The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

I said in the last post that Toronto needed a sweep in this series to make it a division race, but instead it was the Rays who did the sweeping to pretty much end the division race with two months to go as they're now a whopping 11 games up on Toronto and barring a 1978 Red Sox-style collapse (and a 78 Yankees-style run by the Jays) it's clear sailing until the playoffs.

For a half an inning at least things looked good for Toronto in the opener as Jordan Groshans and Vlad Guerrero Jr. took Joe Ryan deep in the opening frame to give the Jays a quick 2-0 lead. But the Rays answered right back with 3 in the bottom of the inning off Jays ace AJ Smith-Shawver including an Adley Rutschman RBI double, and then added 3 more in the 2nd with another Rutschman RBI hit and Luke Voit's 2nd RBI single in as many innings. That turned out to be the end of the scoring as the Rays took a 6-2 win in the opener. Ryan settled in from there and finished 6 6 2 2 1 6 to go to 10-7, 4.29 and Diego Castillo closed the game with a flourish in his first appearance at the Trop as a Ray in over 3 years by striking out the side. The resurgent Wander Franco was also 3-3 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored.

The Rays opened up a 5-1 lead in the second game and held on to beat Toronto again 6-4. Luke Voit had his best game since being acquired in trade, hitting a 3-run homer off Nate Pearson in the bottom of the 1st after the Jays went up 1-0 (shades of yesterday) and then adding a solo homer in the 7th after Toronto pulled within 5-3 to give him 5 in Rays colors and 18 overall. Corey Collins added a big 2-run single in the 6th to make it 5-1. Tarik Skubal meanwhile was solid once again on the mound, going 7 3 3 3 2 5 to improve to 10-5, 3.13 although he did allow 2 homers as the expected regression in that department has perhaps begun. JT Ginn earned save #20 despite putting two men on in the 9th.

With inconsistent rookie Slade Cecconi going in the finale and two wins in the bag the Rays felt like they were playing with house money but it was Cecconi himself who was money in a 1-0 win. The youngster pitched his best game as a big leaguer, going 6 5 0 0 1 5 on 94 pitches and is now 6-4, 4.63. DL Hall recorded the final four outs for save #6 to complete the team shutout. The lone run came in the 6th when Wander Franco singled, stole second, went to third on the throwing error and scored on an Adley Rutschman sac fly. Rutschman was 2-3 on the day and after seeing his average dip to .150 not that long ago he's up to .199 and should hopefully be passing the Mendoza Line shortly. Franco has also boosted his average from the low .240s to .259.

Team record: 68-40. Next up: We head to Fenway for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

The Rays must have been so satisfied with themselves after sweeping Toronto and opening up an 11-game division lead that they took the series off at Boston, getting swept and allowing 27 runs in the process. The Jays actually won a couple of games and are now within 9, too early to be concerned but not something to make a habit of.

The opener was the best game they played as it took Boston 10 innings to beat the Rays 7-4. Tylor Megill surrendered a 3-run homer to Christian Arroyo to give Boston the win. Luke Voit had a 2-run HR (#6/#19) to give the Rays a 4-2 lead, but Tyler Glasnow wasn't sharp and couldn't hold it, finishing 4.1 5 4 4 6 4. Alex Vesia took the loss as he put a man on to start the 10th who scored on the Arroyo homer.

It was deja vu all over again in the second game as once again Tylor Megill gave up a late 3-run homer to send Boston to victory. This time the final was 9-7 and the homer came in the 8th inning as the Rays nursed a 7-6 lead. Wander Franco had a big game to help the Rays to that lead with an RBI double and 2-run HR (#13) as they overcame a brutal start from Drew Rasmussen (2.2 9 6 6 2 3). But Megill put two on in the 8th with two out and couldn't get the third, giving up the homer to Ryan Ober.

The Red Sox routed Tampa Bay in the finale 11-2 as Joe Ryan was a human piñata, allowing all 11 runs in the first 4 innings. He had to take one for the team as the bullpen had been pressed into early action the previous two days and was running on fumes. He ended a hide-your-eyes 4 9 11 10 2 4 with 2 homers allowed and dropped to 10-8, 4.88. Ed Howard's 2-run triple was the extent of the offense as they were held to 5 hits.

Team record: 68-43. Next up: A much-appreciated off-day to let the bullpen recover then we're back home for 3 against Seattle.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took a pair of walk-off wins before dropping the finale, so a decent series for them but Toronto went into Detroit and swept them so they've cut the division lead to 8.

Transaction: Activated OF Heston Kjerstad from the 10-day IL, optioned OF Jhon Diaz to AA Montgomery.

It was time for shrimp at Tropicana Field as the Rays beat Seattle by scoring twice in the 9th including the winner on a walk-off walk to prevail 4-3. Seattle scored 3 in the top of the 4th off Tarik Skubal including a Julio Rodriguez homer to take a 3-0 lead, but the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the frame with a 2-run Andrew Greckel blast (#13). Skubal finished 5 4 3 3 1 6 and the pen did a great job of holding Seattle in check as it remained 3-2 going to the bottom of the 9th. Victor Robles singled in the tying run after a Seattle error and with two out the bases were loaded for Alex Kirilloff who let a 3-1 pitch go by inside to earn the Rays a victory. Tylor Megill recovered from his two bad games in Boston to go the final 1 2/3 scoreless for win #3.

Tampa Bay walked it off again in the bottom of the 9th 5-4 over the Mariners, and once again Alex Kirilloff brought home the game-winner. This time he swung the bat to do so, singling in Wander Franco who had tripled with one out. The win went to Diego Castillo, who pitched a scoreless 9th to give him 7 1/3 scoreless over 7 appearances since rejoining the Rays with a 0/12 BB/K ratio. It was a back-and-forth affair with the Rays taking the lead 3 times before Seattle either tied or went ahead with the fourth time the charm. Slade Cecconi was decent at 5.2 6 3 1 2 4 and Kirilloff's game-winning single was his 3rd hit and 2nd RBI of the day.

