI double which actually got them within 4-3 after falling behind 4-0. And the good news was all around as Baltimore fell to Cleveland to boost the lead to 4 1/2 games.

Game 3: We have officially entered the darkest timeline. Not only were the Rays crushed by Boston 10-3, Wander Franco is lost for the season with a torn labrum. He injured it making an attempted double play throw. Needless to say this is a crippling blow to a team that really hasn't been playing good baseball over the last month or so and there's no replacing one of the best players in baseball. As for the options to replace him, I see three: 1) move Vidal Brujan to SS, Keston Hiura back to 2B and play Triston Casas at 3rd, 2) play Greg Jones more, or 3) move Brujan to SS and call up Nick Gonzales from Durham and give him a run at 2B. Gonzales is ranked the #31 prospect in baseball by BNN and while that may be a bit high, he's had 2 full years at Durham where he's averaged 285/330/440 with great doubles/gap power. All of these options will make a mediocre defensive infield worse, as Brujan is not a natural SS nor is there really one in system ready to step right in. Alejandro Pie has hit .210 or so at both Durham and Montgomery after being demoted this year. Not really sure how much Jones can hit either. Anyway as for the game I did go to Daniel Lynch as opposed to Tyler Glasnow on full rest and Lynch was horrible again, going 5 11 7 6 1 1. Brandon Marsh homered (#14) in the 9th, Brujan had an RBI groundout and Wander had one last RBI on a sac fly as he ends the year .306-23-97 with an OBP of .349 and slugging .539 and finishes with 4.1 WAR. Baltimore crushed Seattle to pull back within 3 1/2 as that division lead looks shakier than ever with Wander out.

Team record: 69-48. Next up: 3 games at home vs the Yankees.

Art Deco · 09-29-2020, 09:17 PM

August 15: Placed SS Wander Franco on the 60-day IL with a torn labrum, recalled 2B Nick Gonzales from AAA Durham. Signed LHP Madison Bumgarner to a minor-league contract.

So I went with Gonzales, which I think is the best option. I'm excited to see what he can do and he's way overdue to play in the majors. Speaking of torn labrums, Bumgarner tore his in spring training after signing with the Twins, but came back and looked decent in 3 rehab starts with their AAA team. Still the Twins released him so with neither Lynch nor Lacy distinguishing themselves right now, he's worth a flyer and we'll see how he does at Durham. With a 40-man spot now open with Wander on the 60-day, he'll be no sweat to add to the roster.

Game 1: Tonight was the first game of the post-Wander remainder of the 2025 season and it was fortunate that a) we had Tyler Glasnow on the mound and b) the opponent was the Yankees at the friendly confines of the Trop. Glasnow was on his game, going 7 6 4 2 1 13 in a 9-4 win. His only bad spell came when he allowed back-to-back solo HRs in the 4th to Aaron Judge and Brandon Lowe. A dropped fly ball by Hunter Bishop led to the other 2 runs scoring off him in the 7th. With Wander out, the offense had a new look as Brandon Marsh moved up into his #2 spot and responded with a 3-run HR (#15) to put the Rays up in the 3rd, and then in the 4th Austin Meadows (#16) hit a solo shot and Bishop had a 3-run job (#11) to blow the game open at 7-2. Alec Bohm added a 2-run double in the 5th to make it 9-2. Nick Gonzales got the start at 2B and was an immediate (literal) hit, singling in his first two at-bats, stealing a base and going 3-4 for the night. In fact it was his first hit with two out in the 3rd that kept the inning alive for Marsh's homer. Unfortunately on the defensive side Vidal Brujan made 2 errors at short. On the mound after Glasnow left Evan Godwin had a scoreless inning and then Nick Anderson was given the ball to finish the game but loaded the bases with two out and dangerous lefty Joe Allen due up so Jose Alvarado had to come in and whiff him on 3 pitches to get his first save of the season. Baltimore routed Seattle again so the lead is still 3 1/2.

Game 2: A tough loss at the Trop that was a direct result of poor infield defense as the Yankees scored twice in the 12th inning on a Keston Hiura error and a ball that Brujan and/or Hiura should have fielded which went through for a single to beat the Rays 6-4. Hiura was only in at 3B tonight because he pinch-hit for Triston Casas when the Yankees brought in a lefty in the late innings. The Rays grabbed a 2-run lead in the 2nd on solo HRs by Spencer Torkelson (#17) and Casas (#10) and the Yankees answered back with one from Gleyber Torres in the 5th and then scored 2 more off Shane McClanahan in the 6th when he had a bit of a meltdown, walking a pair including one with the bases loaded. Brandon Marsh homered for the second straight night out of the 2-hole and 3rd consecutive game overall (#16) to tie it right back up in the bottom of the 6th but the Yankees re-took the lead in the 7th when McClanahan walked the leadoff man and exited (ending 6 4 4 4 4 8), and Jose Alvarado allowed the runner to eventually score. But the Rays fought back in the 8th when Austin Meadows had an RBI single to tie it, and onto extras we went until things unraveled between Evan Godwin and Mitchell Verburg in the 12th. The inning should have been over when Skyler Messinger hit a 2-run single off Verburg to provide the winning runs. The Rays managed to put two men on in the bottom of the 12th but couldn't get them home, and Baltimore routed Seattle for the third straight night to pull within 2 1/2 games.

Game 3: More of the same mediocrity today as the Rays lose two out of three at home to the worst team in baseball. The Yankees took a 5-3 decision that had all the hallmarks of their recent poor play: starting pitching putting them in an early hole and the bats not doing anything until it was too late. Asa Lacy got the start and after allowing a run in the 1st settled down until he melted down, giving up 3 runs in the 5th which doomed them, ending 6 6 4 4 2 6. Mitch Keller pitched the final 3 innings, allowing a run. Meanwhile the offense couldn't get much going against Gerrit Cole, who went 7 6 1 1 1 7. They had better luck against the Yankee bullpen, rapping out 7 hits over the last 2 innings but could only manage 2 runs out of it, with Austin Meadows leaving the tying runs on base to end the game. And this series loss can't be blamed on Wander's loss as his lineup replacement Nick Gonzales was 2-4 with an RBI double today and 6-12 for the weekend. Vidal Brujan, Keibert Ruiz and Meadows were a combined 2-15 today, not exactly picking up the slack. Baltimore rallied for 5 in the bottom of the 9th to beat Seattle so the lead is 1 1/2 and 1 in the loss column as this team will need to start concerning itself with the wildcard race.

Team record: 70-50. Next up: An off-day followed by a 2-game visit from the Mets.

Art Deco · 09-30-2020, 02:31 PM

Game 1: It's not every day you get a matchup of the two reigning Cy Young Award winners but that's what we had today as the Mets' Sandy Alcantara faced off against Matt Manning, and Manning won the battle as Alcantara was chased in the 5th by the Rays on their way to a 7-2 victory. It was the Mets who struck first against Manning with a pair of runs on 4 hits in the 3rd inning but that would be all he'd allow in picking up win #13 and going 6.1 7 2 2 1 4. Aaron Ashby went 1 2/3 and Mitchell Verburg pitched the 9th without being scored on. Alcantara had control issues, walking 4 in the 4+ innings he pitched but it was extra-base hits that got the Rays going. Austin Meadows singled and Keston Hiura tripled him home, and Hiura scored on an Alec Bohm groundout. With two outs, Hunter Bishop singled and Nick Gonzales continued to rake with his MLB HR, an opposite field shot inside the RF foul pole to give the Rays the lead to stay, 4-2. They tacked on 3 more in the 5th when Meadows tripled, scored on a Spencer Torkelson single and Keston Hiura launched HR #13 off Eric Lauer. Gonzales singled and walked in addition to his HR, and is now 8-15 with 2 walks in his 4 games with the Rays. They needed the win as Baltimore just refuses to lose, beating Boston 9-4 to stay within 1 1/2.

August 20: Sent LHP DL Hall to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

Remember him? Shortly after being acquired from Baltimore last summer he stretched an elbow ligament which has kept him out a year. When healthy, he's an impressive lefty power arm for the pen who could help the team down the stretch, although he'll need to be added to the 40-man.

Game 2: Tyler Glasnow couldn't stand prosperity today as he failed to hold onto two leads today as the Mets beat the Rays 8-5. Triston Casas hit a 2-run HR off Lucas Sims in the 2nd to make it 2-0 Rays but Glasnow gave it right back in the top of the 3rd and then allowed 2 more in the 4th on a Mark Vientos 2-run HR. No problem for the offense, though, as Casas went deep again with a 3-run shot (#12) to make it 5-4. Glasnow got through the 5th, but in the 6th he gave up another 2-run HR to Vientos along with another run to make it 7-5 and finished 6 9 7 6 1 6. Pete Alonso closed out the scoring with his 300th career HR in the 9th off Liam Hendriks, while the Rays mounted a couple of ultimately futile threats in the late innings, including the obligatory Austin Meadows as tying run at the plate in the 9th making the final out. Although in a losing cause, Nick Gonzales continued his ridiculous hitting with another 2-4 day featuring a double and a stolen base. The only good news today is that Baltimore finally lost, so the slender lead remains a slender lead.

Team record: 71-51. Next up: Another off-day, followed by 3 in Kansas City.

Art Deco · 09-30-2020, 05:43 PM

Game 1: Losing teams keep finding new ways to lose, and the Rays right now are a losing team, unable to beat the 50-70 Royals and thanks to Baltimore's win tonight over Toronto now find themselves tied for first place after being up 7 about a month ago. We'll start in the first inning. After a Brandon Marsh RBI double gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning, Shane McClanahan got the first two outs, struck out the next batter but allowed him to reach on a wild pitch, then saw Triston Casas make an error at first and of course Mac then gave up a hit to score the runner. Same thing in the 2nd, he got the first 2 out, then gave up a single, walk and a double. He ended an OK 5 3 2 1 4 5 and the Rays took a 3-2 lead in the 6th when Spencer Torkelson had an RBI triple and scored on Alec Bohm's single. Liam Hendriks gave up a couple of hits with two out, but Evan Godwin came on and got out of it and pitched a perfect 7th of his own (Godwin now in 8 appearances has yet to allow an earned run in 9 innings and has 15 Ks). But Nick Anderson blew it in the 8th, giving up a leadoff triple, getting a whiff, but then giving up another single to score the run, and yet another single to move the next guy to 3rd where he scores on a sac fly. That's the 5th blown save of the season for Nick and the second game he's blown in his last four outings making me wonder if he can still rely on him in the 7th and 8th. And to add insult to injury, former Ray Drew Strotman got them 1-2-3 in the 9th to end the game. Of course it would have been nice if they could have generated more than 3 runs against Brady Singer and his 6+ ERA coming in. Tomorrow's starter is TBD, it could be Lynch, I could roll the dice on Christian Little again too.

August 23: Optioned P Daniel Lynch to AAA Durham, recalled P Jimmy Lewis from AAA Durham.

Gonna roll the dice here and bring Lewis back, who pitched decently in a couple of starts earlier this season, including one in Washington. I've lost all faith in Lynch. Lewis is a little safer pick than Christian Little, who if I bring back up would like to do so in a home game.

Game 2: And the losing goes on. Jimmy Lewis turned out not to be a good option as he went 2.1 5 3 3 3 1, yet still left the game ahead 4-3 after Austin Meadows hit a grand slam (#17) in the top of the 3rd. The Rays even added to the lead in the 4th on a Brandon Marsh RBI single, but every reliever that came in for the Rays allowed a run, from Mitch Keller to Aaron Ashby to Mitchell Verburg to Evan Godwin. The only one not charged with a run was Liam Hendriks, but he gave up the hit that scored Godwin's as Kansas City came back to win 7-5. Once again the offense took the second half of the game off, and although 5 runs should usually be enough to win it wasn't enough. And now the Rays find themselves in 2nd place for the first time since 2021 as Baltimore beat Toronto again. In case you're wondering, they're now 2 games up on Cleveland for the first wild card and 5 1/2 up on Texas for the second.

August 24: Sent P Mitchell White to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment. Optioned P Jimmy Lewis to AAA Durham, recalled P Christian Little from AAA Durham.

Well here's someone who we can't wait to get back. It's no coincidence the team's tailspin has occurred with White on the shelf, and right now it seems we can only win games that Manning and Glasnow pitch so it'll be good to get him back after a rehab start or two. As for the other move, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Little. Right now I'm giving Lacy the start tomorrow and may use him in long relief if necessary (or short relief if necessary too).

Game 3: Of course the Rays took the lead. Of course they blew the lead. Of course they rallied but came up short. Of course Baltimore won again. Were you expecting any different? It's Groundhog Day again for the Rays as they lost their 4th straight and 11th in 17 games 5-4 to Kansas City. We had the obligatory false dawn when they went up 2-0 in the 5th on a Nick Gonzales RBI triple and a Vidal Brujan RBI single. Asa Lacy was rolling with a 4-hit, 0-walk shutout through 5 innings. But of course Lacy was greeted with an Andrew McCutchen HR to lead off the 6th, and then he promptly gave up 3 straight singles to load the bases. So it was time to bring on Christian Little for some strikeouts. Well he got the first batter to whiff, but then gave up a 2-run double to Adalberto Mondesi and a sac fly and it was 4-2 Royals. Then he gave up a Rowdy Tellez HR in the 7th to make it 5-2. This of course led to the typical too-little, too-late rally where Keston Hiura had a 2-run double to make it 5-4 with one out in the 8th, was balked to third but Alec Bohm and Triston Casas both struck out, and Drew Strotman got them once again 1-2-3 in the 9th to end it. So now they're 2 games back and the team I'm looking at now is Texas who's next behind the wild cards, and at least they lost today. Sadly a team that easily cleared 100 wins the past 3 seasons would now have to go 29-8 the rest of the way to get there again. Ain't happening as right now 8-29 feels more likely.

Team record: 71-54. Next up: 3 games in Toronto, so at least we'll score some runs. I think.

Art Deco · 09-30-2020, 11:05 PM

Game 1: The Rays win! The Rays win! Well, it was Matt Manning's turn in the rotation after all, which is the last time they won before tonight. Manning wasn't his sharpest, but he was good enough through 6 innings to lead the Rays to a 4-2 win over Toronto. He was dealing with baserunners right and left, and ended 6 7 1 1 2 6 to go to 14-6, 3.14. It took him 117 pitches to get through those 6 innings, however. Nick Anderson bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, Jose Alvarado had a scoreless frame in the 8th, and pitching for the first time in 9 days Jasseel De La Cruz made things interesting as he always seems to lately, giving up a HR to start the 9th and allowing a double to bring Vlad Jr to the plate as the tying run with 2 out before whiffing him to end the game and get save #27. Hunter Bishop got the offense going with HR #12 in the 3rd, and Vidal Brujan singled, stole his 56th base of the season and scored on a Keibert Ruiz single to make it 2-0 in that same frame. The Rays added 2 big insurance runs in the 8th on RBI singles from Alec Bohm and Bishop as well. Baltimore was idle so the Rays move within 1 1/2 of the lead.

Game 2: The Rays actually made it 2 in a row, but not without the requisite drama. Vidal Brujan had a big night and Tyler Glasnow pitched a pretty good 7 innings as they won 5-4. Brujan was involved in 4 of the 5 Rays runs and started off the game with a double, scoring on Brandon Marsh's double. Marsh came around to score on an Austin Meadows sac fly (Meadows' nascent 15-game hitting streak ended tonight). Brujan came up again in the 2nd and this time hit a 2-run HR (#9) to right to make it 4-0. The Jays came back and struck for 3 runs in the 2nd and 3rd to close within 1 and it would have been tied had Marsh not thrown out a runner at the plate. Glasnow settled down after that and made it through 7, going 7 10 3 3 1 9 and improving to 15-6, and Brujan scored on a wild pitch in the 4th to make it 5-3, which is where we stayed until the 9th. Nick Anderson had a solid 2-strikeout inning in the 8th but Jasseel De La Cruz once again made it an adventure in the 9th. For the second straight day he gave up a leadoff homer to cut into the lead, and he put another man on for Vlad Jr, whom today he got to pop out before getting the final out to notch shaky save #28. On the final out, he tweaked his ankle and is DtD with a sore ankle for 4 more days. Given how shaky he's been and now at less than 100%, I think I'll bypass him for the next save opportunity. And the Phillies beat Baltimore, marking the first time in what feels like forever that the Rays gained ground on the Orioles, now only 1/2 game back.

