The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

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Biding time until the postseason as the Rays dropped 2 of 3 to the Royals.

Kansas City took the opener 7-5 as Joe Ryan was hit a bit hard at 5 7 4 4 1 6 although for a change he didn't allow any homers. Guillermo Zuniga took the loss as he left two men on for Shane McClanahan, who seems to be our most "un-clutch" pitcher these days. Mac allowed a pair of singles to score the tying & eventual winning runners after the Rays had gone ahead 5-4 in the top of the 6th. Lewin Diaz had a nice game with a double, 2-run HR (#10) and a sac fly.

A fine outing from Dustin May and some quality bullpen work brought the Rays a 3-2 win in the second game. May went 6 3 2 2 0 7 with both Royals runs coming on Bobby Witt Jr solo homers, and he improved to 16-10, 4.45. Alex Vesia, Pete Fairbanks and Devin Williams each went a perfect inning in relief with Williams picking up save #26. Wander Franco (#29) and Brandon Lowe (#34) had solo homers to lead the offense.

Transactions: We activated Austin Meadows and Hunter Bishop from their rehab assignments, optioned Mike Brosseau to Durham and DFA'd Billy Hamilton.

Another low-scoring game went the Royals' way this time in the series finale as the Rays fell 2-1. Griffin Canning wasn't actually that good but only allowed one earned run in a 4.1 6 2 1 3 5 outing. Adley Rutschman's solo homer in the 9th (#19) kept the Rays from being shut out after Brady Singer held them to two hits through 6 innings.

Team record: 107-49. Next up: We conclude our regular season home schedule with 3 vs the White Sox, who are in the middle of that wild race for the 2nd AL wildcard.

Playoff Race Update: Speaking of the AL wildcard race, with six games left it stands like this: Baltimore and the White Sox are tied for the second spot, Houston and Seattle are each a game behind them, and Detroit is 2 out. Over in the NL, we actually have a surprise division race as the Phillies shaved 3 games off the Mets' East lead in the last week and New York is only up by 2 games. Philly in turn is up 2 on Arizona in the race for the 2nd NL wildcard.

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The Rays closed out the home portion of their regular season schedule by taking 2 of 3 against the wild card-contending White Sox, including a walk-off thriller to close out the series.

The White Sox took the opener, though, 10-7 as they beat up on Tarik Skubal for 3 homers. Skubal had an interesting final line of 4.2 8 6 6 0 9 but the homers did him in, and Matt Peacock and Shane McClanahan each coughed up a couple of runs. The offense did its part, especially Jarren Duran who was 4-5 with a pair of homers (#16 and 17) and two RBI, while Hunter Bishop hit his first homer since returning from a lengthy absence, a 3-run shot for #17.

Tyler Glasnow closed out what should be a Cy Young season with a bravura performance in a 7-1 Rays win. The ace righty went 6 5 0 0 1 9 and finished his remarkable season 17-4, 3.15 with 254 whiffs in 191.1 IP and 5.1 WAR. Tampa Bay only managed 6 hits, but four of them were homers with Lewin Diaz starting things with a 2-run shot (#11) and Brandon Lowe (#35), Adley Rutschman (#20, back-to-back with Lowe in the 5th), and Austin Meadows (#29) also going deep.

Joe Ryan's slump continued but the Rays kept fighting back and eventually took an 8-6 walk-off win over the White Sox when Joey Bart took Garrett Crochet deep in the bottom of the 9th for his 15th homer. Ryan was 5 5 4 4 2 7 with a homer allowed and has now allowed 4 or more runs in 6 of his last 7 starts with 10 homers yielded in that period, which has seen his ERA rise from 3.55 to 4.23. He got off the hook for a loss as the Rays offense was relentless today with Heston Kjerstad, Bart and Alex Bregman each delivering 2-run singles to respond to Chicago scoring. Pete Fairbanks ended up with his 4th win after a perfect 9th.

Team record: 109-50. Next up: We close out the regular season with three games at Alamo Park against San Antonio before we await our opponent in the ALDS.

Playoff race update: And who will that opponent be? Right now the Orioles have taken the edge for the second AL wild card, a game up on the White Sox and Houston going into the final 3 with Seattle a long shot at 2 back. Over in the NL the suspense is pretty much over as the Mets nailed down the East and Philly holds a 3-game lead over Atlanta and Arizona for the second wild card over there.

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The string has been played out as the Rays closed the regular season by taking 2 of 3 in San Antonio, although the one loss was by far their worst of the season. Most importantly, nobody was injured.