The Rays fell 9-3 in the finale as Tyler Glasnow sandwiched two bad innings around a decent start and the bullpen let it get away. Glasnow gave up a 2-run homer to the second batter of the game before getting into a groove which ended when he gave up 2 more in the 6th and finished 6 5 4 4 0 6 to drop to 9-6, 3.18. Still at that point it was 4-3 Seattle but Alex Vesia gave up 4 runs including a 3-run homer in the 8th and Levi Kelly surrendered a gopher ball to the first man he faced. Tampa Bay's offensive highlight was a solo homer from Victor Robles, his 10th.

Team record: 70-44. Next up: The homestand continues with 3 against the Yankees.

[Art Deco]

The Rays Meat Loafed another series, taking 2 of 3 against the Yankees while Toronto did likewise against the A's. The division lead remains 8, but 3 more games are off the schedule.

They did drop the opener 4-2 to the Yanks, as Drew Rasmussen was hit for 4 runs in 6 innings. Andrew Greckel was 2-4 with a double and solo HR (#13) and Ed Howard had an RBI double.

The second game saw the Rays return the favor by taking their own 4-2 win over New York behind a brilliant outing from Joe Ryan, who no-hit the Yankees over the first 5 innings and took a shutout into the 9th before giving up a couple of runs. He finished 8.1 3 2 2 1 10 in a nice bounceback outing from the debacle in Boston to improve to 11-8, 4.70. JT Ginn got the final two outs for save #21. Ryan got all the support he needed in the third when they scored three times including RBI singles from Victor Robles and Wander Franco. Ed Howard was 3-3 with a double and Corey Collins was 1-2 with 2 walks, one of which came with the bases loaded.

The Rays routed the Yankees 11-2 in the finale thanks in large part to a big 5-run inning highlighted by a Victor Robles grand slam (#10). Adley Rutschman and Wander Franco also drove in a pair to back Tarik Skubal, who went 5 2 2 2 3 7 to up his record to 11-5, 3.25 although he allowed his 4th homer in 3 starts after giving up 4 in his first 19.

Team record: 72-45. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland. The Guardians are in the first wild card right now, and a game back of Detroit in the Central.

[Art Deco]

Just like last year's ALDS, we swept Cleveland in 3 close games almost by identical scores (we won 7-3 and 5-4 like last year, but 4-2 instead of a second 5-4 game). And it's a good thing because Toronto is hot again, sweeping their series to make it a 10-1 run for them, and that's immediately after they cratered during a 3-18 stretch. Talk about streaky.

The opener was a 12-inning affair which saw the Rays finally break through for 4 in extras to take a 7-3 win. Wander Franco's 7th-inning 2-run homer (#14) gave them a 3-2 lead, but Tylor Megill continued his recent penchant of giving up big homers and Franmil Reyes took him deep to tie the game. That brought us to the 12th when Adley Rutschman delivered a 2-run single to put the Rays ahead and Heston Kjerstad followed with a 2-run roundtripper (#23) to make a winner of JT Ginn for the second time. Slade Cecconi had a decent start at 5 3 2 2 4 4.

Tyler Glasnow was decent and the bullpen did fine work over the final 4 innings as the Rays took a 4-2 win in the second game over Cleveland. Glasnow wasn't efficient but went 5 2 2 2 4 7 to improve to 10-6, 3.20 and JT Ginn, the last of five relievers, picked up save #22. Alex Kirilloff was most of the offense, with a 2-run homer in the 4th (#13) and an RBI single in the 8th for insurance while Ed Howard took Aaron Civale's first pitch of the game into the LF seats for HR #9.

The finale was the biggest challenge of as the Rays lost two pitchers early and had to piece together 9 innings as they came from behind to edge the Guardians 5-4. Drew Rasmussen left 3 batters in with a blister after giving up a run (he won't miss his next start) and his replacement Levi Kelly also had to leave with what turned out to be bone chips in his elbow after he gave up 3 runs in 3 innings. He's done for the year although he was going back to Durham anyway with Dustin May's return imminent (he pitched well in a rehab start today). Andrew Greckel and Luke Voit rapped RBI singles in the 8th to give the Rays a 5-4 lead, and Carter Kieboom's 2-run triple was the big early hit. Osvanni Gutierrez picked up win #2 in relief and DL Hall earned save #7.

Team record: 75-45. Next up: After damaging Cleveland's wild card hopes the Rays will now try to do them a favor by beating the Royals, who are a game behind Cleveland in the second wild card spot and a game ahead of Toronto as they visit the Trop for 3.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 2 of 3 from the Royals at the Trop, but the big news was that Wander Franco suffered an intercostal strain and will be out 4-5 weeks. Thankfully this will allow him to come back a couple of weeks before the playoffs start and we now have a 10-game division lead with Toronto being swept at Minnesota.

Transaction: Levi Kelly was placed on the 60-day IL with bone chips in his elbow, LHP Franklin Dacosta was recalled from AAA Durham. Dacosta's been up briefly before and would make a lot of other team's bullpens but he already have 3 quality lefties in Hall, Vesia and Chamberlain.

The Rays did drop the opener to the Royals as Joe Ryan was hit for 3 homers in an 8-5 loss. Ryan finished 6 4 5 5 1 4 and ended with a no-decision when they came back to tie, but KC got a pair off Franklin Dacosta in the 8th to take the win. Victor Robles had a 2-run double and Ed Howard was 2-4 with an RBI in a losing cause, and Wander Franco suffered his injury in this game.

Transaction: Placed SS Wander Franco on the 10-day IL with an intercostal strain, recalled IF Jelfry Marte from AAA Durham. Marte was up previously and will bring his speed and good glove to back up Taylor Walls who will take over as the regular SS.

Corey Collins had the game of his life as the Rays blew out the Royals 12-4 in a game that was much closer until nearly the end. The backup catcher has been more productive of late than the starter Adley Rutschman, and today his 3-run homer in the 7th broke a 3-3 tie and then he repeated the feat in the 8th for his 5th homer of the year and second of the game. Along with an earlier double he was 3-5 with 6 RBI. Heston Kjerstad also hit a 3-run homer in the 8th (#24) to further blow the game open while Andrew Greckel and Victor Robles had 3 hits each. Tarik Skubal started and had a no-decision after going 6 5 3 3 4 6 with another homer allowed and Christian Chamberlain picked up his 4th win after pitching the 7th. JT Ginn came on in the 8th when it was 6-4 and stayed in to finish for save #23.