Game 3: Another bullpen implosion cost them a game they led 4-2 into the 8th. Evan Godwin, who had been lights out before today with the Rays, gave up a lefty-on-lefty 2-run HR to Cavan Biggio with 2 out in the 8th to tie the game, and Liam Hendriks with two out (there should have been 3 but a Keston Hiura error allowed the leadoff man to reach) gave up a 3-run HR to Gabriel Moreno to give Toronto a 7-4 walk-off win. As always, though, they scored early and couldn't add to it in the later innings and had 2 men thrown out at the plate which could have added to the lead. The big hit for the Rays early was Triston Casas's bases-clearing double in the 3rd to break a 1-1 tie but Casas tweaked his back on the play going into 3rd (where he too was thrown out but allowed the 3rd run to score) and so that's how Hiura ended up in the game to make the critical 9th-inning error as it's always something these days. Shane McClanahan pitched pretty well going 5.2 8 2 2 1 7 and Mitchell Verburg had one of his best outings as a Ray, getting the last man in the 6th, setting down the side in the 7th including a Vlad Jr whiff, and the first man in the 8th. But after getting the second out Godwin walked a man in front of Biggio and just like that the lead was gone and soon the game would be. Hunter Bishop hit HR #13 in the second for the first Rays run, and Nick Gonzales rapped out 3 more hits and is hitting .429 in 42 AB. Fortunately Philly took care of Baltimore again so no ground was lost.

Team record: 73-55. Next up: An off-day followed by a yuge 3-game set at the Trop vs Baltimore.

Art Deco · 10-01-2020, 05:01 PM

(Just noticed I've been off with my days, the Toronto series above should have been August 26-28, and this series is August 29-31.)

It's time for the biggest series of the season as the Rays trail the Orioles by 1/2 game for the AL East lead.

Game 1: They led 4-2 in the 7th and gave up 5 runs in the late innings to lose 7-4. That was a summation of yesterday's Rays game in Toronto and it applied once again today. But the "they" in that first sentence refers to the Orioles as the Rays mounted a huge comeback to win and re-take first place in the AL East. The big story today was Keston Hiura. After making a key error in the 9th inning yesterday, Hiura found his redemption by hitting 3 - count 'em, 3 - HRs today, all solo shots and in consecutive at-bats to give him 16 for the season and tying a club record. The first tied the game at 2 in the 4th, the second got the Rays within 4-3 in the 7th, and the 3rd made it 7-4 in the 8th. Also homering were Nick Gonzales (#2) to tie the game in the 7th, and Spencer Torkelson (#18) to make it 6-4 in the 8th. The winning run was one of 2 non-HR runs as Vidal Brujan walked after Gonzales's blast, stole second and scored on a Brandon Marsh single. Torkelson had an RBI single in the 1st for the other run. Asa Lacy got the start and immediately gave up a run and had the bases loaded with nobody out, but got out of it with two whiffs and a fly ball, but gave up another in the 2nd and 2 more in the 5th to put them behind 4-2. Mitch Keller came on and got Lacy of a 6th inning jam with men on 1st and 3rd and 1 out, and then Aaron Ashby got Keller out of his own jam in the 7th and picked up win #2 in the process. Nick Anderson had one of his classic 2K perfect innings in the 8th and Jose Alvarado grabbed save #2 allowing only a single. It was big for the team to win the game in the series which didn't have Manning or Glasnow starting, and now those two will pitch tomorrow and Sunday.

Game 2: Another big, big win for the Rays as they edge Baltimore 4-3 and assure themselves of staying in first through this series by now going up 1 1/2 games. Matt Manning was the man, going 8 7 3 3 0 8 to go to 15-6, 3.15 with the primary damage against him a 2-run HR by Adley Rutschman in the 6th inning to make it 3-2 Baltimore after the Rays failed to turn a double play which would have ended the inning. But the Rays answered right back in bottom of the 6th on Spencer Torkelson's 19th HR of the season to tie it, and then doubles from Keston Hiura and Alec Bohm gave them the lead to stay. Jose Alvarado pitched the 9th again for save #3, his second in two games. The Rays earlier got on the board on doubles from Nick Gonzales and Brandon Marsh to tie the game at 1 in the 3rd, and Vidal Brujan doubled in Gonzales in the 5th to put them up 2-1. And yes Nick Gonzales was 2-3 again today - he's now hitting 449/471/673 in 49 at-bats as he continues to pick up the offensive slack for Wander.

Game 3: How sweep it is! Tyler Glasnow, after giving up 3 runs in the 1st inning, settled in to provide a dominant performance thereafter and the Rays scored just enough runs to win 4-3 and sweep the biggest series of the season to go back up 2 1/2 games in the AL East. Glasnow gave up a couple of walks, and a couple of singles, and a Brandon Marsh throwing error, and Baltimore looked like they'd salvage a game by going up 3-0. Rony Garcia started off strong, whiffing 4 in the first 2 innings, but the Rays struck back for all 4 of their runs in the bottom of the 3rd. Hunter Bishop, Nick Gonzales singled (of course he did, he was 1-2 with a walk today), and Brandon Marsh drilled a 2-run double into the LCF gap. And after Keibert Ruiz was retired, Austin Meadows had a rare big hit of late with HR #18 to score Marsh and make it 4-3. And there we stayed the rest of the game as Glasnow mowed down Oriole after Oriole and ended 7.1 3 3 3 2 10 and improved to 16-6, 3.98 and now leads MLB in wins. Evan Godwin came on in the 8th with lefties due up and retired both of them, and then stayed for the 9th and only allowed a single to nab his 2nd Rays save. He's now whiffed 20 in 12 2/3 innings since joining the team.

Team record: 76-55. Next up: 3 at home vs Toronto.

Art Deco · 10-01-2020, 11:08 PM

September 1: Activated P Mitchell White from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, recalled P Dustin May from AAA Durham.

As we can now expand the roster by two, White will be welcomed back to start today as we'll push Shane McClanahan back a day. May pitched decently at Durham and will be a long relief/spot start option for now although there's no guarantee he holds the 28th spot for the month.

Game 1: The Rays continue to eke out 1-run wins, which is fine considering how many they've been on the wrong end of this season, but I'd appreciate it for my nerves if they could just win a laugher or at least add some runs late to build a lead. As mentioned above, Mitchell White was back to start and he came through with an excellent 6.2 6 2 2 2 6 outing in the Rays' 3-2 win. A Ryan Noda HR in the 7th cost him a shot at a win as it tied the game at 2, and although pitching into the 7th might have seemed to be pushing him considering it was his first start back, he only threw 89 pitches. Nick Anderson got the final out in the 7th and then pitched a perfect 8th with 3 Ks total and became the winning pitcher when Brandon Marsh hit HR #17 in the bottom of the 7th to break the tie. Jose Alvarado came on for the 9th with two lefties up and retired them, but lost his shot at the save as the 3rd batter he faced singled, so Jasseel De La Cruz came in to face the scheduled righty hitter but the Blue Jays pinch-hit a lefty. No matter though as De La Cruz whiffed Luis Toribio to notch save #29 in his first action in over a week after his sprained ankle. The Rays grabbed their other two runs in the 5th when Hunter Bishop tripled in Alec Bohm and scored on a Vidal Brujan single. Nick Gonzales had only his 2nd hitless game in 15 starts, going 0-4 today. The Rays have now won 4 straight and 6 of 7 in their best stretch in quite a while. Baltimore got a 3-run Ranfy Adon HR in the bottom of the 9th to win and stay 2 1/2 back.

Game 2: The Rays heeded my call for a laugher of a game rather than the nail-biters they've been playing and annihilated Toronto 17-1 behind the team's second individual 3-HR game in less than a week. After Keston Hiura hit 3 bombs against Baltimore Friday, Alec Bohm hit 3 Bohms today to become the second Ray (after Wander) to hit 20 HR this season. The team hit 6 longballs in all, including 5 in the first 4 innings as the game quickly got out of hand. Austin Meadows hit a 2-run shot (#19) to start the scoring in the first, and then they exploded for 5 in the second on Bohm's first (a solo shot), a 2-run double from Spencer Torkelson, and a 2-run jack from Nick Gonzales (#3). Bohm had another solo blast in the 3rd, Hunter Bishop a 2-run homer in the 4th (#14), and Bohm hit his third with a man on in the 6th. They scored in every inning except the 8th as every starter except Patrick Bailey (1-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored) drove in at least one run. The beneficiary of all these runs was Shane McClanahan, who wasn't his best but good enough to go 5 7 1 1 2 7 and even his record at 6-6, 3.40. Christian Little, who hadn't pitched in over a week and half, got an extended run going the final 4 innings and dazzling, going 4 2 0 0 0 6 including a pair of whiffs of Vlad Jr and picking up his first career MLB save. Baltimore had their own rout tonight beating Cleveland 20-7 behind a 3-HR game from Jo Adell and immolating one of the top pitchers this season in the AL, Kantaro Yokoyama, so they stay 2 1/2 behind.

In fact it was such a big scoring night around the league that Bohm barely rated 3rd star of the night with his 3-HR game:

Game 3: The Rays continued their homer-happy ways by blasting 5 more tonight in a closer-than-it-looked 12-2 win over the Jays. It was only a 5-2 game in the 6th when Asa Lacy ran into some trouble with two out, putting two men on and the tying run at the plate in Cavan Biggio, leading to a tough choice: go with a lefty to retire Biggio or go with a righty in case Biggio reached with two righties including Vlad Jr. to follow? I ended up going with the lefty Aaron Ashby and got Biggio on a fly ball but if he hadn't he'd have to face those two guys with it either 5-3 or the bases loaded. The Rays tacked on a run in the bottom to make it 6-2 and then really blew it open with 6 in the 8th. They got off to a 2-0 start behind RBI singles from Austin Meadows and Spencer Torkelson, and then after Toronto made it 2-1 in the 3rd, Nick Gonzales went deep again (#4) to make it 3-1. And in the 5th Keibert Ruiz (#14) and Tork (#20) hit solo blasts to make it 5-1. Keibert's RBI groundout made it 6-2 in the 6th and then in the 8th Meadows hit #20 for a grand slam and Hunter Bishop followed with #15. Lacy got the win, going a decent 5.2 7 2 2 1 3 to go to 4-4, and after Ashby got the big out in the 6th, Nick Anderson pitched a perfect 3K 7th, Evan Godwin a scoreless 8th with a pair of whiffs and after the lead grew to 10, Dustin May had a scoreless 9th getting a double play to end the game. Everybody had at least one hit as they had 14 for the night and extended the winning streak to 6 and their current run to 8 of 9. They're also now 12-4 against Toronto this season. Baltimore continues to parallel the Rays with their own 10-4, 4-HR win tonight.

Team record: 79-55. Next up: An off-day followed by the beginning of a long road trip which starts in Detroit for 3 over the weekend.

Art Deco · 10-02-2020, 03:16 PM

Game 1: Maybe they should change their name to the Tampa Bay Rakes, as that's what they continued to do in another blowout win. The 14-3 victory over the Tigers means they've won 3 consecutive games by the aggregate score of 43-7, and 7 wins straight overall. It didn't start out that way though as Matt Manning had an extremely shaky first inning, walking 3, allowing 2 runs and throwing 40 pitches. But in the top of the 3rd, a 2-out, nobody-on error from Detroit 1B Gavin Sheets was the spark they needed as Vidal Brujan, who reached, stole second, scored on a Brandon Marsh single and Keibert Ruiz singled in Marsh who had gone to 2nd on the throw home to tie the game. And then they busted it open with 6 runs in the 4th on an Alec Bohm single, Nick Gonzales sac fly, RBI singles from Brujan and Ruiz, an Austin Meadows (playing against his brother Parker for the first time) double and a wild pitch. Spencer Torkelson homered (#21) for the 3rd straight game with a 3-run blast in the 6th and later Keibert added an RBI double, Hunter Bishop an RBI groundout and Gonzales had another sac fly. Manning settled down after that rocky 1st and went to 16-6 by going 6 4 3 2 5 3. Mitchell Verburg (2) and Liam Hendriks (1) pitched the final 3 scoreless innings. Baltimore lost last night to Minnesota while the Rays were idle but beat them tonight, so the lead is 3 games and if I dare say it the magic # is 25.

Game 2: The train keeps-on-a-rollin' as the Rays won their 8th in a row and 10th in 11 as they came from behind twice to beat Detroit 6-4. Alec Bohm's 2-out, 2-run single was the difference, overcoming an up-and-down performance from Tyler Glasnow. Kumar Rocker was largely keeping them in check, and Glasnow was pitching decently as well through 6 as the Rays trailed 2-1 with the only run coming on a mammoth blast from Austin Meadows (#21). But they rallied off the Detroit bullpen in the 7th to score twice and take the lead on a 2-run Keibert Ruiz single, only for Glasnow to give it back in the bottom of the inning allowing back-to-back HRs to the immortal duo of Alejo Lopez and Joey Morgan which put the Tigers back in front 4-3. Glasnow ended 6.1 7 4 4 1 8 and Mitch Keller got the final two outs of the inning. The Rays responded in the top of the 8th by loading the bases with nobody out but Spencer Torkelson was thrown out by Parker Meadows at the plate trying to score on Triston Casas's fly ball leaving two out with no runs in. And Nick Gonzales looked like he made the final out of the inning when he grounded one to first. But Gavin Sheets, whose error opened the floodgates for the Rays last night, booted another one allowing the tying run to score. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless 8th and grabbed win #4 when Bohm hit his 9th-inning 2-run single. Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th to secure the win and his 30th save. The news got even better when Minnesota downed Baltimore, increasing the lead to 4 games and dropping the magic number to 23.

Game 3: Well this one hurt. Seemingly on their way to consecutive win #9, up 6-0 in the 5th, 6-1 in the 7th and taking a 6-3 lead into the 9th, the bullpen imploded on the way to giving Detroit a 9-6 walk-off win. With a lefty and two switch-hitters due, Jose Alvarado got the call, and he allowed a single up the middle and then two excruciatingly-slowly hit balls for infield singles to load the bases with nobody out. As Detroit brought up a righty pinch-hitter Jasseel De La Cruz got the call and got him to pop out. But he then gave up a 2-run double to Austin Martin to make it 6-5 and a sac fly by Parker Meadows tied it up. After walking Riley Greene up stepped Gavin Sheets, who made critical errors in each of the first two games of this series but he started his redemption arc by drilling a De La Cruz fastball into the RF stands for the win. This wasted a fine start from Mitchell White, who went 6.1 6 2 2 1 7. Evan Godwin came on and got him out of the 7th and although he gave up a solo HR to Greene in pitching the 8th it didn't seem like a big deal. Also hurting the Rays was that they had the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the 9th with a chance to tack on, but Spencer Torkelson, Keston Hiura (his 4th of the day as he went 0-5 and left 8 men on base) and Alec Bohm all struck out. Earlier the Rays had built a 6-0 with a 5-run 2nd inning keyed by Alex Kirilloff's dropped fly ball allowing a run to score which got things going for Vidal Brujan to single in a run, Brandon Marsh to double one in, Austin Meadows to single one in, and Tork drove one in with a grounder. Marsh also had an RBI single in the third for the 6th run, but the offense went to sleep after that. It shouldn't have cost them, but in some measures it did. The knife could have been twisted a little deeper had Baltimore won, but they too lost a tough game in extra innings after scoring four runs late to tie it up so the lead remains 4 and the magic # drops to 22.

Team record: 81-56. Next up: We head out west for 3 games in Oakland only to fly right back across the country to Boston after that.

Art Deco · 10-02-2020, 08:27 PM

Game 1: The bullpen taketh away and the bullpen giveth. After yesterday's meltdown in Detroit, the bullpen - specifically the "B" bullpen - came through with 4 big shutout innings to allow the Rays to score a 2-1, 10-inning win over the A's. It was a great pitchers' duel between Shane McClanahan and Huascar Ynoa and the two left in the 7th tied at 1. The Rays' lone run in regulation came when Keibert Ruiz doubled to lead off the 4th, went to third on a fly ball and scored on Spencer Torkelson's groundout. Mac went an excellent 6 4 1 1 1 7 on 102 pitches, striking out the side in his final inning. Mitchell Verburg then threw a scoreless inning, Evan Godwin whiffied a pair of lefties, and Liam Hendriks had his best outing in a long time with 1 1/3 scoreless against the team he once closed for to get through the 9th. And Hendriks picked up his first Rays win when they broke through for a run in the 10th. Vidal Brujan led off with a single, stole second for his 66th steal of the season and went to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Brandon Marsh, who had struck out in his previous 4 plate appearances, then singled to left to score Brujan. With two lefties due up, Godwin used and Jose Alvarado unavailable after yesterday's debacle, it fell to Aaron Ashby and he pitched around a walk to nab his first save in three years as a Ray. And the day turned even sweeter as the Orioles lost in Anaheim to up the lead to 5 and drop the division magic # to 20.

Game 2: Another low-scoring affair went Oakland's way tonight 3-1 thanks to the Rays' inability to hit Leonardo Pestana, some sloppy play in the field, and Asa Lacy's wildness (which might have an explanation, more on that later). Pestana nearly completely shut down the Rays, going 8 4 1 1 2 8 with Hunter Bishop and Nick Gonzales the only Rays he had trouble with. Bishop was 2-2 with a walk and HR #16 for the lone Rays run, while Gonzales was 2-3 with a double, and that was the sum total of the offense. Meanwhile Oakland capitalized on a Vidal Brujan error with 2 out in the 2nd to score their first run, and a Patrick Bailey throwing error past 3rd on a double steal allowed Oakland to score another with Alec Bohm's wild throw to 2nd on a grounder also coming in the inning. Add that to Lacy's 5 walks and it's a recipe for trouble. But a possible reason for Lacy's wildness (he had only walked 11 all season coming in) was that he had to leave the game with shoulder inflammation and his season is done. Christian Little relieved him and was electric again, striking out the side in the 6th and 7th in a 3 2 0 0 1 6 outing. With a couple of off-days on the horizon the Rays won't need a 5th starter until September 20, and depending on how things shake out it could be Little. Baltimore won in Anaheim so for the first time in a long time they gained ground on the Rays to pull back within 4 of the division lead.