Dustin May finished out his regular season in grand fashion, holding the Alamos to 2 hits over 7 innings in a 7-1 win. The righty concluded his first year with the Rays by going 7 2 1 1 2 10 to finish the year 17-10, 4.34 with an impressive 35/206 BB/K ratio in 193 IP. Carter Kieboom broke a 1-1 tie in the 4th with his 20th homer of the year and they didn't look back. Wander Franco chipped in a double and 2 RBI.

The Rays came from behind to take a 5-3 win in the second game when Vidal Brujan delivered a 2-run pinch-single in the 9th inning to break a 3-3 deadlock. Alex Bregman tied the game in the 7th with a 2-run homer, #4 as a Ray and #12 on the year, and the winning pitcher was Aaron Fletcher with his 5th while Devin Williams finished the game (and his season) with save #27.

The season finale saw the Rays turn in their most nightmarish inning (and game) of the year as they were clocked by the Alamos 19-4. San Antonio scored 11(!) times in the 1st inning off Tarik Skubal and Matt Peacock in an inning that saw Skubal throw 45 pitches and retire only two batters and which featured 3 Rays errors, one of which was catcher's interference on a third strike which would have ended it earlier. As a result only 4 of the 10 runs charged to Skubal were earned but he still saw his ERA rise to 4.27 and record fall to 13-7 to end the season. Joey Bart did slightly atone for his catcher's interference by hitting HR #16 and Carter Kieboom had 3 hits and an RBI.

Final regular season record: 111-51. Next up: Several days off followed by Game 1 of the ALDS at the Trop.

Final playoff race update: The wild and wacky race for the second wild card came down to the 12th inning in Baltimore when the Orioles pulled out a 3-2 win over the Yankees and secured the berth so they will travel to Fenway to take on the Red Sox for the right to face the Rays. The White Sox had a chance to clinch at least a tie but they fell to Oakland, and after Houston came away with a win we had a shot at a 3-way tie if Baltimore had lost, but they didn't. Over in the NL things got interesting when Atlanta won the first two of their series while the Phillies lost theirs and they were separated by a game going into the final day. But Atlanta lost and the Phillies won, so Philadelphia will now travel to San Diego in the NL Wild Card Game.

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So we will have the Twins open at the Angels in one ALDS and the Red Sox/Orioles winner at the Rays in the other, while in the NL it'll be the Cubs at the Mets with the Padres/Phillies winner at the Dodgers in the NLDS.

Our final team stats:



Nothing to complain about here. Our defense was kind of mediocre, but the offense was solid and the pitching was great. 2024 saw a very inflated offensive environment in MLB with a lot of homers and I'm going to deaden the ball a bit for next season. The fact that we led the league in team ERA at 3.84 speaks to that. Also it's very good we'll have home field advantage throughout the playoffs since we were 17 games better at the Trop than we were on the road.

Individual hitting stats:



Wander Franco truly came into his own as a superstar this year, and Carter Kieboom exceeded expectations by hitting well, getting on base a lot, and playing a solid 3B. At the other end of spectrum Lewin Diaz still can't hit despite great ratings (70 contact, 65 power) and Alex Bregman was a bust after being acquired at the deadline, although I still have some faith in Bregman (don't ask me why).

The pitching numbers:



If Tyler Glasnow doesn't win the Cy Young, there should be an investigation. Meanwhile our rotation remained remarkably healthy with only Griffin Canning missing a few turns as we amazingly only used 6 starting pitchers the entire season. It was impressive that we had 4 starters with over 200 Ks each. While Dustin May closed strong, Joe Ryan faded in September. Right now I'm looking at the playoff rotation being Glasnow, May, Skubal, Ryan. The bullpen pitched well but outside of Tyler Rogers was pretty homer-prone. A lot of that is the juiced ball, but a lot of it isn't.

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And our ALDS opponent is....



The Orioles! After barely squeaking into the dance, Baltimore claims one scalp of a team which was clearly better (by 8 games) during the regular season and now they'll try to take down a team which was 26 games better. Anything can happen in a short series.

Meanwhile Brandon Lowe turned a middle-of-the-road season into a pretty good one with a huge September and the league recognized him:

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A good start...



The Rays survived a pair of early 2-run homers by Austin Hays off Tyler Glasnow and ended up comfortably taking Game 1 of the ALDS 9-4. Hays shocked the Trop crowd with his first 2-run homer off Glasnow three batters into the game, but Adley Rutschman and Austin Meadows went back-to-back to tie it up in the 2nd, and that begat a rally which saw 3 more runs score. And after Hays' second homer got the O's within 5-4, Jarren Duran, who had an RBI single in the 2nd, had a big 2-run single to open up the game again. Glasnow settled in from there, and Guillermo Zuniga turned in two impressive innings of relief. Dustin May will try to make it 2-0 Rays in the series tomorrow.

In the other ALDS, Jo Adell homered twice to give the Angels the early-series advantage:

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Not in the script...



