Can the playoffs just hurry up and get here? Meanwhile we had to play four in Fenway against a Red Sox team far out of it, and ended up with a split (and a minor injury).
James Hays' bid for a third straight Cy Young took a slight hit today as the Red Sox beat the Rays 4-3 in the opener. Hays was 5 6 4 4 3 6 and dropped to 14-6, 2.78. He still leads the league in ERA (by half a run), strikeouts and WAR so he should still be good but one more win in his final start should cinch it.
Jeff McNeil (#3/14) and
Kelly Crumpton (#46) had solo homers.
The Rays nearly pulled out a comeback for the ages as they fell behind 12-1 before pulling to within 12-9 in the 9th and had the bases loaded, but
Andy Kelley struck out and Boston took its second straight over Tampa Bay.
Michael Prosecky had a rough start (4.1 10 8 8 2 3) and
Slade Cecconi didn't do him any favors by letting two of Prosecky's men score then two more of his own in an 8-run Boston 5th. Prosecky saw his ERA jump from 3.17 to 3.51 in the rout as he dropped to 13-7. The Rays did score 8 times over the final 4 innings to get back in it, led by
Wander Franco's 3-RBI which gave the Rays superstar entry into the 100-RBI club.
Jeff McNeil also knocked in 3 with a bases-clearing double and
Kelly Crumpton homered yet again (#47).
Tampa Bay was staring at a third straight defeat in Fenway before tying the game in the 9th and winning it 3-2 with a run in the 10th.
JT Realmuto's sac fly evened things up and then
Kelly Crumpton delivered an RBI single, his third hit and second RBI of the game, to win it. Crumpton now has a whopping 47 HR and 132 RBI on the season and should get MVP votes from voters who like big shiny numbers (he's at 3.9 WAR for the season, less than half of AL leader Francisco Lindor's 8.5).
Shane Panzini was solid (5.1 7 2 2 3 7, 0 homers!),
Tommy Doyle (2-3) collected the win in relief, and
Yasunari Uehara recorded save #38.
The Rays salvaged a split with more late-inning magic, scoring three times in the 9th to take a 6-5 win over Boston in the finale. Pinch-hitter deluxe
Jose Aguilar came off the bench to tie it with a single, and
Wander Franco's sac fly was the difference. Franco had earlier homered (#26) and ended up with 3 knocked in.
Luis Severino started in what will be his final tuneup for the playoffs (given his "fragile" status and time missed this year I'm not going to risk him in a meaningless game on the final weekend) and went 5 6 3 3 2 6.
Kendall Williams (8-1) picked up the relief win and
Yasunari Uehara closed again for his 39th save despite putting a couple of men on in the 9th. One down note, though:
Jeff McNeil suffered a foot contusion and is done for the regular season. He went on the IL but will but ready for the playoffs. McNeil was what we expected after acquiring him (328/392/453) and finishes the year at 309/383/479 with 14 HR and 69 RBI.
Team record: 103-53. Next up: An off-day then our final road series at the year with 3 in Kansas City.
Playoff race update: Cleveland took control of the final AL wild card spot after Baltimore and San Antonio had bad weeks with the only suspense being who wins the West as Houston and Oakland are tied (the loser has a wild card in the bag). The Rays and Twins will win the other two divisions. In the NL the divisions look set (Washington, Milwaukee, LA) as well as two wild cards (Mets & Padres) but the third wild card sees Atlanta and Chicago tied and San Francisco and Arizona both 2 games back of them.
Minor League playoff update: I hadn't been updating these like normal but Durham was an impressive 85-55 before bowing out in the first round of the IL playoffs to St. Paul in 5 games after winning the first two. Montgomery, on the other hand, were champions of the Southern League:
The Biscuits got two great outings from pitching prospect and #1 pick in 2026 Parker Detmers, including a complete-game 4-hit shutout in the clincher. Detmers had an up-and-down year which saw him get demoted from Durham but he's still considered a top-notch prospect (#93 overall) and will get big-club consideration next season.