The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 2 of 3 in the Pacific Northwest as we inch toward the playoffs.

Our long national nightmare is over as Ethan McElvain finally earned his first Rays win in his 10th start since joining the club. Even though he's pitched very well (a 2.64 ERA with the club coming in) he's largely been Mr. No-Decision. But that changed tonight - just barely - as the Rays edged the Mariners 3-2 and the bullpen preserved that lead for 4 innings. Jake Westfall's 2-run homer in the first (#14/21) and Nate Strickland's 40th, a solo shot, provided the Tampa Bay scoring and McElvain went 5 6 2 2 0 3. Four relievers did the job, although it wasn't the usual suspects with Danny Morales pitching the 8th and Mike Moore the 9th for save #7.

The Rays took the second game 5-3 behind the other starter who came over from Detroit, Jake Baldino. He improved to 5-2 with the club thanks to a 6 3 2 2 1 6 outing with two solo homers constituting the damage. The regular back end of the pen was back tonight and Eric Lewis recorded save #11 (#40 overall) with little drama. Wander Franco's 2-run homer (#14) in the 5th was the big hit, extending the Tampa Bay lead to 4-1 and CJ Abrams knocked in a pair as well.

Seattle salvaged the series final, beating the Rays 4-2 on Julio Rodriguez's 2-run homer off Ruben Abeyta (3-1) in the 7th. Pedro Avila turned in a solid start at 5 5 2 1 2 5 but the offense didn't do a lot.

Team record: 102-40. Next up: back home for 3 against the White Sox, cellar-dwellers in the AL Central at 61-82.

[Art Deco]

Playing out the string with two losses in three to the White Sox, but more importantly a key player suffered an injury.

Chris Ferguson was excellent yet again and the Rays swamped the Sox 7-0 in the opener, but the big story was the injury to Orlando Tosado with 2 out in the 9th. Diving for a ball, he sprained his wrist and it's severe enough to be considered "moderate" and will keep him out for the better part of four weeks. That timetable would take it until roughly October 8, around when the Rays would start the ALDS. Tosado's regular season ends at 273/330/596 with 41 HR and 82 RBI. As for the game, Ferguson improved to 13-2, 2.28 after going 7 7 0 0 2 5, Kelly Crumpton drove in 3 with a 2-run double and solo homer (#33), Billy Carlow had a 2-run homer (#31) and Jake Westfall went solo (#15/22).

For the third straight start Joe Marlette tried to go 17-0 and for the third straight start he failed, although he held up his end of the bargain. Instead it was the bullpen who failed him as the Rays led 3-1 after 7 innings with Marlette going 5 4 1 1 4 8. Josh Scanlon gave up a homer in the 8th to let Chicago within 3-2, and Eric Lewis' inconsistencies arose once again as he was hit for 2 runs in the 9th and Chicago took a 4-3 win. Lewis dropped to 2-3 with 4 blown saves for the Rays this year as the 8th and 9th-inning pitching is the exhaust port on our 100-win Death Star. Nate Strickland had 3 hits and an RBI in the loss.

Rookie Danny Arroyave caught the attention of the baseball world tonight by hitting three homers, but it was for naught as the White Sox edged the Rays 6-5 in the finale at Tropicana Field. Ethan McElvain celebrated his first Rays win last time out by getting shelled tonight, going 3.1 9 6 6 0 2 to drop to 1-3 with the club and put the team in a 6-1 hole. Arroyave then single-handedly mounted a comeback, homering in the 4th with a man on to make it 6-3, going deep again in the 6th to cut it to 6-4 and then hitting his 3rd of the night and 18th of the season in the 9th to get them within one but his teammates couldn't pick him up.

Team record: 103-42. Next up: A day off then 3 games in Boston.

MLB News: Retirements galore including of the game's current-day legends as Mike Trout hung up the cleats. The long-time Angel finished his Hall of Fame-bound career with 676 homers, 2851 hits, and 119.7 WAR. Some former Rays also called it a career such as Brandon Lowe, Taylor Walls and (briefly) Luis Severino. Speaking of Angels and Rays, current Angel and former Ray Andrew Greckel hit his 300th career homer.

[Art Deco]

Despite nothing to play for the Rays still went out and swept the Red Sox at Fenway, officially eliminating Boston from playoff consideration.