A frustrating loss for the Rays as several times they had runners in scoring position with less than two out and couldn't get them home and Dustin May was hit by his bugaboo the home run as he gave up a 3-run shot to Javy Baez in the 2nd which marred an otherwise decent outing as the Rays find themselves tied 1-1 going to Baltimore. They came back to tie on a big Brandon Lowe 2-run homer but the Orioles squeezed one out in the 5th and then the Rays had the bases loaded and one out in the 6th and couldn't score, then men on 2nd and 3rd with only one out in the 8th and failed again. Yesterday's clutch hitter Jarren Duran left 7 men on base today, and Austin Meadows had a miserable game, going 0-5 with 3 strikeouts and a GIDP in the 9th after Wander Franco led off with a single, leaving 5 on base himself. Tarik Skubal will try to get the Rays back in front in the series in a couple of days.

Elsewhere:

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Back on track...



Things didn't look good early for Tampa Bay as Tarik Skubal gave up a couple of solo homers (one to Austin Hays, his 4th in 3 games) and the offensive frustrations of Game 2 continued for the first 4 innings of Game 3. But the Rays went on a hitting spree, scoring 12 runs over the next 3 innings and routed the Orioles to take a 2-1 series lead. The box above will tell you who did what as it was a team effort, but Wander Franco was more equal than the others. Skubal gave up a 3rd homer but got the win with 9 whiffs in 5 innings and Joe Ryan will look to close out the series tomorrow. Baltimore lost more than the game as well, as Javy Baez was injured trying to turn a double play in the 9th inning and suffered a herniated disc, ending his ALDS and keeping him out of the ALCS should the Orioles advance.

In the other ALDS the Angels have booked their ticket for the ALCS after sweeping the Twins:

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Bring on the Angels...



What a game, what a comeback. Down 4-0 in the 4th after Joe Ryan coughed up 3 more homers (including of course one to Austin Hays, who hit 5 in the 4 games) the Rays crept back into the game with 3 solo homers of their own, 2 from Alex Bregman, who was named Series MVP. Bregman was a controversial acquisition at the deadline, and his inability to hit during his two+ months with the Rays made him a target of boobirds at Tropicana Field. But he's a proven playoff performer and he was acquired to boost us in the postseason, and that's what he did. And it was a big trade made last season that loomed large tonight when Adley Rutschman homered off the key man he was acquired for, Nick Bitsko, to tie the game leading off the 9th, and the Rays jumped on Bitsko further with a string of hits culminating in Jarren Duran's 2-run single to make it 6-4. And it was somewhat fitting that Devin Williams clinched the series by striking out Hays to end the game. Now instead of having to use Tyler Glasnow to try to win a Game 5, he gets to start Game 1 of the ALCS at the Trop against the Angels.

In the NLDS:



The Mets are in the NLCS after a great game from Sonny Gray (8 5 0 0 1 7) as they beat former Rays Mike Clevinger and today Ryan Yarbrough to sweep the Cubs. Meanwhile the Padres extend their series with the Dodgers after pulling out a win.

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We're going the distance as the Padres forced a fifth game back in LA with a rout.

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In a series which saw the home team win all the games the Dodgers came back today to beat the Padres and advance to the NLCS where they'll play the Mets in a TV network's dream matchup.

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A tough one...



Andrew Heaney shut down the Rays' bats and a pair of doubles in the 9th gave the Angels a 2-1 win over the Rays in the ALCS opener at the Trop. Tyler Glasnow was dominant with 11 whiffs over 5 innings and the bullpen held up until Devin Williams gave up a double to Anthony Rendon and then a 2-out double to Jorge Soler. Adley Rutschman doubled with one out in the 9th to put the tying run in scoring position but former Rays closer Ken Giles kept them from bringing him home and the Rays will now have to beat 20-game winner Marcus Stroman tomorrow behind Dustin May or they'll be in a tough 0-2 hole.

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Another tough one...



The Rays are in a real hole now after being shut down again by the Angels in a tough 3-2 loss. A former Ray provided the winning run for LA as Willy Adames took Dustin May deep in the 5th to break a 2-2 tie. May pitched pretty well but homers again were his problem as Mike Trout joined Adames in taking him deep. But the real story was the lack of offense once again as the Rays had chances to score several against Marcus Stroman in the early innings but settled for a pair. They loaded the bases with one out in the 2nd but Alex Bregman whiffed and Vidal Brujan grounded out, and although Bregman made up for the previous inning by doubling in a pair in the 3rd, he couldn't be brought home. Austin Meadows is having a rough postseason at .148 and whiffed 3 times today. Tarik Skubal will try to save the season in two days in Anaheim against a powerful righty-hitting lineup, not the ideal matchup for him as he's homer-prone as well.