September 10: Placed P Asa Lacy on the 60-day IL with shoulder inflammation, recalled P Sandy Gaston from AAA Durham.

Forgot all about Gaston, eh? Last year's solid bullpen contributor had his issues early this year, was sent down, got hurt, and is now back and has looked decent for Durham since returning. He'll pitch middle, mop-up relief of course.

Game 3: The Rays were terrible in all phases of the game tonight as they were walloped by the A's 8-1. Matt Manning walked the first man he faced and it was downhill from there, allowing 3 runs in the 1st and one more each in the 2nd and 3rd as he was wild again after his 5-walk performance last time out. Then it didn't kill him but tonight it did, as he ended up 5 6 5 4 4 5. Dustin May gave up another 3 runs in relief. The defense was typically poor with yet another Keston Hiura error at 3B contributing to an unearned run, and with 1 run scored the offense was awful as well. Things looked promising when Vidal Brujan led off the game with a double and they loaded the bases with 1 out but Austin Meadows' sac fly is all they got out of it, and that was pretty much it for the night as they struggled with lefty Thomas Szapucki who went 8 8 1 1 2 6 against them. Down 5-1 in the top of the 7th they did load the bases again with nobody out, but two shallow fly balls and Hiura's groundout squandered that opportunity. In these 3 games in Oakland, they ended up scoring a grand total of 4 runs so they have to consider themselves fortunate to have won one of the games. The only silver lining on the night is that Baltimore lost again in Anaheim so the lead stays 4 games and the magic # drops to 19.

Team record: 82-58. Up next: An off-day followed a trip to Fenway Park for 3.

Minor League Playoff Update: Haven't mentioned Durham much as a team, they went an impressive 90-50 this year and opened their first round best-of-5 playoff series with Gwinnett tonight, coming from behind with 2 runs in the 8th to take a 3-2 win. Jimmy Lewis had a good start, going 7 4 2 2 2 4 but trailed 2-1 before Shane Sasaki (who had a nice 295/364/448 year as their leadoff man with 14 HR) drilled a RJ Dabovich pitch over the LF wall to lead off the 8th and after Durham put a couple on, a wild pickoff throw allowed the winning run to score. Tommy Mace got the win in relief and Nick Frasso got the save despite walking a couple. Meanwhile Low-A Hudson Valley lost its NY-Penn league playoff opener 9-4 at Norwich.

Art Deco · 10-03-2020, 02:32 PM

Minor League Playoff Update: Gwinnett turned the tables on Durham by doing to them what Durham did in Game 1, scoring 2 late runs to come back and win 3-2 to even the best-of-5 series at 1. Emerson Hancock had to leave after the 1st inning with what turned out to be a scar tissue problem from previous surgery and is done for the postseason. Heston Kjerstad homered in the losing effort. Elsewhere, Hudson Valley was drubbed 10-1 by Norwich and is now down 0-2 so they'll need a miracle.

Game 1: It was the Tork & Tyler teamup again as the Rays beat Boston 8-4. Spencer Torkelson broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the 8th with HR #22 over the Monster and the Rays added 3 more for insurance in the 9th to prevail. Tyler Glasnow picked his MLB-best 17th win, although he blew a 4-0 lead in the process of doing so, ending up 7.1 8 4 4 1 7. The primary damage against him was a pair of HRs in the 4th from Yoan Moncada and Pierson Gibis (who's hit at least 3 of his 7 HRs against the Rays). This after the Rays went up 4-0 on a Brandon Marsh RBI single, a 2-run double from Nick Gonzales (3-4 again) and a Triston Casas RBI single. Marsh and Keibert Ruiz had RBI knocks in the 9th and Austin Meadows brought home the final run on a fielder's choice. When it was still 5-4, Jose Alvarado came on in the 8th with one out but only got one more out while allowing two runners, so Nick Anderson came in and got pinch-hitter Tyler Keenan in his MLB debut and stayed on for a 1-2-3 9th to get save #5. Brujan stole 3 bases to up his season total to 70, and Marsh and Hunter Bishop each had 4-hit games. Baltimore did win in Oakland so the lead stays 4 but the magic # drops to 18.

Game 2: You knew this wasn't going to be the Rays' day right away in the 1st inning when they put Brujan and Marsh on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out and couldn't get either home, and then the Red Sox led off the bottom of the inning with a HR. Mitchell White didn't have it today, and although he got out of the first after allowing that HR and loading the bases but letting nobody further score, he was bombed in the second inning for 5 more runs and had one of "those" starts, going 1.1 8 6 6 1 2 as the Rays ended up losing 10-6 in a game that really wasn't even that close. The Rays actually took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 2nd when Vidal Brujan and Keibert Ruiz had RBI singles, but Brujan was thrown out at the plate to end in the inning and then Boston blew it open in the 2nd. Christian Little came on for White and went 2.2 4 1 1 0 4, and Sandy Gaston served up a 3-run HR to Ryan Mountcastle (who had 6 RBI for the day) in the 5th to make it 10-3. The Rays did get a 2-run double from Hunter Bishop, an RBI single from Austin Meadows and an Alec Bohm sac fly, but yesterday's hero Spencer Torkelson was 0-5 with 3 whiffs and 8 men LOB. The loss didn't sting as much as Baltimore dropped a heartbreaker to Oakland, scoring in the top of the 9th to go up 1-0 but then giving up 2 in the bottom of the frame to lose. This drops the magic # to 17.

Minor League Playoff Update: 3-2 was the score yet again between Durham and Gwinnett and this time the Bulls prevailed to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 first round IL playoff series. Jack Leiter (who has an outside shot at next year's rotation) got a promotion from AA Montgomery and was brilliant in his AAA debut, going 7.1 4 1 1 1 6, with the one run against a HR that chased him in the 8th. Heston Kjerstad had the game's big hit, a 2-run shot in the 3rd for his 2nd HR in as many days. Veteran Randal Grichuk hit a pinch-hit HR in the top of the 9th to make it 3-1, which turned out to be huge when Nick Frasso gave up one of his own in the bottom of the inning but still picked up the save. Daniel Lynch will look to close it out for Durham tomorrow. Elsewhere, Hudson Valley scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to stave off elimination with their own 3-2 win. A couple of Rays prospects looked good on the mound with 2nd round 2022 pick Tyler Gough going 5.1 4 2 2 2 5 and 2024 supplemental 1st round pick Billy Tacuri pitching 2 perfect innings with 4 Ks in relief.

Game 3: Shane McClanahan was sensational and the Rays banged out 7 doubles and a HR to beat Boston 6-0. It was a rare decision for Mac, who came into the game 6-6 despite making 28 starts. Well he improved to 7-6, 3.21 with 169 whiffs in 168 innings off a 6 4 0 0 1 5 outing on 97 pitches today. Nick Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 7th while it was 4-0, Aaron Ashby went 1 1/3 and Mitchell Verburg got the final 2 outs for the team 5-hit shutout. The Rays jumped out to that 4-0 lead in the first 2 innings on an Austin Meadows RBI single and Keston Hiura RBI double in the 1st, and RBI doubles from Vidal Brujan and Brandon Marsh in the 2nd. Hiura added a 2-run shot, HR #17, in the 8th to make it more comfortable. And the division title came into clearer view with Baltimore dropping a 9-1 decision to Oakland to up the lead to 5 and lower the magic # to 15.

Team record: 84-59. Up next: Another off-day as we finally return home to play 3 against the Angels, with whom were 1/2 game behind for best record in the AL as it looks like nobody will win 100 games this year in the league.

Minor League Playoff Update: We'll have a Game 5 in Durham after Gwinnett beat the Bulls 7-5 in a game that was 2-0 Gwinnett most of the way, until they added a third in the 6th and 4 more in the 8th to go up 7-0, then Durham scored 5 in the ninth to make it interesting including another Randal Grichuk HR. Daniel Lynch was terrible for the Bulls, not making it out of the 3rd, and was lucky to have only allowed 2 runs (he left with the bases loaded but Jack Perkins got him out of it). Longtime MLB vet Julio Urias was untouchable for Gwinnett, going 8 5 0 0 0 12 before his bullpen almost gave it away. In the NY-Penn League, Hudson Valley's season is over after they lost 3-1 to Norwich to drop the series by the same margin. Robbie Ashford, acquired from Detroit in the Matt Manning/Shane Baz/Alex Kirilloff deal, homered for the lone Renegades run.

Art Deco · 10-03-2020, 08:10 PM

Game 1: In what was a rematch of the 2023 ALCS and could be a preview of a 2025 playoff matchup the Rays and Angels played an epic back-and-forth game that was decided in the 12th inning by the bat of Spencer Torkelson, whose 3-run walk-off HR (#24) gave the Rays a 7-4 win. It started off as an enticing pitching matchup of Matt Manning against Garrett Williams, two of the AL's top starters, but neither was particularly sharp or effective. Manning struggled to the tune of 5.1 8 4 4 2 5 while Williams was a little better and let down by his defense as a key passed ball allowed Vidal Brujan to reach leading off the game and led to 2 Rays runs, but didn't make it through the 6th either. The bullpens then took over and both put some runners on in tight situations but got out of jams. The Rays used 7 relievers to pitch 6 2/3 scoreless innings with Mitch Keller getting the win (his 7th, as many as regular rotation member Shane McClanahan) with a clean 12th. Jose Alvarado probably had the biggest outing of the group as after Nick Anderson loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8th, he came in and struck out 2 Angels to get out of it. This set the stage for Torkelson, who had homered earlier to put the Rays up 4-3, to drill a James Sherfy pitch the opposite way into the rays tank in RCF and send the home crowd into delirium. And it was a Kyren Paris error that kept the inning alive for the Rays before Tork's blast. The day got even better for the Rays when Baltimore lost to the White Sox for the second straight night, increasing the lead to 6 1/2 games meaning it would take an epic collapse to lose the division now even with a 3-game set in Camden Yards in 10 days' time as the magic # drops to 12.

Minor League Playoff Update: Jimmy Lewis was rocked for 4 runs and 9 hits in 3 1/3 innings and the Durham Bulls bowed out of the playoffs with a 7-2 Game 5 loss to Gwinnett despite finishing 12 games ahead of them during the regular season.

Game 2: The Rays kept getting opportunity after opportunity to come back down 1-0 and kept squandering them until they exploded for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Angels 5-1. Tyler Glasnow started looking for win #18 but it looked like he'd suffer loss #7 instead as Anthony Rendon's 4th inning RBI double kept standing up despite the Rays putting men in scoring position with less than 2 out on several occasions and failing to bring them home. Glasnow had to leave in the 7th after loading the bases with one out but Aaron Ashby got a ground ball at 2nd with the infield in and a whiff to get out of the jam. Glasnow was a bit off tonight not getting his usual strikeouts but still gutting through a 6.1 7 1 1 2 3 outing. Ashby got through the 8th and then the floodgates finally opened for the Rays. Austin Meadows singled, Spencer Torkelson doubled him to 3rd, and Hunter Bishop walked to load the bases with one out. But this time Keston Hiura hit one through the drawn-in infield to score a pair, and Alec Bohm, Vidal Brujan and Brandon Marsh all followed with RBI singles of their own to make it 5-1. With two lefties due up in the 9th and on a reasonable pitch count, Ashby stayed on and not only got the lefties but ending up striking out the side in a dominant 2.2 1 0 0 0 5 relief performance to earn his 3rd win of the season and give the rest of the pen a night off after yesterday's marathon. With the win the Rays now have the best record in the AL as they've rebounded well from the loss of Wander Franco, and Baltimore lost again so the division is all but won with the magic number dropping to 10.

Game 3: Another poor start from Mitchell White doomed the Rays to a 7-2 loss to the Angels today. White was hit again early for 3 runs in the 1st and single runs in the 3rd and 5th, going 4.1 6 5 4 5 6 in an outing in which he was unusually wild. The game wasn't terribly competitive after that, although the Rays had a chance when Ryan Helsley had a bout of wildness in the 5th, walking three straight Rays to force in a run but as they always seem to do with the sacks jammed and less than two out, they squandered the opportunity. Keibert Ruiz had both the RBIs on a first inning run-scoring single and that bases-loaded walk, giving him 98 on the season. Later in the game former Rays mainstay Ji-Man Choi, now an MLB vagabond since leaving the team, homered off Sandy Gaston who had struck out the side in his first inning of relief. Baltimore was idle so no change in the magic number.

Team record: 86-60. Next up: A weekend set at home vs Cleveland.

Art Deco · 10-04-2020, 11:01 AM

September 19: Activated P DL Hall from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned P Sandy Gaston to AAA Durham.

Game 1: Shane McClanahan was effective if not efficient and a 6-run 3rd inning propelled the Rays to an easy 7-1 win over Cleveland. Mac won his second consecutive start going 5.2 5 0 0 3 6 on 112 pitches to improve to 8-6 and lower his ERA to 3.11, 2nd best in the AL. The Rays got on the board in the 1st when Spencer Torkelson's ground ball was misplayed by Cleveland SS Cesar Idrogo allowing Keston Hiura to score, and those two were instrumental again in the 6-run 3rd as each blasted 2-run HRs, #18 for Hiura and #25 for Torkelson (a massive shot to dead CF). Rookies Nick Gonzales and Patrick Bailey each had RBI hits to round out the scoring. Mitchell Verburg took over for McClanahan and allowed a run in the 7th, and DL Hall made his first Rays appearance in over a year and looked good, going 1 1/3 innings with a whiff. Dustin May had a 1-2-3 9th to finish the game. Baltimore won so with tonight's win the magic # drops to 9.

Game 2: Christian Little got the start, and he was mostly excellent going 6 3 2 2 4 9 with only a bout of wildness in the 3rd and a well-timed 2-out hit for Cleveland getting the 2 runs off him. Still he looked he'd lose as Luis Castillo was stymieing the Rays. But in the bottom of the 6th Vidal Brujan led off with a single, stole second (#74) and went to third on a Brandon Marsh single. Keibert Ruiz's sac fly (RBI #99) scored Brujan to cut the deficit to 2-1, and after Austin Meadows reached on a Jake Bauers error Spencer Torkelson stepped up and continued his HR tear with a blast into the LCF stands (#26) to make it 4-2 Rays. And thanks to the bullpen that was the final score as Evan Godwin, Jose Alvarado and Jasseel De La Cruz (save #31) threw scoreless innings to preserve Little's first MLB win, the first of many it seems with his 80 stuff. The offense cited above was about it as the two teams combined for 8 hits tonight. Baltimore won again so the magic # falls to 8.

Game 3: This game started out rough as Matt Manning continues to struggle in September, this time putting the Rays in a 6-0 hole by the 5th inning, going 4.2 9 6 6 2 6 and having now allowed 14 runs in his last 15 innings over 3 starts. He has 16 strikeouts over those 15 innings so hopefully it's just one of those stretches. But his teammates picked him up, scoring 4 times in the 5th and 4 more times in 6th to take an 8-6 win as the bullpen was lights-out again for 4 1/3 innings. The comeback started with a Spencer Torkelson RBI single, a Keston Hiura sac fly and Triston Casas's 2-run double. And then in the 6th they loaded the bases off Jimmy Nelson and up stepped Tork, and based on his week so far you can guess what happened next. The grand slam gave him 27 HR and 90 RBI on the season, and with 13 games left 30/100 is quite reachable. Meanwhile, Aaron Ashby pitched a scoreless 6th to grab another win (#4), Nick Anderson struck out the side in a perfect 7th as his little rough patch seems behind him, and Jose Alvarado was so efficient in the 8th (3 up, 3 down on 9 pitches) that with lefties due up he came back out for the 9th and nabbed a 2-inning save, his 4th of the season and only needed 22 pitches to do so. Baltimore swept Toronto so the magic # only keeps dropping one at a time, now down to 7. The other race is for the top seed in the league, and the Rays (89-60) are 1/2 game ahead of the Angels (89-61) for that distinction. Whereas in years past the wild card was usually better than the Central winner, this year there is an advantage to playing the wild card as it will be either Cleveland (81-69) or Baltimore (82-67) while Minnesota is 86-63. By the way, there are no real races left in MLB in either league for playoff spots, as nobody has a real shot at Cleveland in the AL, and in the NL the Braves, Cardinals (already clinched) should be division winners with the Phillies one of the wild cards and the only division race in the balance (Arizona 1 up over San Diego) will account for the other two teams.

Team record: 89-60. Next up: 3 at home vs Toronto.

