The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

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Game 1: 1-3 L. LP-Baz (2-7, 6 3 3 1 1 7). HR-Margot (4). After scoring 34 runs in their last 4 games despite losing Wander Franco and Michael Brantley to injuries, the Rays offense came back to earth with only 5 hits. The Yankees only got 4, but two of them were homers.

Game 2: 1-8 L. LP-Kluber (7-8, 3.2 1 5 5 5 2). HR-B.Lowe (19). Kluber's line does not capture just how bad he was as he also hit 2 batters and threw a wild pitch in a 5-run 4th. Only 2 hits from the offense today.

Game 3: 2-5 L. LP-Kittredge (3-4). Starter-Rasmussen (3 1 0 0 2 3). HR-Margot (5). Rasmussen had to leave with a strained back which will force him to miss his next start, and a 2-0 lead evaporated when three Rays relievers combined to allow 5 solo homers to Yankee hitters. The pathetic showing in the Bronx was 11 hits and 4 runs in 3 games.

Team record: 58-58. Still in the third wild card, but only 1/2 game up on Texas, this team is in danger of circling the drain. And all the third wild card is likely to get us is 3 more games at Yankee Stadium anyway. Next up: 4 at home vs Kansas City which we really need to win at least 3 of.

Transaction: We finally pulled the plug on Corey Kluber after that horrific start in this series, DFAing him and calling up Jason Adam for now. Kluber was down to 45 stuff, 45 movement and 50 control and somehow he managed to go 7-8 with his 5.74 ERA. Luis Patino, who fanned 18 in 11 IP at Durham in his 2 starts since going down, will come back up to take his place in the rotation.

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Transaction: P Jason Adam optioned to Durham, P Calvin Faucher recalled.

Game 1: 5-1 W. WP-McClanahan (7-6, 7 2 1 1 1 5). HR-B.Lowe (20).

Transaction: P Calvin Faucher optioned to Durham, P Luis Patino recalled.

Game 2: 0-3 L. LP-Feyereisen (4-5). Starter-Patino (7 3 0 0 0 9). Patino was brilliant but left after 7 with the score 0-0, whereupon JP Feyereisen gave up 3 runs in the 8th as the bats only managed 5 hits.

Transaction: SS Wander Franco activated off the 10-day IL, IF/OF Vidal Brujan optioned to Durham.

Game 3: 2-1 W. WP-Chirinos (4-2, 7 3 1 1 1 6). S-Rogers (9). HR-W.Franco (14). Wander came off the IL to drive in both runs with a homer and a single, chipping in a steal as well.

Transaction: OF Lars Nootbaar tore his meniscus, so OF Estuery Ruiz is recalled. OF Jose Lowe begins a rehab assignment.

Game 4: 3-4 L (11). LP-Rogers (1-1). Starter-Baz (7 3 1 0 2 8). HR-E.Ruiz (1). The Rays wasted a brilliant start from Baz and a massive day from Esteury Ruiz, just called up, as he was 4-5 with 2 doubles and the game-tying solo homer in the bottom of the 9th. The bullpen was the culprit today with Andrew Kittredge giving up 2 runs in the 8th and Taylor Rogers one in the 11th, although it would behoove the offense to score more than 3 runs.

Team record: 60-60, still 1/2 game up in the third wild card. Rays starters had a combined line of 28 11 3 2 4 28 but they could only split the series, which is pretty sad. Next up: The degree of difficulty increases as the 73-48 Angels come to town for four games with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in tow.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-6 L. LP-Wisler (3-5, 3 5 3 3 0 2). It was a bullpen day as Drew Rasmussen still isn't over his back issues but will be ready to start in a few days. Josh Bell had a 2-run double, so he actually did something for once. This loss drops the Rays below .500 for the first time since very early in the season.

Game 2: 3-1 W. WP-Kittredge (4-4). S-Rogers (10). Starter-McClanahan (5 2 1 1 1 8). Manuel Margot and Esteury Ruiz had RBI singles in the 6th to break a 1-1 tie. Josh Bell was 2-4 with a double, is he finally coming alive?

Game 3: 10-3 W. WP-Patino (4-5, 7 4 3 3 2 8). HR-Mejia (5), E.Ruiz (2). Mejia was 3-4 with the homer and 3 RBI and Ruiz continues to hit since coming up, 3-4 with a steal, HR and 2 RBI.