The Rays made it 2 of 3 over the Royals thanks to a great outing from Slade Cecconi and a big day at the plate from Alex Kirilloff in a 6-1 win. Cecconi went 6 4 1 1 1 4 to improve to 7-5, 4.25 and has performed great since filling in for Dustin May (who's about to come off the IL) going 3-0 in 5 starts with 6 runs allowed over 29 innings. In fact Cecconi is going to stay in the rotation and Drew Rasmussen of the 35 stamina and recent spotty outings is going to move to the pen. Kirilloff meanwhile was 3-4 with a 3-run homer (#14) in a 5-run 5th to break open a scoreless game. Adley Rutschman contributed an RBI triple.

Team record: 77-46. Next up: An off-day then we visit another team in the wild card race, Houston, for 3. The Astros are on the periphery of the race, 4 games back of the Royals for the second spot.

[Art Deco]

The Rays dropped 2 of 3 in Houston but it didn't matter because the Jays are streaking again in the wrong direction as they were swept by Boston, which has been on a roll and has now taken over second, 10 games behind the Rays.

They took the opener 4-2 behind a great Tyler Glasnow outing (7 2 2 1 2 6) as he improved to 11-6, 3.11. DL Hall went the final two innings for save #8. The runs they needed came in third when Victor Robles tripled in a pair and Andrew Greckel singled him home. Ed Howard added a solo shot (#10) later for insurance.

Transaction: Activated P Dustin May from the 10-day IL, optioned P Franklin Dacosta to AAA Durham, claimed P Reid Detmers on waivers from the Angels.

May is welcomed back, and we claimed Detmers on waivers. Detmers has pedestrian stuff (45 as a starter, 50 as a reliever) but 70 control and could have value as a starter next year, something to think about since 3/5 of the usual rotation are free agents (Glasnow, Skubal, Rasmussen) and Joe Ryan is a possible non-tender as he's getting very expensive going into his final arb year. The problem is we have no room on the active roster for Detmers with Christian Chamberlain and Osvanni Gutierrez the only relievers with options. We may just send one of them down after Detmers' 7 days are up and then bring them back on September 1 when rosters expand but in the meantime we'll leave things as they are in case someone gets hurt.

Dustin May was effective in his return but the bats weren't and the Rays suffered a 3-2 defeat to Houston. May was an excellent 7 4 2 2 1 8 but ended up with a no-decision when Christian Chamberlain allowed a Houston run in the 8th to give the Astros the win. Adley Rutschman (#13) and Carter Kieboom (#11) had solo homers in the 6th.

Joe Ryan was a human batting practice machine as he surrendered 7 runs on 3 homers in 4 innings and the Astros beat the Rays 7-3 to take the series. All 3 of the homers came in a 5-run 2nd, effectively ending the game early and his 4 8 7 7 3 5 outing dropped him to 11-9, 5.13. Ryan has now allowed a whopping 34 longballs in 142 innings this year for a rate of 2.2/9, way above last year's 1.3 per 9. Heston Kjerstad was the Rays offense with a double and a solo HR (#25).

Team record: 78-48. Next up: 3 at home vs Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

Runs and any kind of lead were hard to come by in this series which saw all 3 games going to wire with the Rays taking 2 of them on walk-offs and losing the third in 10 innings. The Red Sox meanwhile are on an insane run as they swept their series in Minnesota to make it 8 straight wins and 20 of their last 22. They're now 9 games behind the Rays in second and have tied Kansas City for the second wild card. In any event the Rays' magic number to clinch the division is down to 25.

The Rays squandered a 3-0 lead in the late innings but managed to get a walk-off RBI single from Victor Robles in the 9th to take a 4-3 win over the Orioles in the series opener. Ed Howard, who was 3-3 on the day, hit a 3-run homer in the 2nd (#11) and that 3-0 lead stood up behind Tarik Skubal, who had no-hit Baltimore through 5 1/3, until the 7th when Skubal allowed a 2-run homer to Ryan Mountcastle. He finished 6.1 2 2 2 2 6 and was still in line for the win when DL Hall lost the lead in the 8th. But Carter Kieboom and Howard singled in the bottom of the 9th and Robles brought Kieboom home to make a winner of Tylor Megill for the 4th time this year.

More late drama in the second game as the Rays trailed 2-0 going to the bottom of the 8th before getting a run thanks to an Oriole error and Ed Howard tied it dramatically with a 2-out homer in the bottom of the 9th (#12) to send us to extras, where Carter Kieboom won it with an RBI double in the bottom of the 11th as the Rays prevailed 3-2. Slade Cecconi was excellent but looked like a hard-luck loser after going 6 6 2 2 0 8 as he lowered his ERA to 4.19. JT Ginn wound up with his 3rd win after going 2 scoreless innings in extras, fanning 4.

The finale was a lot like the first two games except the Rays came out on the losing end in 10 innings 3-2. Diego Castillo allowed a leadoff double in the 10th but got the next two outs before DL Hall came on to face a lefty and gave up a double to him to score the winner. The run charged to Castillo was the first he's allowed in 12 games and 13.1 IP since being reacquired, and he still sports an eye-popping 0/19 BB/K ratio in that stretch. The Rays got a homer from Kody Hoese (#5) who gave the slumping Luke Voit a day off, and got a good outing from Tyler Glasnow at 6 3 2 2 1 4 with both runs coming on a Ryan McKenna homer.

Team record: 80-49. Next up: We head west for 3 games in Anaheim against the Angels.

[Art Deco]

The march to another division crown continued with the Rays taking 2 of 3 in Anaheim while Boston did likewise against Seattle, so the division lead remains 9 and the magic number is down to 22.

