The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 25

Art Deco · 03-24-2023, 12:10 PM

Game 1: 7-0 W. WP-Eldridge (7-0, 6 3 0 0 3 3). The Rays clinched the AL East with tonight's win behind rookie sensation Bryce Eldridge, now 7-0, 2.42 and staking his claim for #4 playoff starter behind McClanahan/Swanda/Castillo.

Game 2: 4-5 L (10). LP-Fairbanks (3-6). Starter-Swanda (5 4 1 1 3 5). HR-N.Santana (15). If this hadn't been a meaningless game it would have been a heartbreaking loss as they took a 3-1 lead into the 9th and lost. Camilo Doval blew his first save as a Ray, giving up a 2-run homer to Max Kepler in the 9th and then Fairbanks served up a 2-run shot to Byron Buxton in the 10th. They nearly came back in the bottom of the 10th but Wander was thrown out at the plate as the potential tying run.

Game 3: 3-5 L. LP-Orze (10-6, 4 4 5 5 1 2). Orze was lousy, giving up a pair of 2-run homers while the bench was emptied with backups starting, and they dropped another series.

Team record: 94-55. Next up: An off-day then a trip to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field for 3 against the Cubs. Chicago is an impressive 86-63 and leads St. Louis by 3 games in the NL Central.

Art Deco · 03-25-2023, 09:31 AM

Game 1: 5-2 W. WP-McClanahan (15-7, 7 5 0 0 1 6). S-Doval (12/31). HR-Wood (18), Franco (32). Mac was brilliant and Wood knocked in 4 including in a 3-run homer.

Game 2: 9-3 W. WP-Whitlock (8-2). Starter-Castillo (3 3 1 1 1 3). HR-Luciano (18), DeLoach (20). DeLoach reached 20 homers for the first time, knocking in a pair, Santana drove in 3 including a big 2-run double in the 5th and Tork plated a pair as well. Castillo left with a sore ankle but will just have his next start pushed back a day.

Game 3: 3-6 L. LP-Moran (3-3). Starter-Eldridge (4 6 3 3 3 4). HR-Cartaya (20). Moran put the first two on to start the bottom of the 9th and Doval came in and gave up a 3-run walk-off homer to let the Cubs win.

Team record: 96-56. Next up: We head up I-94 to Milwaukee for 3 games.

Art Deco · 03-26-2023, 09:51 AM

Game 1: 2-7 L. LP-Swanda (13-5, 4 7 5 5 3 3). HR-Franco (33), Wood (19). Swanda's Cy Young chances took a hit tonight and the bats did nothing outside of the two solo homers.

Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Orze (11-6, 5 5 0 0 2 1). S-Doval (13/32). HR-J.Jackson (4). Jeremiah Jackson's homer in the 7th made it 4-0 after they scored 3 in the first and it turned out to be the difference. Doval got the save despite putting a couple on in the 9th as he's been a bit shaky of late.

Game 3: 1-14 L. LP-McClanahan (15-8, 2.1 10 8 8 1 1). HR-Mead (23). Not much to say about this one as Mac was roasted and Taj Bradley gave up 5 more in relief. We won't see the road again now until Game 3 of the ALDS.

Team record: 97-58. Next up: The quest for 100 wins will continue with 4 at home against the Yankees. While we're playing for milestones New York is playing for their playoff lives as they're tied with Cleveland for the third wild card.

Playoff Race Update: As we head into the final week of the regular season, the AL is set outside of Yankees-Guardians for the 3rd wild card with the Rays, White Sox and Astros division winners (although Chicago is 1 1/2 up on Houston for a bye) and the Tigers and Jays the first two wild cards separated by 1/2 game. In the NL the 100-win Mets have run away with the East, but the Cubs and Cards are tied in the Central and Arizona is 1 1/2 up on San Diego in the West. The two teams which don't win their divisions will be the top two wild cards, but the third wild card sees Atlanta only 1 game up on Philly.

MLB News: Veteran slugger J.D. Martinez has announced his retirement at the end of the season.

