The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Trying to get something going we made a trade:



Rendon is a rental of course, in the final year of his mega-deal with the Angels. He's also hurt, out two weeks with back tightness, so he won't make his debut for us until August. The price wasn't terribly high as Lee had fallen out of favor as an infield backup and was back at Durham. When Rendon is ready he will likely take Marco Luciano's place at 3B; while Luciano hasn't been terrible he hasn't been great either.

Transaction: We also welcome back Ozzie Albies from his rehab assignment with Freili Encarnacion sent back to Durham.

Game 1: 3-4 L. LP-Cousins (0-1). Starter-Eldridge (6 4 2 2 3 7). A tough one as Cousins gave up a 2-run homer in the 8th to break a 2-2 tie. Albies had a nice return with 2 walks, a double and a run scored.

Game 2: 8-4 W. WP-Swanda (6-7, 5.1 6 4 4 2 5). S-Riley (4). HR-Santana (26), Franco (14). Wander was 3-4 with a double, homer and ribbie while Haro was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI to lead an unusually potent attack.

Game 3: 1-2 L (10). LP-Diaz (4-5). Starter-German (5.2 3 1 0 1 9). 3 hits isn't going to cut it, and that's what the offense came up with today wasting some fine pitching. This team just can't escape the gravitational pull of .500.

Team record: 53-50. Forget the division at this point, we're tied with two other teams 1/2 game out of the third wild card right now. Next up: A day off then 3 games in Detroit against the 39-64 Tigers where we'll probably lose 2 out of 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 1-5 L. LP-Acosta (5-2). Starter-Sears (5 4 1 1 1 4). HR-Rivera (10). Another pathetic performance at the plate and the bullpen was lousy with Acosta giving up the winner in the 6th on a homer and then Okuda reverting to early season form by allowing 3 more.

Game 2: 5-3 W. WP-Khattak (4-4, 5 5 3 3 1 4). S-Diaz (17). HR-Caminero (14), Rivera (11), Franco (15), Arakawa (3). Four solo homers paced the offense as the Rays picked up a rare win of late but the news wasn't all good as Nelson Haro strained his back on a double and will be out a little over two weeks.

Transaction: Haro goes on the IL and Robby Castillo is called up from Durham. Castillo was up at the start of the season and was terrible, but has hit at Durham (307/382/554) and will DH against righties.

Game 3: 8-7 W. WP-Dodson (3-3). S-Riley (5). Starter-Eldridge (3 8 6 6 1 3). HR-DeLoach (17). Rays overcame a horrible start from Eldridge, overturning deficits of 3-0 and 6-4 to pull this one out. Robby Castillo's 2-run double in the 5th tied it up and DeLoach's 2-run homer in the 6th was the difference as he drove in 3 on the day. Wander was 3-5 with an RBI double.

Team record: 55-51, 1 back of Oakland for the third wild card. Next up: An off-day then the Yankees come to the Trop for 3 games.

We also made a trade:



Just saved us $11.9M. That was our share of Rodriguez's contract for one more season in 2030 and with his ratings downgraded to 55/45/40 after all the injuries I really didn't want him anymore but the Angels were glad to take him off my hands. Santos was just a makeweight and will likely be released once his DFA time is up.

MLB News: Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit career homer #400.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-6 L. LP-Diaz (4-6). Starter-Swanda (5.1 7 2 2 1 3). Rays came back from 4-1 down to tie it in the 8th only for Edwin Diaz to give up a pair of runs in the 9th.

Game 2: 9-2 W. WP-German (6-3, 5 3 1 1 3 8). S-Orze (1). HR-Arakawa (4), R.Castillo 2 (2). Robbie Castillo homered twice and drove in 5, Arakawa had a 2-run shot and Wander knocked in the other two as the Rays romped.

Game 3: 12-2 W. WP-Sears (1-4, 6 4 0 0 0 7). HR-Santana 3 (29), Caminero (15), Rivera (12). Natanael Santana tied a team record held by many with 3 homers, driving in 4, and Caminero knocked in 3 including a 2-run shot. JP Sears finally got his first win of 2029, dominating the team which drafted him.