It was Dustin May's turn in the rotation in the opener and you know what that means: the Rays will find it hard to score runs. And that's exactly what happened in a 2-1 loss. May dueled with Jack Leiter, and each gave up a homer but May's came with a man aboard when Rays-killer Jorge Soler went deep for the 4th time against Tampa Bay this year. May was an exemplary 7 2 2 2 0 5 but fell to 8-7 despite lowering his AL-best ERA to 2.88. That Rays homer was courtesy of Andrew Greckel, his 15th.

Transactions: Optioned P Christian Chamberlain to AAA Durham, added P Reid Detmers to the active roster. Detmers' DFA time was up and we didn't get any natural openings on the staff, so Chamberlain goes to Durham for a week before we can bring him back September 1.

The Rays powered up for a trio of homers and evened the series LA thanks to a 5-3 win. Victor Robles led off the game with his 12th while Luke Voit hit #7 (#20 overall) and Marcell Ozuna contributed his 7th as well. Speaking of homers, Joe Ryan was on the hill and while he pitched well he couldn't avoid the longball as usual and surrendered a 3-run homer to who else, Jorge Soler, the Angel's 5th in 29 at-bats against us this season. Ryan went 6 4 3 3 2 9 for the win and improved to 12-9, 5.11. JT Ginn struck out the side in the 9th for save #24.

Tampa Bay took the series from LA with a 10-1 rout which saw the Rays hit three more homers, including a pair from the suddenly-hot Marcell Ozuna to give him 9. Alex Kirilloff added a 3-run blast (#15) and Ed Howard had a big 2-run double and Jelfry Marte a 2-run triple in a 5-run 5th which erased a 1-0 Angels lead. The beneficiary of all this support was Tarik Skubal, who didn't need that much of it in going 7 4 1 1 0 7 to up his record to 12-5, 3.18. Reid Detmers made his Rays debut against his former team and pitched 2 scoreless innings to finish it out.

Team record: 82-50. Next up: Back home for 3 vs the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

Well that division title which seemed like a matter of coronation has turned into something a bit dicier as the Rays were swept at home by a mediocre White Sox team while the Red Sox laid the wood to the Yankees, sweeping them by a combined score of 35-10. Suddenly the imposing division lead which once stood in double digits is now down to 6. A little too early to panic if no other reason than the Red Sox surely can't keep up this 25-3 run that they're on, right?

The opener against the White Sox was the toughest loss of the bunch as the Rays went up 3-0, fell behind 4-3, tied it up in the 8th, should have won it in the 10th and then lost in the 11th 7-4. Luke Voit's 2-run single helped give them that early 3-0 lead but Slade Cecconi ran into some trouble, and allowed 4 runs over the 3rd and 4th before finishing 6 6 4 4 1 5. Jelfry Marte came through with a huge RBI single to tie it, and in the 10th the Rays had men on first and third with nobody out and their win probability stood at about 95%. But Taylor Walls lined out to first and Marte's fly ball to center looked deep enough to score Voit but Luis Robert made an incredible throw to nail him at the plate. So it seemed a lock that Chicago would turn it around and Tylor Megill gave up a pair of homers to doom the Rays to defeat as he took his 3rd loss.

The second game saw the Rays fall behind 6-1 before rallying to finish just short in a 6-5 loss. Tyler Glasnow was terrible today, going 5 10 5 5 1 4 with 3 homers yielded, and Reid Detmers didn't do him any favors by giving up a bases-clearing double with two of his men on. This made it 6-1 but the Rays got a 2-run homer from the super-productive Corey Collins (now 271/333/586 with 6 HR and 23 RBI in 20 games) in the 7th and a 2-run Ed Howard double in the 8th. They put two men on with two out in the 9th, but Heston Kjerstad struck out for the third time to cap an 0-5 day and they lost again.

Dustin May had his usual lack of run support and then the bullpen imploded in an 11-3 loss to the White Sox in the finale. May was good once again at 6 6 2 2 1 3 but left behind 2-0 before the White Sox went to town on the Rays bullpen, including 6 off Drew Rasmussen who was in there to take one for the team. Adley Rutschman had a 3-run HR (#14) to get them back briefly within 5-3, but the pen capped a terrible pitching series for the team as they allowed 24 runs in the 3 games.

Team record: 82-53. Next up: A day off to lick our wounds then Minnesota visits for 3 games. Boston hosts a tough opponent in Cleveland, who would be their opponent in the wild card game if the season ended today.

[Art Deco]

The normally reliable bullpen was terrible in this series but the Rays managed to overcome it in taking 2 of 3 from the Twins. Meanwhile the Red Sox also took 2 of 3 from Cleveland so the division lead remains 6 but with 3 more games off the schedule the magic number is down to 19.

The opener saw the Rays jump out to a 3-0 lead before losing it, only to come back and win the game 5-4 with the winning run coming on a passed ball. Heston Kjerstad (#26) and Alex Kirilloff (#16) went deep to help build that 3-0 advantage and Joe Ryan pitched well, leaving in the 6th after going 5.1 3 1 1 1 4 (the lone run coming on a homer, natch). But Alex Vesia surrendered a 2-run blast in the 6th to let Minnesota tie and Diego Castillo shockingly gave up a solo shot in the 7th to put the Twins in front. Andrew Greckel homered in the bottom of the 7th (#16) to tie it, and after Luke Voit singled Adley Rutschman to 3rd in the 8th, a Mitch Garver passed ball brought home Rutschman with the winning run. DL Hall picked up his 3rd win going the final 1 1/3.

The second game followed a similar pattern with the Rays losing leads of 4-1 and 6-4 before walking it off on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th to win 7-6. Taylor Walls had a 2-run double, Tarik Skubal pitched well again (5.2 6 1 1 3 7) and the Rays found themselves ahead 4-1. But Tylor Megill allowed 3 Twins runs in the 7th to tie it up, and after Luke Voit put the Rays back ahead with a 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning (#8/#21), JT Ginn served up a Rhys Hoskins homer to let Minnesota tie it again. Finally in the bottom of the 9th Voit was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and the speedy Jelfry Marte pinch-ran for him. Marte rattled Minnesota closer Marco Roya, first by stealing second and then Roya threw a pair of wild pitches to advance Marte to third and then home with the winning run. Ginn hung on to pitch the 9th and record his 4th win. The blown save was his first all season after saving 24 consecutive.

