[Art Deco]

Game 1: With the division clinched it was time to empty the bench so Vidal Brujan, Wander Franco, Austin Meadows, Rafael Devers and Keibert Ruiz all got the day off. It didn't matter as the Rays rode the strong pitching of Shane McClanahan and the bat of Spencer Torkelson to a 3-1 win over Boston. The lefty held Boston in check, going 6 3 1 1 3 7 on 102 pitches, and the troika took over with scoreless innings from Anderson, Alvarado and De La Cruz. In a nice bit of symmetry, the first two each picked up their 27th hold of the season while De La Cruz got his 27th save. Mac is now 5-2, 3.17 in his 12 starts. Torkelson took Pablo Lopez deep for a 2-run blast (#13) in the 2nd inning to provide all the offense needed and the homer was the first of his hits on a 3-3 night (and also his first since returning from a couple of months on the IL). Nick Schnell doubled in Brandon Marsh in the 8th for a little insurance. It so happened Schnell's double was his 27th of the year for all you numerologists out there.

Durham Playoff Update: Dustin May's second rehab start was a disaster, going 3.2 7 6 6 1 2, and he put Durham in a hole they couldn't climb out of in a 6-5 loss to Lehigh Valley which now means they have to win the next 2 to take the title. After May left they were down 6-1 and mounted a valiant comeback. Nick Gonzales had 4 hits and scored twice, Noah Cardenas (in his AAA debut after being recalled due to injuries) had a 2-run double, and Hunter Bishop and Heston Kjerstad actually had RBI hits but it wasn't enough. Game 4 tomorrow is now a must-win and Dean Christidis will get the start.

Game 2: I'm treating these games now a bit like spring training, so that was one of the reasons why the Red Sox took a back-and-forth game from the Rays 7-6 today. Since the troika pitched last night, I decided not to push them again so Mitch Keller was on in the 9th and in his second inning of work he gave up a 2-run HR to Williams Astudillo (his 1st of the year) to give the Sox the win. Of course had Rafael Devers not thrown away an easy groundball to lead off the inning, Astudillo's HR would have been a solo shot at best. Tyler Glasnow started and was off his game today, going 4.2 6 4 4 5 5 on 111 pitches. Will Smith blew the lead in the 7th before Keller came on, but Alec Bohm's pinch-hit sac fly in the bottom of the inning gave the Rays a 6-5 lead. Earlier Triston Casas had a bases-clearing double, and Austin Meadows and Keibert Ruiz had RBI singles. Vidal Brujan had 3 hits and 2 steals to add to his MLB-leading total of 57. And Wander Franco had to leave the game legging out an infield single in the 1st, he has a sore groin and will be out 4 days as the goal for the remaining 13 games is to remain injury-free.

Durham Playoff Update: Winners of the last two IL titles and finalists the year before that, the Durham Bulls would not go quietly into that good night as they evened up their best-of-5 series with Lehigh Valley at 2 by shutting out the Iron Pigs 3-0. Dean Christidis had his second scoreless start of the playoffs, going 6.2 3 0 0 4 7 as he saved Durham's season. Luke Little pitched the final 2 1/3, striking out 3 for the save. As has been the case lately, offense was a challenge for the Bulls but three homers got the job done including 2 from Chris Betts with the other coming from the awakening Hunter Bishop. Heston Kjerstad, however, seems to remain a lost cause as he went 0-4 with 3 whiffs making him 1 for 31 this postseason. Mack Anglin will try to bounce back from his bad Game 1 start in the decisive Game 5 in Durham in two days' time.

Game 3: Austin Meadows sent the Trop crowd home happy as his RBI double in the bottom of the 12th drove in Keston Hiura with the winning run as the Rays edged the Red Sox 5-4 to take 2 of 3 in the weekend series. It looked like the Rays would coast to a win behind Walker Buehler, making his first start since Monday's 16-K no-hitter. He had no-hit stuff again but it was a bit uncontrollable today as he racked up quite a pitch count in going 6 3 0 0 4 12. Still the Rays took a 4-0 lead into the 8th but a couple of Red Sox rookies forced the game into extras. First, Baron Radcliff hit a 2-run HR off Sandy Gaston in the 8th to cut the lead in half, and then Jasseel De La Cruz had some uncharacteristic trouble in the 9th when he allowed an infield single to Jeter Downs leading off the inning and then served up a 2-run longball to pinch hitter Pierson Gibis. So on we went, Jose Alvarado, Will Smith and Ian Hamilton threw scoreless innings and then with 1 out in the bottom of the 12th, Hiura singled, stole second and then scored on Meadows' double. Earlier the Rays had scored on a double play grounder (after Greg Jones narrowly missed his first MLB HR, doubling off the top of the RF wall), a balk, and Alec Bohm's 24th HR of the season, a 2-run shot. Hamilton picked up his 3rd Rays win in the process, and Vidal Brujan had a 4-hit game.

Team record: 98-52. Next up: Another off-day, followed by a 2-game visit from the Chicago Cubs.

Final Durham Playoff Update: Mack Anglin got rocked for 4 runs in the first 2 innings, which was enough for Lehigh Valley to take a 4-1 win in the deciding game of the International League Championship Series and end Durham's 2-year reign atop the league. As it was throughout the playoffs, the Bulls' bats deserted them. They did manage 8 hits, but the only run came on a Chris Betts (one of the few who hit consistently) RBI single in the 7th. Hunter Bishop did have 3 hits including a double, and Heston Kjerstad managed a single to end the playoffs 2-37. Grant Gambrell deserves a shout for keeping them within striking distance by going 5 1 0 0 1 6 in relief of Anglin as the Bulls will have to console themselves with the knowledge they've made the finals four straight seasons.