Team record: 57-52, 1 behind Cleveland for the third wild card. Next up: After a series with the struggling Yankees, the competition is tougher with first-place Toronto visiting for 3 games. The Jays are 6 1/2 up so the Rays are going to have to sweep to make it a race again.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 6-5 W. WP-Riley (3-1). S-Diaz (18). Starter-Khattak (6 7 4 4 3 4). HR-R.Castillo (3), DeLoach (18), Santana (30). Santana's solo homer in the 8th broke a 5-5 tie and Castillo's homer was a 3-run shot in the 1st.

Game 2: 4-0 W. WP-Eldridge (10-4, 6 4 0 0 2 5). S-Acosta (2). HR-Luciano (15). Eldridge and Acosta combined on a 4-hit shutout and Luciano drove in 3 with a 2-run homer and RBI double to make it 4 straight wins.

Transaction: Activated 1B/3B Anthony Rendon from the 15-day IL, optioned 1B Robby Castillo to AAA Durham.

Castillo had 3 homers while filling in the last couple of weeks for Nelson Haro, and Rendon will DH in Haro's spot for now and when Haro comes back we'll see about playing Rendon and Luciano.

Game 3: 7-3 W. WP-Swanda (7-7, 6 6 2 2 4 6). S-Diaz (19). HR-Albies (10), Caminero (16), Rivera (13). I said in the previous post the Rays would need to sweep to make it a race in the division and amazingly they did, pulling within 3 1/2 of Toronto. Caminero was 4-4 with a double and a 3-run homer while Albies had a 2-run shot. Anthony Rendon was 0-3 with a walk in his Rays debut.

Team record: 60-52. In addition to pulling much closer in the division the Rays are now tied for the second wild card with Cleveland, 1/2 game up on Oakland. Next up: We head south to Miami for 3 games.

Rays news: James Wood did not sulk when he was sent to Durham a few weeks ago and may be coming back very soon. He was IL Player of the Week after going 11-22 with 3 HR and 9 RBI this week and is hitting 421/500/877 with 5 HR and 16 RBI in 15 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-German (7-3, 6.2 6 2 2 1 10). S-Moran (1). HR-Caminero (17). It was German and Caminero show as the righty was dominant, recording his second 10-K start of the year and Caminero drove in all 3 runs with a 2-run homer and RBI single, the latter breaking a 2-2 tie in the 6th.

Transaction: James Wood is up from Durham and Mitsuyoski Arakawa was sent back there. Here's hoping Wood's red-hot 3 weeks with the Bulls get him going again.

Game 2: 8-2 W. WP-Sears (2-4, 7 4 2 1 1 5). HR-Caminero 2 (19). Junior Caminero is on a tear, homering twice more and driving in 3 while Wander was 2-5 with 2 RBI and Sears was excellent.

Game 3: 5-3 W. WP-Khattak (5-4, 5 8 2 2 0 2). S-Diaz (20). HR-Santana (31), Luciano (16), DeLoach (19). The Rays swept their second straight series and made it 8 wins in a row in a game which they were fortunate to win. Miami put 18 men on base in this game but only brought three of them home while the Rays were held to 7 hits but 3 of them were homers which accounted for 4 runs in the 5th. Side note: newly acquired Anthony Rendon is still looking for his first Rays hit, now 0-15 with 2 walks. Luciano was 3-4 tonight with the homer so he's making his case to put Rendon on the bench when Haro comes back.

Team record: 63-52. Thanks to the Jays losing a pair in Houston we're now only 1 1/2 back of them so there's a legitimate race in the AL East. We're also tied for the top wild card. Next up: A day off to make the longest trip possible in MLB, flying from Miami to Seattle for 3 games.

MLB News: Veteran 3B Gio Urshela announced his retirement and former Ray and current Cardinal Blake Snell tore his flexor tendon and is out 11 months.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 9-2 W. WP-Swanda (8-7, 7.1 4 2 2 1 4). HR-Wood (14), DeLoach (20), Santana (32), Albies (11), Caminero (20). Rays went homer-happy at T-Mobile Park and extended their win streak to 9. James Wood had the kind of big day we've been waiting all season for, doubling in 2 and hitting a 2-run homer.