The bad bullpen work couldn't be overcome in the finale as Diego Castillo gave up a 2-run homer to brief former Ray Alex Bregman in the 9th to break a 4-4 tie and send Minnesota to a 6-4 win. Slade Cecconi pitched well again and left after going 5 5 2 1 1 6 ahead 3-2. Reid Detmers got his first high-leverage chance with the Rays and failed it, allowing a pair of solo homers (including one to old friend Austin Meadows) and Minnesota was ahead 4-3. Luke Voit came through big again with a solo shot in the 8th (#9/#22) to tie it at 4 but after DL Hall put a man on in 9th, Castillo came in to face the righty Bregman and the ball was in the seats. The loss was Hall's first as a Ray.

Transaction: Welcome back Shane Baz! The Memphis Spirit, who had claimed him in the Rule 5 Draft last winter, didn't want to hang onto him for another month so he was returned to our organization. We had to add him to the 40-man and we did, optioning him to Durham. He pitched pretty well in relief for the Spirit with a 32/78 BB/K ratio in 80 innings and sported a 3.15 ERA.

Team record: 84-54. Next up: We begin the month of September with 3 games in San Antonio. Boston goes to Kansas City to face the Royals, who are now 4 back of the Sox and Cleveland in the wild card race so they'll be facing a desperate team.

[Art Deco]

The Boston scare may be abating as the Rays took 2 of 3 in San Antonio while the Red Sox dropped 2 of 3 in Kansas City, increasing the division lead to 7 and lowering the magic number to 17 with 21 games left in the season.

Transaction: It's September roster expansion time so we called Christian Chamberlain back up as planned and the hitting spot went to Brett Baty, who will give us a left-handed hitter off the bench. Baty had a good season at Durham hitting 285/348/517 with 22 HR and 68 RBI.

Victor Robles hit a 3-run homer (#13) in the 8th inning of the opener to turn a potential 4-2 loss into a 5-4 win as the Rays made it 10 of 10 over the Alamos this season. Tyler Glasnow had his second straight poor start (5 5 4 4 4 2) to put Tampa Bay behind after a 2-run Taylor Walls homer (#4) brought them level. Jonathan Loaisiga won for the 6th time after 2 scoreless relief innings and JT Ginn had a 1-2-3 9th for save #25.

The Rays dropped a tough one in the second game 3-2 as they continue to refuse to give Dustin May decent run support and lost to San Antonio for the first time this year. Alex Kirilloff drove in a couple of runs and May did his best to hold the lead but in the 7th he gave up a 2-run homer to his teammate of last season, Matt Chapman, and the Alamos got the winner in the 8th when Christian Chamberlain wild-pitched in a Diego Castillo baserunner. May was excellent going 7 3 2 2 1 9 but stays at 8-8, 2.87 while Castillo took his second loss with the Rays.

The finale looked like another Rays loss as they trailed 6-2 going into the 8th but a 4-run outburst tied it up and Ed Howard homered in the top of the 14th (#13) to give them a 7-6 win. Joe Ryan was the cause of the early deficit as he was terrible again, giving up 3 more homers and going 3 8 6 6 1 0. He's become borderline unstartable of late and could lose his spot in the playoff rotation. Ryan has allowed 11 homers in his last 5 starts, 39 for the year in 156 IP and now has an ERA of 5.24. Marcell Ozuna's 2-run single brought them within 6-5 in the 8th and Kody Hoese tied it with an RBI single of his own, and that set the stage for Howard. Also setting the stage for Howard's heroics was a bravura performance from the bullpen with 11 scoreless innings. Osvanni Gutierrez went the final two of those and whiffed 5 for his 3rd win.

Team record: 86-55. Next up: home for 3 vs Detroit.

[Art Deco]

Forgot to add this to the last post - Howard's been one of our few offensive bright spots this year:



Aside from that, this was a brutal series for the Rays as they did not pitch well at all (21 runs allowed) or hit that well (8 runs in total) and as a result they were swept. The only mitigating factor is that Boston lost 2 of 3 to Houston as they've finally cooled off. The division lead is 6 and the magic number is down to 13.

The offense was non-existent in the opener and the bullpen helped let it get away as the Rays fell 6-0 to the Tigers. Tarik Skubal was pitching decently into the 5th, down 2-0 and having put two men on when Jonathan Loaisiga came in and promptly gave up a 3-run homer to put the game out of reach. With the bats only managing five hits, it was probably moot anyway. Skubal finished 4.2 4 5 5 4 7 and dropped to 12-6, 3.33.

The Rays put up more of a fight in the second game but still lost 7-3 to Detroit. Slade Cecconi gave up a 3-run homer to Spencer Torkelson, Tork's 40th before the Rays answered back with 3 in the bottom of the 3rd to tie it with RBI doubles from Victor Robles and Ed Howard. But Cecconi served up another 2-run homer and the offense, which had 7 hits by the 3rd, didn't get another one the rest of the game. Cecconi was 6 7 5 5 1 7 and dropped to 7-5, 4.33. Drew Rasmussen had to leave in the 8th with a sore elbow which will shelve him a couple of weeks.

Transaction: Drew Rasmussen was put on the 10-day IL with a sore elbow and Shane Baz finally makes his the big club in this save after he was returned from Memphis.

The finale was particularly galling for the Rays and their fans as they took a 4-1 lead, Tyler Glasnow left after 5 up 4-2, and then 3 straight relievers each allowed two runs and they fell 8-5 to the Tigers. Heston Kjerstad had a nice game with a 2-run HR (#27) and RBI double to give them that early lead, and Glasnow went a solid 5 4 2 2 2 8. But Christian Chamberlain gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th to let Detroit tie it and Osvanni Gutierrez allowed a 2-run shot in the 7th to give them the lead to stay (and took his third loss). DL Hall let two more in to complete the nightmare game for the pen.