Art Deco · 03-27-2023, 09:22 PM

Game 1: 12-2 W. WP-Castillo (8-6, 6 3 1 1 2 4). HR-Cartaya (21), Franco (34). Rays routed the Yankees and hurt their playoff hopes a bit. Wander doubled, homered and drove in 3, Mead was 3-5 with 3 RBI and DeLoach was 3-5 with a ribbie.

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Gau (4-4). Starter-Eldridge (5.2 3 1 1 1 6). Bullpen lost a 2-0 lead with Gau getting tagged for 4 runs on 4 hits in the 7th.

Game 3: 6-8 L. LP-Andrews (0-1). Starter-Swanda (5 6 4 4 1 8). HR-Albies (18), Wood (20). Swanda's Cy hopes took another hit as the bullpen faltered again after the Rays took a 5-3 lead and his ERA ticked above 3. Clayton Andrews gave up a big 3-run homer to Juan Soto to lose it. Wood meanwhile became the 6th Ray in the regular lineup to hit 20 homers with Albies & Luciano at 18 and Santana at 15 as anyone can homer on any given night. Wander had 4 hits in the loss.

Game 4: 1-0 W. WP-Fairbanks (4-6). S-Doval (14/33). Starter-Orze (5 6 0 0 0 7). HR-Franco (35). Wander's solo homer in the 8th was the game's only run as the Rays salvaged a split and won their 99th game. The stamina-challenged Orze's final batter in the 5th was Juan Soto, whom he whiffed with two on and two out in one of the game's biggest moments.

Team record: 99-60. Next up: We close out the regular season with 3 at the Trop against Kansas City.

Playoff race update: The Yankees and Guardians remain tied for the 3rd AL wild card going into the final weekend, with New York holding the season series tiebreaker. In the NL Arizona pulled away from San Diego to all but clinch the West and the Cards (who have now won 10 straight) did likewise with the Cubs, leaving the only suspense over there with the third wild card as well, with Atlanta up 1 game on Philly and holding the tiebreaker. Not only that but Philly has to play the 102-win Mets so they're quite the longshot at this point.

And some recognition for one of our guys:

Art Deco · 03-28-2023, 05:32 PM

Game 1: 7-4 W. WP-McClanahan (16-8, 5 6 1 1 1 6). S-Doval (15/34). HR-Wood (21), J.Jackson (5). Jeremiah Jackson had a big game with an RBI single and 3-run homer as the Rays reached the 100-win mark with two games to spare.

Game 2: 8-1 W. WP-Castillo (9-6, 7 2 1 1 2 6). HR-Mears 2 (8), Luciano (19). Luis Castillo closed out a injury-riddled regular season on a high note and Joshua Mears was 3-4 with 2 HR & 4 RBI to lead the bats.

Game 3: 2-4 L (10). LP-Whitlock (8-3). Starter-Eldridge (5.2 4 0 0 0 3). Bryce Eldridge deserved to go 8-0 but didn't, finishing his impressive rookie half-season with a 2.41 ERA in 93 IP and earning the 4th starter nod for the playoffs. Alas Pete Fairbanks blew one more save for the road and then Whitlock allowed a pair in the 10th to lose it.

Final Regular Season Record: 101-61. Next up: The ALDS against either Detroit or Toronto in about a week's time.

MLB Playoff Race Update: Jose Ramirez homered in the bottom of the 9th on the final day to give Cleveland a 5-4 walk-off win over Minnesota and a wild card berth as they beat out the Yankees for the last playoff spot still up for grabs. They will go to Houston in the other AL Wild Card round. As expected Atlanta beat out Philly for the final NL wild card and they'll go to St. Louis while the Cubs will travel to San Diego in the other series.

Art Deco · 03-28-2023, 05:51 PM

It was nice of Cleveland to win on the final day and avoid having a .500 or worse team in the playoffs. As you can see John Swanda won the AL ERA crown going away even after a few rough starts at the end and Shane McClanahan tied for the AL wins lead despite having his worst season statistically. Not shown here is that Swanda finished 3rd in AL pitcher WAR at 4.9.

We kind of closed on a slow note, playing below-.500 ball in September/October, but the division was long wrapped up and over the final week or two I liberally used the bench. Otherwise great numbers all around with the exception of the defense, where the DI/BABIP numbers were mediocre and the zone rating awful.