Game 2: 4-14 L. LP-Eldridge (10-5, 1.1 8 7 7 1 1). HR-Franco (16), Santana (33). All good things, as they say, and the Rays win streak was over by the 2nd inning as Seattle pounded Eldridge and went up 7-0. Wander drove in 3 in a losing cause.

Game 2: 4-3 W. WP-Riley (4-1). S-Diaz (21). Starter-German (5 6 3 2 2 5). HR-Santana (34), Albies (12). Rays got back in the win column thanks to Wood's RBI single in the 8th that broke a 3-3 tie. Albies had a 4-hit day including the homer and Santana homered for the fourth straight game.

Team record: 65-53. Toronto swept so we've dropped back 2 1/2 games in the East while taking over the first wild card slot. We've actually ascended to #1 in the power rankings for what that's worth (nothing, really) as the team holding the best record in the majors is the Dodgers at 68-50, only 3 games better than the Rays as nobody has dominated this season.

MLB News: Ballyhooed pitching prospect Nehemiah Bell of Atlanta pitched a no-hitter as the rookie went 9 0 0 0 3 9 against Washington on 110 pitches. And Houston's Carlos Correa, on his third tour of duty with the club, hit career homer #300.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 7-1 W. WP-Khattak (6-4, 7 3 1 1 3 2). HR-Albies 2 (14). Another big game from Ozzie with 2 homers and 3 RBI, giving him 4 taters in his last 4 games. Wander was ejected for starting a brawl after being hit following Albies' first homer, and is suspended for two games.

Game 2: 3-2 W. WP-Diaz (5-6). Starter-Sears (1 1 0 0 0 0). A weird one that turned into a bullpen game when Sears left with back stiffness but won't miss his next start. The Rays scored twice in the 8th to tie it and walked it off in the 9th when Nelson Haro's 3rd hit of the day was an RBI single; he had an RBI single in the previous inning as well.

Game 3: 3-5 L. LP-Swanda (8-8, 5.1 8 5 5 1 7, 3 HR). HR-Caminero (21). Swanda's lousy season continued today as every time the bats tied it or got close he gave up a critical homer. One bat not helping is Anthony Rendon as the trade deadline acquisition is only hitting 162/262/189 in 37 AB so far.

Team record: 67-54. Still 2 1/2 behind Toronto and still in the top wild card spot. Next up: 3 games in Boston where the Red Sox are the team just outside the wild card spots, 2 behind Texas and 3 behind us.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 7-8 L (10). LP-Diaz (5-7). Starter-Eldridge (5.2 6 4 4 0 4). HR-Caminero (22). A gut punch of a game for the Rays as they lost a 5-2 lead in regulation and then after Caminero's 2-run homer in the 10th Edwin Diaz gave up a 3-run shot with two out in the bottom of the inning to lose it. Haro had 4 hits and Rendon had his best game as a Ray, doubling, tripling and driving in a pair but it wasn't enough.

Game 2: 2-7 L. LP-German (7-4, 6 3 3 3 3 8). Boston broke open a 2-1 game with 5 in the 7th off German and Jake Cousins, and that was that.

Game 3: 11-2 W. WP-Khattak (7-4, 7 7 2 2 1 7). HR-Rendon 2 (2/17), Rivera (14), Wood (15). Rays salvaged the finale with Rendon driving in the first four runs on his pair of homers while Angel Rivera was 3-4 with a double, homer and 3 RBI.

Team record: 68-56. Now 3 behind Toronto in the East and still in the first wild card, although it's close behind them with Oakland fourth but only two games back. Next up: An off-day then back to the Trop to play 3 against Texas.