09-25-2020, 05:09 PM	#261
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	July 14-16, 2025: vs Baltimore (3) Game 1: A pretty good pitchers' duel between Daniel Lynch and Kevin Abel was decided in the 7th inning when Brandon Nimmo took Lynch deep for a 2-run HR and the Orioles beat the Rays 5-2 to move back within 3 1/2 games of the division lead and 2 in the loss column. Lynch had given up a first inning HR to Bryson Stott and another in the 4th but the Rays came back both times to equalize, first on Patrick Bailey's first MLB homer (and hit) and then on Spencer Torkelson's RBI single. But with 1 out and a man on in the 7th, the lefty Nimmo homered off the lefty Lynch to decide the game. Liam Hendriks came on and was great, retiring all 5 Orioles he faced including 3 via strikeout, but Aaron Ashby allowed Baltimore an insurance run in the 9th. The Rays were playing without Keibert Ruiz and Keston Hiura, who both needed to be rested, and then Austin Meadows had to leave the game in the 4th with quadriceps soreness after hitting a double. He's DtD for 3 more days after this, so he'll probably be limited to pinch-hitting the rest of this series. The two 1B who can't hit, Renato Nunez and Triston Casas (who played 3B today), were each 0-3 and are now hitting .169 and .174 respectively. Alec Bohm can't come back soon enough (he's still out for another 8 days). Game 2: The Rays continue to have their problems with Baltimore, losing this one in the 9th 5-3. Today's loss was the 4th straight to Baltimore, all at the Trop, and the O's lead the season series 7-4, which is why they're now within 2 1/2 games and 1 in the loss column. They were done in by Baltimore rookie Druw Jones, son of the legendary Andruw. Jones homered to lead the game off against Matt Manning and then delivered the game-winning hit, a triple off Jose Alvarado in the 9th. The Rays rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game before the 9th, first on a 2-run HR from Brandon Marsh (#12) in the 5th and then on a Vidal Brujan RBI single in the 7th. Both times Bramdon Perez came in to score as the rookie RF filling in for Austin Meadows went 3-4 with a triple. The triple came in the bottom of the 9th but the Rays couldn't get him home. Matt Manning wasn't his best, as his recent not-so-great run sees his ERA rise from just below 2 to now just below 3 at 2.98 after today's 6 8 3 3 0 8. Aaron Ashby pitched a scoreless 7th, Nick Anderson got two outs in the 8th before Alvarado came in and ended up losing it in the 9th. July 16: Optioned P Dustin May to AAA Durham, activated P Asa Lacy from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham. Lacy will get the start tonight with Tyler Glasnow out one more day with his back spasms, and will take over May's long relief role afterwards. Game 3: Talk about seizing your opportunity. That's what Asa Lacy did today in his spot start for the Rays, pitching 8 shutout innings in a critical 4-0 win over Baltimore to avoid getting swept and to keep the Orioles from getting with 1 1/2 games and level in the loss column. Instead it's 3 1/2 and 2, thanks to Lacy's brilliant 8 5 0 0 1 8 performance on 106 pitches. He got into some trouble off the bat with two men on in the first inning but got out of it and was never in danger after that. Keibert Ruiz did assist him by throwing out a couple of runners trying to steal but this was Lacy's gem. Overlooked before he got hurt was the fact he had pitched well before this and for the season he has a 4/28 BB/K ratio in 26 innings. He got all the offense he would need in the 1st when the Rays scored on a Ruiz single and Bramdon Perez's sac fly. Keibert came through again in the 2nd with an RBI knock to make it 3-0, and Perez got his 2nd RBI when he singled in Keston Hiura in the 7th after Hiura singled and stole second. Wander was 3-5 with 2 runs scored and a steal. Renato Nunez started against a RHP today as Hunter Bishop needed a rest and he was 0-4 and left 6 men on base as he dropped to .163. He's a very good candidate to be DFA'd when Alec Bohm comes back. Team record: 58-37. Next up: An off-day followed by 3 games at home vs Seattle before we head into the All-Star break. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-25-2020 at 08:02 PM.

09-26-2020, 11:06 AM	#262
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	July 18-20, 2025: vs Seattle (3) Game 1: 4 was the number of the night as the Rays rode a 4-4 performance from Vidal Brujan, 4 solo HRs and 4 shutout innings from the bullpen to a 6-4 win over Seattle. Naturally the score was 4-4 in the 6th inning when Triston Casas greeted Addison Reed with a solo HR into the RF stands, his 8th of the season, to break the tie and deliver the winning run. Austin Meadows hit #13 for some insurance in the 7th, Jose Alvarado pitched a filthy 8th whiffing two and Jasseel De La Cruz made us ride the Jasseelacoaster once again by loading the bases in the ninth (including two HBPs) before getting Miguel Andujar to pop to first for his 23rd save. Tyler Glasnow got the start and he was pretty awful, going 5 11 4 4 1 3 and being bailed out by a couple of double plays. The Rays took 2-0 and 4-2 leads which Glasnow gave back and he just hasn't been right the last 6 weeks or so with his nagging injuries and lousy performances. Mitch Keller took over in the 6th and pitched two scoreless innings to pick up win #5. They got 2 in the first when Brujan led off with a single, stole second (steal #40) and scored on a Wander double with Wander scoring on Keston Hiura's sac fly. Brujan (#7) and Keibert (#13) went deep in the 2nd to make it 4-2 after Glasnow gave up 2 in the top of the inning, and Brujan missed the cycle by a triple, walking in his 5th plate appearance. Baltimore won yesterday on our off-day but lost tonight in KC so the lead is now 4 games. Game 2: They had it won, they blew it, and then they won it again as the Rays came from behind twice to beat Seattle 4-3. Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR (#8) in the bottom of the 8th to greet Seattle reliever Michael Lorenzen was the difference in the game. This came after Miguel Andujar hit a rare HR off Jose Alvarado, a 2-run shot in the top of the inning to put the Mariners up 3-2. For the first half of the game Shane McClanahan and Zach Davies traded zeroes before a bout of wildness for Mac led to a Mariner run in the top of the 5th, culminated by a bases-loaded walk to Jarred Kelenic. But the Rays, who spent most of the game pounding the ball into the ground off Davies with 17 (!) ground outs, finally got to the Seattle righty in the bottom of the inning and loaded the bases for Vidal Brujan who delivered a 2-out, 2-run single. Nick Anderson had a perfect 7th and stayed on to retire former Ray Michael Brousseau to lead off the 8th, only for Alvarado to run into trouble allowing a hit and then Andujar's blast, only the 2nd off him this season. But Keston Hiura singled, stole second and then came home on Bishop's blast in the bottom of the inning. With Jasseel De La Cruz pitched out from his adventurous save last night, Liam Hendriks came on in the 9th and unlike De La Cruz had a stress-free 1-2-3 9th inning to pick up his first Rays save. Alvarado vultured the win, his 3rd. And the news was good from elsewhere as Kansas City topped Baltimore again to boost the Rays' division lead to 5. Game 3: The Rays dropped a not-as-close-as-the-score-appears 9-6 decision to Seattle today, as they scored three times in the 8th and 9th to make a blowout look respectable. The pitching didn't have it today as Mitchell White was vicitimized for HRs by Jarred Kelenic, Jason Martin and Julio Rodriguez on his way to a 4.2 5 5 5 3 2 outing and dropping to 10-4, 3.33, and then Mitch Keller came in and gave up a big 3-run HR to Michael Brosseau which blew the game open in the 6th after the Rays had battled back to get within 5-3. Only Aaron Ashby (a perfect 1.2 with 2 Ks) and Mitchell Verburg (a 1-2-3 inning) pitched well as Daniel Lynch was not effective being used in relief with the All-Star break coming up as he put the runners on which Keller allowed to score. Keibert Ruiz was 4-5 with an RBI double, Hunter Bishop drove in 3 runs with a fielder's choice and a 2-RBI single and Spencer Torkelson had 3 hits including 2 of the infield variety. Baltimore beat KC to pull back within 4. Team record: 60-38. Next up: The All-Star break, which comes late this year (the Rays have already played 98 games). We'll have a post up shortly with the All-Star rosters and the results of the game and the HR Derby. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-26-2020 at 04:23 PM.

09-26-2020, 05:23 PM	#263
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	All-Star Break 2025 First off, here's at look at the standings and leaders at the break: And here are the All-Star teams. The Rays again are well represented with the surprise being Torkelson (who won the DH vote) in over Meadows (who granted is having a bit of a down year). Wander led all AL players in votes. Joey Gallo beat Yordan Alvarez 24-23 in the final round to win the HR Derby. In the All-Star Game, the AL prevailed 2-1 with the difference being Wander Franco's HR in the 4th inning off former teammate Noah Syndergaard. Among the three Rays that started, Wander was 1-4, Spencer Torkelson was 0-2, Keibert Ruiz was 0-3 and Matt Manning pitched a scoreless inning allowing a hit and a strikeout. Tyler Glasnow pitched a scoreless 8th with a walk and a strikeout. Keston Hiura did not get into the game. Next up for the Rays: 3 games in Toronto to start the "2nd half". Last edited by Art Deco; 09-26-2020 at 07:17 PM.

09-26-2020, 09:22 PM	#264
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	July 25-27, 2025: at Toronto (3) July 23: Sent 1B Alec Bohm to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment. Bohm has played a couple games at Durham already and was 1-8 with a triple. I'll probably let him go the weekend to get some more ABs and activate him for the homestand starting Monday. Odds are Renato Nunez gets DFA'd although I could send down Bramdon Perez, which would have been the original plan. But the problem for Nunez, aside from the fact he's hitting about .165 in extended playing time, is that Hunter Bishop has been hitting lefties (276/356/550), obviating the need to bench him and play Torkelson in LF and Nunez at DH. Game 1: Not the usual slugfest at Rogers Centre but the Rays did enough to eke out a 5-4 win in the first game back from the All-Star break. Wander Franco's 7th inning RBI single broke a 3-3 tie and a Spencer Torkelson sac fly in the 8th gave the Rays an insurance run they cashed in after Nick Anderson ran into some trouble in the bottom of the frame. Shane McClanahan got the start and was up and down, going 4.2 5 3 3 3 3 with Mitchell Verburg having to bail him out with men on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out in the 5th. Verburg stayed on to throw a perfect 6th and that ended up earning him his 1st win of the season. Brandon Marsh singled in a run in the 2nd and Austin Meadows continues to love this building as he hit #14 in the 3rd. Still the Rays trailed 3-2 going into the 7th but Triston Casas, heating up of late, blasted HR #9 to tie the game before a couple of men got on ahead of Franco who delivered the go-ahead hit. Jose Alvarado had an uneventful 7th, but Nick Anderson gave up 3 hits and a run in the 8th after retiring the first batter on a strikeout and he needed to be bailed out by new late-inning weapon Liam Hendriks and the 36-year-old righty got a pair of whiffs to keep the Rays in front. Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a one-out hit and had to face Vlad Jr. who hit the ball hard but right at Hunter Bishop, and then he got a grounder to end the game and grab save #24. And good news from Baltimore as Blake Snell and Mets beat them in extra innings to make the lead 5 games. Game 2: This was a more typical Rogers Centre affair at 9-8, but the Rays were on the wrong end of the score as they blew 3 different leads in the game and lost it in the bottom of the 9th. They jumped on Eleiser Medrano for 4 runs in the 1st but in shades of Game 4 of the 2022 ALDS, Daniel Lynch channeled Max Fried and gave that lead right back by the second inning and it was 5-4 Jays. But Vidal Brujan launched HR #8 with a man on in the 4th to make it 6-5 Rays and they added a run in the 6th to make it 7-5 on a Toronto error. But Lynch and Mitchell Verburg combined in the 6th to allow the Jays to tie it at 7, and although Triston Casas and Vidal Brujan hit doubles to put the Rays back ahead in the top of the inning, Nick Anderson allowed an Aaron Ashby runner to score to tie it at 8. Jose Alvarado got a pair of strikeouts to close out the 8th and stayed on to face the leadoff lefty in the 9th, whom he struck out but he walked Justin Ellison. Liam Hendriks came on and had his first bad Rays outing, giving up a single and a walk to load the bases, and then gave up an RBI single to Ryan McKenna to let Toronto walk it off. Austin Meadows, Keibert Ruiz, Hunter Bishop and Spencer Torkelson all had RBI hits in the 1st, but Lynch had a poor 5 7 6 6 3 4 outing, his first such one since rejoining the rotation. Fortunately Baltimore lost another extra-inning game to the Mets so the lead remains 5. Game 3: A nightmare of a game that saw the Rays lose starter Mitchell White after an inning to elbow inflammation which will keep him out 4-5 weeks and the bullpen blow it again, this time losing a 6-2 lead in the 8th to drop a 7-6 decision. After Spencer Torkelson hit HR #13, Vidal Brujan singled in Triston Casas who had tripled, and Brandon Marsh had a 2-run triple of his own, the Rays opened a 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the 8th. Mitch Keller got the first two outs of the inning but gave up a double to Vlad Jr and with two lefties due in the next 3 batters Aaron Ashby came in and simply couldn't get anyone out. He gave up consecutive singles to score a run and then gave up a 3-run HR to lefty Ryan Noda to tie the game. He gave up 2 more hits after that before Jasseel De La Cruz had to get the final out, and then De La Cruz allowed a single to lead off the 9th. He threw out the lead runner at 2nd on a bunt attempt, but Vlad Jr got an infield single and Luis Toribio followed with a single to right to score the winning run. Asa Lacy, who'll take White's place in the rotation, went 4 4 2 2 0 6 in relief with the second run scoring when Keller gave up a double to score his runner. Earlier in the game Wander hit #22 to give the Rays a 2-0 first-inning lead. The only solace they could take today was that the Mets swept Baltimore at Camden Yards so the division lead remains 5. Team record: 61-40. Next up: 3 at home vs the Yankees. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-27-2020 at 10:52 AM.

09-27-2020, 01:11 PM	#265
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	July 28-30, 2025: vs NY Yankees (3) July 28: Traded 24-year-old minor league left fielder Erickvi Celedonio and 24-year-old minor league catcher Enrique Romero to the Chicago Cubs, getting 24-year-old closer Evan Godwin and 24-year-old minor league first baseman Chris Sharp in return. Placed P Mitchell White on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation, recalled P Nick Frasso from AAA Durham. Activated 1B Alec Bohm from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, designated 1B Renato Nunez for assignment and placed him on waivers. A whole lotta moves. We'll start with the deal for Godwin, a young lefty I really like and who the Cubs had just made their closer. He had a 2.88 ERA and 59 Ks in 40 innings. Aaron Ashby had been pitching well but his meltdown yesterday has me uneasy so now I have a 3rd lefty to use as Asa Lacy moves into the rotation. The price wasn't terribly high; Romero is a good catching prospect but behind Bailey, Cardenas and Britton in the system, and Celedonio has regressed in his second straight year at AA Montgomery. And Sharp was the Cubs' 1st-round pick last season and is an interesting power-hitting 1B prospect, although he's potentially more of a 20-HR guy with doubles and walks. The other moves are fairly self-explanatory, although Frasso just comes up for tonight to give us a fresh arm before I officially activate Godwin tomorrow as he was used yesterday by the Cubs. Game 1: At 30-71 the league has had their way with the Yankees this year, but one team that hasn't is the Rays, as they've just about split their games. And tonight, in perhaps one of the more pathetic performances of the season the Yanks drubbed them 9-3 at home. With a tired bullpen I was hoping for length from Matt Manning, but the ace righty has been anything but an ace the last month and was terrible again, especially with his control as he walked 5 and hit a man in 5 innings that went 5 5 7 3 5 7. Raudy Read's grand slam off him in the 5th produced 4 unearned runs thanks to an Alec Bohm error but that was nice for his ERA and nothing else. Nick Frasso went 3 mop-up innings to relieve the rest of the pen. The offense couldn't do anything against the immortal Miguel Yajure, except for a 2-run Wander HR, #23 and giving him an AL-leading 84 RBI. Keston Hiura had an RBI single late. Having lost 3 straight, the only thing going for them right now is that Baltimore has been just as bad, losing again tonight in Boston so they remain fortunate to be up 5. Game 2: Keibert Ruiz had a 5-RBI night and Tyler Glasnow threw 6 strong innings to pace the Rays to a 6-0 win over the Yankees. Glasnow wasn't pitch-efficient but he was effective in going 6 4 0 0 2 6 on 109 pitches and it was good enough to get him his 11th win of the season. Ruiz was the offense, singling in a run in the 1st, hitting a sac fly for a run in the 3rd and then blasting a 3-run homer to break it open in the 7th, #12 on the year. With the game still on the line at 2-0 in the 7th, Nick Anderson had a perfect 3K 1-2-3 inning and after the Rays made it 6-0 Mitch Keller pitched the final 2 innings to close it out. Meanwhile the Orioles' free-fall continues with another loss at Boston and the division lead is now a season-high 6 games. Game 3: Although he pitched a complete-game shutout against the White Sox 4 starts ago, tonight's 7-inning stint from Shane McClanahan was probably the best-pitched game of his career in a 5-0 win over the Yankees. He took a no-hitter into the 7th, losing it with one out on Giancarlo Stanton's single after Wander Franco had made an error and finished 7 1 0 0 1 10 on 97 pitches. Evan Godwin made his Rays debut and struck out the side around a walk in the 8th, and Mitchell Verburg completed the team shutout in the 9th. They got all the offense they would need in the 1st when Vidal Brujan singled, stole second, and eventually scored on an Alec Bohm RBI single and Keston Hiura followed Bohm with a 2-run homer, #10. Patrick Bailey and Austin Meadows added RBI singles in the 5th and 6th to complete the scoring. Although Bailey isn't hitting much (2-20), at least he's coaxing good performances out of the staff unlike Chris Betts. And Boston completed the sweep of Baltimore, who has lost all 6 of its game since the break and has now fallen 7 games back of the Rays. Team record: 63-41. Next up: 4 at home vs Boston, who has moved to within 2 games of Baltimore after going through a huge slump of their own. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-27-2020 at 06:30 PM.