Another MVP-caliber season from Wander and a career year from DeLoach highlighted the offense. At the other end of the spectrum what happened to Tork and Santana? Tork missed almost all of August but when he returned in September he didn't hit a single homer with his last one coming on July 31. And he only hit .218 overall, so hopefully he's saving his homers for the playoffs or we might have an early exit. Santana was just lousy throughout the year but the alternatives (Head, Mears) weren't any better; he's another guy I just have to hope produces in the playoffs.

A fine and deep rotation led the way this year. Guys like German, Sears and Bradley (and later Whitlock) could be starters for most other teams. Castillo wasn't as bad as his ERA might indicate and although his BABIP was a little high it wasn't out of whack so he seems more of a bad luck victim. Mac took a step back this year giving up far more homers than anyone else on the squad but is still our #1 starter and will open the playoffs with Swanda, Castillo and Eldridge behind him. In the pen Camilo Doval was a great acquisition to solidify the 9th inning while we're stuck paying Pete Fairbanks another $9.5M next year to hopefully not suck like he did this season.

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 08:44 PM

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 08:47 PM

Road teams Atlanta and Chicago move on, with Atlanta set to play Arizona in one NLDS and the Cubs against the Mets in the other.

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 08:49 PM

Going the distance in both series...

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 08:52 PM

And the road teams both prevailed in the AL Wild Card as well, with the 82-80 Guardians now set to face the White Sox in one ALDS while the Rays will host Detroit in the other for the first two games.

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 08:54 PM

And the road teams continued their momentum by taking the openers in the NLDS. Hopefully that trend won't continue in one certain ALDS I'm thinking of.

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 09:07 PM

Looking good...

The Rays' World Series title defense got off to a great start at Tropicana Field as they trounced the Tigers 7-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS. They took Detroit starter Jose Diaz deep 4 times, including a pair from Marco Luciano, and I joked in a previous post that Spencer Torkelson, who hadn't homered since July 31, was saving it for the postseason and sure enough he homered in his first at-bat. Shane McClanahan was excellent on the mound and John Swanda will try to put the Rays up 2-0 tomorrow.

Elsewhere:

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 09:28 PM

Bombs away...

After blasting 4 homers in Game 1 the Rays put 5 more in the seats in Game 2 and needed all of them to outlast the Tigers 9-6 and take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-5. After Spencer Torkelson snapped out of it yesterday to homer, fellow slumper Natanael Santana did so as well by blasting a pair of longballs with Ozzie Albies doing likewise. It was 6-0 after 2 and looking like another rout but John Swanda ran into a lot of trouble and nearly lost the huge lead before the bullpen clamped down most of the rest of the way including a dominant 4 whiffs in 5 batters outing from Pete Fairbanks. Luis Castillo will get the ball to try for the sweep in two days in Motown.

Meanwhile the White Sox have also taken a 2-0 lead:

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 09:30 PM

The road teams continue to rock:

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 09:47 PM

Moving on...

Luis Castillo was dominant and while the Rays didn't do much on offense they did enough with a pair of 2-run homers to take a 4-1 win over Detroit and sweep the Tigers, their first series sweep in this save despite a couple of World Series wins (I only noticed because I unlocked the "How Sweep It Is" achievement). Still not sure who they're going to play in the ALCS, though:

Unlikely slugger Luis Renfigo had a 3-homer game to keep Cleveland alive in the other ALDS while the dominant team in the NL this season, the Mets, advanced to the NLCS to face the survivor of a winner-take-all game in Arizona.

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 10:19 PM

And it'll be Rays-White Sox in the ALCS:

Art Deco · 03-29-2023, 10:21 PM

And it's Arizona-Mets in the NLCS:

Meanwhile we've gotten word that Ozzie Albies is suffering from a stomach virus (rated "moderate") that would affect him in Game 1 of the ALCS.

Art Deco · 03-30-2023, 08:44 PM

Art Deco · 03-30-2023, 09:05 PM

A wild ending but a good one...