MLB News: The Angels, 3 games out of the third wild card but 7th overall in those standings will see their slim playoff chances get even slimmer as they've lost two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani for 7 weeks or essentially the rest of the regular season with a hamstring strain.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Claimed P Donye Evans on waivers from the Mets, DFA'd P Charlie Ruegger. Evans was in the Mets' rotation from 2025-2027 and struck out 708 men in those 3 seasons but after a 5.65 ERA in the last of them he fell out of favor, spending 2028 and much of this year at AAA Syracuse and in the pen when with the big club. He still boasts 80 stuff although it comes with 45 movement and control. But if they're giving him up for free, I'm going to take it and see if he can help our pen.

Game 1: 3-2 W. WP-Evans (1-0). S-Diaz (22). Starter-Sears (4 5 2 1 1 2). HR-DeLoach (21). Rays came back from 2-0 down to take this one thanks to Haro's 2-run double and DeLoach's tiebreaking homer in the 5th. And Donye Evans was electric in his Rays debut, going 2.2 0 0 0 2 7 to earn the win in middle relief.

Game 2: 9-5 W. WP-Swanda (9-8, 5 4 2 2 3 6). HR-Rendon (3/18), Franco (17), Santana (35). Texas scored twice in the top of the first but the Rays answered with 5 in the bottom of the inning, capped by the suddenly hot Rendon's 3-run shot.

Game 3: 4-7 L. LP-Eldridge (10-6, 3.2 8 6 6 2 5). HR-Santana (36). Eldridge has turned in bad starts in 4 of his last 5 outings and today's brought his ERA up to 4.79 as the Rays couldn't come back from the 6-0 hole he put them in. They nearly did though, getting within 3 and having the bases loaded with nobody out in the 9th before two strikeouts and a fly ball snuffed out the rally.

Team record: 70-57. We're now within 1 1/2 of the Jays again, and ensconced in the first wild card spot. Next up: The other Texas team comes to town as the 74-53 Astros, tied for the best record in baseball, visit for 3.

MLB News: The Cardinals' Tyler O'Neill hit career homer #300.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 10-2 W. WP-Khattak (8-4, 5.1 4 2 2 2 5). HR-Green 2 (12), DeLoach (22). Elijah Green homered twice, a 2-run shot in the 3rd to get them going and a 3-run blast in the 6th to break open a 3-2 game. DeLoach was 3-5 with the homer and 2 RBI as well.

Game 2: 6-1 W. WP-German (8-4, 7 1 1 1 2 6). HR-Santana (37), Haro (10). Luis German and two relievers combined on a 1-hitter as the Rays beat the Astros again. It was a 1-1 game through 6 despite Tampa Bay out-hitting Houston 9-1 before Santana's grand slam in the 7th broke the deadlock and Haro went back-to-back with him.

Game 3: 5-4 W. WP-Evans (2-0). S-Diaz (23). Starter-Sears (4 3 3 2 3 3). Elijah Green came through big again, driving in 3 including a 2-run triple in the 6th to break a 3-3 tie. Caminero was 3-4 with a pair of RBI singles and Sears had to leave with a strained back and will miss two weeks as the Rays swept the team which came into the series with the best record in the AL.

Team record: 73-57. Houston no longer has the best record in the AL thanks to the Rays' sweep of them and Toronto's sweep of the Angels which was capped by a ridiculous 8 1 0 0 0 17 game by the Jays' Luis Medina in a 1-0 win. As a result the Rays remain 1 1/2 back in the East but are now 4 up in the first wild card against the #2 team. Next up: That #2 wild card team comes to town as Boston visits for 4 games.

Tampa Bay is now 18-5 in August and that includes a 3-game losing streak.

[Art Deco]

Transactions: Marco Luciano had to leave a game in the last series with elbow tendinitis, and it's serious enough that he's going to miss the rest of the regular season although he could be back for the playoff. Freili Encarnacion is up for him. Also JP Sears goes to the IL with his back strain and a blast from the Rays' past is up as Phoenix Sanders gets the call. Sanders was in the Rays' system from 2019-2023 and was claimed off waivers from the Yankees and July and sent to Durham where he had an option. Sanders will pitch in middle relief and Donye Evans will get a start or two in Sears' place.