Game 4: 4-2 W. WP-Rasmussen (10-2, 5.2 5 2 2 1 6). S-Rogers (11). HR-J.Bell (4/22). The Rays' best series in a long while, taking 3 of 4 from the high-flying Angels. Esteury Ruiz has been a revelation, going 2-4 with 2 steals today.

Team record: 63-61, now in the second wild card, 1/2 game ahead of Seattle and 1 game ahead of Texas which is on the outside looking in. Next up: A weekend in Fenway.

Team news: Michael Brantley's injury continues to linger - originally thought to be back this weekend, he'll be out another 8-9 days.

[Art Deco]

The Friday night game was rained out so we made it up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday.

Game 1: 2-7 L. LP-Chirinos (4-3, 5.2 6 4 4 1 3). HR-W.Franco (15). It was a 4-2 game until the 8th when Jeffrey Springs allowed 3 runs.

Game 2: 5-3 W. WP-Baz (3-7, 5 6 1 1 4 6). S-Rogers (12). HR-A.Garcia (2/10). Rookie C Rene Pinto had 3 doubles, scoring twice and driving in one to lead the offense.

Game 3: 4-3 W. WP-Rogers (2-1). Starter-McClanahan (5.2 3 1 0 3 6). HR-E.Ruiz (3), Margot (6). JP Feyereisen blew the lead in the bottom of the 8th but Manuel Margot bailed out the Rays by leading off the 9th with a homer over The Monster. Another big game for Estuery Ruiz with a homer, two hits and a steal.

Team record: 65-62, tied with Texas for the second wild card and 1/2 game ahead of Seattle. Next up: An off-day, then two games in Miami.

Transaction: Josh Lowe returns after missing most of the season with a broken bone in his elbow, and had a pinch-single in the third game. Alec Bohm was optioned to Durham.

Haven't posted standings in a while, so here we go:



Rays stats:

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Game 1: 3-0 W. WP-Kittredge (5-4). S-Springs (3). Starter-Patino (5.2 3 0 0 2 4). HR-B.Lowe (21). Josh Lowe broke a 0-0 tie in the 7th with an RBI double and scored on Whit Merrifield's to lead the Rays to victory.

Game 2: 6-2 W. WP-Rasmussen (11-2, 6 4 2 2 1 10). HR-Arozarena (15), J.Bell (5/23). The win made it 8 of 11 for the Rays while we sent the Marlins to their 14th straight defeat.

Team record: 67-62, currently in the second wild card 1/2 game up on Texas and 1 1/2 games up on Seattle. Next up: An off-day then the Yankees come to town for the weekend.

Transactions: For September roster expansion we're activating a long-missed name, Nick Anderson, from his rehab assignment and calling up Abraham Toro, the former Astro whom we acquired from Seattle in the Ji-Man Choi trade earlier this year.

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Game 1: 4-3 W. WP-Chirinos (5-3, 5.2 4 2 2 2 2). S-Rogers (13). HR-Merrifield (1/4), Mejia (6). Whit Merrifield's first Rays homer was a big one, and Taylor Rogers got a 5-out save.

Game 2: 6-3 W. WP-Baz (4-7, 6 4 2 2 0 12). S-Feyereisen (2). HR-B. Lowe 2 (23). Brandon Lowe's hitting a buck-77 but I keep him in the lineup for days like this, as he's one of our few legit power hitters. There was no need for the A/C at the Trop today as Rays pitchers struck out 19 Yankees and Yankee pitching struck out 16 Rays. The combined 35 whiffs in a 9-inning game ties an MLB record based on a quick Google search. Meanwhile Nick Anderson made his first MLB appearance in over a year and had a scoreless inning.

Transaction: Michael Brantley came off the IL and Adolis Garcia, who never did much with us since being claimed on waivers, was DFA'd to make room.

Game 3: 5-4 W. WP-McClanahan (8-6, 5 4 3 3 1 7). S-Rogers (14). HR-Y.Diaz (5). Yandy's 2-run homer and Arozarena's 2-run single in the 2nd gave the Rays a lead they'd never lose as they swept the Yankees for their 7th straight win and 10th in 11 games since dropping below .500 at 60-61.

Team record: 70-62, in the first wild card spot by percentage points and now only 5 games back of the Yankees. The division's a long shot but they're as close to the top now as they are to the 4th place team in the wild card race.

