Game 1: The Rays went homer-happy tonight at Yankee Stadium, bashing 7 as a team and led by Judson Fabian who belted 3, tying the team record, in an 11-5 win. At first it looked like the Yankees may be the big bashers tonight as after Fabian's 1st of the game gave the Rays a 2-0 lead in top of the 1st, Vlad Jr and Kyle Isbel each hit 2-run shots in the bottom of the frame off Mack Anglin to give New York a 4-2 lead. But Jasson Dominguez hit the first of his 2 homers on the night to tie the game in the 3rd, and Fabian's 2nd of the game, a solo shot, gave them the lead for good in the 5th. And in the 6th they broke it open on 2-run shots from Spencer Torkelson and Ricky Widmar, the 9th of the year for each. Dominguez hit his 2nd of the game in the 7th to give him the team lead with 26, and Fabian hit #3 of the game and #17 of the season in the 8th to cap the Rays' scoring. Meanwhile after that rough first inning Anglin was virtually untouchable over the next 6 innings, finishing 7 5 4 4 2 5 and improving to 14-3 and remaining the MLB wins leader. Jordan Diaz pitched a scoreless 8th and Romulo Canelon gave up a Miguel Sano solo homer in the 9th but nothing else to wrap up the game. Including all the homers, the Rays managed 20 hits with everyone getting at least one.
July 28: Optioned OF Dayle Jenkins to AAA Durham, activated OF Jhon Diaz from the 10-day IL.
Jenkins was great again in his second stint with the big club this season, and will probably have a place somewhere in next year's lineup but for now goes back to Durham. He'll probably also be the September hitter callup. Diaz missed only 3 weeks so I think he can get by without a rehab assignment.
Game 2: Games can turn quickly, and the Rays found that out to their detriment today as Shane McClanahan took a no-hitter one out into the 6th with a 2-0 lead and by the time the inning was over it was 5-2 New York and by the time the game was over it was 11-2 Yankees. With one out in the 6th, Mac hit a batter and then gave up his first hit of the game to old pal Vidal Brujan, who doubled. After Vlad Jr. walked to load the bases, Joe Allen delivered a 2-run single up the middle, a wild pitch put men on 2nd and 3rd and then a 2-run single from Cade Horton made it 4-2. Mac then departed, and Evan Godwin gave up a triple to make it 5-2. Godwin continued to struggle in the 7th, giving up a homer, then putting a couple more on for Mike Mooney to give up a 3-run HR and the rout was on. Meanwhile, Nate Clark's 25th HR of the year in the 1st, a 2-run shot, was all the offense they could muster and was only one of five hits on the day. This was despite Yankee starter Brennan Malone leaving in the 1st inning with an injury and a parade of Yankee relievers pitching. They seem to be in a pattern of either getting 15 runs and 20 hits in a game or 1 or 2 and 5 with no in between.
Some trade news:
This was a swap of top 100 prospects as we send Pelaez packing and get Buitrago. I was starting to sour on Pelaez, as although he's a good shortstop I wonder how much he's going to hit. He started the year at Durham, which was probably too aggressive by the AI which sets the minors subject to my adjustments, as he hit .139 in 137 AB. He got sent down to A+ Charlotte, where he was 262/352/353. He has a great eye and has some pop in his bat, but his contact/gap potential #s are not great. Throw in the fact that he has to go on the 40-man this winter and Ricky Widmar has a lock on the SS position for the foreseeable future, and it's no surprise I was shopping him. So about Buitrago. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2027 draft out of Cal State Fullerton and he's done nothing but live up to billing, already at AA where he's continued to hit (293/362/524). Here's a peek under the hood:
No real weaknesses here, other than not walking enough. The gap power is elite, the HR power is already MLB-average, and the hit tool should be solid. Of course this gives us
another outfielder, and it's not like we're hurting for CFers either with Jasson Dominguez and Dayle Jenkins, and corner-wise we have Victor de Jesus on the rise. But he doesn't have to go on the 40-man this year, and he's still probably 2 years away. We had to include Mordasini in the deal to make it work, a speedy singles-hitting SS in DSL ball who will probably never hit enough to be a decent MLB regular.
Game 3: Jasseel De La Cruz had a major meltdown in the 9th inning, turning a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 loss in the 9th as the Rays dropped the series to the Yankees. Alec Sachais had a brilliant start, going 6 4 0 0 1 6, and Daniel Espino had a scoreless 7th. Connor Kirkley's error allowed the Yankees to get an unearned run off Jose Alvarado in the 8th, but with 2 righties out of 3 due at the bottom of the Yankee order it seemed like a tailor-made save situation for JDLC. Unfortunately, the righty singled off him, and the lefty doubled, and although he got a fly ball to CF to hold the runners, Vidal Brujan wreaked havoc on his old team again with a 2-run single. JDLC then whiffed Derek Crum for the second out to bring up Vlad Jr with first base open. Yours truly could have walked him and had JDLC face the almost-as-dangerous lefty-hitting Joe Allen, but I played the righty-righty matchup and Vlad sent one into the LF seats. Of course if the offense could have scrounged up a few runs after the 3rd inning they might not have been in this predicament, but after Joe Barker (a 2-run shot, #21) and Jasson Dominguez (#27) went back-to-back, the scoring dried up.
Team record: 72-32. Next up: A quick trip back up to Boston to play a makeup game, then home to face Arizona.