Don't believe everything you read above. The Rays didn't win the game with a Wander Franco RBI single like it says above. Instead Franco was at the plate after Marco Luciano reached on a wild-pitched third strike and the next two batters walked to lead the bases before White Sox reliever Ron Marinaccio uncorked another wild pitch to score Luciano with the walk-off winner. Before that it was a wild back-and-forth game that saw Shane McClanahan struggle, allowing among other hits a 2-run homer to former Ray Willy Adames, only for the Rays to take a 4-3 lead on Diego Cartaya's 2-run triple in the 6th. But Chicago immediately went back in front with back-to-back homers off Chris Gau, including one from yet another former Ray in Austin Meadows. And then the Rays tied it at 5 on an actual Wander RBI single before we went to extras where they took a 1-0 series lead. John Swanda will take the bump tomorrow in hopes of a 2-0 lead.

In the NLCS:

Art Deco · 03-30-2023, 09:44 PM

Still perfect...

The Rays remained undefeated in the 2027 postseason after erupting for a 6-run 2nd and going on to a 7-3 win over the White Sox to take a 2-0 ALCS lead. Natanael Santana continued to make up for his lousy regular season by coming through again with his 3rd playoff homer which capped that big 2nd inning and then an RBI double for some late cushion after Chicago made the game marginally interesting. John Swanda couldn't quite get through the 5th with the big lead, letting Chicago back within 6-3 and leaving with men on second and third with 2 out. JP Sears came in and got a big out to end the inning but the official scorer awarded Luis German the win for going the next 2 2/3 scoreless. Luis Castillo will look to help the Rays put a strangehold on the series in two days in Chicago.

03-24-2023, 12:10 PM	#481
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	September 17-19, 2027: vs Minnesota (3) Game 1: 7-0 W. WP-Eldridge (7-0, 6 3 0 0 3 3). The Rays clinched the AL East with tonight's win behind rookie sensation Bryce Eldridge, now 7-0, 2.42 and staking his claim for #4 playoff starter behind McClanahan/Swanda/Castillo. Game 2: 4-5 L (10). LP-Fairbanks (3-6). Starter-Swanda (5 4 1 1 3 5). HR-N.Santana (15). If this hadn't been a meaningless game it would have been a heartbreaking loss as they took a 3-1 lead into the 9th and lost. Camilo Doval blew his first save as a Ray, giving up a 2-run homer to Max Kepler in the 9th and then Fairbanks served up a 2-run shot to Byron Buxton in the 10th. They nearly came back in the bottom of the 10th but Wander was thrown out at the plate as the potential tying run. Game 3: 3-5 L. LP-Orze (10-6, 4 4 5 5 1 2). Orze was lousy, giving up a pair of 2-run homers while the bench was emptied with backups starting, and they dropped another series. Team record: 94-55. Next up: An off-day then a trip to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field for 3 against the Cubs. Chicago is an impressive 86-63 and leads St. Louis by 3 games in the NL Central.

03-25-2023, 09:31 AM	#482
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	September 21-23, 2027: at Chicago Cubs (3) Game 1: 5-2 W. WP-McClanahan (15-7, 7 5 0 0 1 6). S-Doval (12/31). HR-Wood (18), Franco (32). Mac was brilliant and Wood knocked in 4 including in a 3-run homer. Game 2: 9-3 W. WP-Whitlock (8-2). Starter-Castillo (3 3 1 1 1 3). HR-Luciano (18), DeLoach (20). DeLoach reached 20 homers for the first time, knocking in a pair, Santana drove in 3 including a big 2-run double in the 5th and Tork plated a pair as well. Castillo left with a sore ankle but will just have his next start pushed back a day. Game 3: 3-6 L. LP-Moran (3-3). Starter-Eldridge (4 6 3 3 3 4). HR-Cartaya (20). Moran put the first two on to start the bottom of the 9th and Doval came in and gave up a 3-run walk-off homer to let the Cubs win. Team record: 96-56. Next up: We head up I-94 to Milwaukee for 3 games.