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Game 1: 10-5 W. WP-Beeks (4-0). Starter-Patino (2.2 7 5 5 2 1). HR-W.Franco (16), B.Lowe (24), J.Bell (6/24). B.Lowe knocked in 3, Josh Bell actually had 3 hits, and the bullpen went 6 1/3 scoreless for consecutive win #8.

Game 2: 2-0 W. WP-Rasmussen (12-2, 5.1 2 0 0 2 10). S-Feyereisen (3). Arozarena and Brantley had RBI singles. Taylor Rogers didn't get the save as he had to leave in the 9th with a mild oblique strain, "minimal" for 5 days so we'll just rest him.

Game 3: 15-8 W. WP-Kittredge (6-4). Starter-Chirinos (3.2 7 6 5 3 3). HR-B.Lowe (25), Arozarena (16), Mejia (7). After Boston went up 3-0 in the top of the 2nd the Rays answered with 13(!) runs in the bottom of the inning, breaking the old club record of 11 set twice. It was a comedy of errors for Boston as they committed 3 of them, allowed a struck out batter to reach via wild pitch and issued 3 walks, two of which came with the sacks full. Arozarena was 3-3 with the homer, 3 walks and 3 RBI, Manuel Margot was 4-5 with 2 RBI and Mejia drove in 4 runs as the Rays win streak reached double digits.

Team record: 73-62, and get a load of this: the Yankees were swept by Minnesota and the division deficit, once in double digits, is now only 2 games (and 1 in the loss column!). Next up: A day off then we travel to none other than Yankee Stadium for 3 games, with the division lead actually on the line, to conclude the season series with New York.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-7 L. LP-Baz (4-8, 4.1 6 6 6 2 5). HR-Arozarena (17). Baz was hit for two homers by Joey Gallo, who now has a ridiculous 57 on the season. Rays had 13 hits but couldn't translate them into enough runs, Wander had a 4-hit game and Michael Brantley 3 with 2 RBI.

Game 2: 2-4 L. LP-McClanahan (8-7, 4 4 5 5 5 5). HR-Margot (7). Mac had a nightmare 3rd, giving up all 4 runs including a trio of bases-loaded walks.

Game 3: 1-4 L. LP-Patino (4-6, 5 3 3 3 3 6). Patino coughed up a pair of homers and Luis Severino shut them out on 3 hits through 8 as the 10-game win streak seems a distant memory after this comprehensive sweep by the Yankees.

Team record: 73-65. The division is likely gone now, but they're still firmly in a wild card spot (3 up on the 4th-place Mariners although their playoff chances dropped from 94 to 87%). The key now is finishing ahead of Houston for the first wild card so the series with them is at the Trop rather than at Minute Maid. They're one game behind the Astros although even in the loss column. Next up: 5 games in 4 days at Toronto, which won't be easy.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 5-7 L. LP-Rasmussen (12-3, 4.1 5 5 5 3 9). Brandon Lowe stayed hot with a 2-run double but that was about the only bright spot.

Game 2: 4-6 L. LP-Wisler (3-6). Starter-Chirinos (5 8 4 2 3 3). HR-Arozarena (18), E.Ruiz (4). The game went back and forth, but in the end it didn't go the Rays' way.

Transactions: Matt Wisler went on the IL with a hamstring strain, it was minimal for 4 days but we needed a fresh arm so Christopher Gau, who's rocketed up the minors with a combined ERA under 1 at 3 stops, was called up. Also with today's doubleheader, Tommy Romero was brought up as the 27th man to pitch the nightcap.

Game 3: 6-4 W. WP-Gau (1-0). Starter-Romero (4.2 8 3 3 0 2). HR-B.Lowe 2 (27). Brandon Lowe's 2nd homer of the day, a 3-run shot in the 8th, capped a 5-RBI day and snapped a 5-game losing streak to make a winner of Chris Gau in his MLB debut.

Game 4: 1-6 L. LP-Baz (4-9, 5 7 4 3 0 8). HR-W.Franco (17). Shane Baz became the latest Rays start who couldn't keep the ball in the park and the bats were held to 4 hits.

Game 5: 1-2 L. LP-McClanahan (8-8, 5.1 5 2 2 1 7). And Mac coughed up 2 homers to account for the two runs which beat them as the offense was once again anemic, dropping the Rays to their 7th loss in 8 games.