Team record: 86-58. Next up: We head out west to Oakland to try to get back in the win column and hopefully the 49-95 A's will be obliging.

[Art Deco]

Nothing like a series with the worst team in baseball to right the ship as the Rays swept the now 49-98 A's in Oakland. Meanwhile the Red Sox have gone about as cold as they were hot a week ago after they were swept by the Orioles. Thus the division lead is 9 with 15 games to go, the magic number is down to 7 and I can finally say with confidence that the division race is over.

The Rays struggled to score runs once again for Dustin May in the opener, but it turned out 3 were enough in a 3-1 win over the A's. May was his usual excellent self at 5 5 1 1 1 5 on 81 pitches to improve to 9-8, 2.84 while four relievers preserved the lead with JT Ginn notching save #26. Andrew Greckel was the offense, hitting a 436-foot 2-run homer (#17) to dead center in the 4th and singling in an insurance run in the 8th.

Joe Ryan bounced back with a good start and the Rays made it two straight over Oakland with a 6-3 victory. Ryan went 7 4 2 1 0 5 and actually kept the ball in the park as he upped his record to 13-9, 5.07. Reid Detmers tried to close out a 6-2 lead but ran into some trouble so Diego Castillo got the final out for his first Rays save in over 3 years. Victor Robles was the man on offense, singling in a run in a 4-run 3rd and then blasting a 2-run homer (#14) in the 4th. Luke Voit had a 2-run single in that 3rd inning as well.

Tarik Skubal was dealing and the Rays finished the sweep with a 4-1 win at Oakland. The lefty was a dominant 5 3 1 1 1 9 and improved to 13-6, 3.28, and a host of relievers finished it out with Diego Castillo grabbing the save for the second straight day, this time getting five outs. Brett Baty and Taylor Walls (3-3 with a walk) had RBI singles to put them up 2-1, and Andrew Greckel provided some comfort with a 2-run HR (#18) in the 9th.

Team record: 89-58. Next up: An off-day then back to the Trop to play 3 against Texas.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took advantage of another struggling team as they swept Texas at the Trop and extended the Rangers' losing streak to 10 games. Coupled with Boston dropping one of their games to the Angels the magic number to clinch the division is down to 2 with 12 games remaining.

Tampa Bay edged Texas in the opener 3-2 thanks to a couple of homers with Luke Voit bringing the Rays to within 2-1 on a solo homer (#10/#23) in the 5th and Heston Kjerstad winning it with a 2-run shot in the 6th (#28). Tyler Glasnow went to 12-7, 3.41 with a 6 7 2 2 1 4 outing and JT Ginn recorded save #27 with a 1-2-3 2-whiff 9th.

The Rays broke open a 3-0 game with a 5-run 7th and took care of Texas 8-1. Luke Voit's 2-run double was the big hit in a 3-run first and we stayed there until Adley Rutschman singled in a run and Heston Kjerstad unloaded a grand slam (#29) in the 7th. Dustin May received a rare outpouring of offensive support as he was outstanding once again, going 5.1 4 0 0 0 7 on 94 pitches to improve to 10-8 with a league-best 2.74 ERA. Jonathan Loaisiga went the final 3 2/3 allowing a solo homer in the 9th for his 1st Rays save.

Joe Ryan turned in his second straight solid start and the Rays swept the Rangers with a 2-1 triumph. The righty was 6 4 1 1 1 3 and didn't allow a homer again but left trailing 1-0. The late comeback started in the 7th when Ed Howard doubled and Victor Robles singled him home, and in the 8th Adley Rutschman and Luke Voit doubled to bring in the game-winner. The win went to DL Hall in relief (4-1) and JT Ginn pitched around a hit and a walk in the 9th for save #28.

Team record: 92-58. Next up: 3 games in Toronto, which looked big on the schedule a month ago but is largely meaningless now. The Rays trail the Tigers by 2 games in the overall AL standings, meaning that they'll likely face the Angels for umpteenth straight time in the postseason as LA holds a 3-game lead on Houston for the AL West crown.

[Art Deco]

I misspoke in the previous post, the magic number was down to 3, not 2. And as the Rays dropped 2 of 3 to Toronto and Boston swept its series with the White Sox, the magic number is really down to 2 this time.

The Rays survived a 3-homer game from Toronto's Rowdy Tellez in the opener and outslugged the Jays to take a 12-6 win. The three homers and four RBI give Tellez an astounding 47 HR and 137 RBI this year as he has a real shot at MVP. But the Rays bashed four homers of their own with a 2-run Ed Howard shot (#14) in the 2nd getting them going and blasts from the suddenly-hot Luke Voit (#11/24), Heston Kjerstad (his 30th of the year, a 2-run job), and Andrew Greckel (a 3-run moonshot to center, #19). Slade Cecconi did not pitch well (5 9 4 4 1 2 with 3 homers allowed) but went to 8-5, 4.43 with the win and Reid Detmers pitched the final 3 innings (with 2 runs allowed including Tellez' 3rd homer) for his first Rays save.

Tampa Bay looked like it was headed to another win after they took a 5-0 lead on the Jays and led later 8-5, but Jonathan Loaisiga gave up a 3-run homer to allow Toronto to win 9-8 in another slugfest. The 5-0 lead came in the third but Tarik Skubal immediately gave it back to Toronto in the bottom of the frame by allowing 5, including a 3-run jack to that man again Rowdy Tellez. RBI doubles from Adley Rutschman and Heston Kjerstad restored the lead but after Skubal left the game having gone 5 9 5 5 3 6 and Tylor Megill allowed a run in the 6th to let Toronto back within 8-6, Loaisiga (6-3) surrendered a 3-run blast to Gilberto Celestino in the 7th and the Rays couldn't get anything going late. Rutschman and Ed Howard led the way with 2 hits and 2 RBI apiece.

