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Art Deco · 02-14-2021, 09:47 AM

Game 1: The hype around MLB was big for this series, pitting two teams with winning percentages of .725 or better against each other this late in the season for the first time ever as the Rays came into St. Louis to face the Cardinals. Plus it was a rematch of the All-Star Game starters from only seven days ago in Christian Little vs NL ERA leader Leo Ortega. But a national TV audience on ESPN got to watch a rerun as the Rays once again beat St. Louis 8-4. After Ortega got Ricky Widmar, Dayle Jenkins and Nate Clark on strikes in the top of the 1st it looked like the vaunted pitchers' duel was on. But Gabriel Moreno's 2-run single got the Rays on the board in the 2nd, and they broke it open against Ortega with 4 runs in the 3rd on Joe Barker's RBI single and a 3-run shot from Jasson Dominguez (#25). And after the Cards got a run off Little in the 3rd, Widmar's RBI double and Jenkins' RBI single made it 8-1 in the 4th. Little tired in the 6th and gave up a couple of runs on 3 hits, leaving with a 5.1 5 3 3 2 11 line. Not his best except for the strikeouts, but good enough to improve to 9-2. Evan Godwin got a couple of whiffs to finish the 6th, Corbin Martin gave up a run in the 7th, and Mike Mooney got it done in the 8th. JDLC came on in the 9th with a 4-run lead, whiffed the first two and then made it interesting by loading the bases for Cardinal slugger Josh Stowers. Fortunately he got Stowers on a weak grounder to 2nd and the game was over.

Game 2: What a game. After last night's Leo Ortega-Christian Little matchup failed to be the low-scoring duel it was expected to be, St. Louis's Yordy Richard and the Rays' Alec Sachais came through with an epic pitching battle. Both pitchers set down the other team's lineup 9 up, 9 down the first time through before Ricky Widmar singled leading off the 4th, and Sachais did not allow a hit until one out in the 5th when Michael Busch singled. And on and on the game went 0-0 with Sachais being pinch-hit for in the 8th having gone 7 3 0 0 1 10 in his best outing of the year. But Richard one-upped him by going 8 3 0 0 0 8 as the Rays had no answer for him. So Jordan Diaz came on for the bottom of the 8th and Cardinal catcher Jakob Runnels greeted him by taking a 2-2 hanging slider into the left-centerfield seats for the first run of the game and first homer allowed by Diaz this season. And in the 9th the Cards brought on their closer Jeremy Bienick, the key piece they acquired from us in the Victor de Jesus deal last year. Widmar drew a leadoff walk, stole second, made it to third with two out but was stranded there when Bienick struck out Joe Barker and the Cards took a 1-0 win. These two teams are the class of MLB and the last two teams to win the World Series and it should be something else if they were to meet in this year's version. Meanwhile, the shutout was the 2nd the Rays have suffered in the last 3 games, and since the break they've scored 2, 8, 0, 8 and 0 runs as they're in feast-or-famine mode right now.

Team record: 75-27. Next up: An off-day then we return to Publix Park to face the Red Sox for a 3-game weekend set.

02-14-2021, 09:47 AM	#658
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,611	July 23-24, 2030: at St. Louis (2) Game 1: The hype around MLB was big for this series, pitting two teams with winning percentages of .725 or better against each other this late in the season for the first time ever as the Rays came into St. Louis to face the Cardinals. Plus it was a rematch of the All-Star Game starters from only seven days ago in Christian Little vs NL ERA leader Leo Ortega. But a national TV audience on ESPN got to watch a rerun as the Rays once again beat St. Louis 8-4. After Ortega got Ricky Widmar, Dayle Jenkins and Nate Clark on strikes in the top of the 1st it looked like the vaunted pitchers' duel was on. But Gabriel Moreno's 2-run single got the Rays on the board in the 2nd, and they broke it open against Ortega with 4 runs in the 3rd on Joe Barker's RBI single and a 3-run shot from Jasson Dominguez (#25). And after the Cards got a run off Little in the 3rd, Widmar's RBI double and Jenkins' RBI single made it 8-1 in the 4th. Little tired in the 6th and gave up a couple of runs on 3 hits, leaving with a 5.1 5 3 3 2 11 line. Not his best except for the strikeouts, but good enough to improve to 9-2. Evan Godwin got a couple of whiffs to finish the 6th, Corbin Martin gave up a run in the 7th, and Mike Mooney got it done in the 8th. JDLC came on in the 9th with a 4-run lead, whiffed the first two and then made it interesting by loading the bases for Cardinal slugger Josh Stowers. Fortunately he got Stowers on a weak grounder to 2nd and the game was over. Game 2: What a game. After last night's Leo Ortega-Christian Little matchup failed to be the low-scoring duel it was expected to be, St. Louis's Yordy Richard and the Rays' Alec Sachais came through with an epic pitching battle. Both pitchers set down the other team's lineup 9 up, 9 down the first time through before Ricky Widmar singled leading off the 4th, and Sachais did not allow a hit until one out in the 5th when Michael Busch singled. And on and on the game went 0-0 with Sachais being pinch-hit for in the 8th having gone 7 3 0 0 1 10 in his best outing of the year. But Richard one-upped him by going 8 3 0 0 0 8 as the Rays had no answer for him. So Jordan Diaz came on for the bottom of the 8th and Cardinal catcher Jakob Runnels greeted him by taking a 2-2 hanging slider into the left-centerfield seats for the first run of the game and first homer allowed by Diaz this season. And in the 9th the Cards brought on their closer Jeremy Bienick, the key piece they acquired from us in the Victor de Jesus deal last year. Widmar drew a leadoff walk, stole second, made it to third with two out but was stranded there when Bienick struck out Joe Barker and the Cards took a 1-0 win. These two teams are the class of MLB and the last two teams to win the World Series and it should be something else if they were to meet in this year's version. Meanwhile, the shutout was the 2nd the Rays have suffered in the last 3 games, and since the break they've scored 2, 8, 0, 8 and 0 runs as they're in feast-or-famine mode right now. Team record: 75-27. Next up: An off-day then we return to Publix Park to face the Red Sox for a 3-game weekend set. Last edited by Art Deco; 02-14-2021 at 11:36 AM.