Team record: 74-69. Thanks to this recent tailspin the Rays have gone from 94% to make the playoffs to 65% and have dropped to the third wild card, albeit 2 1/2 up on Seattle and now Toronto, whom the brought back into the race by losing 4 of 5 to them. Next up: 3 games at home vs Texas, who are now 2 games ahead of them in the second wild card after winning 7 straight. They also have 6 games left with Houston and another series with Toronto, so the remainder of the schedule will be difficult.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 2-1 W (12). WP-Fairbanks (3-0). Starter-Patino (5 4 1 1 2 9). HR-Margot (8). Margot, who had doubled in the Rays' run in regulation, blasted a walk-off homer to win it in the 12th.

Game 2: 4-3 W (10). WP-Feyereisen (5-5). Starter-Rasmussen (5.1 3 3 3 4 5). HR-Pinto (1). The Rays battled back from an early 3-0 deficit to win again on Josh Lowe's RBI fielder's choice in the bottom of the 10th.

Game 3: 4-7 (L). LP-Chirinos (5-4, 5 8 5 5 2 4). HR-Arozarena (19), J.Bell (7/25). Yonny put them in a 5-0 hole in the 2nd and they nearly came all the way back but fell short.

Team record: 76-70. Next up: 3 at home vs Houston. A look at the standings:



We're still in decent shape after winning 2 of 3 but we have a somewhat tough schedule remaining (3 vs HOU, 4 vs TOR, 3 at CLE, 3 at HOU, 3 at BOS). Barring some domination of Houston, though, we'll likely be playing at Houston or at the Yankees in the wild card round.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 8-7 W (10). WP-N.Anderson (1-0). Starter-Baz (4.1 6 2 2 2 4). HR-W.Franco (18). Rays were resilient in this one, coming back from 5-1 down to tie it at 5 and after Houston scored twice in the 10th to go up 7-5, they scored 3 times in the bottom to win it with Francisco Mejia's 2-run single with 2 out tying it and Arozarena's infield hit (his 4th safety of the game) winning it. Franco and Mejia drove in 3 apiece.

Game 2: 1-3 L. LP-McClanahan (8-9, 5.1 4 2 2 3 9). HR-J.Lowe (3).

Game 3: 5-1 W. WP-Patino (5-6, 5 3 1 1 0 7). HR-B.Lowe (28). Good thing they pitched well because the offense was profligate, only getting 5 runs despite 16 hits, leaving 11 on base and hitting into 2 double plays. Merrifield was 4-4 and Toro 3-3 with an RBI with Franco's 2-run single in the 2nd after the previous two batters whiffed with the bases loaded the big hit.

Team record: 78-71. Still in the third wild card, 1/2 game behind Texas, and 3 ahead of the Jays, our next opponent for 4 games at the Trop and whom we'll need to be better against after dropping 4 of 5 in Toronto last week.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 1-2 L. LP-Fairbanks (3-1). Starter-Rasmussen (6 6 1 1 1 7). The Rays only managed 3 hits and Fairbanks gave up a Vlad Jr homer in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie in Toronto's favor as the Jays pull within 2 of the Rays for the final wild card.

Game 2: 2-1 W (10). WP-Rogers (3-1). Starter-Chirinos (6 5 1 1 1 6). HR-J.Bell (8/27). Josh Bell has been booed mercilessly by the Trop faithful, and with good cause considering he's hit below the Mendoza line as a Ray. But tonight he turned the boos to cheers with a dramatic 9th-inning homer to tie the game at 1, and then Whit Merrifield's sac fly in the 10th won it after Wander came off the bench with a big double and the Rays restored their 3-game lead over Toronto.

Transaction: Chris Gau developed forearm inflammation and heads to the IL while Calvin Faucher is called up from Durham.

Game 3: 5-2 W. WP-Baz (5-9, 5 5 2 2 3 5). S-N.Anderson (1). HR-B.Lowe (29). Lowe's homer and an Arozarena RBI triple were the big hits while Nick Anderson picked up his first save in over a year, and the Rays expanded their lead to 4 over Toronto.

Game 4: 4-3 W. WP-Kittredge (7-4). Starter-McClanahan (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-J.Bell (9/28). It's taken a long time but Josh Bell is finally paying dividends for the Rays as his RBI single in the 5th tied the game and his solo homer in the 8th won it.

Team record: 81-72. Not only did we knock Toronto out of the playoff race and went from 66% to make the playoffs after losing the opener to 96% after winning the next three, but we moved into the second wild card and are only 1/2 game behind Houston for the first spot and the right to host a series. The rest of the schedule isn't going to be easy though as the final 9 games are on the road. After an off day we're starting with 3 in Cleveland, whose playoff hopes are on life support 4 1/2 behind Texas for the 3rd wild card.

