Game 1: A pretty rotten start to the road trip as Andy Aparicio was bombed again and the Jays beat the Rays 7-4. After two really bad starts AA looked good last time out, but was way too hittable once again, going 3.2 10 6 6 2 5 including of couple of homers allowed as his ERA ballooned to an ugly 5.85. Nate Thompson went 2 1/3 scoreless in relief (and has yet to allow an earned run in 21 2/3 innings, which means of course he will in his next outing), and Alexander Beltre made his Rays debut. It was forgettable as the first man he faced, lefty Dan Phipps, took him deep and Beltre allowed 2 more hits in the inning before getting out of it. Tim Siqueiros struck out the side in the 8th. The offense was pretty quiet except for a 3-run rally in the 5th that got them within 6-4. Dayle Jenkins capped that rally with a 2-run triple but hit into a pair of double plays to kill other attempted rallies. The Yankees lost in Arizona so the Rays stay 1/2 game up.
Game 2: Deja vu all over again as Toronto battered one of Tampa Bay's aces for the second straight night, dooming the Rays to their third straight loss 8-3. Today it was Jon Hayes' turn in the dunk tank, as he was blasted for 7 runs and 9 hits in 3 1/3 innings after Andy Aparicio was treated similarly rudely last night. Hayes' ERA is now almost as bad as AA's, 5.40. To think these two were a combined 44-7 last year with ERAs under 3. Meanwhile Toronto picks up Ben Vespi off the scrap heap, gives him his first start of the season and he pitches a complete game 6-hitter. YCPB and all that, I guess. Nate Clark hit his 12th HR of the year in the first to give the Rays the briefest of leads as he moves into a tie for the MLB lead in that category. Victor de Jesus bookended Clark's long ball with one of his own in the 9th (#7) and Dane Ayers had an RBI grounder for the Rays runs. Danny Medina went 2 2/3 of scoreless relief, Jon Whiteleather had a scoreless inning, but Chris Hicks finally was touched after retiring the first 13 men he faced this year when Matt McGhee took him deep in the 8th. Fortunately for the Rays the Yankees are on a worse streak losing 5 straight, so they cling to a 1/2 game division lead.
Game 3: Unbelievable. I'll let the line score tell the story:
7-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, let's give 2028 and 2030 Reliever of the Year Jordan Diaz some work! (Diaz implodes, gets two outs but gives up 3 runs and leaves with two on). OK, let's bring our brand new acquisition and 2031 Reliever of the Year Alexander Beltre to get the final out! (Beltre gives up 2-run triple then 2-run homer to complete a 7-run meltdown). Still shaking my head over this. Anyway the upshot is that the Rays have now lost 4 straight after they looked to have turned the corner and gotten hot, although they still remain 1/2 game up in The Division Nobody Wants™ as the Yankees can't stop losing either. Diaz and Beltre wasted another excellent start from Christian Little, who has been our true ace this season and went 6.2 3 1 1 4 10. Tim Siqueiros had 1 1/3 scoreless and I couldn't have done any worse to have just left him in. The offense came alive today, although they were greatly aided by 3 Toronto errors which accounted for 5 unearned runs. Still they took advantage of it, with Nate Clark and Jasson Dominguez driving in a pair as Clark hit #13 to take over the MLB HR lead by his lonesome, while Jakob Runnels had an RBI double and Dayle Jenkins an RBI single.
Team record: 22-16. Next up: A day off, then we head to Detroit for the weekend where we get to relive memories of the 2031 ALDS. Yipee!