Game 1: 17-3 W. WP-Swanda (10-8, 6 4 0 0 3 3). HR-Albies 2 (16), Jeffers (2), Wood (16). It was 16-0 by the 4th with everyone in the Rays lineup registering at least one hit, one run scored and one RBI. Albies was 2-3 with 2 walks, 2 homers and 3 RBI; Wood had two doubles, a homer and 4 RBI; and Nelson Haro was 4-6 with 2 doubles and an RBI.

Game 2: 2-8 L. LP-Eldridge (10-7, 4 7 5 5 1 6). HR-E.Green (13). Boston returned the blowout favor as Eldridge is in a real funk over his last four starts, allowing 22 runs in 14 2/3 IP.

Game 3: 5-6 L. LP-Diaz (5-8). Starter-Khattak (6 3 2 2 3 5). HR-Franco (18), Rivera (15), Wood (17). This one hurt as Edwin Diaz gave up a 2-out, 3-run homer to Brian Reynolds in the 9th to lose it after the Rays took a 5-3 lead despite managing only four hits, the last of which was Freili Encarnacion's 2-run double. To make matters worse Zach DeLoach was hit by a pitch after Rivera's homer and charged the mound, earning a 4-game suspension.

Transaction: DeLoach goes on the restricted list and Mitsuyoski Arakawa is recalled for the duration of DeLoach's suspension.

Game 4: 2-5 L. LP-German (8-5, 5.1 8 4 4 2 6). After a 19-5 run which included the opener of this series the Rays have now lost three straight as Brian Reynolds picked up where he left off yesterday with a 2-run homer in the first off German and Boston never looked back.

Team record: 74-60. While the Rays were stumbling Toronto has taken upon itself to never lose again and they gained 3 games to go up 4 1/2 in the division, making a wild card look like the Rays' likely path to the playoffs. And their firm grip on the #1 wild card and a 3-game series at home got a lot more tenuous as Boston pulled within 2 games thanks to this series. Next up: Off to Cleveland for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-1 W. WP-Evans (3-0, 6 2 0 0 1 4). S-Diaz (24). HR-Rivera (16), Rendon (4/19). Donye Evans was dazzling in his first Rays start and homers from Rivera and Rendon tacked on to a 1-0 lead.

Transactions: Robby Castillo and Charlie Ruegger were brought up from Durham for September roster expansion.

Game 2: 5-6 L. LP-Okuda (2-4). Starter-Swanda (4 6 5 4 2 6). HR-Franco (19), Santana (38). Rays trailed 5-0 going into the 6th when Wander hit a 2-run homer and Santana followed later with a 3-run shot to tie it, only for Okuda and Acosta to combine to allow the winner in the 7th.

Game 3: 1-2 L (10). LP-Diaz (5-9). Starter-Eldridge (6 5 1 1 2 4). Eldridge finally gave them a good start and then the bats went silent, and Edwin Diaz lost his 9th game (never a good number for your closer) when he allowed a homer to Kris Bryant in his second inning of work. The Rays have now lost 5 of 6 after their 19-5 run.

Team record: 75-62. We've now dropped into a tie with Boston for the first wild card and the division has become a pipe dream again as we've fallen 6 1/2 back after closing to 1 1/2 only a week ago. Next up: An off-day then a return home to play 3 against Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: Bullpen stalwart and our top lefty reliever Jovani Moran tore his rotator cuff and his Rays career is likely over. He was already scheduled to be a free agent at season's end and now he'll miss all of 2030. It's a real blow to the pen as he might have been our most consistent reliever this year. Veteran lefty Adrian Morejon's contract was purchased from Durham as he had signed a minor league deal earlier.

Game 1: 6-1 W. WP-Orze (5-5). Starter-Khattak (4.1 5 1 1 2 4). HR-Rendon (5/20), Caminero (23). Anthony Rendon continues to pay dividends as he was 2-4 with 2 runs scored and a solo homer to lead a diverse attack. Unfortunately though Walt Khattak had to leave the game early with a strained triceps.

Transaction: Khattak goes on the IL with his strained triceps, another blow to the rotation although he'll only miss the 15 days he'll have to sit. With no additional pitchers on the 40-man and the 40-man full, 1B/DH Robby Castillo was recalled where he continued his big year with Durham while struggling with the big club. He'll be used as a pinch-hitter with Caminero and Haro holding down 1B/DH.