09-27-2020, 08:40 PM	#266
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	July 31-August 3, 2025: vs Boston (4) Game 1: The Rays continue to have their problems with Boston as they drop an 8-2 decision today. The game was effectively over in the 2nd when the Red Sox hit Daniel Lynch for hit after hit with an HBP and a walk mixed in and an error to cap off a 5-run inning. A couple of starts ago after a good outing I wondered why I ever took Lynch out of the rotation but his two starts since the break reminded me why as he went 5 11 7 6 1 5 today. The Rays' two runs came courtesy of a Wander Franco triple, as he knocked one in and then scored on a Keibert Ruiz sac fly. That was all they could manage against longtime nemesis Caleb Smith, who pitched 7 strong innings today. Baltimore finally got a win, beating Shane Baz and the Tigers to pull within 6 while the Red Sox move within 8. Game 2: Groundhog Day at the Trop as the Red Sox had another big second inning and went on to rout the Rays 13-2. Things got so bad Triston Casas pitched the 9th, and actually was the best Rays pitcher on the day with a scoreless inning. Asa Lacy was nothing like his brilliant spot start against Baltimore a couple of weeks ago, and was pounded for 4.2 11 6 6 1 3 after a 4-run 2nd inning. Liam Hendriks and Mitch Keller combined to allow another 7 runs, while Aaron Ashby joined Casas with a scoreless inning. The Rays offense, such as it was, consisted of Alec Bohm's #16th HR, a near-500 foot shot off Cionel Perez, who pitched a complete-game 7-hitter. Hunter Bishop doubled and scored on a Brandon Marsh single for the other run. The Rays are now 4-7 against Boston this year and these last two games have been two of the ugliest of the year, especially at home. I considered making a splash at the deadline by picking up a big-time starter like Tarik Skubal or Jesus Luzardo but the prices were steep as I wasn't ready to part with Christian Little or Andy Aparicio, two up-and-coming power pitchers ranked as the 6th and 9th overall prospects in MLB at the moment. Little is at Durham right now with his 80 stuff and since promotion has a 9/59 BB/K ratio in 38 innings although he's been hit a bit hard when he's been hit, with 5 HR allowed and a 4.46 ERA. He is coming off a 7 1 0 0 1 12 performance, though. He could be seen before season's end but he's not on the 40-man. Anyway back to the current depressing situation: the Rays are 3-5 since the break, and Baltimore beat Detroit again to climb back within 5. Christian Little update: He went 7 3 0 0 2 14 against Lehigh Valley, the defending IL champion and team with the second-best record behind Durham. The 14 Ks were a Durham record. He's on the same schedule as Asa Lacy, just sayin... Game 3: The Rays finally broke through against the Red Sox, turning the tables with a 10-4 pounding of their own. The Rays scored their 10 runs on only 7 hits, thanks in large part to Justin Dunn's 6 walks and a very timely homer. After a couple of walks from Dunn in the 3rd allowed the Rays to tie it at 1 on a Wander Franco sac fly, the dam burst in the 5th inning when Dunn walked the first three batters of the inning, gave up a Vidal Brujan single for a run and after striking out Wander, walked Austin Meadows to force in another run. Alec Bohm then hit a sac fly to make it 4-1 and Keston Hiura stepped up and hit #11 just inside the LF foul pole to make it 7-1. Matt Manning pitched his best game in some time while all this was going on (7.1 3 2 2 3 7), and left with one on and one out in the 8th and things got a bit dicey. Evan Godwin came in and got what should have been an out and probably a double play, but Wander threw it away for a 2-base error, scoring a run. Godwin then gave up a bloop single to load the bases and another single to score another run, then walked Yasmani Grandal to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. He got the lefty Tirso Orenlas out but with Monte Harrison up, Nick Anderson came on and gave up a single to make it 7-4 but Yoan Moncada foolishly tried to score and was gunned down by Brandon Marsh to allow the Rays to escape the inning. In the bottom of the 8th they put it out of reach on back-to-back HRs from Hunter Bishop (a 2-run shot for #9) and Spencer Torkelson (#14), and Anderson stayed on to pitch the 9th and collect save #4 while Manning improved to 11-6. The win was important because Baltimore won again to keep the lead at 5. Game 4: After being routed in the first two games of this series, the Rays completed the 180-degree turn by routing Boston again 11-1. For the second straight day Keston Hiura had a key HR, tying the game in the bottom of the 2nd and Vidal Brujan followed later in the inning with a 2-run double to make it 3-1 and the Rays never looked back. Also homering for the second straight day was Spencer Torkelson (3-4 today) and his 2-run HR (#15) in the 4th made it a more comfortable 5-1, Wander Franco added a 2-run triple in the 6th to make it 7-1 and Alec Bohm, Hiura, Brujan and Keibert Ruiz had RBI hits in the 8th to round out the scoring. Tyler Glasnow was in his rocking chair throughout, going 6 6 1 1 1 3 but put two men on in the 7th. Evan Godwin came in and snuffed out the nascent Sox rally and ended up throwing two perfect innings while Mitchell Verburg finished it off as Glasnow grabbed his 12th win. Baltimore kept the pressure on by winning and keeping the division lead at 5 ahead of their 2 games at Camden Yards coming up. Team record: 65-43. Next up, an off-day followed by 2 big games in Baltimore. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-28-2020 at 04:08 PM.

09-28-2020, 04:12 PM	#267
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 5-6, 2025: at Baltimore (2) Game 1: A terrible performance all around as the Orioles blasted the Rays 8-1. They were bad in all phases of the game as Shane McClanahan went 4.2 7 5 5 3 5 and Mitch Keller relieved him and immediately gave up an RBI double and then allowed a 3-run HR of his own in the 6th. The offense did its part too by only managing 4 hits for the entire game one of which was Wander Franco's RBI single in the 8th to avoid being shut out. And Wander's error in the 5th, while not causing any unearned runs, made the inning a lot tougher. So now Baltimore has pulled within 4 games, making tomorrow's game pivotal. August 6: Optioned P Mitchell Verburg to AAA Durham, designated C Noah Cardenas for assignment and placed him on waivers, purchased the contract of P Christian Little from AAA Durham. Well this one falls into the category of YOLO and "Let's just do it and be legends". Not only am I sending down a player I don't want to send down and waiving a player I don't want to waive to make room on the 26 and 40-man rosters respectively for Little, I'm throwing a rookie in to start the biggest game of the year in a ballpark made for hitters. But hey, it's only a game, right? I do hope Cardenas clears waivers as after dealing Enrique Romero a couple of weeks ago, the catching depth could be quite thin in the upper levels of the organization. Verburg will be back up but someone will have to be down at Durham now, although Little could always go back there if things don't work out. Game 2: Welp, that did not go well at all. The Christian Little debut looked great for 3 innings but turned out to be a disaster after that. Interestingly, the Orioles were making contact early in the count throughout and he only struck out 2 in the first 3 innings but hadn't given up a hit on only 31 pitches. He gave up a 2-run HR to Anthony Santander in the 4th, and then they started hitting him hard in the 5th and got two more on a double. Stubbornly I brought him out for the 6th and he gave up three more hits and a run, and the other two runners scored when Daniel Lynch allowed a Druw Jones grand slam. So yeah, it was another Baltimore blowout, this time 9-1 as Little went 5 8 7 7 0 2 in his MLB debut. So I may have lost a perfectly good player (Cardenas) to roll the dice here. The only consolation I can take in the decision is that Little would have to have pitched a shutout to alter the outcome of this game as once again the offense was AWOL. Baltimore starter Bryar Johnson went 7 4 1 1 1 10 against them with the only run coming on Brandon Marsh's 13th HR of the year which cut the lead to 2-1 at the time. Lynch would have received the start otherwise and he demonstrated tonight he wasn't pitching a shutout either. Not sure if I'm going to send Little back or give him another start. Since it would be in Fenway, I'm probably sending him back. And now the division lead is down to 3 games (2 in the loss column). Team record: 65-45. Next up: 4 games in Seattle, the second leg of three on this long road trip. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-28-2020 at 05:26 PM.

09-28-2020, 06:46 PM	#268
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 7-10, 2025: at Seattle (4) Game 1: The Rays continue to circle the drain as they dropped their third straight and fifth in their last seven 5-4 to the Mariners. There was a distinct air of "here we go again" when Julio Rodriguez took an Asa Lacy pitch deep for a three-run HR in the first, and it was definitely "here we go again" as the offense could only manage 1 run and 3 hits off Nick Margevicius through 7 as they struck out 9 times. It took a 3-run rally in the 8th to make a game of it as Wander had a 2-run single to go with his earlier RBI hit (giving him an AL-leading 93) and Alec Bohm singled in another run, but with men on 1st and 2nd and 1 out Spencer Torkelson grounded into a double play to end the uprising and they went 1-2-3 in the 9th. Earning my ire again is Austin Meadows, 0-4 tonight and down to 277/353/431 as he seems these days more concerned with his next contract (he's a FA at year's end). Lacy settled down nicely after his rough 1st inning before giving up a run on a pair of hits in the 6th and ending 5.1 6 4 4 0 7. Lacy has a great 5/44 BB/K ratio in 40 1/3 innings but has allowed a whopping 52 hits. Some of that is the lousy defense behind him (we're now last in zone rating in the AL, possibly all of MLB) but he has (although not really tonight) given up too many hits. Mitchell Verburg gave up another run in the 7th which proved to be costly, and Liam Hendriks had a scoreless 8th. But in the small miracles department, the Yankees actually beat Baltimore (holding them to 1 hit, no less!) so the lead remains a precarious 3. Game 2: The Rays stopped the rot with a tight 4-3 win over the Mariners, despite striking out 15 times against Seattle pitching. Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR (#10) in the 4th gave the Rays a 2-0 lead which Matt Manning gave right back in the bottom of the inning, but the slumping Austin Meadows had a big 2-run bases-loaded single in the 7th to make it 4-2. Manning pitched pretty well although he ran a lot of deep counts which is why it took him 103 pitches to go 6 7 2 2 0 5. He still improved to 12-6 and got some fine relief help from Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado, each with 1-2-3 innings. In a statistical quirk, each of them have now pitched 28.1 innings with 42 strikeouts. The relief wasn't so fine from Jasseel De La Cruz, who gave up a HR to the leadoff man in the 9th, Evan White, and then proceeded to walk two men with two out before getting Grae Kessinger to fly out to deep RF to end the game. Still it was enough for save #25. And amazingly they gained ground on Baltimore when the Yankees hit 7(!) HRs in an 11-6 win to beat the Orioles for the second straight night and are now back up 4 games. Game 3: The Rays continued to break out of their funk tonight with a 13-3 thrashing of the Mariners. They put 4 on the board in the first against the newly-signed Sonny Gray, who was wild (5 walks) and hittable, on a Keston Hiura sac fly, a wild pitch, and RBI singles from Hunter Bishop and Spencer Torkelson. They added 5 more in the 4th to truly blow it open with an RBI triple from Wander, an RBI single from Alec Bohm, a 2-run double from Torkelson and an RBI single from Patrick Bailey, giving Keibert Ruiz a night off. In the 5th, the hopefully-snapping-out-of-it Austin Meadows hit a 2-run HR (#15) and Bailey went deep as well with a 2-run HR (#2) in the 8th. As in his last start, Tyler Glasnow was well-supported and went 6.2 6 2 2 3 10 to go 13-5, 3.85 and Mitch Keller pitched the final 2.1 allowing a run. They had 16 hits and drew 7 walks on the night with Wander and Bailey each having 3-hit, 1-walk nights. Only Brandon Marsh (0-5) didn't get the invite to the party. Baltimore wasn't going to lose a third straight game to the Yankees and didn't, so the lead remains 4. Game 4: A really rough loss for the Rays as the broke a 0-0 tie in the 8th with 3 runs in the top of the inning, only for Nick Anderson to give up a 3-run HR to none other than Michael Brosseau, and Seattle won in the bottom of the 9th off Liam Hendriks. Shane McClanahan and Zach Davies were hooked up in a scoreless duel but the Rays finally got to Davies in the 8th as Brandon Marsh scored on a Wander sac fly, Keibert Ruiz knocked in Vidal Brujan and a third run scored on a Seattle fielding error. McClanahan, having gone 7 4 0 0 1 4 on 101 pitches, was pulled for Anderson with 3 of the 4 hitters due up righties. Ironically it was only the lefty Anderson retired as he put the first two on ahead of Brosseau, who took him deep to LCF to tie the game. Wander hit a 2-out triple in the top of the 9th but Keibert flew out, and then Liam Hendriks gave up a leadoff triple to Evan White who scored on a Miguel Andujar single to give Seattle the walk-off win. And a tough loss got tougher with Baltimore beating the Yankees and moving back within 3 games. Team record: 67-47. Next up: An off-day followed by 3 tough games at Fenway Park. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-29-2020 at 03:45 PM.

09-29-2020, 04:52 PM	#269
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 12-14, 2025: at Boston (3) Game 1: It was tense, and the Rays could never add to the 4 runs they scored in the first 3 innings, but somehow they made it through thanks to strong relief pitching in a 4-2 win. Asa Lacy got the start and he continued to give up base hits galore, going 5 9 2 2 1 0, but he got a couple of double plays and avoided serious damage, managing to pick up win #3. Mitchell Verburg had a scoreless 6th, Jose Alvarado got through the 7th and got the leadoff lefty in the 8th, Nick Anderson finished the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz got save #26, allowing a hit but nothing else. Keibert Ruiz was the primary source of offense, hitting a 2-run HR over the Monster in the 1st and getting an RBI groundout in the 3rd while Austin Meadows drove in the 4th run with a single. Baltimore lost last night while the Rays were idle but won tonight so they're 3 1/2 back (3 in the loss column). Game 2: Holy crap. Down 8-3 with a man on and two out in the 9th, the Rays scored 7 runs to pull out the most improbable of comebacks in a 10-8 win over Boston. Keston Hiura whiffed to start the inning, Alec Bohm singled, but Hunter Bishop grounded out. Brandon Marsh singled, and Vidal Brujan doubled in Bohm to make it 8-4 as I figured "OK, they're getting a consolation run." Sox closer Nelson Berkwich came in and I thought "I guess he'll qualify for the save with the tying run on deck". Wander Franco singled to score Marsh and Brujan and I thought "interesting, the tying the run now is at the plate". Then Keibert Ruiz singled, putting runners on first and third, and Austin Meadows doubled into the gap, scoring Wander and Ruiz and suddenly we were tied and just as suddenly Spencer Torkelson launched one over the Monster (#16) to amazingly put the Rays ahead 10-8. In a nice bit of symmetry, Hiura whiffed to end the inning as well. With Boston featuring two lefties in the 9th and Jose Alvarado tired from last night, Evan Godwin came in and got the Sox 1-2-3 to notch his first Rays save, and Mitch Keller (who wasn't that good, he walked 3 in 1 2/3 and somehow got out of the 8th unscathed) picked up his 6th win in relief. Before the madness struck I was ready to write about the mistake I made in skipping the Daniel Lynch rotation slot and going with Matt Manning even though he was on regular rest. Manning had it rough, going 5.2 10 5 5 3 4, and Mitchell Verburg had a bad 6th giving up 3 runs and it looked like the typical Fenway game for the Rays this season, last night notwithstanding. Earlier Bohm had hit HR #17, Brujan had an RBI single and Keibert had an RBI double which actually got them within 4-3 after falling behind 4-0. And the good news was all around as Baltimore fell to Cleveland to boost the lead to 4 1/2 games. Game 3: We have officially entered the darkest timeline. Not only were the Rays crushed by Boston 10-3, Wander Franco is lost for the season with a torn labrum. He injured it making an attempted double play throw. Needless to say this is a crippling blow to a team that really hasn't been playing good baseball over the last month or so and there's no replacing one of the best players in baseball. As for the options to replace him, I see three: 1) move Vidal Brujan to SS, Keston Hiura back to 2B and play Triston Casas at 3rd, 2) play Greg Jones more, or 3) move Brujan to SS and call up Nick Gonzales from Durham and give him a run at 2B. Gonzales is ranked the #31 prospect in baseball by BNN and while that may be a bit high, he's had 2 full years at Durham where he's averaged 285/330/440 with great doubles/gap power. All of these options will make a mediocre defensive infield worse, as Brujan is not a natural SS nor is there really one in system ready to step right in. Alejandro Pie has hit .210 or so at both Durham and Montgomery after being demoted this year. Not really sure how much Jones can hit either. Anyway as for the game I did go to Daniel Lynch as opposed to Tyler Glasnow on full rest and Lynch was horrible again, going 5 11 7 6 1 1. Brandon Marsh homered (#14) in the 9th, Brujan had an RBI groundout and Wander had one last RBI on a sac fly as he ends the year .306-23-97 with an OBP of .349 and slugging .539 and finishes with 4.1 WAR. Baltimore crushed Seattle to pull back within 3 1/2 as that division lead looks shakier than ever with Wander out. Team record: 69-48. Next up: 3 games at home vs the Yankees. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-29-2020 at 08:27 PM.

