The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

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Status quo in the division race, a good thing for the Rays as three more days come off the schedule as both they and the Yankees took 2 out of 3 in their respective series. The lead remains 5 1/2 and the magic number is down to 20.

There were baserunners galore in the opener but very few of them scored as the White Sox edged the Rays 2-1. Chicago had 12 hits and the Rays had 8 plus 4 walks but it was difficult getting runners home for both sides. Dustin May (13-6) had a strange 5 9 1 1 1 6 line and a solo homer off Slade Cecconi in the 8th turned out to be the difference. Victor Robles' RBI single in the bottom of the 8th brought in the lone Rays run.

Joe Ryan turned a 4-1 lead into a 5-4 deficit in the 6th but the Rays came back to tie and then win in the 9th on a walk-off HBP to Luis Castro taking a 6-5 win over the White Sox at the Trop. Ryan and the Rays were cruising into the 6th before he allowed a run to score, put two men on, and then gave up a 3-run homer - the fourth he's allowed in his last 3 starts as some homer regression has found him. He finished 6 8 5 5 1 6, allowing 5 runs for the second straight game and has seen his ERA jump from 1.95 to 2.36. Willy Adames' first homer since rejoining the Rays tied it in the bottom of the 6th, and then the Rays loaded the bases before Castro was plunked to force in the winner. Castro singled in a run earlier, Ed Howard was 4-4 with a double, walk and 2 runs scored, and Adley Rutschman had a big day, going 2-4 with HR #22 and 3 RBI. Yasunari Uehara (4-3) picked up the win in relief.

After talking up JT Ginn's season turnaround after his last start he went out and got hit hard today, putting the Rays in a 5-0 hole from which they were able to climb out, coming back for another 6-5 win. Ginn didn't make it out of the 4th, going 3.2 7 5 5 2 4 but the comeback started in the 5th on RBI doubles from Luis Castro and Heston Kjerstad along with a Willy Adames RBI single. And in the 6th with 2 out Kelly Crumpton tied it with a 2-run single and Adames came through again with another RBI knock to provide the winning run. Slade Cecconi (2-2) got the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief and Yasunari Uehara whiffed two in a perfect 9th for save #11.

Team record: 87-50. Next up: 3 games in Texas.

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This might have been the series which effectively clinched the division for the Rays as they swept Texas to take 12 of 12 from the Rangers this year while the Yankees dropped 2 of 3 to Detroit, increasing the division lead to 7 1/2 games and reducing the magic number to 15.

Willy and Wennington were the unlikely heroes in a 5-2 win over the Rangers in the opener. Willy Adames continues to hit well since being brought back from the Angels and today he was 3-4 with a double and a 2-run triple in the 8th to provide some breathing room. Wennington Romero meanwhile took over for Trevor Megill, who had to leave with a sore back after going 4 5 2 2 0 4, and pitched 4 hitless innings to pick up his 3rd win. Diego Castillo finished up for save #15.

Transaction: With the calendar hitting September 1, we brought up two players in roster expansion: OF Jhon Diaz and P Landon Knack.

James Hays gave up an unusual amount of contact by his standards but was still solid in a 3-1 win. His efficiency enabled him to go deep into the game, finishing 8 3 1 1 2 6 for his 21st win of the season and 19th as a Ray. Yasunari Uehara had a 1-2-3 9th for save #12. All the offense Hays and the Rays needed came on back-to-back homers in the 3rd from Ed Howard (#12) and Heston Kjerstad (#12), the latter a mammoth blast which traveled 476 feet to straightaway center.

Dustin May's late-season woes continued as he lost most of a 6-5 lead before Texas tied it up, but the Rays struck back with 5 runs in the 8th to take an 11-6 win over Texas in the finale. Andrew Greckel had a monster day, supplying a 2-run single to help build that 6-0 lead and after a bases-loaded walk to Adley Rutschman put the Rays back in front in the 8th, Greckel followed with a grand slam (#38) to give him a 6-RBI day and 99 ribbies for the season. Alex Kirilloff also drove in 3 with a pair of hits. May surrendered a pair of homers and finished 4.1 7 5 2 0 5 while Landon Knack (2-0) picked up the win with 2 1/3 hitless innings of relief.