03-26-2023, 09:51 AM	#483
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	September 24-26, 2027: at Milwaukee (3) Game 1: 2-7 L. LP-Swanda (13-5, 4 7 5 5 3 3). HR-Franco (33), Wood (19). Swanda's Cy Young chances took a hit tonight and the bats did nothing outside of the two solo homers. Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Orze (11-6, 5 5 0 0 2 1). S-Doval (13/32). HR-J.Jackson (4). Jeremiah Jackson's homer in the 7th made it 4-0 after they scored 3 in the first and it turned out to be the difference. Doval got the save despite putting a couple on in the 9th as he's been a bit shaky of late. Game 3: 1-14 L. LP-McClanahan (15-8, 2.1 10 8 8 1 1). HR-Mead (23). Not much to say about this one as Mac was roasted and Taj Bradley gave up 5 more in relief. We won't see the road again now until Game 3 of the ALDS. Team record: 97-58. Next up: The quest for 100 wins will continue with 4 at home against the Yankees. While we're playing for milestones New York is playing for their playoff lives as they're tied with Cleveland for the third wild card. Playoff Race Update: As we head into the final week of the regular season, the AL is set outside of Yankees-Guardians for the 3rd wild card with the Rays, White Sox and Astros division winners (although Chicago is 1 1/2 up on Houston for a bye) and the Tigers and Jays the first two wild cards separated by 1/2 game. In the NL the 100-win Mets have run away with the East, but the Cubs and Cards are tied in the Central and Arizona is 1 1/2 up on San Diego in the West. The two teams which don't win their divisions will be the top two wild cards, but the third wild card sees Atlanta only 1 game up on Philly. MLB News: Veteran slugger J.D. Martinez has announced his retirement at the end of the season.

03-27-2023, 09:22 PM	#484
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	September 27-30, 2027: vs NY Yankees (4) Game 1: 12-2 W. WP-Castillo (8-6, 6 3 1 1 2 4). HR-Cartaya (21), Franco (34). Rays routed the Yankees and hurt their playoff hopes a bit. Wander doubled, homered and drove in 3, Mead was 3-5 with 3 RBI and DeLoach was 3-5 with a ribbie. Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Gau (4-4). Starter-Eldridge (5.2 3 1 1 1 6). Bullpen lost a 2-0 lead with Gau getting tagged for 4 runs on 4 hits in the 7th. Game 3: 6-8 L. LP-Andrews (0-1). Starter-Swanda (5 6 4 4 1 8). HR-Albies (18), Wood (20). Swanda's Cy hopes took another hit as the bullpen faltered again after the Rays took a 5-3 lead and his ERA ticked above 3. Clayton Andrews gave up a big 3-run homer to Juan Soto to lose it. Wood meanwhile became the 6th Ray in the regular lineup to hit 20 homers with Albies & Luciano at 18 and Santana at 15 as anyone can homer on any given night. Wander had 4 hits in the loss. Game 4: 1-0 W. WP-Fairbanks (4-6). S-Doval (14/33). Starter-Orze (5 6 0 0 0 7). HR-Franco (35). Wander's solo homer in the 8th was the game's only run as the Rays salvaged a split and won their 99th game. The stamina-challenged Orze's final batter in the 5th was Juan Soto, whom he whiffed with two on and two out in one of the game's biggest moments. Team record: 99-60. Next up: We close out the regular season with 3 at the Trop against Kansas City. Playoff race update: The Yankees and Guardians remain tied for the 3rd AL wild card going into the final weekend, with New York holding the season series tiebreaker. In the NL Arizona pulled away from San Diego to all but clinch the West and the Cards (who have now won 10 straight) did likewise with the Cubs, leaving the only suspense over there with the third wild card as well, with Atlanta up 1 game on Philly and holding the tiebreaker. Not only that but Philly has to play the 102-win Mets so they're quite the longshot at this point. And some recognition for one of our guys:

03-28-2023, 05:32 PM	#485
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 1-3, 2027: vs Kansas City (3) Game 1: 7-4 W. WP-McClanahan (16-8, 5 6 1 1 1 6). S-Doval (15/34). HR-Wood (21), J.Jackson (5). Jeremiah Jackson had a big game with an RBI single and 3-run homer as the Rays reached the 100-win mark with two games to spare. Game 2: 8-1 W. WP-Castillo (9-6, 7 2 1 1 2 6). HR-Mears 2 (8), Luciano (19). Luis Castillo closed out a injury-riddled regular season on a high note and Joshua Mears was 3-4 with 2 HR & 4 RBI to lead the bats. Game 3: 2-4 L (10). LP-Whitlock (8-3). Starter-Eldridge (5.2 4 0 0 0 3). Bryce Eldridge deserved to go 8-0 but didn't, finishing his impressive rookie half-season with a 2.41 ERA in 93 IP and earning the 4th starter nod for the playoffs. Alas Pete Fairbanks blew one more save for the road and then Whitlock allowed a pair in the 10th to lose it. Final Regular Season Record: 101-61. Next up: The ALDS against either Detroit or Toronto in about a week's time. MLB Playoff Race Update: Jose Ramirez homered in the bottom of the 9th on the final day to give Cleveland a 5-4 walk-off win over Minnesota and a wild card berth as they beat out the Yankees for the last playoff spot still up for grabs. They will go to Houston in the other AL Wild Card round. As expected Atlanta beat out Philly for the final NL wild card and they'll go to St. Louis while the Cubs will travel to San Diego in the other series.

03-28-2023, 05:51 PM	#486
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	Final 2027 Regular Season Standings and Rays Stats It was nice of Cleveland to win on the final day and avoid having a .500 or worse team in the playoffs. As you can see John Swanda won the AL ERA crown going away even after a few rough starts at the end and Shane McClanahan tied for the AL wins lead despite having his worst season statistically. Not shown here is that Swanda finished 3rd in AL pitcher WAR at 4.9. We kind of closed on a slow note, playing below-.500 ball in September/October, but the division was long wrapped up and over the final week or two I liberally used the bench. Otherwise great numbers all around with the exception of the defense, where the DI/BABIP numbers were mediocre and the zone rating awful. Another MVP-caliber season from Wander and a career year from DeLoach highlighted the offense. At the other end of the spectrum what happened to Tork and Santana? Tork missed almost all of August but when he returned in September he didn't hit a single homer with his last one coming on July 31. And he only hit .218 overall, so hopefully he's saving his homers for the playoffs or we might have an early exit. Santana was just lousy throughout the year but the alternatives (Head, Mears) weren't any better; he's another guy I just have to hope produces in the playoffs. A fine and deep rotation led the way this year. Guys like German, Sears and Bradley (and later Whitlock) could be starters for most other teams. Castillo wasn't as bad as his ERA might indicate and although his BABIP was a little high it wasn't out of whack so he seems more of a bad luck victim. Mac took a step back this year giving up far more homers than anyone else on the squad but is still our #1 starter and will open the playoffs with Swanda, Castillo and Eldridge behind him. In the pen Camilo Doval was a great acquisition to solidify the 9th inning while we're stuck paying Pete Fairbanks another $9.5M next year to hopefully not suck like he did this season.

03-29-2023, 08:44 PM	#487
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 5, 2027: NL Wild Card Game 1

03-29-2023, 08:47 PM	#488
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 6, 2027: AL Wild Card Game 1 & NL Wild Card Game 2 Road teams Atlanta and Chicago move on, with Atlanta set to play Arizona in one NLDS and the Cubs against the Mets in the other.

03-29-2023, 08:49 PM	#489
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 7, 2027: AL Wild Card Game 2 Going the distance in both series...

03-29-2023, 08:52 PM	#490
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 8, 2027: AL Wild Card Game 3 And the road teams both prevailed in the AL Wild Card as well, with the 82-80 Guardians now set to face the White Sox in one ALDS while the Rays will host Detroit in the other for the first two games.

03-29-2023, 08:54 PM	#491
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 9, 2027: NLDS Game 1 And the road teams continued their momentum by taking the openers in the NLDS. Hopefully that trend won't continue in one certain ALDS I'm thinking of.

03-29-2023, 09:07 PM	#492
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 10, 2027: ALDS Game 1 & NLDS Game 2 Looking good... The Rays' World Series title defense got off to a great start at Tropicana Field as they trounced the Tigers 7-1 in Game 1 of the ALDS. They took Detroit starter Jose Diaz deep 4 times, including a pair from Marco Luciano, and I joked in a previous post that Spencer Torkelson, who hadn't homered since July 31, was saving it for the postseason and sure enough he homered in his first at-bat. Shane McClanahan was excellent on the mound and John Swanda will try to put the Rays up 2-0 tomorrow. Elsewhere: Last edited by Art Deco; 03-29-2023 at 09:23 PM.