After the scoring frenzy of the previous two nights, the finale was more a Rays-style game but they came out on the losing end after being 1-hit by Toronto's Tyler Thornton and dropped a 2-0 decision. The righty gave up a single to Ed Howard to lead off the game and no-hit them the rest of the way. Howard was caught stealing and Thornton did not walk anyone but a hit batter and error kept him over the minimum. He only struck out 3 as his sinker was working to great effect with Rays hitters grounding out 13 times. Tyler Glasnow was the hard luck loser, going 6 4 2 2 2 3 to fall to 12-8, 3.39.

Team record: 93-60. Next up: Back home for 3 games vs Boston - win any one of them and they clinch the division.

Durham/Transactions update: Wander Franco's injury time is over and since he missed over a month he was sent to Durham on a rehab assignment. He didn't show any rust as he homered twice in his first game helping Durham to a 6-3 win over Memphis to put them up 2-1 in their best-of-5 AAA East playoff series. Also going to Durham on a rehab is Drew Rasmussen, who will pitch in Game 4.

[Art Deco]

All we needed was one win in the series to clinch the AL East, and that's what we got in the opener in extremely dramatic fashion. We dropped the next two, but who cares as the bench was emptied and just about every regular got at least one day off.

The opener was a game those watching (particularly Rays fans) will never forget as the Rays came back (very) late to tie and won it in extras 7-6 to clinch the division. Dustin May was spotted an early 2-0 lead but in a rare poor start he allowed 5 runs over the middle 3 innings to put Boston up 5-3 and finished 5.2 8 5 5 1 7. For a change the bats picked him up and Taylor Walls singled in a run in the bottom of the 6th to make it 5-4. When Alex Vesia gave up an unearned run in the 9th to allow Boston to make it 6-4 things looked bleak. But in the bottom of the 9th with one out Andrew Greckel tripled and scored on a sac fly by pinch-hitter Marcell Ozuna to make it 6-5. Down to their last at-bat, the Rays then got an incredibly clutch homer from Clutchman himself, Adley Rutschman (#15) to tie it up. This brought us to the bottom of the 11th when Walls led off with a single, stole his third base of the game to go to second, and scored on Ozuna's single to center to walk it off and set a frenzy at the Trop not seen since Game 7 of last year's World Series. JT Ginn (5-2) got the win in relief with 2 2/3 perfect innings.

We put in 5 bench-warmers in the second game with nothing to play for and nearly won the game 2-1 but DL Hall blew the save and an Ed Howard error opened the door for 4 Sox runs in the 14th to give Boston a 6-2 win which was big for their wild card hopes. Joe Ryan had another fine start (6 3 1 1 0 5, although the only run was a homer), and a Brett Baty homer (#2) broke a 1-1 tie in the 6th. But Hall let Boston tie on a run and three hits in the 9th and after Reid Detmers tossed 4 shutout innings in relief, Jonathan Loaisiga loaded the bases in the 14th with 2 out but should have been out of it on an easy grounder to Howard, who booted it allowing the go-ahead run to score and then Loaisiga allowed a bases-clearing double to put the game out of reach.

Slade Cecconi was hit hard and early as the Rays dropped the series finale 7-2. Cecconi went 5 8 7 5 2 3 and dropped to 8-6, 4.59. With Joe Ryan's recent good run of late and Cecconi struggling in that period, Ryan has wrapped up the 4th starter job for the playoffs behind Glasnow, May and Skubal. Heston Kjerstad kept the Rays from being shut out with a 2-run HR (#31) in the 8th.

Team record: 94-62. Those two losses essentially ended any hope of winning 100 games as it will now take a sweep of the final six games. Those games start with 3 in Seattle.

Wander Franco/Durham update: Sadly the Bulls dropped their final two games to Memphis to lose their playoff series in 5 games, including a 2-1 heartbreaker in the decisive Game 5. Franco was 3-11 with 2 homers and 2 steals in 3 games and will rejoin the big club in Seattle.

MLB Playoff Race Update: The Rays and Tigers have clinched their divisions with Detroit 4 up on the Rays and a lock for the top seed. This means the Rays will still likely be playing the Angels, but Houston has gotten hot and pulled within 2 games with 6 left. As for the wild cards, Boston is pretty much in after those two wins over the Rays, but the second wild card sees Kansas City 1 up on Cleveland and 2 up on Houston. The Tigers did suffer a huge blow though as their superstar RF Spencer Torkelson and his 42 HR and 121 RBI are done for the rest of the season with a strained groin.

In the NL, Atlanta, the Cubs and Arizona have either clinched or are on the verge of clinching their respective divisions. The wild card race has the Dodgers and San Diego tied for the two spots with Washington two games back of the pair.

[Art Deco]

The Rays took 2 of 3 in Seattle while playing out the string ahead of the playoffs.

Transaction: Activated SS Wander Franco from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned SS Jelfry Marte to AAA Durham.

The opener went 12 innings, not what you want during the last week of the season in a meaningless game but if you're going to play 12 you might as well win and that's what the Rays did 3-2. Andrew Greckel's solo homer (#20) won it after he had earlier tripled and scored on a wild pitch. Tarik Skubal pitched well in what might be his final start (he could go on the last day) at 5.2 7 1 1 1 7, Christian Chamberlain (5-2) picked up the win in relief and JT Ginn nailed down save #29.

It was almost a repeat of yesterday as Andrew Greckel won a low-scoring game for the Rays but this time his RBI single in the 9th avoided extras as Tampa Bay edged Seattle 2-1. Greckel had driven in the first run as well as he closes the season with a flourish. Tyler Glasnow was 7 8 1 1 1 7 in his final regular season start, closing the year 12-8, 3.31 as he awaits Game 1 of the ALDS. Alex Vesia (4-1) got the win and DL Hall pitched around 2 hits in the 9th for save #9.

The Rays had a 3-1 lead in the 6th inning of the finale, but a couple of recently-acquired pitchers melted down and Seattle took a 7-3 win. Dustin May finished out his regular season with another fine start at 5 4 1 1 1 6 and will win the AL ERA crown at 2.89 with a 10-8 record that reflected his lack of run support. In fact at the moment his closest competition is Tyler Glasnow at 3.31 and Tarik Skubal at 3.40. Victor Robles and Wander Franco each hit their 15th homers back-to-back to give them the early lead, but Reid Detmers allowed a 2-run homer to tie it in the 6th, put a man on in the 7th, and Shane Baz allowed that runner and 3 more of his own to score.