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Game 1: 3-5 L. LP-Patino (5-7, 6 4 2 2 0 7). HR-J.Bell (10/28). It was a 2-1 Cleveland lead going to the bottom of the 8th when Nick Anderson gave up 3 runs, which was unfortunate since the red-hot Bell added to his solo homer with a 2-run double in the 9th. Cleveland creeps within 3 games.

Game 2: 7-1 W. WP-Rasmussen (13-3, 5.1 5 1 1 1 4). HR-Zunino (17). Abraham Toro's 2-run single in the 1st capped a 3-run inning and sent the Rays on their way to a huge win, lowering their magic # to 3 to clinch a wild card and upping their playoff probability to 98%.

Game 3: 2-5 L. LP-Chirinos (5-5, 4.1 4 2 2 3 3). It was scoreless into the bottom of the 5th when Chirinos put a couple of men on and gave way to Andrew Kittredge, who was horrible, giving up 3 straight run-scoring hits and that was that. Whit Merrifield was 2-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI.

Team record: 82-74. The magic # stays at 3 but we're still 97% to make it. It's primarily about seeding now as Houston is in the #1 spot, 1/2 game up on Texas, which is 1/2 game up on the Rays. We'll have a lot to say about it with 3 games in Houston next on the schedule.

Minor League Playoff Update: Montgomery won the first two games of their playoff series against Biloxi but lost the next three so they're in need of two straight wins to advance to the Southern League finals. Durham dominated the IL with a 93-57 record led by Curtis Mead (.318-11-60), Kameron Misner (.262-19-87) and Luke Raley (.265-25-92) while Tommy Romero (10-4, 2.91) and Chris Mazza (12-7, 304) were their top pitchers. They'll start the Governors' Cup playoffs against Scranton Wilkes-Barre this weekend.

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Game 1: 6-7 L. LP-Baz (5-10, 4.1 9 6 6 2 6, 2 HR). HR-B.Lowe (30), J.Bell (11/29), W.Franco (19). Homers from Bell and Lowe staked them to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st but Baz was horrible and despite the best efforts to come back they just fell short. Manuel Margot was ejected on a third strike call and went ballistic, arguing with every ump on the field and having to be dragged off. He was suspended for 4 games.

Transaction: With Margot headed to the restricted list we added another arm with Jason Adam coming back up from Durham.

Game 2: 2-5 L. LP-McClanahan (8-10, 5 6 5 5 3 2). Another terrible start as our young starters seem to be wilting from the workload and the pressure.

Game 3: 5-6 (L) (12). LP-Feyereisen (5-6). Starter-Patino (2.2 6 4 4 4 4). HR-Zunino (18). Another brutal start put us in a 4-0 hole, but they climbed out to tie at 4, and after going down again Zunino dramatically homered in the 9th to tie it, only to heartbreakingly lose on an Alex Bregman walk-off homer.

Team record: 82-77. No sugarcoating it here, this was a disastrous series. Cleveland did lose a game to drop the Rays' magic number to 2, but the Guardians are now tied with Toronto and Seattle is a half-game back of those two with a chance to make up a win, so there are three teams ready to step in if the Rays don't get the wins they need in these final 3 games in Boston. Houston clinched the #1 wild card and will host a series while Texas is only 1/2 game up on the Rays so if Tampa Bay does make it it's still not determined whether it well be at Houston or New York. Based on their regular season experiences in these parks it's not going to be pretty either way.

MLB News: The NL field is settled as the only thing left is seeding. Milwaukee and LA clinched their divisions with the Mets 2 behind Atlanta with 3 to go. The Mets have already clinched the first wild card with St. Louis likely to finish 2nd and San Francisco 3rd.

In some player news, Shohei Ohtani and Chris Rodriguez combined on a no-hitter of Texas with Ohtani going 6.2 with 11 whiffs on 98 pitches as LA won 11-0. Also in the game Jo Adell went 5-5 with a HR and 3 RBI while Mike Trout was 3-4 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

Also Joey Gallo tied the Yankees single-season HR record held by Roger Maris with a pair of homers on Sunday giving him 61. He has 3 games left to break it.