Team record: 90-50. Next up: 4 games at home against the Guardians, including a doubleheader on the first day as we make up a rainout in Cleveland and will play as the road team in the first game.

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Here are the standings and leaders as we enter September:



And the wild card races:



There really isn't much suspense in the NL unless things change dramatically with the closest race of any kind the second wild card where the Phillies are up 6 on the Mets. The AL on the other hand has a contested division race in the West as well as a wide-open race for the second wild card.

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The march to the playoffs rolls on as the Rays took 3 of 4 from the Guardians at the Trop including a sweep of the Friday doubleheader, reducing their magic number to 11 to clinch the AL East. The Rays have also moved to #1 in the Power Rankings for the first time this year.

Joe Ryan was outstanding and the Rays won a "road" game 5-1 in the first game of the doubleheader as they wore their greys and batted first at the Trop in a makeup of a game rained out in Cleveland. Ryan is zeroing in on winning 20 and went to 17-6 after going 5.2 5 1 1 0 7. AJ Puk had his best outing as a Ray, retiring all 7 batters he faced and fanning 4 of them. Andrew Greckel and Kelly Crumpton supplied the offense with Greckel hitting #39 win a man on to go over the 100-RBI mark for the first time while Crumpton singled in a run and hit a solo shot (#26) off Shane Bieber.

The Rays emptied the bench in the nightcap and only squeezed out four hits but it was enough to win a 3-2, 10-inning affair over Cleveland on a walk-off walk to Marcus Semien. Slade Cecconi got the start and pitched admirably with a 6 7 1 1 1 6 line and Tanner Scott picked up his 2nd Rays win with a perfect 10th. Scott has been lights-out since joining the Rays with one walk, 17 whiffs and an 0.60 ERA in 15 innings. Corey Collins had an 8th-inning solo homer (#12) to give the Rays a 2-1 lead but DL Hall lost that lead in the 9th.

It was LOB Frustration Day as the Rays had 14 hits and 3 walks but only scored 3 times in a 5-3 loss to Cleveland. They left 13 on as a team and Luis Castro (8 stranded) and Marcus Semien (7) were the worst offenders. JT Ginn started and struggled, but limited the damage at 4 5 3 3 4 2 while Diego Castillo (3-3) struggled in the 9th, allowing a pair of runs to break a 3-3 tie and send the Rays to defeat.

The Rays took the finale and the series 7-2 with Tylor Megill winning his first start since joining the rotation and Heston Kjerstad having a big day at the plate. Megill (3-2) wasn't terribly sharp at 5 2 2 2 4 4 but got the job done while Kjerstad had a solo homer in the 3rd (#13) and a 2-run double. Marcus Semien also came up big with a 2-run shot (#9) in the 3rd and an RBI single.

Team record: 93-51. Next up: 3 games in Oakland.

We also made a trade of prospects:



Gonzales was our July 2 signing back in 2022 and has crept his way up to A-ball this year. After signing he was considered a top-10 prospect but some of the luster has come off and he's no longer as highly regarded but still has good potential. We were able to convert him into Scavone, who's much closer to the big leagues and may be a part of the big club next season. He has some impressive ratings:



He was having a monster season at AA and as you can see he homered in his first game for Durham. We have Kelly Crumpton at 3B having a fine rookie season but could play Scavone at 1B or move Crumpton to 1st and go with Scavone there, who looks to be a slightly better (if not that great) defender at the position. This makes it less likely we pony up the $9.5M or so next year for Luis Castro (who's been unimpressive for us) to play 1B; instead we'll likely see what we get for him in trade.

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The Rays officially clinched a playoff spot and their magic number for the division is down to 6 after taking 2 of 3 in Oakland.

The opener was a good old-fashioned beatdown as the Rays routed the A's 14-1. Andrew Greckel was 4-4 with HR #40, a pair of doubles and 5 RBI, Heston Kjerstad had a solo shot (#14) and Luis Castro capped a 4-RBI day with a 3-run HR, his fourth with the Rays and 30th on the season. James Hays became a 20-game winner with the Rays and notched #22 overall with another dominant outing of 5 3 0 0 0 11. He could have gone longer but the Rays scored 9 in the top of the 6th and he sat for a long while.

It was good to see Dustin May snap back with an excellent performance after struggling the last month or so and he took a no-hitter into the 6th in a game the Rays had to hold on to win 6-4. May made it into the 7th, and left up 6-0 but Landon Knack allowed his baserunner to score, put 2 more and then gave up a 3-run homer to let Oakland back into it. May improved to 14-6, 3.53 on the back of a 6.1 2 1 1 1 5 outing and Yasunari Uehara finished for save #13. Alex Kirilloff drove in 3 with a pair of doubles, Luis Castro homered for the second straight game (#5/#31) and Heston Kjerstad was on base all 5 times with a double, single, 3 walks and an RBI.

The Rays' bats were shut down by Oakland's Glen Otto in the finale, a 5-1 loss. Jhon Diaz's 2nd homer late in the game averted a shutout while Joe Ryan (17-7) had some struggles at 4.2 7 3 3 2 6, meaning he'll have to win his final 3 starts to reach 20.

Team record: 95-52. Next up: An off-day then back home for 3 vs Seattle, which holds a slender 1-game lead on Houston atop the AL West in the only real race left in MLB with 15 games to go (Boston is 4 up on KC & Minnesota for the second wild card).

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This series meant more to Seattle than it did to the Rays, but that didn't stop us from sweeping it with a couple of walk-off wins. The magic number is now down to 2, while Seattle has dropped into a tie with Houston atop the AL West as fortunately for the Mariners Houston lost a pair over the weekend.

The Rays comfortably won the opener 8-3 after turning things around with a 4-run bottom of the 4th which erased an early 3-1 Seattle lead. The Rays started off the inning triple, double, single, single, single and double and never looked back. The bottom of the order came through as 8-9 guys Victor Robles (2 RBI) and Willy Adames (3) paced the offense, and Luis Castro was 2-3 with a double and RBI. Kelly Crumpton was 2-2 with 2 walks but had to leave with patellar tendinitis but should be back as soon as his 10 days on the IL are up. JT Ginn survived a rough beginning and went to 12-7 after going 5 7 3 2 2 7. Slade Cecconi was impressive with 3 1/3 scoreless in relief.

Transaction: Kelly Crumpton goes to the IL and Jelfry Marte is up from Durham.

It was James Hays' turn today and Seattle's strategy going in had to be to match zero-for-zero and hope to score off the Rays' bullpen. They took care of the first part as Hays went 7 3 0 0 0 9 while their pitching kept the Rays off the board, but they forgot the part about scoring off the Rays' pen and Marcus Semien came through with an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 win. DL Hall (3-4) had a scoreless 9th for the win.

The finale saw the Mariners drop another tough one as the Rays outlasted them 5-4 in 15 innings. Victor Robles, who's had a tough season hovering around the .220 mark, led off the bottom of the 15th with a solo homer (#16) to win it for Christian Chamberlain (1-2), the 8th Rays pitcher of the day. Tylor Megill started and continued his up-and-down run in the rotation at 4.1 7 3 3 2 3 (he'll be back in the pen for the postseason) before the Rays fought back to go ahead 4-3 on a 2-run Heston Kjerstad homer (#15) and a solo shot from Adley Rutschman (#23). But Tanner Scott had his first misstep since joining the Rays, giving up a Julio Rodriguez homer in the 8th to let Seattle tie and on and on we went until Robles ended it.

Team record: 98-52. Next up: 3 games in Boston. The Red Sox dropped 2 of 3 in Minnesota to allow the Twins within 3 games of the second wild card spot so these will be big games for them as well as we have another date with Tyler Glasnow in the opener. That and the AL West are about the only suspense left in MLB with 12 games to go.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls went 80-60 to win their division and since they're calling it the International League again so will I as the Bulls opened up against Nashville in the IL playoffs, dropping Game 1 6-5 at home. The winning run for the Sounds was a homer hit off Clayton Kershaw, who just came back to start a rehab assignment (as did Levi Kelly, who was torched for 6 runs in the 1st inning of the Bulls' regular season finale). Prize prospect Dave Cedeno, who will probably be in our rotation next year, started and was mediocre at 5 8 5 4 2 3 and Kerhsaw went 2 2/3.

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The Rays clinched the AL East after they won the opener in Boston and the Yankees lost at the same time. They ended up taking 2 of 3 from the Sox, although it didn't hurt Boston's wild-card chances as Minnesota lost twice as well so Boston remains 3 up in the second wild card but now with only 9 games to go.

It looked like Boston would take the first game as Tyler Glasnow was shutting his old teammates down through 5 and the Red Sox led 4-1. But they teed off on him in the 6th and scored 4 times to ultimately take a 6-5 win. Dustin May (15-6) got the win and pitched well at 6 4 4 2 1 4 and Yasunari Uehara got the final 5 outs for save #14. Ed Howard had a big 2-run triple in that 6th inning while Willy Adames and Heston Kjerstad each had 2 hits and an RBI as the Rays partied into the night celebrating their 8th straight division crown.

The celebrations must have gone on really late as the Rays looked hungover in the second game, getting pounded 9-1 by the Red Sox. Joe Ryan was hit for 4 runs in the 1st and finished 4 8 4 4 1 4, dropping to 17-8 and ending his shot at winning 20. Wennington Romero was dreadful, getting hit for 5 runs on 8 hits in only 1 2/3 while the bats only managed 2 hits on the night.

The Rays bounced back to take the series behind JT Ginn with a 5-1 win, their 100th of the season. The righty went to 13-7, 3.90 with a 6 4 1 1 3 5 outing and DL Hall pitched the final two innings for save #16. Andrew Greckel hit HR #41 and drove in a pair while Jelfry Marte and Victor Robles were each 2-4 with a double and an RBI.

Team record: 100-53. Next up: 3 games in Yankee Stadium as either this series just past or the next one are likely to be a preview of the ALDS.

MLB News: Seattle is a game up on Houston in the AL West with the loser out of wild card contention in the other AL race while in the NL the only possible race is the Phillies up 4 on the Rockies for the 2nd wild card but BNN says Colorado's odds are only 5%. Bad news for Washington - although they've wrapped up the first wild card in the NL they won't be getting another legendary postseason from Randy Arozarena as the former Ray sadly tore his PCL and probably won't even return to action until next August.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls bounced back from the opening loss to take Game 2 in Durham and Game 3 in Nashville to take a 2-1 lead on the Sounds in their best of 5 opening-round IL playoff series. They won Game 2 7-3 behind a solid Corbin Burnes outing and Game 3 5-3 thanks in part to a strong Levi Kelly outing (5.1 2 1 1 1 4). Kelly didn't get the win - instead it went to Clayton Kershaw in relief who wasn't very good, allowing a couple of runs to let Nashville equalize before Durham came back.

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The Rays and Yankees are pretty much playing out the string here as Tampa Bay did take 2 of 3 in the series but the Yankee win the finale clinched them a wild card. Boston is 4 up on the pack for the second wild card with only 6 games left so that's all but wrapped up, leaving the only race in MLB for the AL West where Seattle is a game up on Houston.

Eight shutout innings with only 4 hits allowed, 0 walks and 15 strikeouts would be a season or career highlight for almost any pitcher but it was another day at the office for James Hays as he dominated the Yankees in a 1-0 win. The win sent Hays to 23-3 overall, lowered his ERA to 1.55 and upped his WAR to 11.3. This is the best season by WAR in the modern era since Dwight Gooden earned 12.2 in his remarkable 1985 season when he went 24-4, 1.53 with 268 Ks. Neglected to mention last time out Hays went over the 300-K mark for the season and now has 319 in 212.2 IP. Those 319 are the most in MLB since Randy Johnson fanned 347 in 2002. As for the game DL Hall fanned a pair in the 9th for save #17 while Victor Robles' RBI groundout in the 3rd brought home the only run after Jelfry Marte singled, stole second and went to third on the bad throw.

The Rays parlayed a 5-run 6th inning into a 7-4 win over the Yankees at the Trop in the second game. Tylor Megill started and cruised through 4 shutout innings with only 2 hits allowed before coming unraveled in the 5th and allowing 4 runs as he may not have the stamina to be a starter. But Marcus Semien's 2-run single and Corey Collins' 3-run homer (#13) put the Rays ahead to stay in the 6th and made a winner of Slade Ceconni (3-2). Earlier Ed Howard led off the game with his 13th homer and the save went to Yasunari Uehara, his 15th.

The Yankees took the finale from the Rays 6-2 as Luke Voit, whom the Rays leased from the Yankees last season, had a big 2-run homer off Dustin May (his 41st of the year, we could have used a few of those last year). May (15-7) settled down from allowing 4 early runs to finish 6 5 4 4 1 4. Ed Howard homered again (#14) for one of the Rays runs.

Team record: 102-54. Next up: 3 games in Houston, which are going to be huge for the Astros.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls are advancing to the championship round of the Governors' Cup playoffs in the IL against Scranton Wilkes-Barre, but they took the long route to get there after dropping Game 4 9-8 in Nashville before winning the decisive Game 5 9-7 as there was never a dull moment. Recent acquisition Dominic Scavone had a 4-RBI game in Game 4 and then in Game 5 it was the Teoscar Hernandez Show as he homered twice and drove in 6 runs to lead the Bulls, with next year's catcher Diego Cartaya also launching a 3-run blast. Clayton Kershaw was terrible in relief in Game 5, giving up 4 runs to allow Nashville back in the game and he'll probably just be released when his rehab stint is up.

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The Rays got their long-delayed revenge for being beaten by Houston in the 2019 ALDS as they effectively eliminated the Astros from postseason contention this year, sweeping them at Minute Maid Park and dropping them 3 games behind Seattle with only 3 games left to play. Boston officially clinched the second wild card and will go to Yankee Stadium to play for the right to meet the Rays in the ALDS with Seattle at Detroit in the other series. Over in the NL, it's pretty much over too as the Phillies lead the Mets by 3 with 3 to go for the second wild card there; they'll play at Washington in the NL game. Atlanta and Arizona are tied on 104 wins so we'll see who gets the top seed over there.

Joe Ryan closed out his regular season in outstanding fashion as he hurled 7 shutout innings in a 6-2 Rays win over Houston. Ryan went 7 3 0 0 1 6 to finish the year 18-8, 2.48, numbers which would be good enough most years for a Cy Young if not for the existence of teammate James Hays. Ryan could theoretically start one more game and would have had he been going for 20 wins but instead he'll sit the finale and Slade Cecconi will start. Andrew Greckel drove in 3 including a 2-run triple and Adley Rutschman had a 2-run homer (#24) to lead the offense.

JT Ginn had his ups and downs this year, but they were mostly ups as he completed his first season in the rotation 14-7, 3.87 after going 6 4 2 2 1 5 in a 3-2 Rays win over the Astros. Yasunari Uehara notched his 16th save, and Jelfry Marte was the surprise offensive star as the light-hitting infielder hit his first homer of the season to break a 2-2 tie in the 7th and added a triple in the 9th inning to cap a 3-hit day. This was his farewell game as Kelly Crumpton comes off the IL tomorrow, but he'll join Durham in their quest for the Governors' Cup.

Well James Hays just finished what was probably the best season of pitching by anyone in the 21st century in a 3-0 Rays win to sweep the Astros. Hays went 6 1 0 0 1 13 and finishes the regular season with these numbers:



Yowza. That last category is WAR and as mentioned in the previous post, it's the best season by that metric since Dwight Gooden's 1985. He's a lock for the Cy Young and should be a lock for MVP as well as the nearest AL hitter in WAR is Houston's Francisco Lindor at 7.9. His 24 wins are the most since Justin Verlander won 24 in 2011, the year he was Cy Young and MVP. Hays will head into the postseason perhaps the most feared pitcher since Mike Scott in 1986. As to the game Kelly Crumpton homered (#27) in his first at-bat off the IL to put the Rays ahead to stay and Yoelqui Cespedes (a great under-the-radar pickup this year) was 2-5 with an RBI double. DL Hall closed out Hays' win and the 18-strikeout team shutout with his team-high 18th save.

Team record: 105-54. Next up: We close out the regular season with 3 games in Baltimore after an off-day.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls commenced the IL Championship round against Scranton WB and took the first two games to pull within one win of the title. Both games were won in dramatic and unusual walk-off fashion, with a Scranton error allowing the winning run to score in the 14th inning of Game 1 to break a 3-3 tie, and a walk-off walk bringing home the winner to cap a 4-run rally in the bottom of the 9th to take Game 2 by a 6-5 score. The Bulls trailed 5-2 going into the final frame and Diego Cartaya's 2-run double tied it before the bases-loaded walk to Kole Enright.

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We closed out the regular season with 2 wins in 3 and finished tied with Atlanta for the best record in baseball at 107-55. So the Yankees or Red Sox await us in the ALCS. Seattle won the division from Houston and will play Detroit in the other ALDS, while over in the NL the Phillies took care of business and will face the Nats in the NL wild card game, with the winner facing Atlanta while El Paso (formerly Pittsburgh) will go to Arizona in a desert duel in the other NLDS.

Despite fielding a makeshift lineup in the opener, the Rays still came back to edge the Orioles 3-2. Tylor Megill gave up a pair of homers but finished 5 5 2 2 2 3 and Landon Knack (3-0) got the win when Heston Kjerstad broke a 2-2 tie in the 8th with an RBI single. Diego Castillo secured save #16.

Kelly Crumpton hit a 2-run homer (#28) in the 2nd inning and it stood up for a 2-0 Rays win in the second game. Dustin May got in his final tuneup before the playoffs and finished his season a fine 16-7, 3.50 after going 5 6 0 0 0 7. Yasunari Uehara, part of our 3-headed closer beast, got save #17 to complete the team shutout.

Slade Cecconi, who had pitched very well in spot starts and long relief since being called back up in August, did not pitch well in the regular season finale after being given a chance to start, yielding 4 homers in a 7-4 loss to the Orioles. Cecconi was a brutal 4 8 7 7 0 5 and ends his season 3-3, 4.66 while with the Rays. Luis Castro had a homer and 2 RBI to lead the offense, only his 6th longball in 48 games since being acquired at the deadline.

Final Regular Season Record: 107-55. Next up: Game 1 of the ALDS at the Trop against either the Red Sox or Yankees.

Durham Playoff Update: Good news and bad news. The good news is that Durham swept their playoff series from Scranton with another one-run win, taking a 5-4 decision on the road. Dominic Scavone was 3-4 with 3 RBI and Jelfry Marte made an instant impact upon rejoining the Bulls, going 3-5 with a double, triple and RBI. The bad news is that it didn't win them the Governors' Cup as I didn't realize in the expanded IL there are three rounds in the playoffs so now they're moving on to the championship round against either Buffalo or Rochester.

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Andrew Greckel made a run at the HR title but Tork and last year's teammate Voit were too much. James Hays of course led in wins, whiffs, ERA and WAR and is not human. It was a pretty anti-climatic end to the season with nothing at stake on the final day and barely anything on the final weekend.

Final team stats:



Our defense was dreadful but the pitching was so good it didn't matter. #1 in bullpen and rotation ERA, and it's odd that they ended up almost identical. The offense was much-improved this year with guys like Kirilloff, Rutschman and Greckel bouncing back to be the kind of hitters they had shown to be in the past while Kelly Crumpton was an improvement over Carter Kieboom at 3B. We were 75-30 after a mediocre start over the first two months.

Individual batting stats:



Ed Howard was the surprise leader in WAR, as he's one of the few decent gloves we have and stole 31 bases to augment his pretty good hitting. Andrew Greckel had monster numbers but his total lack of defensive value kept his WAR down, and look at Yoelqui Cespedes: 2.6 WAR in only 58 games. We didn't miss Wander in the second half, but will we miss him in the playoffs?

Individual pitching stats:



I've already talked ad nauseum about James Hays so I won't anymore. Instead I'll talk up what great seasons mere mortals Joe Ryan and Dustin May had. Although we had to give up Randy Arozarena for him, May was more than worth that deal as he turned in 4 fine seasons for us with over 13 WAR in total. He's a free agent this winter, and we won't be able to afford him. Ryan meanwhile does have one more year of arbitration left and we'll gladly bring him back and hope 2026 was an outlier year with all the homers allowed. And not too many teams can boast three legitimate closers in Castillo, Hall and Uehara.

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Edgar Segovia pitched brilliantly, no-hitting the Nats until the 5th and also driving in a run while Bryce Harper homered twice against his old team to propel the Phillies into the NLDS against Atlanta.

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And we'll be facing the Red Sox in the ALDS (and likely seeing Tyler Glasnow in Game 1, since he didn't pitch today):



Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls finally got underway in their IL Championship Series against Buffalo, thrashing the Bisons 9-1. Dominic Scavone, who might have merited some consideration for the Rays' postseason roster had he not been acquired after the September 1 deadline, was 3-5 with a homer and 3 RBI and prospect Jose Aguilar, up for a cup of coffee around midseason, had a 2-run shot. Another Bull who will be a Ray next season, pitching prospect Dave Cedeno, went 6 2/3 innings allowing only 1 run for the win.

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The favorites take the lead...

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A powerful start...



There was a brief moment of shock and confusion at Tropicana Field when the second batter seemingly invincible James Hays faced in his debut postseason start, Alex Verdugo, took him deep to give Boston a quick 1-0 lead in the Rays' ALDS opener with Boston. But shock turned to awe as the Rays responded in the bottom of the inning with a 6-spot on a pair of homers and went on to blast six homers in all in a 12-2 rout of the Red Sox. Adley Rutschman had a 2-run blast off Tyler Glasnow with 2 out and then the Rays proceeded to load the bases helped by a dropped pop-up by Ki-Heon Choi which prolonged the inning for Kelly Crumpton to deliver a grand slam in his first postseason at-bat, chasing Glasnow. That opened the floodgates with Luis Castro (who was apparently playing possum in the regular season) homering twice, Crumpton adding a second dinger, and Heston Kjerstad going deep as well. Hays meanwhile gave up a second homer, a solo shot to Choi, but nothing else as he still fanned 11 in 6 innings. The Rays will now look to take a commanding advantage in the series tomorrow behind Dustin May.

In the other DSes:



Atlanta and Arizona, which won 107 and 106 games respectively, appear on a collision course while the Tigers get off to a good start in their attempt to redeem themselves for last year's playoff collapse against the Rays.

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Looking at it this way: we're going to have to win at least one of the two games in Boston so we can get this back to a Game 5 with James Hays on the mound. Otherwise this season and series are giving me weirdly eerie parallels to what happened in real life in 2021: In both cases the Rays won the division, Boston and the Yankees were wild cards, Boston beat the Yankees at Yankee Stadium to play the Rays, the Rays took Game 1 of the ALDS, and the Rays took a first-inning lead on Boston in Game 2 before going on to lose. And of course Boston won the next two at Fenway to take the series. Like IRL 2021, the Rays scored 4 times in the first on 3 RBI singles and a wild pitch, but Dustin May wasn't very sharp today and Tylor Megill wasn't able to flip the switch back from mediocre late-season starter to shutdown reliever, giving up a bases-clearing double to yesterday's goat for Boston, Ki-Heon Choi which put the Sox ahead to stay. So it's off to Fenway for Game 3 with Joe Ryan on the mound. Do we go back to Hays on short rest in Game 4 if we lose? Let's hope we don't have to find out.

Seattle also evened things up in their ALDS behind a dazzling Cooper Stinson:



Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls took Game 2 in Buffalo 4-2 behind a decent outing from Corbin Burnes and a 2-run homer from that guy again, Dominic Scavone. But with a chance to sweep they dropped a 10-5 decision to the Bisons in Durham in Game 3. The game was 2-2 going into the 8th and Buffalo scored 7 times against Neraldo Catalina to take the win. Scavone homered yet again in the losing cause. They'll try again tonight in Game 4.

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What a tough loss for the Wreckers to bow out of the playoffs. In the first-ever playoff game in El Paso, the Wreckers lost starter Quinn Priester in the 3rd inning to injury but the bullpen picked him up and combined to no-hit Arizona through 8 innings. The problem was that El Paso couldn't score either, and in the 9th Arizona's Luis Barrera singled, stole second, went to third on the bad throw by the catcher and scored on a wild pitch for the game's only run which sent the Diamondbacks into the NLCS. Meanwhile the Phillies stayed alive and forced a Game 4 tomorrow.

Durham Playoff Update:



The Bulls are International League champions after taking the final series in 4 games from Buffalo. Vinny Binachi had a solid start and who else but Dominic Scavone had a big game at the plate, going 4-5 with 2 RBI and being named Series MVP. Scavone hit .471 with 3 HR and 19 RBI in 12 postseason games, a remarkable performance.

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In trouble now...



Well the 2021 real-life parallels continue as Boston takes Game 3 in a disastrous day in more ways than one. Not only was Joe Ryan hit hard in the loss, but he left the game with what turned out to be a labrum injury which finishes his season. It's a 2-month injury but we'll have to see what kind of stuff he has when comes back. Not good at all. Things augured poorly when Ryan gave up a homer from former Ray Vidal Brujan to lead off the game and it went downhill from there. Luis Castro had a bad day at the plate, hitting into a key double play when the Rays put the first two men on in the 2nd, and leaving 6 men on base in total. Forget what I mentioned about turning to James Hays tomorrow, I forgot he'd only be on 2 days rest, not 3. So it's up to JT Ginn to save the season tomorrow in Game 4 or Hays doesn't get to pitch again until 2028.

Meanwhile, the Tigers rally for 5 in the 8th to regain their series advantage against Seattle and the Phillies won an epic to force a Game 5 in Atlanta with Alec Bohm delivering a 17th-inning grand slam:

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Whew...



The Rays are heading back to St. Pete to play a Game 5 with James Hays on the mound after coming back from an early 4-0 deficit to even their ALDS with Boston at 2 games apiece. JT Ginn was downright horrible and if not for Landon Knack (just added to the playoff roster to replace Joe Ryan) getting him out of the second at 4-0, it might have been a different outcome. But the bullpen was bulletproof from there and they pecked away at Boston until Heston Kjerstad, who had a pair of RBI singles earlier to help them tie it up, singled in the 7th, stole second and scored on an Alex Kirilloff single to give the Rays the lead. Willy Adames homered for the second straight game, putting one over The Monster in the 9th to provide insurance, as Yasunari Uehara closed it out. Now we get the game we wanted with the pitcher we want on the mound.

There's also going to be a Game 5 in Detroit in two days:

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It took a slight detour, but we're back on track for the clash of the titans in the NL as 107-win Atlanta survived two losses in Philly to take Game 5 of the NLDS and set up an NLCS against 106-win Arizona.