Team record: 96-63, it's official now we won't win 100 games. Next up: After an off-day we close out the regular season with 3 games at Yankee Stadium.

MLB Playoff Race Update: Things have cleared up some in the AL with the Angels now having a magic # of 1 to win the AL West over Houston after the Astros dropped a pair while Kansas City looks like they'll be traveling to Boston for the AL Wild Card Game as the Royals hold a 2-game lead over Cleveland with 3 games left.

In the NL, the Cubs haven't quite clinched and El Paso (formerly Pittsburgh) is within 2 games of the Central lead with 3 to go. In the wild card race San Diego is 1 up on LA which is 1 up on Washington as those three battle for the two spots in the closest race going.

MLB News: Playoff-bound teams continue to lose key players. After Detroit lost Spencer Torkelson the Angels, whom we should be playing in the ALDS, will be without star OF Brandon Marsh for the playoffs as he fractured his hand; Atlanta lost star OF Jasson Dominguez with chronic back soreness; and should the Padres make it they'll be doing it without Manny Machado, who suffered a severe back strain.

Also some retirements of note: former Rays Yandy Diaz, Aaron Loup, Jesus Aguilar, Matt Duffy and Michael Wacha all hung up the cleats as well as notable big leaguers Jose Berrios, Jason Heyward, Kevin Gausman and Yasiel Puig.

[Art Deco]

The Rays closed out the regular season by taking 2 of the 3 from the Yankees at the Stadium and suffered no injuries in the process, the key thing.

Joe Ryan pitched well again and the Rays took the opener 5-2 from the Yanks. The righty was 6 5 2 2 1 3 with both runs coming on solo homers of course, and JT Ginn pitched a perfect 9th to end his year with 30 saves. Ryan finishes the regular season the team win leader at 14-9, 4.76 with 42(!) homers allowed. Homers from Wander Franco (#16), Ed Howard (#15) and Adley Rutschman (#16) led the attack.

Slade Cecconi was hit hard, including an Aaron Judge grand slam, and the Rays dropped the second game to New York 6-3. Cecconi went 5 7 6 6 2 5 and finished the year 8-7, 4.80 as he slumped badly in September (20 runs in 21 IP as his ERA rose from 4.18). It's questionable if he makes the playoff roster. Marcell Ozuna (#10, a 2-run shot) and Corey Collins (#7, solo) homered for the Rays' runs.

Transaction: We activated Drew Rasmussen to start the season finale, and optioned Osvanni Gutierrez, who pitched yesterday, in a paper move as OG will be in the playoff pen.

The Rays closed out the regular season padding their mediocre hitting stats with a 10-4 drubbing of the Yankees. Adley Rutschman capped a terrible offensive season with a pair of homers to give him 18, finishing the year an anemic 218/306/384, which is still a vast improvement on where he was mid-season. One catcher who didn't struggle hitting was Corey Collins and he was 3-4 with HR #8 and 3 RBI, giving him 28 in 28 games and a 271/345/583 slash line in 96 AB. Victor Robles also concluded a disappointing maiden year in Tampa Bay after a hot start by going deep with #16. Drew Rasmussen got the win in what could be his final Rays appearance, going 5 7 4 4 1 4 to finish the year 6-5, 5.59 as he doesn't look playoff-roster bound either.

Final Regular Season Record: 98-64. Next up: The ALDS starting at the Trop against the Angels.

MLB Playoff News: Kansas City quickly clinched the second wild card as did the Angels in the AL West. But Team Entropy had a field day in the NL as on the final day the Nationals won while the Padres and the Dodgers both lost (the latter thanks to a late-inning bullpen meltdown featuring former Ray Justin Dunn), forcing a 3-way tie for the two wild card spots. Washington won the toss, meaning the Dodgers and Padres will face off with the winner playing Washington. I'm not sure what will happen if the LA-SD winner beats Washington, leaving the Nats and the loser of that game with the same record. Is Washington in already or will there be a third tiebreaker game as there should be? Or is the Washington-winner game the wild card game? Either way the upshot as far as the Rays go is that they'll likely end up idle for a week as OOTP doesn't concurrently schedule tiebreaker games and playoffs in the other league at the same time.

[Art Deco]

The standings and leaders (which technically aren't final in the NL due to the 3-way tiebreak, but whatever):



Incredible seasons from Jarred Kelenic and Ronald Acuna Jr. as both reached the 10-WAR mark and each should be their respective league's MVP favorite. The Cy Young races look more wide-open.

Rays team stats:



Ugh, those hitting stats. It's a testament to how great our run prevention was that we won 98 games with those bats. We were a very good baserunning team so that helped. The bullpen was excellent which helped in beating our Pythagorean record by 5 wins and the defense got better, at least in efficiency where we rose to 9th in the AL. Meanwhile we were 4th-best in the league in HR allowed despite having Joe Ryan in the rotation. The individual "hitting" stats:



Disappointments up and down the lineup here with Adley Rutschman, Wander Franco, Alex Kirilloff, Victor Robles (to an extent) and Andrew Greckel underachieving considerably. Luke Voit also followed a long tradition of Rays rental deadline acquisitions not hitting much. The only pleasant surprises were Ed Howard, who led us in WAR and had a brilliant rookie season, and Heston Kjerstad, who was our only consistent power source. Only Carter Kieboom was about what was expected in his final Rays season. I'm sure the Trop had a lot to do with it but these guys had hit better in prior years playing under the dome. But as ugly as these batting stats are, here are the much prettier pitching stats:



Glasnow, May and Skubal were probably the best 3 at the top of a rotation in MLB outside of Atlanta. And the bullpen nearly had 3 relievers top the 2-WAR mark with Osvanni Gutierrez and DL Hall finishing just short. 2 WAR for a reliever is like 5 WAR for a hitter in terms of accomplishment. Tylor Megill and Jonathan Loaisiga combined for almost 2 wins off the waiver wire as well.