09-29-2020, 09:17 PM	#270
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 15-17, 2025: vs NY Yankees (3) August 15: Placed SS Wander Franco on the 60-day IL with a torn labrum, recalled 2B Nick Gonzales from AAA Durham. Signed LHP Madison Bumgarner to a minor-league contract. So I went with Gonzales, which I think is the best option. I'm excited to see what he can do and he's way overdue to play in the majors. Speaking of torn labrums, Bumgarner tore his in spring training after signing with the Twins, but came back and looked decent in 3 rehab starts with their AAA team. Still the Twins released him so with neither Lynch nor Lacy distinguishing themselves right now, he's worth a flyer and we'll see how he does at Durham. With a 40-man spot now open with Wander on the 60-day, he'll be no sweat to add to the roster. Game 1: Tonight was the first game of the post-Wander remainder of the 2025 season and it was fortunate that a) we had Tyler Glasnow on the mound and b) the opponent was the Yankees at the friendly confines of the Trop. Glasnow was on his game, going 7 6 4 2 1 13 in a 9-4 win. His only bad spell came when he allowed back-to-back solo HRs in the 4th to Aaron Judge and Brandon Lowe. A dropped fly ball by Hunter Bishop led to the other 2 runs scoring off him in the 7th. With Wander out, the offense had a new look as Brandon Marsh moved up into his #2 spot and responded with a 3-run HR (#15) to put the Rays up in the 3rd, and then in the 4th Austin Meadows (#16) hit a solo shot and Bishop had a 3-run job (#11) to blow the game open at 7-2. Alec Bohm added a 2-run double in the 5th to make it 9-2. Nick Gonzales got the start at 2B and was an immediate (literal) hit, singling in his first two at-bats, stealing a base and going 3-4 for the night. In fact it was his first hit with two out in the 3rd that kept the inning alive for Marsh's homer. Unfortunately on the defensive side Vidal Brujan made 2 errors at short. On the mound after Glasnow left Evan Godwin had a scoreless inning and then Nick Anderson was given the ball to finish the game but loaded the bases with two out and dangerous lefty Joe Allen due up so Jose Alvarado had to come in and whiff him on 3 pitches to get his first save of the season. Baltimore routed Seattle again so the lead is still 3 1/2. Game 2: A tough loss at the Trop that was a direct result of poor infield defense as the Yankees scored twice in the 12th inning on a Keston Hiura error and a ball that Brujan and/or Hiura should have fielded which went through for a single to beat the Rays 6-4. Hiura was only in at 3B tonight because he pinch-hit for Triston Casas when the Yankees brought in a lefty in the late innings. The Rays grabbed a 2-run lead in the 2nd on solo HRs by Spencer Torkelson (#17) and Casas (#10) and the Yankees answered back with one from Gleyber Torres in the 5th and then scored 2 more off Shane McClanahan in the 6th when he had a bit of a meltdown, walking a pair including one with the bases loaded. Brandon Marsh homered for the second straight night out of the 2-hole and 3rd consecutive game overall (#16) to tie it right back up in the bottom of the 6th but the Yankees re-took the lead in the 7th when McClanahan walked the leadoff man and exited (ending 6 4 4 4 4 8), and Jose Alvarado allowed the runner to eventually score. But the Rays fought back in the 8th when Austin Meadows had an RBI single to tie it, and onto extras we went until things unraveled between Evan Godwin and Mitchell Verburg in the 12th. The inning should have been over when Skyler Messinger hit a 2-run single off Verburg to provide the winning runs. The Rays managed to put two men on in the bottom of the 12th but couldn't get them home, and Baltimore routed Seattle for the third straight night to pull within 2 1/2 games. Game 3: More of the same mediocrity today as the Rays lose two out of three at home to the worst team in baseball. The Yankees took a 5-3 decision that had all the hallmarks of their recent poor play: starting pitching putting them in an early hole and the bats not doing anything until it was too late. Asa Lacy got the start and after allowing a run in the 1st settled down until he melted down, giving up 3 runs in the 5th which doomed them, ending 6 6 4 4 2 6. Mitch Keller pitched the final 3 innings, allowing a run. Meanwhile the offense couldn't get much going against Gerrit Cole, who went 7 6 1 1 1 7. They had better luck against the Yankee bullpen, rapping out 7 hits over the last 2 innings but could only manage 2 runs out of it, with Austin Meadows leaving the tying runs on base to end the game. And this series loss can't be blamed on Wander's loss as his lineup replacement Nick Gonzales was 2-4 with an RBI double today and 6-12 for the weekend. Vidal Brujan, Keibert Ruiz and Meadows were a combined 2-15 today, not exactly picking up the slack. Baltimore rallied for 5 in the bottom of the 9th to beat Seattle so the lead is 1 1/2 and 1 in the loss column as this team will need to start concerning itself with the wildcard race. Team record: 70-50. Next up: An off-day followed by a 2-game visit from the Mets. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-30-2020 at 12:17 PM.

09-30-2020, 02:31 PM	#271
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 19-20, 2025: vs NY Mets (2) Game 1: It's not every day you get a matchup of the two reigning Cy Young Award winners but that's what we had today as the Mets' Sandy Alcantara faced off against Matt Manning, and Manning won the battle as Alcantara was chased in the 5th by the Rays on their way to a 7-2 victory. It was the Mets who struck first against Manning with a pair of runs on 4 hits in the 3rd inning but that would be all he'd allow in picking up win #13 and going 6.1 7 2 2 1 4. Aaron Ashby went 1 2/3 and Mitchell Verburg pitched the 9th without being scored on. Alcantara had control issues, walking 4 in the 4+ innings he pitched but it was extra-base hits that got the Rays going. Austin Meadows singled and Keston Hiura tripled him home, and Hiura scored on an Alec Bohm groundout. With two outs, Hunter Bishop singled and Nick Gonzales continued to rake with his MLB HR, an opposite field shot inside the RF foul pole to give the Rays the lead to stay, 4-2. They tacked on 3 more in the 5th when Meadows tripled, scored on a Spencer Torkelson single and Keston Hiura launched HR #13 off Eric Lauer. Gonzales singled and walked in addition to his HR, and is now 8-15 with 2 walks in his 4 games with the Rays. They needed the win as Baltimore just refuses to lose, beating Boston 9-4 to stay within 1 1/2. August 20: Sent LHP DL Hall to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment. Remember him? Shortly after being acquired from Baltimore last summer he stretched an elbow ligament which has kept him out a year. When healthy, he's an impressive lefty power arm for the pen who could help the team down the stretch, although he'll need to be added to the 40-man. Game 2: Tyler Glasnow couldn't stand prosperity today as he failed to hold onto two leads today as the Mets beat the Rays 8-5. Triston Casas hit a 2-run HR off Lucas Sims in the 2nd to make it 2-0 Rays but Glasnow gave it right back in the top of the 3rd and then allowed 2 more in the 4th on a Mark Vientos 2-run HR. No problem for the offense, though, as Casas went deep again with a 3-run shot (#12) to make it 5-4. Glasnow got through the 5th, but in the 6th he gave up another 2-run HR to Vientos along with another run to make it 7-5 and finished 6 9 7 6 1 6. Pete Alonso closed out the scoring with his 300th career HR in the 9th off Liam Hendriks, while the Rays mounted a couple of ultimately futile threats in the late innings, including the obligatory Austin Meadows as tying run at the plate in the 9th making the final out. Although in a losing cause, Nick Gonzales continued his ridiculous hitting with another 2-4 day featuring a double and a stolen base. The only good news today is that Baltimore finally lost, so the slender lead remains a slender lead. Team record: 71-51. Next up: Another off-day, followed by 3 in Kansas City. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-30-2020 at 03:36 PM.

09-30-2020, 05:43 PM	#272
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 22-24, 2025: at Kansas City (3) Game 1: Losing teams keep finding new ways to lose, and the Rays right now are a losing team, unable to beat the 50-70 Royals and thanks to Baltimore's win tonight over Toronto now find themselves tied for first place after being up 7 about a month ago. We'll start in the first inning. After a Brandon Marsh RBI double gave the Rays a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning, Shane McClanahan got the first two outs, struck out the next batter but allowed him to reach on a wild pitch, then saw Triston Casas make an error at first and of course Mac then gave up a hit to score the runner. Same thing in the 2nd, he got the first 2 out, then gave up a single, walk and a double. He ended an OK 5 3 2 1 4 5 and the Rays took a 3-2 lead in the 6th when Spencer Torkelson had an RBI triple and scored on Alec Bohm's single. Liam Hendriks gave up a couple of hits with two out, but Evan Godwin came on and got out of it and pitched a perfect 7th of his own (Godwin now in 8 appearances has yet to allow an earned run in 9 innings and has 15 Ks). But Nick Anderson blew it in the 8th, giving up a leadoff triple, getting a whiff, but then giving up another single to score the run, and yet another single to move the next guy to 3rd where he scores on a sac fly. That's the 5th blown save of the season for Nick and the second game he's blown in his last four outings making me wonder if he can still rely on him in the 7th and 8th. And to add insult to injury, former Ray Drew Strotman got them 1-2-3 in the 9th to end the game. Of course it would have been nice if they could have generated more than 3 runs against Brady Singer and his 6+ ERA coming in. Tomorrow's starter is TBD, it could be Lynch, I could roll the dice on Christian Little again too. August 23: Optioned P Daniel Lynch to AAA Durham, recalled P Jimmy Lewis from AAA Durham. Gonna roll the dice here and bring Lewis back, who pitched decently in a couple of starts earlier this season, including one in Washington. I've lost all faith in Lynch. Lewis is a little safer pick than Christian Little, who if I bring back up would like to do so in a home game. Game 2: And the losing goes on. Jimmy Lewis turned out not to be a good option as he went 2.1 5 3 3 3 1, yet still left the game ahead 4-3 after Austin Meadows hit a grand slam (#17) in the top of the 3rd. The Rays even added to the lead in the 4th on a Brandon Marsh RBI single, but every reliever that came in for the Rays allowed a run, from Mitch Keller to Aaron Ashby to Mitchell Verburg to Evan Godwin. The only one not charged with a run was Liam Hendriks, but he gave up the hit that scored Godwin's as Kansas City came back to win 7-5. Once again the offense took the second half of the game off, and although 5 runs should usually be enough to win it wasn't enough. And now the Rays find themselves in 2nd place for the first time since 2021 as Baltimore beat Toronto again. In case you're wondering, they're now 2 games up on Cleveland for the first wild card and 5 1/2 up on Texas for the second. August 24: Sent P Mitchell White to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment. Optioned P Jimmy Lewis to AAA Durham, recalled P Christian Little from AAA Durham. Well here's someone who we can't wait to get back. It's no coincidence the team's tailspin has occurred with White on the shelf, and right now it seems we can only win games that Manning and Glasnow pitch so it'll be good to get him back after a rehab start or two. As for the other move, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Little. Right now I'm giving Lacy the start tomorrow and may use him in long relief if necessary (or short relief if necessary too). Game 3: Of course the Rays took the lead. Of course they blew the lead. Of course they rallied but came up short. Of course Baltimore won again. Were you expecting any different? It's Groundhog Day again for the Rays as they lost their 4th straight and 11th in 17 games 5-4 to Kansas City. We had the obligatory false dawn when they went up 2-0 in the 5th on a Nick Gonzales RBI triple and a Vidal Brujan RBI single. Asa Lacy was rolling with a 4-hit, 0-walk shutout through 5 innings. But of course Lacy was greeted with an Andrew McCutchen HR to lead off the 6th, and then he promptly gave up 3 straight singles to load the bases. So it was time to bring on Christian Little for some strikeouts. Well he got the first batter to whiff, but then gave up a 2-run double to Adalberto Mondesi and a sac fly and it was 4-2 Royals. Then he gave up a Rowdy Tellez HR in the 7th to make it 5-2. This of course led to the typical too-little, too-late rally where Keston Hiura had a 2-run double to make it 5-4 with one out in the 8th, was balked to third but Alec Bohm and Triston Casas both struck out, and Drew Strotman got them once again 1-2-3 in the 9th to end it. So now they're 2 games back and the team I'm looking at now is Texas who's next behind the wild cards, and at least they lost today. Sadly a team that easily cleared 100 wins the past 3 seasons would now have to go 29-8 the rest of the way to get there again. Ain't happening as right now 8-29 feels more likely. Team record: 71-54. Next up: 3 games in Toronto, so at least we'll score some runs. I think. Last edited by Art Deco; 09-30-2020 at 10:13 PM.

09-30-2020, 11:05 PM	#273
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 27-29, 2025: at Toronto (3) Game 1: The Rays win! The Rays win! Well, it was Matt Manning's turn in the rotation after all, which is the last time they won before tonight. Manning wasn't his sharpest, but he was good enough through 6 innings to lead the Rays to a 4-2 win over Toronto. He was dealing with baserunners right and left, and ended 6 7 1 1 2 6 to go to 14-6, 3.14. It took him 117 pitches to get through those 6 innings, however. Nick Anderson bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th, Jose Alvarado had a scoreless frame in the 8th, and pitching for the first time in 9 days Jasseel De La Cruz made things interesting as he always seems to lately, giving up a HR to start the 9th and allowing a double to bring Vlad Jr to the plate as the tying run with 2 out before whiffing him to end the game and get save #27. Hunter Bishop got the offense going with HR #12 in the 3rd, and Vidal Brujan singled, stole his 56th base of the season and scored on a Keibert Ruiz single to make it 2-0 in that same frame. The Rays added 2 big insurance runs in the 8th on RBI singles from Alec Bohm and Bishop as well. Baltimore was idle so the Rays move within 1 1/2 of the lead. Game 2: The Rays actually made it 2 in a row, but not without the requisite drama. Vidal Brujan had a big night and Tyler Glasnow pitched a pretty good 7 innings as they won 5-4. Brujan was involved in 4 of the 5 Rays runs and started off the game with a double, scoring on Brandon Marsh's double. Marsh came around to score on an Austin Meadows sac fly (Meadows' nascent 15-game hitting streak ended tonight). Brujan came up again in the 2nd and this time hit a 2-run HR (#9) to right to make it 4-0. The Jays came back and struck for 3 runs in the 2nd and 3rd to close within 1 and it would have been tied had Marsh not thrown out a runner at the plate. Glasnow settled down after that and made it through 7, going 7 10 3 3 1 9 and improving to 15-6, and Brujan scored on a wild pitch in the 4th to make it 5-3, which is where we stayed until the 9th. Nick Anderson had a solid 2-strikeout inning in the 8th but Jasseel De La Cruz once again made it an adventure in the 9th. For the second straight day he gave up a leadoff homer to cut into the lead, and he put another man on for Vlad Jr, whom today he got to pop out before getting the final out to notch shaky save #28. On the final out, he tweaked his ankle and is DtD with a sore ankle for 4 more days. Given how shaky he's been and now at less than 100%, I think I'll bypass him for the next save opportunity. And the Phillies beat Baltimore, marking the first time in what feels like forever that the Rays gained ground on the Orioles, now only 1/2 game back. Game 3: Another bullpen implosion cost them a game they led 4-2 into the 8th. Evan Godwin, who had been lights out before today with the Rays, gave up a lefty-on-lefty 2-run HR to Cavan Biggio with 2 out in the 8th to tie the game, and Liam Hendriks with two out (there should have been 3 but a Keston Hiura error allowed the leadoff man to reach) gave up a 3-run HR to Gabriel Moreno to give Toronto a 7-4 walk-off win. As always, though, they scored early and couldn't add to it in the later innings and had 2 men thrown out at the plate which could have added to the lead. The big hit for the Rays early was Triston Casas's bases-clearing double in the 3rd to break a 1-1 tie but Casas tweaked his back on the play going into 3rd (where he too was thrown out but allowed the 3rd run to score) and so that's how Hiura ended up in the game to make the critical 9th-inning error as it's always something these days. Shane McClanahan pitched pretty well going 5.2 8 2 2 1 7 and Mitchell Verburg had one of his best outings as a Ray, getting the last man in the 6th, setting down the side in the 7th including a Vlad Jr whiff, and the first man in the 8th. But after getting the second out Godwin walked a man in front of Biggio and just like that the lead was gone and soon the game would be. Hunter Bishop hit HR #13 in the second for the first Rays run, and Nick Gonzales rapped out 3 more hits and is hitting .429 in 42 AB. Fortunately Philly took care of Baltimore again so no ground was lost. Team record: 73-55. Next up: An off-day followed by a yuge 3-game set at the Trop vs Baltimore. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-01-2020 at 01:24 PM.