In the NLCS:




Maybe we'll get our second Freeway Series in three years as the Dodgers joined the Angels getting off to a good start with a 6-3 come-from-behind win over the Mets. The big blow for the Dodgers came from none other than the 21st-century Mr. October himself, Randy Arozarena who had a bases-clearing double to break the 3-3 tie in the 8th.

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The Dodgers joined their metro mates the Angels as 2-0 LCS leaders with another win over the Mets, and who else but Randy Arozarena hit a 3-run homer?

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Climbed out of our grave...



Things looked about as bleak as they could when Jared Walsh, a lefty, hit his 2nd homer of the game off lefty Tarik Skubal to give the 2-0 series-leading Angels a 5-0 lead in the 3rd inning. But with the help of some sloppy LA fielding and giving the Angels a taste of their HR-hitting medicine, the Rays stormed back and won going away 11-5 to make this a series again. A David Fletcher error allowed the Rays to score their 2nd run of the inning in the 4th and then Brandon Lowe got them right back in the game with a 2-run shot, cutting the lead to 5-4 almost instantly. And then Wander Franco delivered a 2-run homer in the 5th to put the Rays on top and they never looked back. Heston Kjerstad and Adley Rutschman went deep as well, Skubal settled down long enough to get the win despite a rough outing, and Guillermo Zuniga proved a real weapon in the pen with 2 2/3 scoreless and 4 whiffs. Joe Ryan will try to get the Rays even tomorrow, although I'm sure a few more balls will be flying out of the park. Here's hoping more of them come from Tampa Bay hitters.

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Backs against the wall now...



The Rays had the series evened up for 7 1/2 innings but the bullpen, a strength throughout the season, let them down as a 5-3 lead turned into a 6-5 loss at absolutely the worst time and the Rays now have to beat the Angels three straight to keep their season going. Heston Kjerstad blasted a couple of homers to help the Rays erase early deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 (predictably Joe Ryan gave up a couple of homers, although I thought it make take longer than the 2nd batter of the game, Mike Trout, who hit a 2-run shot). But Trout took former teammate Griffin Canning deep in the 7th to cut the Rays lead to 5-4, Nick Anderson gave up a 2-out RBI single in the 8th to let LA tie, and then Devin Williams couldn't get anyone out in the 9th, allowing a walk, a single and then another single to Jared Walsh to bring home the game-winner. Fortunately for the Rays they'll have Tyler Glasnow on the mound to try and keep them alive tomorrow, but unfortunately they won't have him for Games 6 and 7.

In the NLCS the Freeway Series gets closer and closer to fruition:

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Not so fast, Freeway Series...



The Rays stayed alive with an 8-1 win over the Angels that was really much closer before they broke it open with 4 in the 9th, and they had to do it with Tyler Glasnow forced to leave in the 4th inning with the "B" bullpen coming through big-time. Glasnow departed with a sore back, but it's only a 2-day injury which would theoretically leave him available to pitch in Game 7 if desperate times called for it. The Rays got 5 2/3 scoreless from the guys you see in the box score above, with Guillermo Zuniga coming through again but also credit to Alex Vesia, who got Jared Walsh to bounce into a double play when he took over for Zuniga in the 6th with two on and one out. Carter Kieboom and Brandon Lowe led the offense with 3 hits and 2 RBI, and now we head back to Tropicana Field to play baseball instead of cleaning out lockers with Dustin May looking to force a Game 7.

Also Vidal Brujan tore a hamstring and is done for the playoffs. His spot will be taken by Lewin Diaz.

And it's all over in the NLCS:



Casey Mize dominated the Mets today and the Dodgers dominated the Mets in the series, sweeping their way into the Fall Classic and awaiting the Angels-Rays winner.

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Wait 'til next year...



The Rays will not be defending their World Series title this year as they fell to the Angels 9-2 to drop the ALCS in 6 games, just as they did in 2022 when we also ended up with a Freeway Series. The Rays held a 2-0 lead on a pair of Hunter Bishop RBI singles and Dustin May was cruising, but ran out of gas in the 6th, leaving with 2 on and 2 out on 92 pitches with one run in. But Pete Fairbanks poured gasoline on the fire, giving up a single to load the bases and then yielding a grand slam to Max Stassi, whom with all due respect isn't one of the Angels' real threats. That made it 5-2, and then Fairbanks and Aaron Fletcher stunk up the joint in the 7th, allowing 4 more runs to put the game out of reach. With the bullpen blowing 2 games in this series, it could have been a 4-2 Rays series win instead. And this happened too, although it was before the lead was lost, not after:



His tantrum came in the 4th when he made the final out after the Rays had scored a run but had a runner thrown out at the plate, a call Duran must have been upset about as well.