Tampa Bay had its way in the opener, routing the Sox 8-4 with 3 of Boston's runs coming in the bottom of the 9th. Jake Baldino (6-2/14-9) was solid at 6 5 1 1 1 4 and he was backed by homers from CJ Abrams (#5/12) and Kelly Crumpton (#34) with Nate Strickland also knocking in a pair. In fact Strickland, who was famously accused of not hustling by former teammate Alex Calderon early this season, was quoted in the game recap as saying "Do people still doubt I give 100%?"

Transaction: Jeremy Brooks, whose ratings are still very good but who has been horrible this year leading to his waiver by the White Sox and subsequent pickup by us, was sent back to Durham after crapping the bed last night, allowing 3 runs and only getting one out in the 9th when brought in with an 8-1 lead. That's 3 homers in 9 2/3 innings allowed by Brooks since we called him up. Taking his place is feel-good story Reid Detmers as the 34-year-old hasn't pitched in the majors since 2031, instead toiling at Durham for the last two seasons and pitching very well, going 22-13 with a 3.60 ERA and 7 WAR. Detmers did pitch for the Rays in parts of the 2026 and 2027 seasons and he'll take Brooks' long relief/mop up role for the last couple of weeks.

With the division long wrapped up we've been doing a lot of rotating of players in the lineup and today the bench was emptied. And it was one of those benchwarmers who came through big as Caleb Hampton drove in 5 runs, including a tie-breaking grand slam in the 10th (#2), to give the Rays a 7-3 extra-inning win over Boston. Masaharu Shimuzu also got his chance today and went 4-4 with a double and Nate Strickland added a solo homer (#41). Pedro Avila was solid (5 6 2 2 0 6) and was in line for the win before Josh Scanlon blew his 6th save of the season in the 8th. Scanlon did stay on for a scoreless 9th to even his record at 4-4.

The Rays overcame an uncharacteristically shaky start from Chris Ferguson and a 4-1 deficit to come back and win 8-5 over Boston to sweep the series at Fenway. Ferguson was wild at 4.1 4 4 2 4 3 but was taken off the hook when the Rays erupted for 5 runs in the 6th to go ahead for good with the big hit coming on a CJ Abrams bases-clearing double. The rally made a winner of Reid Detmers in his return to the majors and to the Rays as the lefty went 2 2/3 scoreless. Eric Lewis saved with a 1-2-3 9th, his 12th as a Ray and 41st overall. Jake Westfall was also 4-5 with a homer (#16/23) and 3 RBI.

Team record: 106-42. Next up: 3 games in Detroit.

With two weeks left in the season here's a look at the standings and leaders:



The Yankees are in the third AL Wild Card spot, up 2 1/2 on Toronto and 3 on Minnesota while in the NL the Cards are in the third WC spot and a healthy 4 1/2 up on the Mets. The 3-way battle in the NL West will only yield one playoff team as they're collectively well back in the WC race.

[Art Deco]

Rays dropped 2 of 3 in Detroit as they continued to rest players.

They did field a full-strength lineup in the opener to try and finally get Joe Marlette to 17-0 and it was mission accomplished as Marlette and the Rays handled Detroit 7-2. Marlette had his best start in a while, going 7 7 1 1 1 7 and never in any real trouble as he continues his bid to have the best W/L record of a pitcher in MLB history with Roy Face's 18-1 the current gold standard. Wander Franco had a huge game, driving in 4 with an RBI double and bases-clearing triple, and Billy Carlow (#32) and Danny Arroyave (#19) contributed solo homers.

Ethan McElvain was lit up like a Christmas tree by his former team as the Tigers roasted the Rays 7-1 in the second game as the bench was emptied again. McElvain dropped to 1-4 as a Ray in his second straight disaster start, going 1.2 8 7 7 0 2 after giving up 6 in 3 1/3 the previous time out. Masaharu Shimizu was the only Ray who could hold his head high after today, going 3-4 with the club's lone RBI.

The Tigers got the better of one of their former teammates again today as they beat Jake Baldino and the Rays 3-2 in the finale. Baldino wasn't bad at 5.1 5 3 3 0 7 but fell to 6-3 (14-10 overall). Mike Calhoun was involved in both Tampa Bay runs in the 2nd, doubling in one and scoring the other.

Team record: 107-44. Next up: A 4-game set at Tropicana Field against the Yankees, which means nothing of course to the Rays but everything to New York as they lead Toronto by 1 1/2 and Minnesota for 2 in the third wild card. We'll probably try to limit the bench guys mixed in for competitive reasons.

MLB News: Miami's Gleyber Torres hit career homer #500.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 3 of 4 from the Yankees and dealt a severe blow to their wild card hopes.