10-01-2020, 05:01 PM	#274
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	August 30-September 1, 2025: vs Baltimore (3) (Just noticed I've been off with my days, the Toronto series above should have been August 26-28, and this series is August 29-31.) It's time for the biggest series of the season as the Rays trail the Orioles by 1/2 game for the AL East lead. Game 1: They led 4-2 in the 7th and gave up 5 runs in the late innings to lose 7-4. That was a summation of yesterday's Rays game in Toronto and it applied once again today. But the "they" in that first sentence refers to the Orioles as the Rays mounted a huge comeback to win and re-take first place in the AL East. The big story today was Keston Hiura. After making a key error in the 9th inning yesterday, Hiura found his redemption by hitting 3 - count 'em, 3 - HRs today, all solo shots and in consecutive at-bats to give him 16 for the season and tying a club record. The first tied the game at 2 in the 4th, the second got the Rays within 4-3 in the 7th, and the 3rd made it 7-4 in the 8th. Also homering were Nick Gonzales (#2) to tie the game in the 7th, and Spencer Torkelson (#18) to make it 6-4 in the 8th. The winning run was one of 2 non-HR runs as Vidal Brujan walked after Gonzales's blast, stole second and scored on a Brandon Marsh single. Torkelson had an RBI single in the 1st for the other run. Asa Lacy got the start and immediately gave up a run and had the bases loaded with nobody out, but got out of it with two whiffs and a fly ball, but gave up another in the 2nd and 2 more in the 5th to put them behind 4-2. Mitch Keller came on and got Lacy of a 6th inning jam with men on 1st and 3rd and 1 out, and then Aaron Ashby got Keller out of his own jam in the 7th and picked up win #2 in the process. Nick Anderson had one of his classic 2K perfect innings in the 8th and Jose Alvarado grabbed save #2 allowing only a single. It was big for the team to win the game in the series which didn't have Manning or Glasnow starting, and now those two will pitch tomorrow and Sunday. Game 2: Another big, big win for the Rays as they edge Baltimore 4-3 and assure themselves of staying in first through this series by now going up 1 1/2 games. Matt Manning was the man, going 8 7 3 3 0 8 to go to 15-6, 3.15 with the primary damage against him a 2-run HR by Adley Rutschman in the 6th inning to make it 3-2 Baltimore after the Rays failed to turn a double play which would have ended the inning. But the Rays answered right back in bottom of the 6th on Spencer Torkelson's 19th HR of the season to tie it, and then doubles from Keston Hiura and Alec Bohm gave them the lead to stay. Jose Alvarado pitched the 9th again for save #3, his second in two games. The Rays earlier got on the board on doubles from Nick Gonzales and Brandon Marsh to tie the game at 1 in the 3rd, and Vidal Brujan doubled in Gonzales in the 5th to put them up 2-1. And yes Nick Gonzales was 2-3 again today - he's now hitting 449/471/673 in 49 at-bats as he continues to pick up the offensive slack for Wander. Game 3: How sweep it is! Tyler Glasnow, after giving up 3 runs in the 1st inning, settled in to provide a dominant performance thereafter and the Rays scored just enough runs to win 4-3 and sweep the biggest series of the season to go back up 2 1/2 games in the AL East. Glasnow gave up a couple of walks, and a couple of singles, and a Brandon Marsh throwing error, and Baltimore looked like they'd salvage a game by going up 3-0. Rony Garcia started off strong, whiffing 4 in the first 2 innings, but the Rays struck back for all 4 of their runs in the bottom of the 3rd. Hunter Bishop, Nick Gonzales singled (of course he did, he was 1-2 with a walk today), and Brandon Marsh drilled a 2-run double into the LCF gap. And after Keibert Ruiz was retired, Austin Meadows had a rare big hit of late with HR #18 to score Marsh and make it 4-3. And there we stayed the rest of the game as Glasnow mowed down Oriole after Oriole and ended 7.1 3 3 3 2 10 and improved to 16-6, 3.98 and now leads MLB in wins. Evan Godwin came on in the 8th with lefties due up and retired both of them, and then stayed for the 9th and only allowed a single to nab his 2nd Rays save. He's now whiffed 20 in 12 2/3 innings since joining the team. Team record: 76-55. Next up: 3 at home vs Toronto. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-01-2020 at 07:33 PM.

10-01-2020, 11:08 PM	#275
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	September 1-3, 2025: vs Toronto (3) September 1: Activated P Mitchell White from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, recalled P Dustin May from AAA Durham. As we can now expand the roster by two, White will be welcomed back to start today as we'll push Shane McClanahan back a day. May pitched decently at Durham and will be a long relief/spot start option for now although there's no guarantee he holds the 28th spot for the month. Game 1: The Rays continue to eke out 1-run wins, which is fine considering how many they've been on the wrong end of this season, but I'd appreciate it for my nerves if they could just win a laugher or at least add some runs late to build a lead. As mentioned above, Mitchell White was back to start and he came through with an excellent 6.2 6 2 2 2 6 outing in the Rays' 3-2 win. A Ryan Noda HR in the 7th cost him a shot at a win as it tied the game at 2, and although pitching into the 7th might have seemed to be pushing him considering it was his first start back, he only threw 89 pitches. Nick Anderson got the final out in the 7th and then pitched a perfect 8th with 3 Ks total and became the winning pitcher when Brandon Marsh hit HR #17 in the bottom of the 7th to break the tie. Jose Alvarado came on for the 9th with two lefties up and retired them, but lost his shot at the save as the 3rd batter he faced singled, so Jasseel De La Cruz came in to face the scheduled righty hitter but the Blue Jays pinch-hit a lefty. No matter though as De La Cruz whiffed Luis Toribio to notch save #29 in his first action in over a week after his sprained ankle. The Rays grabbed their other two runs in the 5th when Hunter Bishop tripled in Alec Bohm and scored on a Vidal Brujan single. Nick Gonzales had only his 2nd hitless game in 15 starts, going 0-4 today. The Rays have now won 4 straight and 6 of 7 in their best stretch in quite a while. Baltimore got a 3-run Ranfy Adon HR in the bottom of the 9th to win and stay 2 1/2 back. Game 2: The Rays heeded my call for a laugher of a game rather than the nail-biters they've been playing and annihilated Toronto 17-1 behind the team's second individual 3-HR game in less than a week. After Keston Hiura hit 3 bombs against Baltimore Friday, Alec Bohm hit 3 Bohms today to become the second Ray (after Wander) to hit 20 HR this season. The team hit 6 longballs in all, including 5 in the first 4 innings as the game quickly got out of hand. Austin Meadows hit a 2-run shot (#19) to start the scoring in the first, and then they exploded for 5 in the second on Bohm's first (a solo shot), a 2-run double from Spencer Torkelson, and a 2-run jack from Nick Gonzales (#3). Bohm had another solo blast in the 3rd, Hunter Bishop a 2-run homer in the 4th (#14), and Bohm hit his third with a man on in the 6th. They scored in every inning except the 8th as every starter except Patrick Bailey (1-3 with a walk and 2 runs scored) drove in at least one run. The beneficiary of all these runs was Shane McClanahan, who wasn't his best but good enough to go 5 7 1 1 2 7 and even his record at 6-6, 3.40. Christian Little, who hadn't pitched in over a week and half, got an extended run going the final 4 innings and dazzling, going 4 2 0 0 0 6 including a pair of whiffs of Vlad Jr and picking up his first career MLB save. Baltimore had their own rout tonight beating Cleveland 20-7 behind a 3-HR game from Jo Adell and immolating one of the top pitchers this season in the AL, Kantaro Yokoyama, so they stay 2 1/2 behind. In fact it was such a big scoring night around the league that Bohm barely rated 3rd star of the night with his 3-HR game: Game 3: The Rays continued their homer-happy ways by blasting 5 more tonight in a closer-than-it-looked 12-2 win over the Jays. It was only a 5-2 game in the 6th when Asa Lacy ran into some trouble with two out, putting two men on and the tying run at the plate in Cavan Biggio, leading to a tough choice: go with a lefty to retire Biggio or go with a righty in case Biggio reached with two righties including Vlad Jr. to follow? I ended up going with the lefty Aaron Ashby and got Biggio on a fly ball but if he hadn't he'd have to face those two guys with it either 5-3 or the bases loaded. The Rays tacked on a run in the bottom to make it 6-2 and then really blew it open with 6 in the 8th. They got off to a 2-0 start behind RBI singles from Austin Meadows and Spencer Torkelson, and then after Toronto made it 2-1 in the 3rd, Nick Gonzales went deep again (#4) to make it 3-1. And in the 5th Keibert Ruiz (#14) and Tork (#20) hit solo blasts to make it 5-1. Keibert's RBI groundout made it 6-2 in the 6th and then in the 8th Meadows hit #20 for a grand slam and Hunter Bishop followed with #15. Lacy got the win, going a decent 5.2 7 2 2 1 3 to go to 4-4, and after Ashby got the big out in the 6th, Nick Anderson pitched a perfect 3K 7th, Evan Godwin a scoreless 8th with a pair of whiffs and after the lead grew to 10, Dustin May had a scoreless 9th getting a double play to end the game. Everybody had at least one hit as they had 14 for the night and extended the winning streak to 6 and their current run to 8 of 9. They're also now 12-4 against Toronto this season. Baltimore continues to parallel the Rays with their own 10-4, 4-HR win tonight. Team record: 79-55. Next up: An off-day followed by the beginning of a long road trip which starts in Detroit for 3 over the weekend. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-02-2020 at 01:28 PM.

10-02-2020, 03:16 PM	#276
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	September 5-7, 2025: at Detroit (3) Game 1: Maybe they should change their name to the Tampa Bay Rakes, as that's what they continued to do in another blowout win. The 14-3 victory over the Tigers means they've won 3 consecutive games by the aggregate score of 43-7, and 7 wins straight overall. It didn't start out that way though as Matt Manning had an extremely shaky first inning, walking 3, allowing 2 runs and throwing 40 pitches. But in the top of the 3rd, a 2-out, nobody-on error from Detroit 1B Gavin Sheets was the spark they needed as Vidal Brujan, who reached, stole second, scored on a Brandon Marsh single and Keibert Ruiz singled in Marsh who had gone to 2nd on the throw home to tie the game. And then they busted it open with 6 runs in the 4th on an Alec Bohm single, Nick Gonzales sac fly, RBI singles from Brujan and Ruiz, an Austin Meadows (playing against his brother Parker for the first time) double and a wild pitch. Spencer Torkelson homered (#21) for the 3rd straight game with a 3-run blast in the 6th and later Keibert added an RBI double, Hunter Bishop an RBI groundout and Gonzales had another sac fly. Manning settled down after that rocky 1st and went to 16-6 by going 6 4 3 2 5 3. Mitchell Verburg (2) and Liam Hendriks (1) pitched the final 3 scoreless innings. Baltimore lost last night to Minnesota while the Rays were idle but beat them tonight, so the lead is 3 games and if I dare say it the magic # is 25. Game 2: The train keeps-on-a-rollin' as the Rays won their 8th in a row and 10th in 11 as they came from behind twice to beat Detroit 6-4. Alec Bohm's 2-out, 2-run single was the difference, overcoming an up-and-down performance from Tyler Glasnow. Kumar Rocker was largely keeping them in check, and Glasnow was pitching decently as well through 6 as the Rays trailed 2-1 with the only run coming on a mammoth blast from Austin Meadows (#21). But they rallied off the Detroit bullpen in the 7th to score twice and take the lead on a 2-run Keibert Ruiz single, only for Glasnow to give it back in the bottom of the inning allowing back-to-back HRs to the immortal duo of Alejo Lopez and Joey Morgan which put the Tigers back in front 4-3. Glasnow ended 6.1 7 4 4 1 8 and Mitch Keller got the final two outs of the inning. The Rays responded in the top of the 8th by loading the bases with nobody out but Spencer Torkelson was thrown out by Parker Meadows at the plate trying to score on Triston Casas's fly ball leaving two out with no runs in. And Nick Gonzales looked like he made the final out of the inning when he grounded one to first. But Gavin Sheets, whose error opened the floodgates for the Rays last night, booted another one allowing the tying run to score. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless 8th and grabbed win #4 when Bohm hit his 9th-inning 2-run single. Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th to secure the win and his 30th save. The news got even better when Minnesota downed Baltimore, increasing the lead to 4 games and dropping the magic number to 23. Game 3: Well this one hurt. Seemingly on their way to consecutive win #9, up 6-0 in the 5th, 6-1 in the 7th and taking a 6-3 lead into the 9th, the bullpen imploded on the way to giving Detroit a 9-6 walk-off win. With a lefty and two switch-hitters due, Jose Alvarado got the call, and he allowed a single up the middle and then two excruciatingly-slowly hit balls for infield singles to load the bases with nobody out. As Detroit brought up a righty pinch-hitter Jasseel De La Cruz got the call and got him to pop out. But he then gave up a 2-run double to Austin Martin to make it 6-5 and a sac fly by Parker Meadows tied it up. After walking Riley Greene up stepped Gavin Sheets, who made critical errors in each of the first two games of this series but he started his redemption arc by drilling a De La Cruz fastball into the RF stands for the win. This wasted a fine start from Mitchell White, who went 6.1 6 2 2 1 7. Evan Godwin came on and got him out of the 7th and although he gave up a solo HR to Greene in pitching the 8th it didn't seem like a big deal. Also hurting the Rays was that they had the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the 9th with a chance to tack on, but Spencer Torkelson, Keston Hiura (his 4th of the day as he went 0-5 and left 8 men on base) and Alec Bohm all struck out. Earlier the Rays had built a 6-0 with a 5-run 2nd inning keyed by Alex Kirilloff's dropped fly ball allowing a run to score which got things going for Vidal Brujan to single in a run, Brandon Marsh to double one in, Austin Meadows to single one in, and Tork drove one in with a grounder. Marsh also had an RBI single in the third for the 6th run, but the offense went to sleep after that. It shouldn't have cost them, but in some measures it did. The knife could have been twisted a little deeper had Baltimore won, but they too lost a tough game in extra innings after scoring four runs late to tie it up so the lead remains 4 and the magic # drops to 22. Team record: 81-56. Next up: We head out west for 3 games in Oakland only to fly right back across the country to Boston after that. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-02-2020 at 07:26 PM.