Game 2: 7-2 W. WP-German (9-5, 5 5 0 0 1 6). HR-Santana 2 (40). Natanael Santana's big power season continued as he cranked two-run homers in the both the 2nd and 3rd innings to help the Rays to a quick 7-0 lead and reach the 40-dinger mark. Haro had a big 2-run double as well.

Game 3: 2-1 W. WP-Riley (5-1). S-Diaz (25). Starter-Evans (6.2 3 0 0 1 7). Donye Evans was brilliant again and has yet to allow a run in his first 18 innings as a Ray but lost the win when Trey Riley gave up a run in the 8th to let Seattle tie. Fortunately the Rays came right back in the bottom of the inning on an Anthony Rendon RBI single to complete the sweep and right the ship after some lousy results of late. Edwin Diaz's shaky run continued as he allowed hits to the first two men in the 9th but got the next three including the final two on strikeouts.

Team record: 78-62. After winning 12 straight Toronto finally lost in its series finale so the Rays did gain a game but are still 5 1/2 back. More importantly they moved a game ahead of Boston into the all-important first wild card spot in order to potentially host a series. Next up: Oakland visits for 3 games - the A's are fourth in the wild card standings 6 1/2 behind the Rays so Tampa Bay can potentially reduce its playoff magic number substantially.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 3-1 W. WP-Swanda (11-8, 5.2 8 0 0 1 5). S-Diaz (26). HR-Haro (11). Rays pitching was in trouble all night (16 baserunners allowed) but kept getting out of it, and Haro was 3-4 with an RBI single and solo homer to supply the offense.

Game 2: 5-4 W. WP-Okuda (3-4). S-Riley (6). Starter-Eldridge (5 5 2 2 2 6). The teams exchanged the lead several times before the Rays went up for good in the 7th on RBI singles from Wood and Albies. Wood was 3-4 while Albies drove in 3 thanks to an earlier 2-run single.

Game 3: 2-5 L. LP-Orze (4.1 4 3 3 2 4). HR-Wong (5). Eric Orze's return to the rotation was going well for 4 innings before he turned into a pumpkin and the bats were muted today as the club's 5-game win streak came to an end.

Team record: 80-63. Toronto and Boston were both swept, enabling us to climb back within 3 1/2 in the division and go up 3 on Boston for the first wild card. Next up: After an off day we'll be able to do something about the division deficit with 3 games in Toronto.

[Art Deco]

Transaction: JP Sears was activated off the IL, Phoenix Sanders goes to Durham and Eric Orze goes back to the bullpen.

Game 1: 2-12 L. LP-German (9-6, 4.1 5 5 5 2 7). The Jays administered a butt-kicking as usual for us in Toronto as a 2-2 game was broken open by a 5-run Jays 5th.

Game 2: 3-4 L. LP-Sears (2-5, 4.2 6 4 4 0 2). We hung in there this time but striking out 17 times is never an optimal thing for an offense.

Game 3: 2-5 L. LP-Swanda (11-9, 5 8 5 5 3 3). HR-Franco (20). Wander's 2-run homer in the 1st gave us the lead for the first time in this series but it was short-lived and Toronto exposed the Rays as AL East pretenders, moving 6 1/2 ahead after the sweep with only 16 games remaining.

Team record: 80-66. Not only is the division now out of reach but Boston has pulled within one game of the first wild card, our real goal at this point. Next up: Back home for 3 against Kansas City.

MLB News: Kyle Tucker, whom we rented in 2025 and gave us a nice 7-WAR season, hit his 300th career homer in his second tour of duty with Houston.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 4-2 W. WP-Dodson (4-3). S-Diaz (27). Starter-Evans (4 4 2 2 4 7). HR-Santana (41). Santana's 3-run homer in the first propelled the Rays to victory in the opener.