The opener was a rout as the Rays romped 11-2. Nate Strickland hit a pair of 2-run homers to give him 43 along with 112 RBI as his breakout season continues, Jake Westfall was 3-4 with 3 RBI, and Joshua Baez was 2-3 with a double, triple and 2 RBI. Pedro Avila (9-5) was in control against his old club, going 5.2 6 0 0 2 2 before leaving with a minor back tweak.

High drama in the second game as Masaharu Shimizu hit a 2-run walk-off homer to dead center with 2 out in the 9th to give the Rays a 4-3 comeback win over New York. Before that the Rays were held to only five hits and Chris Ferguson, who went 5 7 3 2 0 2, was looking at only his third loss of the season. But Shimizu turned that around and instead the win went to Ruben Abeyta (4-1).

Joe Marlette continues to chase baseball history as he combined with three relievers on a 4-0 shutout of the Yankees and improved to a record W/L mark of 18-0. Marlette was in control and went 6 2 0 0 1 6. He had help from William Contreras who delivered a key 2-run double and Joshua Baez who launched his 20th homer.

The Yankees salvaged the finale and their playoff hopes after erasing a 5-2 deficit to beat the Rays 7-6. Wander Franco (#15) and Joshua Baez (#21) homered and Ethan McElvain went 6 4 2 2 2 4 to give them that 5-2 lead after 6 innings, but Mason Feole and Mike Moore (11-3) melted down in 7th, combining to allow five runs to let the game get away.

Team record: 110-45. Next up: We get the chance to play spoiler again in the wild card race as Toronto visits for 4 games. Thanks to our dominance of the Yankees over the weekend the Jays are now 1/2 game up for the third spot over New York while Minnesota lost 3 straight to fall 2 1/2 back. With a week left there's also a wild race for the AL West with Oakland one game up on both Houston and Texas, with all three teams assured of at least a wild card. In the NL Colorado and San Francisco are tied for the West lead with only the winner going to the playoffs. The Dodgers had been in that race but a bad week has left them 4 games back.

[Art Deco]

After being bad hosts to the Yankees the Rays were a little more generous with New York's wild card rival Toronto, splitting the four games at the Trop.

The Rays took the opener in a game where pitching reigned supreme, winning 1-0 on a first-inning run that stood up the whole way. Kelly Crumpton's sac fly scored CJ Abrams (and it was a rare sac fly when given the option to send the runner from third, 90% of the time those seem to result in outs at the plate) and Jake Baldino pitched his best game as a Ray, improving to 7-3 and 15-10 overall after going 7.1 5 0 0 0 3. Eric Lewis closed for his 13th Rays save and 42nd in total.

Despite losing a starting pitcher after giving up 3 in the first the Rays fought back to take a 7-4 win over the Jays in the second game. Pedro Avila was roughed up in that opening frame and it was at least in part due to a blister he developed, one which will sideline him for a couple of weeks and put his spot in the playoff rotation in serious jeopardy. Reid Detmers took over and was brilliant, going 6 5 0 0 0 5 in (very) long relief and Mike Moore handled the 9th today for save #8. After falling behind 3-0 the Rays bounced back on Masaharu Shimizu's 3-run blast (#10) in the 2nd and scored 4 times in the 6th with Jake Westfall's RBI single breaking the deadlock and Mike Calhoun's 2-run knock giving them breathing room.

Transaction: Avila went on the IL and Wes Mendes was activated after missing a month with a herniated disc in his neck. Mendes now suddenly will have a chance to pitch himself into the playoff rotation with Avila's injury.

The Rays' offense was muted in the third game, only amassing six hits through 11 innings and falling 3-2 to Toronto in extras. Chris Ferguson got the job done despite pitching with constant traffic, going 5 6 0 0 2 5 to close his brilliant regular season at 13-2, 2.30 and only missing out on the ERA crown thanks to missing a month with a herniated disc in his back. He left up 1-0 but Toronto got a pair off Slade Cecconi before Danny Arroyave tied it up in the bottom of the 8th with a solo homer (#20). It stayed there until the Jays nicked Ruben Abeyta (4-2) for a run in the 11th and the offense had no answer.

Wes Mendes was very good in his return from the IL but the offense once again struggled to score and the Rays dropped the series finale 5-2 to Toronto. Mendes was a sharp 5 4 1 1 2 4 on 82 pitches and departed the game up 2-1 after Kelly Crumpton (#35) and Nate Strickland (#44) hit back-to-back solo shots in the bottom of the 5th. But the bullpen couldn't hold the lead and Mike Moore (11-3) had his second bad outing in his last three, allowing 3 runs in the 8th to lose it.