10-02-2020, 08:27 PM	#277
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	September 8-10, 2025: at Oakland (3) Game 1: The bullpen taketh away and the bullpen giveth. After yesterday's meltdown in Detroit, the bullpen - specifically the "B" bullpen - came through with 4 big shutout innings to allow the Rays to score a 2-1, 10-inning win over the A's. It was a great pitchers' duel between Shane McClanahan and Huascar Ynoa and the two left in the 7th tied at 1. The Rays' lone run in regulation came when Keibert Ruiz doubled to lead off the 4th, went to third on a fly ball and scored on Spencer Torkelson's groundout. Mac went an excellent 6 4 1 1 1 7 on 102 pitches, striking out the side in his final inning. Mitchell Verburg then threw a scoreless inning, Evan Godwin whiffied a pair of lefties, and Liam Hendriks had his best outing in a long time with 1 1/3 scoreless against the team he once closed for to get through the 9th. And Hendriks picked up his first Rays win when they broke through for a run in the 10th. Vidal Brujan led off with a single, stole second for his 66th steal of the season and went to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Brandon Marsh, who had struck out in his previous 4 plate appearances, then singled to left to score Brujan. With two lefties due up, Godwin used and Jose Alvarado unavailable after yesterday's debacle, it fell to Aaron Ashby and he pitched around a walk to nab his first save in three years as a Ray. And the day turned even sweeter as the Orioles lost in Anaheim to up the lead to 5 and drop the division magic # to 20. Game 2: Another low-scoring affair went Oakland's way tonight 3-1 thanks to the Rays' inability to hit Leonardo Pestana, some sloppy play in the field, and Asa Lacy's wildness (which might have an explanation, more on that later). Pestana nearly completely shut down the Rays, going 8 4 1 1 2 8 with Hunter Bishop and Nick Gonzales the only Rays he had trouble with. Bishop was 2-2 with a walk and HR #16 for the lone Rays run, while Gonzales was 2-3 with a double, and that was the sum total of the offense. Meanwhile Oakland capitalized on a Vidal Brujan error with 2 out in the 2nd to score their first run, and a Patrick Bailey throwing error past 3rd on a double steal allowed Oakland to score another with Alec Bohm's wild throw to 2nd on a grounder also coming in the inning. Add that to Lacy's 5 walks and it's a recipe for trouble. But a possible reason for Lacy's wildness (he had only walked 11 all season coming in) was that he had to leave the game with shoulder inflammation and his season is done. Christian Little relieved him and was electric again, striking out the side in the 6th and 7th in a 3 2 0 0 1 6 outing. With a couple of off-days on the horizon the Rays won't need a 5th starter until September 20, and depending on how things shake out it could be Little. Baltimore won in Anaheim so for the first time in a long time they gained ground on the Rays to pull back within 4 of the division lead. September 10: Placed P Asa Lacy on the 60-day IL with shoulder inflammation, recalled P Sandy Gaston from AAA Durham. Forgot all about Gaston, eh? Last year's solid bullpen contributor had his issues early this year, was sent down, got hurt, and is now back and has looked decent for Durham since returning. He'll pitch middle, mop-up relief of course. Game 3: The Rays were terrible in all phases of the game tonight as they were walloped by the A's 8-1. Matt Manning walked the first man he faced and it was downhill from there, allowing 3 runs in the 1st and one more each in the 2nd and 3rd as he was wild again after his 5-walk performance last time out. Then it didn't kill him but tonight it did, as he ended up 5 6 5 4 4 5. Dustin May gave up another 3 runs in relief. The defense was typically poor with yet another Keston Hiura error at 3B contributing to an unearned run, and with 1 run scored the offense was awful as well. Things looked promising when Vidal Brujan led off the game with a double and they loaded the bases with 1 out but Austin Meadows' sac fly is all they got out of it, and that was pretty much it for the night as they struggled with lefty Thomas Szapucki who went 8 8 1 1 2 6 against them. Down 5-1 in the top of the 7th they did load the bases again with nobody out, but two shallow fly balls and Hiura's groundout squandered that opportunity. In these 3 games in Oakland, they ended up scoring a grand total of 4 runs so they have to consider themselves fortunate to have won one of the games. The only silver lining on the night is that Baltimore lost again in Anaheim so the lead stays 4 games and the magic # drops to 19. Team record: 82-58. Up next: An off-day followed a trip to Fenway Park for 3. Minor League Playoff Update: Haven't mentioned Durham much as a team, they went an impressive 90-50 this year and opened their first round best-of-5 playoff series with Gwinnett tonight, coming from behind with 2 runs in the 8th to take a 3-2 win. Jimmy Lewis had a good start, going 7 4 2 2 2 4 but trailed 2-1 before Shane Sasaki (who had a nice 295/364/448 year as their leadoff man with 14 HR) drilled a RJ Dabovich pitch over the LF wall to lead off the 8th and after Durham put a couple on, a wild pickoff throw allowed the winning run to score. Tommy Mace got the win in relief and Nick Frasso got the save despite walking a couple. Meanwhile Low-A Hudson Valley lost its NY-Penn league playoff opener 9-4 at Norwich. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-03-2020 at 09:31 AM.

10-03-2020, 02:32 PM	#278
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	September 12-14, 2025: at Boston (3) Minor League Playoff Update: Gwinnett turned the tables on Durham by doing to them what Durham did in Game 1, scoring 2 late runs to come back and win 3-2 to even the best-of-5 series at 1. Emerson Hancock had to leave after the 1st inning with what turned out to be a scar tissue problem from previous surgery and is done for the postseason. Heston Kjerstad homered in the losing effort. Elsewhere, Hudson Valley was drubbed 10-1 by Norwich and is now down 0-2 so they'll need a miracle. Game 1: It was the Tork & Tyler teamup again as the Rays beat Boston 8-4. Spencer Torkelson broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the 8th with HR #22 over the Monster and the Rays added 3 more for insurance in the 9th to prevail. Tyler Glasnow picked his MLB-best 17th win, although he blew a 4-0 lead in the process of doing so, ending up 7.1 8 4 4 1 7. The primary damage against him was a pair of HRs in the 4th from Yoan Moncada and Pierson Gibis (who's hit at least 3 of his 7 HRs against the Rays). This after the Rays went up 4-0 on a Brandon Marsh RBI single, a 2-run double from Nick Gonzales (3-4 again) and a Triston Casas RBI single. Marsh and Keibert Ruiz had RBI knocks in the 9th and Austin Meadows brought home the final run on a fielder's choice. When it was still 5-4, Jose Alvarado came on in the 8th with one out but only got one more out while allowing two runners, so Nick Anderson came in and got pinch-hitter Tyler Keenan in his MLB debut and stayed on for a 1-2-3 9th to get save #5. Brujan stole 3 bases to up his season total to 70, and Marsh and Hunter Bishop each had 4-hit games. Baltimore did win in Oakland so the lead stays 4 but the magic # drops to 18. Game 2: You knew this wasn't going to be the Rays' day right away in the 1st inning when they put Brujan and Marsh on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out and couldn't get either home, and then the Red Sox led off the bottom of the inning with a HR. Mitchell White didn't have it today, and although he got out of the first after allowing that HR and loading the bases but letting nobody further score, he was bombed in the second inning for 5 more runs and had one of "those" starts, going 1.1 8 6 6 1 2 as the Rays ended up losing 10-6 in a game that really wasn't even that close. The Rays actually took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 2nd when Vidal Brujan and Keibert Ruiz had RBI singles, but Brujan was thrown out at the plate to end in the inning and then Boston blew it open in the 2nd. Christian Little came on for White and went 2.2 4 1 1 0 4, and Sandy Gaston served up a 3-run HR to Ryan Mountcastle (who had 6 RBI for the day) in the 5th to make it 10-3. The Rays did get a 2-run double from Hunter Bishop, an RBI single from Austin Meadows and an Alec Bohm sac fly, but yesterday's hero Spencer Torkelson was 0-5 with 3 whiffs and 8 men LOB. The loss didn't sting as much as Baltimore dropped a heartbreaker to Oakland, scoring in the top of the 9th to go up 1-0 but then giving up 2 in the bottom of the frame to lose. This drops the magic # to 17. Minor League Playoff Update: 3-2 was the score yet again between Durham and Gwinnett and this time the Bulls prevailed to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 first round IL playoff series. Jack Leiter (who has an outside shot at next year's rotation) got a promotion from AA Montgomery and was brilliant in his AAA debut, going 7.1 4 1 1 1 6, with the one run against a HR that chased him in the 8th. Heston Kjerstad had the game's big hit, a 2-run shot in the 3rd for his 2nd HR in as many days. Veteran Randal Grichuk hit a pinch-hit HR in the top of the 9th to make it 3-1, which turned out to be huge when Nick Frasso gave up one of his own in the bottom of the inning but still picked up the save. Daniel Lynch will look to close it out for Durham tomorrow. Elsewhere, Hudson Valley scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to stave off elimination with their own 3-2 win. A couple of Rays prospects looked good on the mound with 2nd round 2022 pick Tyler Gough going 5.1 4 2 2 2 5 and 2024 supplemental 1st round pick Billy Tacuri pitching 2 perfect innings with 4 Ks in relief. Game 3: Shane McClanahan was sensational and the Rays banged out 7 doubles and a HR to beat Boston 6-0. It was a rare decision for Mac, who came into the game 6-6 despite making 28 starts. Well he improved to 7-6, 3.21 with 169 whiffs in 168 innings off a 6 4 0 0 1 5 outing on 97 pitches today. Nick Anderson pitched a 1-2-3 7th while it was 4-0, Aaron Ashby went 1 1/3 and Mitchell Verburg got the final 2 outs for the team 5-hit shutout. The Rays jumped out to that 4-0 lead in the first 2 innings on an Austin Meadows RBI single and Keston Hiura RBI double in the 1st, and RBI doubles from Vidal Brujan and Brandon Marsh in the 2nd. Hiura added a 2-run shot, HR #17, in the 8th to make it more comfortable. And the division title came into clearer view with Baltimore dropping a 9-1 decision to Oakland to up the lead to 5 and lower the magic # to 15. Team record: 84-59. Up next: Another off-day as we finally return home to play 3 against the Angels, with whom were 1/2 game behind for best record in the AL as it looks like nobody will win 100 games this year in the league. Minor League Playoff Update: We'll have a Game 5 in Durham after Gwinnett beat the Bulls 7-5 in a game that was 2-0 Gwinnett most of the way, until they added a third in the 6th and 4 more in the 8th to go up 7-0, then Durham scored 5 in the ninth to make it interesting including another Randal Grichuk HR. Daniel Lynch was terrible for the Bulls, not making it out of the 3rd, and was lucky to have only allowed 2 runs (he left with the bases loaded but Jack Perkins got him out of it). Longtime MLB vet Julio Urias was untouchable for Gwinnett, going 8 5 0 0 0 12 before his bullpen almost gave it away. In the NY-Penn League, Hudson Valley's season is over after they lost 3-1 to Norwich to drop the series by the same margin. Robbie Ashford, acquired from Detroit in the Matt Manning/Shane Baz/Alex Kirilloff deal, homered for the lone Renegades run. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-03-2020 at 06:58 PM.

10-03-2020, 08:10 PM	#279
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	September 16-18, 2025: vs LA Angels (3) Game 1: In what was a rematch of the 2023 ALCS and could be a preview of a 2025 playoff matchup the Rays and Angels played an epic back-and-forth game that was decided in the 12th inning by the bat of Spencer Torkelson, whose 3-run walk-off HR (#24) gave the Rays a 7-4 win. It started off as an enticing pitching matchup of Matt Manning against Garrett Williams, two of the AL's top starters, but neither was particularly sharp or effective. Manning struggled to the tune of 5.1 8 4 4 2 5 while Williams was a little better and let down by his defense as a key passed ball allowed Vidal Brujan to reach leading off the game and led to 2 Rays runs, but didn't make it through the 6th either. The bullpens then took over and both put some runners on in tight situations but got out of jams. The Rays used 7 relievers to pitch 6 2/3 scoreless innings with Mitch Keller getting the win (his 7th, as many as regular rotation member Shane McClanahan) with a clean 12th. Jose Alvarado probably had the biggest outing of the group as after Nick Anderson loaded the bases with 1 out in the 8th, he came in and struck out 2 Angels to get out of it. This set the stage for Torkelson, who had homered earlier to put the Rays up 4-3, to drill a James Sherfy pitch the opposite way into the rays tank in RCF and send the home crowd into delirium. And it was a Kyren Paris error that kept the inning alive for the Rays before Tork's blast. The day got even better for the Rays when Baltimore lost to the White Sox for the second straight night, increasing the lead to 6 1/2 games meaning it would take an epic collapse to lose the division now even with a 3-game set in Camden Yards in 10 days' time as the magic # drops to 12. Minor League Playoff Update: Jimmy Lewis was rocked for 4 runs and 9 hits in 3 1/3 innings and the Durham Bulls bowed out of the playoffs with a 7-2 Game 5 loss to Gwinnett despite finishing 12 games ahead of them during the regular season. Game 2: The Rays kept getting opportunity after opportunity to come back down 1-0 and kept squandering them until they exploded for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Angels 5-1. Tyler Glasnow started looking for win #18 but it looked like he'd suffer loss #7 instead as Anthony Rendon's 4th inning RBI double kept standing up despite the Rays putting men in scoring position with less than 2 out on several occasions and failing to bring them home. Glasnow had to leave in the 7th after loading the bases with one out but Aaron Ashby got a ground ball at 2nd with the infield in and a whiff to get out of the jam. Glasnow was a bit off tonight not getting his usual strikeouts but still gutting through a 6.1 7 1 1 2 3 outing. Ashby got through the 8th and then the floodgates finally opened for the Rays. Austin Meadows singled, Spencer Torkelson doubled him to 3rd, and Hunter Bishop walked to load the bases with one out. But this time Keston Hiura hit one through the drawn-in infield to score a pair, and Alec Bohm, Vidal Brujan and Brandon Marsh all followed with RBI singles of their own to make it 5-1. With two lefties due up in the 9th and on a reasonable pitch count, Ashby stayed on and not only got the lefties but ending up striking out the side in a dominant 2.2 1 0 0 0 5 relief performance to earn his 3rd win of the season and give the rest of the pen a night off after yesterday's marathon. With the win the Rays now have the best record in the AL as they've rebounded well from the loss of Wander Franco, and Baltimore lost again so the division is all but won with the magic number dropping to 10. Game 3: Another poor start from Mitchell White doomed the Rays to a 7-2 loss to the Angels today. White was hit again early for 3 runs in the 1st and single runs in the 3rd and 5th, going 4.1 6 5 4 5 6 in an outing in which he was unusually wild. The game wasn't terribly competitive after that, although the Rays had a chance when Ryan Helsley had a bout of wildness in the 5th, walking three straight Rays to force in a run but as they always seem to do with the sacks jammed and less than two out, they squandered the opportunity. Keibert Ruiz had both the RBIs on a first inning run-scoring single and that bases-loaded walk, giving him 98 on the season. Later in the game former Rays mainstay Ji-Man Choi, now an MLB vagabond since leaving the team, homered off Sandy Gaston who had struck out the side in his first inning of relief. Baltimore was idle so no change in the magic number. Team record: 86-60. Next up: A weekend set at home vs Cleveland. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-04-2020 at 09:06 AM.

10-04-2020, 11:01 AM	#280
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,933	September 19-21, 2025: vs Cleveland (3) September 19: Activated P DL Hall from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned P Sandy Gaston to AAA Durham. Game 1: Shane McClanahan was effective if not efficient and a 6-run 3rd inning propelled the Rays to an easy 7-1 win over Cleveland. Mac won his second consecutive start going 5.2 5 0 0 3 6 on 112 pitches to improve to 8-6 and lower his ERA to 3.11, 2nd best in the AL. The Rays got on the board in the 1st when Spencer Torkelson's ground ball was misplayed by Cleveland SS Cesar Idrogo allowing Keston Hiura to score, and those two were instrumental again in the 6-run 3rd as each blasted 2-run HRs, #18 for Hiura and #25 for Torkelson (a massive shot to dead CF). Rookies Nick Gonzales and Patrick Bailey each had RBI hits to round out the scoring. Mitchell Verburg took over for McClanahan and allowed a run in the 7th, and DL Hall made his first Rays appearance in over a year and looked good, going 1 1/3 innings with a whiff. Dustin May had a 1-2-3 9th to finish the game. Baltimore won so with tonight's win the magic # drops to 9. Game 2: Christian Little got the start, and he was mostly excellent going 6 3 2 2 4 9 with only a bout of wildness in the 3rd and a well-timed 2-out hit for Cleveland getting the 2 runs off him. Still he looked he'd lose as Luis Castillo was stymieing the Rays. But in the bottom of the 6th Vidal Brujan led off with a single, stole second (#74) and went to third on a Brandon Marsh single. Keibert Ruiz's sac fly (RBI #99) scored Brujan to cut the deficit to 2-1, and after Austin Meadows reached on a Jake Bauers error Spencer Torkelson stepped up and continued his HR tear with a blast into the LCF stands (#26) to make it 4-2 Rays. And thanks to the bullpen that was the final score as Evan Godwin, Jose Alvarado and Jasseel De La Cruz (save #31) threw scoreless innings to preserve Little's first MLB win, the first of many it seems with his 80 stuff. The offense cited above was about it as the two teams combined for 8 hits tonight. Baltimore won again so the magic # falls to 8. Game 3: This game started out rough as Matt Manning continues to struggle in September, this time putting the Rays in a 6-0 hole by the 5th inning, going 4.2 9 6 6 2 6 and having now allowed 14 runs in his last 15 innings over 3 starts. He has 16 strikeouts over those 15 innings so hopefully it's just one of those stretches. But his teammates picked him up, scoring 4 times in the 5th and 4 more times in 6th to take an 8-6 win as the bullpen was lights-out again for 4 1/3 innings. The comeback started with a Spencer Torkelson RBI single, a Keston Hiura sac fly and Triston Casas's 2-run double. And then in the 6th they loaded the bases off Jimmy Nelson and up stepped Tork, and based on his week so far you can guess what happened next. The grand slam gave him 27 HR and 90 RBI on the season, and with 13 games left 30/100 is quite reachable. Meanwhile, Aaron Ashby pitched a scoreless 6th to grab another win (#4), Nick Anderson struck out the side in a perfect 7th as his little rough patch seems behind him, and Jose Alvarado was so efficient in the 8th (3 up, 3 down on 9 pitches) that with lefties due up he came back out for the 9th and nabbed a 2-inning save, his 4th of the season and only needed 22 pitches to do so. Baltimore swept Toronto so the magic # only keeps dropping one at a time, now down to 7. The other race is for the top seed in the league, and the Rays (89-60) are 1/2 game ahead of the Angels (89-61) for that distinction. Whereas in years past the wild card was usually better than the Central winner, this year there is an advantage to playing the wild card as it will be either Cleveland (81-69) or Baltimore (82-67) while Minnesota is 86-63. By the way, there are no real races left in MLB in either league for playoff spots, as nobody has a real shot at Cleveland in the AL, and in the NL the Braves, Cardinals (already clinched) should be division winners with the Phillies one of the wild cards and the only division race in the balance (Arizona 1 up over San Diego) will account for the other two teams. Team record: 89-60. Next up: 3 at home vs Toronto. Last edited by Art Deco; 10-04-2020 at 06:01 PM.