Game 2: 5-2 W. WP-Eldridge (11-7, 6.2 4 1 1 2 6). S-Diaz (28). HR-Santana (42), Franco (21). Another big 3-run homer from Santana, this time breaking a 1-1 tie in the 4th, won it for the Rays as he reached the 100-RBI mark for the first time in his career.

Game 3: 3-6 L (15). LP-Ruegger (0-1). Starter-German (4.2 4 2 2 4 5). Rays should have had the sweep but Trey Riley blew the lead in the 9th as Edwin Diaz was tired from the previous two days. Ironically it finally got to the point where we had to throw Diaz back in there and sure enough he gave up a 3-run homer in the 15th with Ruegger's men aboard to lose it.

Team record: 82-67. We did gain a game on the Red Sox, now 2 up in the first wild card and with a magic # of 8 to clinch a playoff spot. Next up: An off-day then 3 games in Milwaukee. The Brewers are MLB's worst squad at 46-103 so I'm sure we'll lose 2 of 3.

MLB News: Trea Turner of the Cubs slugged career homer #300.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 13-3 W. WP-Sears (3-5, 6 7 2 2 1 5). HR-DeLoach (23), Albies (17), Caminero (24), Santana (43), Franco 2 (23), Wood (18). Rays hit four homers in the first off Lucas Giolito and didn't stop homering after that, getting 7 in all in the rout. Wander drove in 4 total and DeLoach had 4 hits including his homer.

Game 2: 7-1 W. WP-Swanda (12-9, 6 5 1 1 2 6). HR-Franco (24), DeLoach (24), E.Green (14). This was a somewhat close game until Green hit a 3-run homer in the 8th to break it open. The news wasn't all good though as James Wood tore his labrum and is done until next April while Eric Orze has a strained forearm and is done for a month.

Transactions: Wood and Orze go on the IL, Walt Khattak comes off it and we purchased the contract of veteran OF Ian Happ from Durham.

Game 3: 12-4 W. WP-Evans (4-0, 5 2 2 1 1 11). HR-Santana (44), Haro (12), Rivera (17). Nelson Haro had a monster game, going 3-5 with the homer and 5 RBI while Santana drove in 4 as the Rays outscored the worst team in baseball 32-7 in the sweep. Meanwhile Donye Evans continues to be a revelation in the rotation.

Team record: 85-67. We're now 4 up in the first wild card over Boston and have a magic number of only 3 to clinch a playoff spot. Next up: Our interleague odyssey continues with 3 in Cincinnati against the 64-88 Reds.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 1-6 L. LP-Eldridge (11-8, 5 4 2 1 2 8). HR-Albies (18). A frustrating game as the Rays had many chances to score but couldn't, and then Cincinnati got 4 off the bullpen late to put it away.

Game 2: 6-3 W. WP-Cousins (1-1). S-Diaz (29). Starter-German (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-E.Green 2 (16). Elijah Green had a big day, driving in 4 with a pair of homers including a 3-run shot in the 7th to cap a 4-run inning that erased a 3-2 Reds lead. Caminero was 3-5 with an RBI and Haro had 2 hits including an equalizing RBI single.

Game 3: 16-1 W. WP-Sears (4-5, 5 4 1 1 3 5). HR-Rendon (6/21), Franco (25), Arakawa (5), Albies (19). Rendon's 3-run homer sparked a 5-run 1st and the Rays piled it on from there. Arakawa was 3-4 with the homer and 3 RBI and Angel Rivera also plated 3.

Team record: 87-68. We've officially clinched a playoff spot and the magic number to clinch the first wild card and a series at home is down to 3. Next up: Home for 4 against the Yankees.

MLB News: Toronto is on its way to the AL East title and the #1 seed and Alek Manaoh pitched a no-hitter for them against the Cubs, going 9 0 0 0 5 11 on an epic 138 pitches.

MLB Playoff Race Update: As we enter the season's final week here's where things stand. In the AL Toronto and Houston will win their divisions while Minnesota and Cleveland are tied for the AL Central lead. And those two teams are further tied with Boston for the remaining two wild cards, leaving the Rays' opponent up in the air for now but all should make the playoffs. In the NL the Cards and Dodgers have won their divisions but Atlanta and the Mets are tied for the East lead. They're both 2 ahead of Philly and all three teams will make the playoffs, leaving a wild card for Arizona which is 3 1/2 up on San Diego.

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Game 1: 9-8 W. WP-Okuda (4-4). S-Diaz (30). Starter-Swanda (4 6 6 4 4 2). HR-Albies 2 (21), Rivera (18), Caminero (25). Ozzie Albies' 2nd homer of the game was an 8th-inning slam to erase an 8-5 deficit and give the Rays a win in a real back-and-forth affair. It was 8-3 when Caminero hit a 2-run shot and Albies ended the game with 5 RBI.

Game 2: 7-6 W. WP-Cousins (2-1). S-Riley (7). Starter-Evans (4 5 4 4 1 8). HR-Franco (26), Santana (45), R.Castillo (4). Deja vu all over again as back-to-back homers from Santana and Castillo put the Rays ahead in the 8th for another late comeback win. Wander was 3-4 with 3 RBI, including a homer and a double. Donye Evans had his first "bad" start as a Ray but he still fanned 8 in 4 innings.

Game 3: 8-13 L. LP-Eldridge (11-9, 2.2 9 10 10 2 2). HR-Franco (27), E.Green (17). No comebacks today as Eldridge (you read his line right) put the Rays in a 10-3 hole which the gamely tried to dig out of but even 8 runs wouldn't be enough. Green knocked in 3 with a 2-run double and solo homer and Caminero had a 2-run double.

Game 4: 8-4 W. WP-Dodson (5-3). S-Diaz (31). Starter-German (4.2 9 3 3 1 4). Rays picked up win #90 in another high-scoring affair with the Yankees. Wander and Caminero were each 3-4 with 2 RBI with Wander scoring 3 runs and Albies was 3-5 with a double.

Team record: 90-69. We did cut the division lead to 3 with 3 games left but since Toronto won the season series from us 8-6 (it seemed like 12-2) they clinched the division. No matter though as the Rays did clinch the #1 wild card and will host an opponent TBD in the Wild Card Round. Next up: Detroit comes to the Trop to close out the regular season in a trio of meaningless games.

MLB Playoff Race Update: The playoff fields are essentially set but Minnesota and Cleveland remain tied for the AL Central lead and they also sit in the #2 wild card spot, a game ahead of Boston. Atlanta is a game up on the Mets in the AL East, the loser of that division will be the #1 wild card.

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Game 1: 8-2 W. WP-Sears (5-5, 7 2 0 0 1 6). HR-Franco (28). Wander's 3-run homer and Elijah Green's bases-clearing triple were the big hits as most of the regulars got a rest.

Game 2: 4-3 W (12). WP-Dodson (6-3). Starter-Khattak (6 5 2 1 3 5). HR-Franco (29). Nobody wants an extra-inning game when you're playing out the string but Caminero's RBI single, his third hit of the game, put an end to it. Wander is closing with a flourish as he had 3 hits as well including a 2-run homer that tied it in the 8th.

Game 3: 1-8 L. LP-Okuda (4-5, 0.2 3 3 3 0 0). Okuda got the start, gave up 3 runs in the first, and left with a minor injury that forced us to use way more of the bullpen than we wanted to and it wasn't pretty.

Final Regular Season Record: 92-70. Considering this team was flirting with .500 for the first four months of the season that's a pretty good record. Next up: The Wild Card Round, in which we'll be hosting Boston.

Playoff Race Update: There wasn't a lot of suspense other than the seeding in both leagues. Cleveland hung on to win the AL Central with only 85 wins and Atlanta outlasted the Mets in the NL East.

MLB News: Wander's hot finish got him some recognition:

The hard-hitting shortstop from Tampa Bay, Wander Franco, wielded a big bat in September and was hailed as the American League Batter of the Month. He hit a healthy .379 with 11 home runs, 26 RBIs and 25 runs scored. Posting a .310 batting average to date, Franco has 29 home runs and 93 RBIs.

Also congratulations to former Ray and current Jay Austin Meadows on career homer #300.