Team record: 112-47. Next up: We close out the regular season with 3 at the Trop against cellar-dwelling Baltimore.

Playoff race update: The 3-way race for the final AL Wild Card is now a 2-way race as the Yankees took a pair off Minnesota and dropped them 3 games behind themselves and Toronto. The 3-way AL West race is also down to two as Houston is a game up on Oakland and Seattle has fallen 3 back. With Seattle and the division loser grabbing the other two wild cards and Detroit winning the Central the AL field is almost complete.

In the NL the only suspense resides in the NL West where Colorado and San Francisco are tied going into the final weekend. The Dodgers dropped out of the picture, and the Rockies-Giants loser will also miss the playoffs. The Nationals and Cubs are the other two division winners and the three wild cards are the Marlins, Memphis Spirit and the Cardinals. It will be the first time the Spirit make the playoffs in their 11-season history after joining MLB in 2023.

Also in MLB doings, Atlanta superstar Jasson Dominguez hit his 400th career homer at age 30.

[Art Deco]

The Rays closed out the regular season with a sweep of Baltimore, winning 115 games on the season which tied their team record set in 2022, and most importantly they welcomed back a key player from injury, a guy who become kind of forgotten.

Joe Marlette looked to improve his record 18-0 W/L mark, or mainly looked to avoid a loss to end up tied with Roy Face at 18-1, and accomplished the latter but not the former as the Rays had to come back and beat Baltimore 8-7. Marlette came out after going 5 4 2 2 0 6 and left with a 3-2 lead, but Mason Feole gave up 4 runs in the 6th to put the Orioles ahead. Wander Franco took care of that in the 8th though, and his 2-run single was the difference. Kelly Crumpton had a 3-run homer (#36) and Joshua Baez homered to lead off the 8th to start the comeback, his 22nd. Frankely Guzman (7-1) picked up the win and Eric Lewis got save #14/43.

Transaction: He's baaaack! We activated our other "twin ace" Kevin DiCostanzo from the 60-day IL and designated Caleb Hampton for assignment to make room for him on the 40-man. Having not had a chance to pitch rehab since Durham was out of the playoffs, he'll get an abbreviated start in the second game of the series in his first action since going on the shelf April 20 with bone chip surgery.

Kevin DiCostanzo's return from injury was a successful one and the Rays edged Baltimore 4-3. DiCostanzo was sharp at 4 2 0 0 1 3 on 68 pitches and he was pronounced to fit to start Game 2 of the ALDS. He might not be able to go deep (hopefully 5-6) but we have enough arms in the pen to take care of that. The Orioles actually went up 3-1 off Reid Detmers but Kelly Crumpton tied things with a 2-run homer (#37) in the 6th and Danny Arroyave's RBI single in the 8th won it. Fittingly in his last appearance of the season Mike Moore got the win, his 12th in relief this year, and Josh Scanlon got to save his 29th game.

The regular season ended with win #115 for the Rays as they routed the Orioles 9-2. Ethan McElvain (2-4, 8-7) went 5 3 2 2 1 4 and looks set to be the Game 4 starter if necessary in the ALDS. Kelly Crumpton closed the season with a bang, homering for the third straight game (#38) while Mike Calhoun and Jake Westfall had 2-run singles.

Final Regular Season Record: 115-47. Next up: We'll sit back and watch the wild card round to see who our opponent will be in the ALDS which starts of course at the Trop.

Playoff Race Update: The races all fizzled out by Saturday as the Jays won twice while the Yankees were done in by rival Boston to give Toronto the third AL Wild Card, Houston closed the season on an 8-game win streak to take the AL West over Oakland, which will host a wild card series, and in the NL the Rockies won Friday and Saturday while San Francisco lost both day, giving them the NL West and sending the Giants home for the winter.

MLB News: A couple of veteran OFs hit their 300th career homers: The Cubs' Jarred Kelenic and Detroit's J.J. Bleday.

[Art Deco]

How the year shook out:



Oakland's Jeremy Begley had quite the impressive season. In addition to winning the batting average crown, he had a ZR of +26.8 (!) at SS, hence the astounding 9.6 WAR.



Broken record time: great hitting, great pitching, lousy defense. We added lousy baserunning to the mix but that too didn't matter. The bottom line was a healthy +292 run differential.



It's easy to imagine this team winning 120+ games had stars like Gutierrez, Franco, Carlow and Tosado not missed a month or more of action as well and perhaps Arroyave had been called up sooner. It looks as though we'll have the whole gang healthy for the ALDS except Gutierrez who should be back if we make the ALCS.



With the exception of Brooks in his limited innings and perhaps Panzini, pretty much everyone pitched well, and the ones with the higher ERAs had them as a result of suffering higher BABIPs.



We have some interesting prospects, and Stack is more than MLB-ready, it'll just be a matter of finding a place for him on the roster or in the lineup. Jimmy Powell can also hit in the bigs now, but is really only a DH. Berumen looks like a superstar in the making and Leo Gutierrez could be an ace but they'll need at least another season in the minors.

[Art Deco]

Our opponent in the ALDS will be the Oakland A's:





The Tigers will play Houston in the other ALDS.



The first playoff baseball ever played in Memphis did not go to the home fans' liking as Miami advances to face Washington in the NLDS.



St. Louis advances to take on the arch-rival Cubs in the other NLDS.

[Art Deco]

Better late than never...



For quite awhile at Tropicana Field it was looking like Joe Marlette might suffer his first defeat of the season even though he pitched well as the Rays' bats were silenced and Oakland led 2-0 going into the bottom of the 7th. But Nate Strickland homered to lead off the inning, Danny Arroyave doubled and scored on Orlando Tosado's single to tie it up, and after Tosado stole second CJ Abrams singled him home to put Tampa Bay ahead to stay. They kept tacking on from there, which was a good thing as Josh Scanlon gave up a 2-run homer in the 9th. Human good luck charm Mike Moore did it again, getting the win in relief after doing so 12 times during the regular season, and the Rays will look to go up 2-0 with Kevin DiCostanzo on the mound tomorrow night.

Last night's NLDS openers:



And all of today's DS action:

[Art Deco]

Gonna play two in Oakland...



Once again the Rays' bats were slow to waken, and they couldn't quite do enough as Oakland evened up the series after getting a run off Tommy Burpee in the 8th. Kevin DiCostanzo still showed the rust of missing most of the season and it seems as though his stamina might be a casualty of his injury. Although he's still rated 60 stamina I suspect that will come down the next time the scouts take a look at him as he ran out of gas by the 4th today. They trailed 3-0 but solo homers from Billy Carlow, Kelly Crumpton and Nate Strickland in the 6th evened things up, and they had men on first and third in the 8th with two out but Danny Arroyave's liner to left was caught and they went 1-2-3 in the 9th. So it will be up to Chris Ferguson to restore a series advantage in two days in Oakland.

Elsewhere an old friend pitched Detroit to a 2-0 series lead although typical for him it was a rough go at first:

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

In some real trouble now...



All 115 regular-season wins gets you is home-field advantage in the division series which Oakland already took away from the Rays. And now they're set to take the series as well after scoring a 4-2 win over Tampa Bay in Game 3 to move within one game of the ALCS. Once again the bats were the culprits as for the third straight game they failed to score in the first five innings and although Jake Westfall's 2-run shot gave them a brief 2-1 lead in the 6th, AL MVP frontrunner Jeremy Begley erased that lead with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the frame off Chris Ferguson and the Rays are on the brink. 2 runs on 5 hits isn't going to cut it from a juggernaut of a regular-season offense and they're going to have to find a way to score tomorrow. Ethan McElvain gets the call to salvage the season and try to bring the series back to St. Pete.

Elsewhere the Tigers await the winner of this series and the Cubs have booked their place in the NLCS:

[Art Deco]

The empire strikes back...



The Rays finally found a way to score before the sixth inning in this series and not coincidentally they found themselves winning a must-win game 5-2, evening the ALDS and forcing a deciding Game 5 in 48 hours at the Trop. With two out and nobody on in the opening frame the Rays got two singles and then Nate Strickland blasted a 3-0 pitch into the RCF seats to give them a quick 3-0 advantage which they never relinquished. The combo of Ethan McElvain and Jake Baldino, whom the Rays both acquired in the same deal with Detroit this summer, got them through 6 innings with Baldino notching the win. Unfortunately Baldino pulled his hamstring on the final pitch he threw in the 6th and is done for the playoffs but he departed a winner. Now it's all down to one game and the Rays couldn't feel any better about it with 18-0 Joe Marlette toeing the rubber for them.

[Art Deco]

The Marlins shocked the top-seed, 101-win Nationals in their NLDS decider and the Rays have to hope it isn't some kind of omen:

[Art Deco]

Movin' on...



Don't let the final blowout score fool you - this was a tight, tense game until the Rays broke it open in the 7th and 8th. Joe Marlette was excellent as usual but the offense reverted to its early-inning woes of this series with the only early run coming from a guy who hadn't played in the first four games, Joshua Baez, who came in when Billy Carlow tweaked a hamstring and ripped an RBI double (Carlow will be fine for the ALCS). Jake Westfall was the man tonight, homering to put the Rays ahead to stay 2-1 in the 6th, and adding a 2-run single in the 7th to make it 5-1 and they played home run derby. And my strategy of bringing Mike Moore into a close game because he'll surely get the win paid off once again. So now it's on to a date with the Tigers in the ALCS starting right here in St. Pete with Kevin DiCostanzo starting but most definitely not finishing.

[Art Deco]

What a game...



Excitement abounded at Tropicana Field as Billy Carlow homered in the bottom of the 9th to tie a game the Rays had trailed at one point 6-3 and CJ Abrams walked it off in the bottom of the 11th with a biggest hit as a Ray, a homer leading off the inning. After Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead after an inning things went downhill fast as Kevin DiCostanzo was not good at all, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits including a pair of homers and the Rays found themselves in the hole against former teammate Shane Panzini. They did get a couple back off him, and Wander Franco brought them with one with a 2-run homer in the 7th to set up the late heroics. Speaking of heroic, Slade Cecconi went three hitless innings to keep the Tigers at bay and Eric Lewis went two perfect in extras to record the win. Chris Ferguson will try tomorrow to put us up 2-0.

Meanwhile in the NLCS, which reunites a pair of teams from the one 30 years earlier, the Marlins have taken a 2-0 lead in Chicago against the Cubs thanks to identical 5-4 wins without the help of Steve Bartman:

[Art Deco]

No miracles today...



For the second straight game in the ALCS the Rays tied it up late, but this time Detroit won it in extras to even up the series at a game apiece. Chris Ferguson had a rough early go, giving up 3 runs in the first 2 innings but settled in after that and Kelly Crumpton's RBI double in the 8th got the Rays to parity. But they couldn't bring him home, and the rookie Danny Arroyave grounded out with the bases loaded and 2 out in the bottom of the 9th with a chance to be the hero. And Detroit then jumped on Mike Moore in the 11th for 3 runs to take the victory. The series now shifts to the Motor City with the Tigers snatching home-field advantage. Joe Marlette will try to regain it for the Rays in Game 3.

[Art Deco]

Back on top but at a price...



The Rays scored 6 times in the 9th to break open a close game and trounce the Tigers 10-2 to re-establish their ALCS lead, but the win was a very costly one. Nate Strickland, their leading power hitter with 44 HR this year in the regular season and 4 more in these playoffs, suffered an intercostal strain scoring from 2nd on a single in the first inning and is done for the postseason. Ironically Joshua Baez, who took over for him at DH, suffered an intercostal strain of his own beating out an infield single but his was much milder and he should only miss the next game or two. Otherwise it was a big game for Jake Westfall with a solo homer and a bases-clearing double in that big 9th, and Joe Marlette was solid if not spectacular in staying undefeated in 2033. The game also marked the return of Arturo Gutierrez to action for the first time since herniating a disc on July 25, and although he looked a bit rusty whiffing his first two times up, he later had a hit. Ethan McElvain will try to beat his old team tomorrow and give the Rays a commanding series lead.

Meanwhile the Marlins are on the brink of winning the NLCS and possibly setting up the first-ever Battle of Florida in the World Series:

[Art Deco]

We have a series now...



We know now we'll be heading back to the Trop for a Game 6 as the Tigers have tied up the ALCS at 2 apiece after a 5-2 win over the Rays at Comerica Park. Ethan McElwain couldn't get it done against his old club and the Tigers' young phenom David Camposano, the game's #23 prospect, hurt the Rays again with a bases-clearing triple in the 4th to break it open. Perhaps Nate Strickland was missed as the offense was quiet, although his replacement Masahuru Shimuzu did single in one of the two Rays runs. Kevin DiCostanzo will try to get right in tomorrow's pivotal Game 5.

We also have a series in the NLCS as the Cubs have gotten off the mat to win a pair of elimination games and cut the Marlins' series lead to 3-2 thanks to a dramatic 9th-inning homer from this year's MLB leader in the category Kevin Aguillard (who had 56):