03-29-2023, 09:28 PM	#493
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 11, 2027: ALDS Game 2 Bombs away... After blasting 4 homers in Game 1 the Rays put 5 more in the seats in Game 2 and needed all of them to outlast the Tigers 9-6 and take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-5. After Spencer Torkelson snapped out of it yesterday to homer, fellow slumper Natanael Santana did so as well by blasting a pair of longballs with Ozzie Albies doing likewise. It was 6-0 after 2 and looking like another rout but John Swanda ran into a lot of trouble and nearly lost the huge lead before the bullpen clamped down most of the rest of the way including a dominant 4 whiffs in 5 batters outing from Pete Fairbanks. Luis Castillo will get the ball to try for the sweep in two days in Motown. Meanwhile the White Sox have also taken a 2-0 lead:

03-29-2023, 09:30 PM	#494
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 12, 2027: NLDS Game 3 The road teams continue to rock:

03-29-2023, 09:47 PM	#495
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 13, 2027: ALDS Game 3 & NLDS Game 4 Moving on... Luis Castillo was dominant and while the Rays didn't do much on offense they did enough with a pair of 2-run homers to take a 4-1 win over Detroit and sweep the Tigers, their first series sweep in this save despite a couple of World Series wins (I only noticed because I unlocked the "How Sweep It Is" achievement). Still not sure who they're going to play in the ALCS, though: Unlikely slugger Luis Renfigo had a 3-homer game to keep Cleveland alive in the other ALDS while the dominant team in the NL this season, the Mets, advanced to the NLCS to face the survivor of a winner-take-all game in Arizona.

03-29-2023, 10:19 PM	#496
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 14, 2027: ALDS Game 4 And it'll be Rays-White Sox in the ALCS:

03-29-2023, 10:21 PM	#497
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 15, 2027: NLDS Game 5 And it's Arizona-Mets in the NLCS: Meanwhile we've gotten word that Ozzie Albies is suffering from a stomach virus (rated "moderate") that would affect him in Game 1 of the ALCS.

03-30-2023, 08:44 PM	#498
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 17, 2027: NLCS Game 1

03-30-2023, 09:05 PM	#499
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 18, 2027: ALCS Game 1 & NLCS Game 2 A wild ending but a good one... Don't believe everything you read above. The Rays didn't win the game with a Wander Franco RBI single like it says above. Instead Franco was at the plate after Marco Luciano reached on a wild-pitched third strike and the next two batters walked to lead the bases before White Sox reliever Ron Marinaccio uncorked another wild pitch to score Luciano with the walk-off winner. Before that it was a wild back-and-forth game that saw Shane McClanahan struggle, allowing among other hits a 2-run homer to former Ray Willy Adames, only for the Rays to take a 4-3 lead on Diego Cartaya's 2-run triple in the 6th. But Chicago immediately went back in front with back-to-back homers off Chris Gau, including one from yet another former Ray in Austin Meadows. And then the Rays tied it at 5 on an actual Wander RBI single before we went to extras where they took a 1-0 series lead. John Swanda will take the bump tomorrow in hopes of a 2-0 lead. In the NLCS:

03-30-2023, 09:44 PM	#500
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,065	October 19, 2027: ALCS Game 2 Still perfect... The Rays remained undefeated in the 2027 postseason after erupting for a 6-run 2nd and going on to a 7-3 win over the White Sox to take a 2-0 ALCS lead. Natanael Santana continued to make up for his lousy regular season by coming through again with his 3rd playoff homer which capped that big 2nd inning and then an RBI double for some late cushion after Chicago made the game marginally interesting. John Swanda couldn't quite get through the 5th with the big lead, letting Chicago back within 6-3 and leaving with men on second and third with 2 out. JP Sears came in and got a big out to end the inning but the official scorer awarded Luis German the win for going the next 2 2/3 scoreless. Luis Castillo will look to help the Rays put a strangehold on the series in two days in Chicago.