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Game 1: 3-4 L (11). LP-Raley (1-2). Starter-Rasmussen (6 9 3 3 1 9). HR-Zunino (19). Another gut-punch loss in extras after loading the bases with 1 out in the top of the 11th and failing to score, and also losing an early 2-0 lead on Z's homer. Seattle, Toronto and Cleveland all won to pull within a game. Yikes!

Game 2: 1-3 L. LP-Beeks (4-1). Starter-Chirinos (5 3 1 1 1 8). Somehow they could only manage 1 run and 3 hits against Nick Pivetta, who came into the game with a 6.82 ERA, and with Seattle and Cleveland winning, they're now in a 3-way tie for the third wild card as Toronto lost and fell by the wayside. OOTP isn't set up for the new MLB tiebreakers so we will have actual tiebreaker games and the Rays will have to win tomorrow to play in one.

Game 3: 8-4 W. WP-Baz (6-10, 5.1 5 3 3 0 9). S-Rogers (17). HR-Arozarena (20), J.Bell (12/30). And win they did, scoring early and often and hanging on after a brief Boston scare in the 9th. Arozarena came up big, going 4-5 with a HR, 2 RBI and his 35th steal. Cleveland and Seattle both won, though, forcing a 3-way tie. More on the tiebreaker situation in a moment.

Team record: 83-79 (not the final record since there's a tiebreaker to be played). The Rays won the coin toss, meaning Seattle and Cleveland will play each other for the right to host the Rays in a second tiebreaker game. Shane McClanahan will start it.

The winner of this tiebreaker madness will visit the Yankees for a 3-game series while Houston hosts Texas in the other wild card playoff. The Twins and Angels clinched byes.

Over in the NL the Mets went on an amazing run, winning their last 11 games to force a tie with Atlanta for the division. They gained at least 7 games on the Braves as Atlanta finished the year 3-7. The tiebreaker is a big deal too as the winner will take the #2 seed and not have to play a wild card round. Milwaukee will host San Francisco in one wildcard round and the Mets-Braves loser will host St. Louis in the other with the Dodgers and their 105 wins getting the other bye.

And no, Joey Gallo didn't hit HR #62 so he'll share the Yankee team record with Roger Maris.

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We'll start off with the first AL tiebreaker game for the third wild card to see where the Rays will be traveling to tomorrow:



And it's the longest trip possible as we head to Seattle after perhaps the wildest tiebreaker game short of Bobby Thomson with the Seahawks defeating the Browns, I mean Mariners over the Guardians 16-10. It should work to the Rays' advantage that Seattle had to heavily use its bullpen and play 12 innings.

In the NL, they're playing for the East title which comes with a bye as the #2 seed:



In another game with high drama the Mets recovered from blowing a 2-0 lead late to take a 4-2 win over Atlanta and claim the NL East. Atlanta will now host St. Louis in the wild card round.

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Welp...



For the first time in all the years of my various Rays saves, they're going to miss the playoffs. Twice they had leads in this games and twice they couldn't hold him as the game was a microcosm of their season. At about 97-98% to make the playoffs going into the final week they choked it away, losing 7 of their final 8 including today's game. Fortunately they didn't give up too much in the rental deals for the likes of Bell, Rogers and Merrifield and we get Tyler Glasnow back next year, but this turns out to be the worst Rays season since 2017, so good job me for managing this mess. Seattle will now travel to New York to face the Yankees in a wild card playoff round.

Minor League Playoff Update: AA Montgomery ending up falling in 7 games to Biloxi, but Durham holds a 2-1 lead in their best-of-5 opening round series with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The only catch is that in Game 4 SWB will have a rehabbing Gerrit Cole pitch for them so good luck Bulls.

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[Art Deco]

A formality for the Yankees and Astros...



Perhaps the Rays losing the tiebreaker game to Seattle was a blessing as they avoided getting housed by the Yankees like the Mariners did. New York will play the Angels and Houston will face Minnesota in the ALDS round. Also some wild action in the St. Louis-Atlanta game where it was 2-2 going into the 8th and ended up 9-6 with Austin Riley's second homer of the game, a 3-run shot, walking it off.

Minor league playoff update: The Bulls lost the Gerrit Cole Game 4 but rebounded to win the decisive Game 5 7-0 behind 7 shutout innings from Chris Mazza. Kameron Misner, who had a great regular season, was named series MVP with a .308-4-7 performance in the 5 games. Durham will face Indianapolis for the Governors' Cup.

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Unlike the AL, the two NL series are going to a deciding third game: