The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Before we get into the Mets series, we made a couple of trades right at the deadline. First, to make room on the 40-man we sent IF Jelfry Marte to the Dodgers for 27-year-old minor league starter Jake Snyder, who is marginally interesting with 45 stuff, 70 movement and 65 control; he was 7-5, 3.69 at AAA Oklahoma City.

The reason we needed room on the 40-man was that we acquired veteran lefty reliever Matt Cronin from the Cubs, who were giving him away (we gave up a minor leaguer not even worth mentioning) as he's a FA at season's end. Cronin has 65 or 70 stuff depending on which scout you ask, 60 movement and 55 control and to make room on the active roster we demoted Christian Chamberlain to Durham as Cronin should be an upgrade.

As for the Mets series, we scored 30 runs in the 3 games but that was only good enough for two wins out of three. And with the Yankees dropping 2 of 3 in Miami, the division lead is up to 4 games (3 in the loss column as NY has two games in hand).

We could have used some of the runs we scored in the next two games in the opener as the Mets took it 4-1. Joe Ryan (8-8) continued his good run, going 6.1 4 2 1 4 4 and finally getting his ERA below 4, but the bats only managed 6 hits with Mo Hampton Jr's RBI double plating their only run.

The final score shows the Rays annihilated the Mets 18-0 in the second game, but it was a close 3-0 affair until they unloaded for a team-record 15 runs in the 9th inning. Before we get into the hitting, Shane Panzini was brilliant again, celebrating his nod as AL Rookie of the Month for July by getting a great start on August by going 6.2 1 0 0 1 3 and improving to 11-5. Unfortunately he left with back stiffness, and although it's "minimal" it will bother him for 2 weeks so we're going to put him on the IL to be on the safe side. Now about the bats. Homers by Alex Kirilloff (#14, a 2-run blast) and Dom Scavone (#15, a solo shot) gave them the 3-0 lead, and then in the ridiculous 9th Brendan Rodgers drove in 5 runs with a bases-clearing double and a 2-run homer (#3), Michael Busch had a 3-run shot (#2) and Andrew Greckel had a 2-run single.

The Rays swung the big bats again in the finale, beating New York 11-6 in a game that really wasn't that close as the Mets scored 3 late runs. Ed Howard was 3-4 with a 2-run single and a solo homer (#8), Wander Franco had a 3-run blast (#15) early, and Brendan Rodgers had his second bases-clearing double in as many days to lead the offense. James Hays (10-5) wasn't his best at 6 6 3 3 1 7 with 2 homers allowed but didn't have to be.

Team record: 64-45. Next up: An off-day then we head to Atlanta for 3 more interleague games. The defending champs are struggling some this year at 59-50 in a wild card spot with the dynamic duo of Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna Jr. on the IL with Albies out for the year while 3 of their starting pitchers are also on the shelf.

[Art Deco]

Another good road series in which we took 2 of 3 as the Yankees did over Washington so the division lead remains at 4 ahead of a big 4-game series with New York at Yankee Stadium.

Transaction: Shane Panzini went on the IL with back stiffness and we activated veteran lefty reliever A.J. Minter, whom we signed in the offseason coming off Tommy John surgery. His 70 stuff has remained intact after a rehab assignment so he should be a key addition to the pen. We also sent Victor Robles to Durham for a rehab assignment and figure to activate him for the Yankees series.

After 29 runs in the final 2 games against the Mets, the Rays kept on hitting in an 8-4 win over Atlanta to open their series at Truist Park. JT Realmuto hit a 2-run homer early (#4/#14) and a 6-run 6th won the game for the Rays with Andrew Greckel and Brendan Rodgers delivering key 2-run singles. Pablo Lopez (8-5) wasn't his best, but his 6 9 4 4 1 4 outing including a couple of homers allowed was still good enough for the win.

The second game was a rough one for the Rays. Not only did they squander an early 5-0 lead and lost 15-8 but JT Realmuto strained his back after hitting a double and will be out a little over two weeks. Solo homers from Andrew Greckel (#24) and Dom Scavone (#16) helped them to the early lead but Slade Cecconi and every reliever who followed him were terrible tonight as evidenced by the 15 runs allowed. Cecconi was 4.1 5 6 6 1 3 but got no help from JT Ginn, who walked in two of his men with the bases loaded, gave up a 2-run single, and then gave up 2 more of his own runs while Osvanni Gutierrez was hit for 5 runs in an inning. Alex Kirilloff drove in 3, Kelly Crumpton a pair and Brendan Rodgers hit a late consolation solo homer (#4).

Transaction: Realmuto went on the 10-day IL and Diego Cartaya was summoned back from Durham.

The Rays bounced back to take the finale and the series with a 5-2 win over Atlanta. Joe Ryan (9-8) went 5 6 2 2 3 4 for the win and four relievers chipped in a scoreless inning each with Jose Crespo notching his 2nd Rays save and 18th overall. Alex Kirilloff swung the big bat with his second consecutive 3-RBI game courtesy of a pair of doubles, Wander Franco was 2-3 with two walks and an RBI, and Corey Collins launched a solo shot (#4).

Team record: 66-46. Next up: As mentioned, 4 games at Yankee Stadium in a huge series which will see either team pick up 2 or 4 games on the other or maintain the status quo.

[Art Deco]

One of the reasons the Yankees have been able to stay with the Rays (4 behind coming into this series) is that they had taken 7 of the 11 meetings between the teams this season. But that changed in a hurry in the most important matchup of all as the Rays did about as well as could be hoped, taking 3 of 4 in the Bronx to drop the Yanks 6 games behind and giving them a healthy division lead.

Transaction: Before the series started we activated Victor Robles off the IL and optioned Mo Hampton Jr to Durham.

The Rays looked like they'd coast to victory in the opener up 5-0 heading to the bottom of the 6th with James Hays on the mound. But Hays coughed up 3 runs and A.J. Minter gave up 2 more in the 7th to squander the lead. No worries, though: Kelly Crumpton delivered a 2-run double in the top of the 9th and the Rays came away with a 7-5 win. Unfortunately Crumpton tweaked his back on the play and will be out with back stiffness, a moderate one-week injury enough to send him to the 10-day IL. Hays finished 6 8 3 3 1 9, Tylor Megill (5-0) got the win with 1 2/3 of scoreless relief getting out of Minter's jam, and Yasunari Uehara had a 2-whiff 1-2-3 9th for save #18. Heston Kjerstad had a 3-run HR (#29) and Alex Kirilloff was 4-5 with an RBI to help build the early lead.

Transaction: As mentioned Crumpton went on the IL and Brayden Jobert was called up from Durham.

JT Ginn was pressed into a spot start with Shane Panzini hurt, and while he wasn't that great he kept the Rays in the game until they broke it open late for an 8-3 victory. Ginn couldn't hold an early 3-1 lead and gave up a couple of runs in the 4th, departing after 81 pitches going 4 4 3 3 1 5. The game stayed tied at 3 until Dom Scavone singled in a run in the 7th, and then a 4-run 8th featuring Wander Franco's 2nd RBI single and an Alex Kirilloff 3-run HR (#15) put it away. The Yankees should have been out of the inning when Kirilloff hit a foul pop, but it was dropped and the Rays RF made New York pay by blasting the next pitch into the RF seats. Wennington Romero (2-1) picked up the win with 2 scoreless. Kirilloff stayed red-hot, going 3-5 with that homer.

The Yankees struck back for an 8-3 win of their own in the third game as Pablo Lopez was ineffective and the Rays had 3 regulars out of the lineup with fatigue. They took a 1-0 in the 2nd on a Brayden Jobert solo shot (#3) but that was the high point of the game for them as Lopez (8-6) was hit to the tune of 5.1 8 6 5 3 3. Andrew Greckel had a 2-run consolation homer (#25) in the 9th long after the outcome was decided.

The Rays took the series from the Yankees with a 6-0 win in the finale behind a great effort from Slade Cecconi and the red-hot bats of Wander Franco and Alex Kirilloff. Cecconi (4-5) was brilliant at 6 3 0 0 2 4, Kirilloff homered in the 1st (#16) making him 21-36 with 3 HR and 14 RBI in his last 8 games, and Franco had a bases-clearing triple in the 4th to break the game open as he was 7-15 with 6 RBI in the series. Victor Robles was 2-4 with 2 RBI as well.

Team record: 69-47. Next up: We return to Tropicana Field for 3 against Toronto before hitting the road again.

[Art Deco]

What a weekend for the Rays as they took three 1-run nailbiters from the Jays while the Yankees were dropping 2 of 3 so the division lead is now a commanding 8 with 45 games to play. We did suffer one significant injury, though.

The opener was a back-and-forth affair which saw the Rays go up 2-1, trail 3-2 and then come back to win 4-3 on Dom Scavone's walk-off sac fly in the 9th. Joe Ryan started and pitched well yet again, going 5.2 7 1 1 1 7 and left up 2-1 thanks to homers from Corey Collins (#4) and the boiling lava-hot Alex Kirilloff (#17). But Tylor Megill coughed up a 2-run Jordan Groshans homer in the 7th before Scavone's solo shot (#17) tied it in the bottom of the frame. This set up the winning rally which saw Brayden Jobert lead off the 9th with a double, advance to 3rd and score on Scavone's sac fly. Jose Crespo picked up his first Rays win after pitching the 8th and 9th.

The second game was billed as a premium matchup of two of the game's best (and best young) pitchers in James Hays and Toronto's AJ Smith-Shawver and it was everything promised and then some as Hays went the distance in a 1-0 shutout. Hays, who normally runs up high pitch counts with all his whiffs, was unusually efficient today and pitched a Maddux, going 9 3 0 0 0 6 on only 93 pitches. Smith-Shawver was excellent too, with his only mistake surrendering a 6th-inning solo homer to Heston Kjerstad, the OF's 30th of the year and the game-winner as Smith-Shawver went 7.1 6 1 1 2 5 himself.

Transaction: We activated SP Jackson Baumeister from his rehab assignment at Durham, and very reluctantly designated Osvanni Gutierrez for assignment. "The OG", as he came to be known, had been a standout in middle relief over the past several years, but did drop off a bit last year into this. He's still a very good pitcher but just about everyone on the staff both deserved to stay up and had no options with sending down Slade Cecconi the only alternative under consideration. We're hoping The OG clears waivers so we can bring him back in September.

The Rays completed the sweep with another come-from-behind 4-3 win in the finale with Brendan Rodgers' RBI single breaking a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th. Jackson Baumeister returned from injury and although the rust may have showed when he allowed a 2-run homer to Rowdy Tellez in the 1st, he settled in nicely after that and finished 6 6 2 2 2 7. He was on the hook for the loss until Victor Robles blasted an 0-2 pitch the opposite way to right with a man on (#5) to give the Rays a 3-2 7th-inning lead. But Jordan Groshans victimized another Rays reliever, taking Landon Knack deep in the 8th to tie it before the Rodgers hit in the bottom of the inning won it. Jose Crespo picked up his 2nd Rays win and second of the series, and Yasunari Uehara did his 1-2-3 with a pair of whiffs thing for save #19. The win however was tempered by the loss of Heston Kjerstad to injury as the fragile OF strained his biceps on a throw and will be out 5-6 weeks, or effectively through the end of the regular season.

Team record: 72-47, the best in baseball by 1/2 game and we've ascended to the top of the power rankings. Next up: 3 games at Fenway against the Red Sox.

[Art Deco]

The Rays roll on, taking 2 of 3 from Boston at Fenway, the division lead is up to 9 and the magic number is down to 32.

It wasn't much fun in the opener though as Boston bounced the Rays 9-2 behind a dominant performance from former Tampa Bay standout Tyler Glasnow. He pitched a complete-game 2-hitter with both hits solo homers from Dom Scavone and Alex Kirilloff, the 18th of the year for each, and he walked 0 and fanned 10. Pablo Lopez stayed right with him at 6 7 2 2 0 7 before 3 errors and some bad bullpen work allowed Boston to score 7 times in the 7th and 8th. Robinson Ortiz (3-3) took the loss, allowing 4 runs (albeit all unearned) in 1/3 of an inning.

Andrew Greckel had himself a night and Slade Cecconi was stingy in an 8-0 Rays romp in the second game. Greckel homered twice to give him 27, including a grand slam, and drove in 6. Brayden Jobert added a solo shot (#4). Cecconi pitched to the score and to contact, going 7.2 8 0 0 0 2 to improve to 5-5 and lower his ERA to 3.62.

The finale was a nail-biter but it went the Rays' way 2-1. Joe Ryan held Boston off the board for 6 innings before Alex Kirilloff's 2-run single put the Rays ahead in the top of the 7th. Boston got one off AJ Minter in the 7th and the bases were loaded but Jose Crespo got them out of it. Crespo then made a mess in the 8th loading the bases again with one out, forcing Yasunari Uehara to come in early and get out of that jam and pick up a 5-out save, his 20th. Ryan (10-8) went 6 1 0 0 3 8 for a well-deserved win.

Team record: 74-48. Next up: An off-day then Baltimore visits the Trop for 3.

[Art Deco]

An opening win followed by a couple of tough losses for the Rays in extra innings (one in extra, extra innings) but the Yankees lost 2 of 3 so the big division lead remains intact.

Transaction news: We purchased the contract of veteran OF Ryan McKenna to take Heston Kjerstad's place, and Osvanni Gutierrez cleared waivers and was assigned to Durham.

James Hays (12-5) did his thing in the opener, going 7 5 1 1 0 8 to lead the Rays to a 4-1 win over the Orioles at Tropicana Field. Yasunari Uehara finished up for save #21 and the big hit of the game was a 3-run blast in the 5th from light-hitting Diego Cartaya, his 4th.

The Rays fought all the way back from 5-0 down to dramatically tie it in the bottom of the 9th, only for Jose Crespo to give up a 2-run homer in the 10th and Baltimore beat the Rays 8-6. Jackson Baumeister was roughed up in his first bad outing for the Rays, going 4 7 5 5 1 3 but they chipped away at the Oriole advantage with Dom Scavone's 18th homer with a man on getting them within 6-3 in the 8th and then a 3-run rally in the 9th capped by Kelly Crumpton's 2-run shot (#30) with two out in the 9th sent us to extras. But Crespo (2-1) served up a 2-run shot to Gunnar Henderson and that was that.

It was deju va all over again as the Rays came back from down 5-2 by scoring in the 8th and 9th to tie it, only to lose in extra innings but this time we had to play the equivalent of an additional game and then some as Baltimore finally prevailed 6-5 in 21 innings. Pablo Lopez had an up-and-down start finishing 6 6 5 5 1 9, but they got him off the hook starting with a 2-run Andrew Greckel shot (#28) in the 8th and Ed Howard's RBI single in the 9th. And then neither team could mount much in extras as we went on and on and on with Howard going to 3rd with nobody out in the 15th the Rays' best chance but he was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to 1st. Finally in his 5th inning of work Robinson Ortiz gave up a solo homer to Levi Usher to decide it - he ended up throwing 66 pitches in relief. The Rays only managed 9 hits in the 21 innings leading to some ugly batting lines such as an 0-9 from Victor Robles and 0-8s from Alex Kirilloff and Corey Collins.

Team record: 75-50. Next up: We'll take our worn-out pitching staff to Toronto for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

The Rays are really in a groove now, sweeping Toronto by an aggregate score of 22-5 and opening up a 9 1/2-game lead in the division.

Transaction: Brayden Jobert was suspended for a tirade against an umpire in the final Baltimore game, so he went on the restricted list and we called up Shane Baz to give us a fresh arm after the 21-inning game.

They took the opener 7-1 behind Slade Cecconi, who suddenly has become a pitch-to-contact pitcher. Cecconi (6-5) went 7 7 1 1 0 2, the second straight start he's walked nobody and struck out only 2 over 7 innings yet held the opponent to 1 run or fewer, and has now only allowed that one run over his last 3 starts covering 20 2/3 innings. Of course in both these pitch-to-contact starts he's had big leads and today's came from a team effort, led by Wander Franco's 16th HR and 2 RBI.

Joe Ryan was excellent once again in a 6-1 win in the second game that was much closer at 3-0 until the Rays scored 3 in the 9th to break it open. Ryan (11-8) went 6.2 3 0 0 2 5 and has now allowed only 5 earned runs over his last 6 starts and has gone 11 straight starts allowing 3 earned runs or fewer, lowering his ERA from 4.88 to 3.56 in the process. It's always easier to pitch with good run support and today it came from Alex Kirilloff, 3-5 with a solo homer (#19) and Andrew Greckel (#29) and Kelly Crumpton (#31), who both homered in the 9th.

Transactions: Shane Panzini comes off the IL (and goes to the pen) with Shane Baz returning to Durham. Also we optioned Brayden Jobert to Durham after he served his suspension.

The Rays completed the sweep with a 9-3 win that they effectively accomplished with a 7-run 2nd inning which saw them blast 3 homers. Ryan McKenna had a 2-run shot for his first Rays homer, Alex Kirilloff had a 3-run jack (#20) and Andrew Greckel went deep in the inning with Greckel adding another in his next at-bat in the 3rd to join Kelly Crumpton on the team lead at 31. Kirilloff added an RBI double to give him a 4-ribbie day and Greckel knocked in 3. All of this was in support of James Hays, who went to 13-5 after a 6 4 2 2 4 6 outing. Shane Panzini, just off the IL, went the final 3 allowing a run for his first save as he's been displaced from the rotation for the time being by Slade Cecconi.

Team record: 78-50. Next up: An off-day to travel south to San Antonio for 3 against the Alamos.

[Art Deco]

The Rays came into this series an absurd 55-14 against San Antonio in the 7 seasons the Alamos have been in the league, including 3-0 this year, and of course since I went and looked all this up you know where this is headed as the Alamos apparently finally tired of having sand kicked in their faces and swept the Rays thanks to a trio of bullpen meltdowns by Tampa Bay. It doesn't change anything big picture-wise though as the Yankees dropped 2 of 3 so the magic number still went down by a pair to 24 and the lead is still 8 1/2. Now for the gory details:

The opener was the worst of the lot as the Rays took a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th only to lose 7-5. Jackson Baumeister bounced back from a bad start to go 5 5 0 0 1 7 and JT Ginn got through the 6th, but put 2 on and coughed up a homer in the 7th to make it 5-3. Then it was Tylor Megill's turn to come in and give up a pair of homers and for good measure Robinson Ortiz gave up one up as well. Megill took his first loss of the year against 5 wins and blew his 3rd save. Before it all went bad Andrew Greckel stayed hot with a 2-run homer (#32) and Ed Howard had a solo shot (#9).

It was more of the same in the second game as the Rays led 3-0 going into the bottom of the 8th. This time Landon Knack gave up an 8th-inning homer to cut the lead to 3-1 and the rot even spread to the normally-untouchable Yasunari Uehara (5-3), who gave up a leadoff homer in the 9th and then gave up 3 more hits to score 2 more runs and let the Alamos walk it off 4-3. The pen wasted a 7 8 0 0 1 4 outing from Pablo Lopez and a 2-run double from Ryan McKenna.

For a moment in the finale it looked like the Rays would turn the tables on San Antonio and come back on their bullpen, but after Ed Howard (#10) and Wander Franco (#17) hit back-to-back homers in the top of the 8th to tie the game up at 4, Tylor Megill once again (5-2) struggled giving up 2 runs to let the Alamos win 6-4 and complete the sweep. Once again Slade Cecconi pitched to contact but today it was harder contact as he went 6 7 4 4 0 2. Andrew Greckel had yet another homer, a 2-run shot in the 2nd for his 33rd of the year and 5th of the week, good enough to earn Player of the Week honors in the AL.

Team record: 78-53. They did surrender the mantle of top team in MLB to Washington which is 78-52 but they'll get an immediate chance to do something about that as they'll host the Nats at Tropicana Field for 3 games after a day off.

[Art Deco]

In the end it was a good series for the Rays as they took 2 of 3 from the Nationals and regained the best mark in baseball at 80-54, but two of the three games saw substantial leads blown and the third nearly did as the pitching has slumped of late.

That was nowhere on display more than in the opener as somehow the Rays lost leads of 5-0 and 6-2 with James Hays on the mound and dropped an 11-7 decision to Washington at Tropicana Field. Dom Scavone's first-inning grand slam (#20) sent them to the big early lead but Hays wasn't his sharpest and he fell apart in a 7-run Nationals 5th inning which also saw Shane Panzini fail in relief. Hays finished a brutal 4.2 8 7 7 4 4 and fell to 13-6 while Panzini and JT Ginn each surrendered 2 runs in relief. JT Realmuto hit a late consolation solo shot (#5/15).

The Rays took the second game 5-4, but not after blowing a 4-0 lead. Victor Robles (#6) and JT Realmuto (#6/16) hit back-to-back homers in the 2nd to put them up 4-0 but Joe Ryan couldn't handle the lead, giving up a pair of homers to Luis Robert which erased the lead by the 6th. He finished 5 6 4 4 0 4 and allowed more than 3 earned runs for the first time since June 21. Landon Knack (4-2) was great in relief, going 2 1/3 scoreless with 4 whiffs and picking up the win when Robles tripled in a run in the bottom of the 7th to restore the lead. Yasunari Uehara had a 1-2-3 9th for save #22.

Tampa Bay came back from 3-1 down to win the rubber game 6-5 over Washington, but not without another bullpen scare. Jackson Baumeister pitched pretty well, giving up Kian Manmano's 40th homer of the year but finishing 7 6 3 3 1 3, and he picked up the win to go 2-0 as a Ray and 7-5 overall when Brendan Rodgers launched a grand slam (#5) in the bottom of the 7th to turn the game around. Dom Scavone doubled in another run in the 8th to make it 6-3 and that proved to be important when Yasunari Uehara struggled in the 9th, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits before getting a whiff to end the game for his 23rd save. Kelly Crumpton earlier hit HR #32.

Team record: 80-54. Next up: We close out our interleague schedule with 3 games at home against Miami in the Citrus Series.

Some recognition from the league office:

[Art Deco]

The Rays swept the Marlins at Tropicana Field, getting some excellent pitching as they held Miami to 4 runs total in the 3 games and reducing the magic number to 18.

Things started off slowly for the Rays until the opener as Miami's Alex Santos no-hit them for the first six innings before Wander Franco led off the 7th with a double and scored on a 2-run Kelly Crumpton homer (#33) before they broke it open with a 4-run 8th keyed by a 2-run Ed Howard double to take a 6-1 win. Pablo Lopez pitched with traffic on the bases but kept Miami in check to keep the Rays in the game at 6 7 1 1 2 3. Landon Knack (5-2) picked up the win with a scoreless 7th.

The Rays took the second game 3-2 in 12 innings on Kelly Crumpton's RBI single which walked it off. JT Realmuto tied things in the 6th with an RBI double after Crumpton singled in the first run. Slade Cecconi started and went 5 8 2 2 0 6 with Shane Panzini (12-5) recording the win after pitching the 12th.

James Hays was in dominant form as the Rays completed the sweep with their second 6-1 win of the series. Hays took a shutout into the 9th before putting a couple of men on, one of which later scored, and he finished 8 4 1 1 1 12 to improve to 14-6. Wander Franco was 2-4 with an RBI single and HR #18 and JT Realmuto hit his 7th longball as a Ray (in 67 AB) and 17th overall to help supply the offense. Costanzo Ricciardi made his MLB debut at DH and was 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Team record: 83-54. Next up: We head out west for 3 games in Oakland.

[Art Deco]

A tough series for the Rays as they were swept by Oakland while the Yankees took 2 of 3 to pull within 6 1/2 of the division lead. They're still in very good shape with a magic number of 17, but if they were to suffer an epic collapse the start of it might look something like this.

Joe Ryan was hit hard in a 6-run 5th and although the Rays fought back it wasn't enough in a 7-5 loss. Ryan trailed only 1-0 going into the inning but the A's just wouldn't stop hitting and he dropped to 11-9 with a 4 7 7 6 1 3 outing. Costanzo Ricciardi's 1st major league homer, a 3-run shot, got them on the board in the 6th and Dom Scavone (#21) and Victor Robles (#7) went deep in the 8th.

The second game was a wild affair that the Rays ultimately lost 9-8 to Oakland. Jackson Baumeister gave up a 3-run first-inning homer to Austin Riley and the Rays found themselves down 5-1, but they fought back to tie it in the 5th on a 2-run JT Realmuto jack (#8/18). Landon Knack then served up another 3-run shot to Riley with two of Robinson Ortiz's runners aboard to make it 8-5 A's in the 7th, but Kelly Crumpton answered with a 3-run blast of his own in the 8th (#33) to tie it up again. Knack (5-3) didn't have it tonight, though, and he gave up another run to Oakland in the 8th and the Rays had no answer this time in the 9th. Baumeister was a rough 4 7 5 5 1 2 and Victor Robles homered again (#8) early in the game.

Oakland completed the sweep of the Rays with a 6-1 win. Pablo Lopez got into early trouble, allowing a pair of homers in the first inning including another one to Austin Riley and Tampa Bay was never really in this game. Lopez (8-7) finished 5 7 4 4 1 5 in the loss.

Team record: 83-57. Next up: An off-day to fly back to the Tampa Bay area before Houston visits the Trop for 3.

[Art Deco]

The Rays' recent struggles continued as they dropped the first two against Houston to make it 5 straight losses, but they won the finale. Fortunately the Yankees also lost 2 of 3 in San Antonio so the magic number is down to 14.

Tampa Bay fell in the opener 4-2 at the Trop as former Ray Jake Bauers launched a 3-run homer in the 4th off Slade Cecconi to give Houston the win. Cecconi (6-6) did not have a great game at 4 8 4 4 1 4. The bullpen did a fine job to hold the Astros after that but the bats didn't and Wander Franco's 2-out solo homer in the 9th (#19) was a mere consolation shot.

Another down day at the Trop as Houston hit three solo homers off James Hays to take a 5-2 win and send the Rays to their fifth straight defeat. Hays (14-7) put up a 7 6 4 4 1 7 line with the homers while both Rays runs came on a pair of solo shots by Dominic Scavone, his 22nd and 23rd of the year.

The Rays returned to the win column for the first time in a week with a 4-2 decision over Houston. Dominic Scavone picked up where he left off yesterday by drilling a 2-run homer (#24) to cap a 3-run 4th which put the Rays ahead by the final margin. Joe Ryan (12-9) picked up the win but wasn't very sharp at 5 3 2 1 5 4 with the damage against coming on a 2-run double by former Ray Brandon Lowe in the 1st. The bullpen was excellent with 2 scoreless innings from Robinson Ortiz and we took Yasunari Uehara out of mothballs to pitch a 1-2-3 9th for his 24th save.

Team record: 84-59. Next up: Detroit comes to town for 3 games as we battle for the top record in MLB (the Tigers are 84-58). We're 7 1/2 up on the AL West-leading Angels (who are only 1 ahead of the red-hot Alamos) for a bye to avoid the wild card round.

[Art Deco]

The Rays made a statement in the battle for regular season AL supremacy as they swept the Tigers at the Trop, breaking out of their recent funk and for now claiming the best record in baseball with 16 games to go (albeit at a .596 clip as there have been no truly dominant teams this year).

The most excitement came in the opener as the Rays scored twice in the bottom of the 9th to claim a 3-2 walk-off win over Detroit. Wander Franco led off the inning with a double, scored on Alex Kirilloff's single, and after the Rays loaded the bases JT Realmuto drove in Kirilloff with the winner. The rally kept Jackson Baumeister from being a hard-luck loser as he pitched very well at 6 4 2 2 0 9. Matt Cronin earned his first Rays win with two scoreless innings.

Pablo Lopez was sharp and a couple of early homers propelled the Rays to a 5-2 win over the Tigers in the second game. Lopez (9-7) was 6 6 2 2 1 2, letting the defense help him out, and Yasunari Uehara continued his great season by striking out the side in a perfect 9th for save #25. Uehara has an otherworldly 5/68 K/BB ratio in 54 innings this season. Andrew Greckel's 3-run shot (#34) in the 1st was the game's big blow and Brendan Rodgers added #6 with the bases empty in the 2nd.

The Rays completed the sweep with another well-pitched game in a 6-1 win. Slade Cecconi (7-6) was solid at 5 4 1 1 2 6 while Tylor Megill and Jose Crespo each turned in two scoreless innings with Crespo picking up his 3rd Rays save and 19th overall. Alex Kirilloff (#21) and Victor Robles (#9) each had 2-run homers to lead the attack.

Team record: 87-59. The magic number to clinch the division is down to 10. Next up: An off-day then we head north of the border with 3 at the Blue Jays.

Durham Playoff Update: The Bulls managed to win a mediocre Southeast Division in the International League at 72-68 and were quickly dispatched in the playoffs as Louisville eliminated with three straight wins after Durham took Game 1.

[Art Deco]

The countdown to a division title marches on as the Rays took 2 of 3 from the Jays in Toronto and have reduced the magic number for clinching down to 7.

They did drop the opener 4-3 to the Jays as James Hays was roughed up a bit by his standards, going 7 10 4 4 0 5 and dropping to 14-8. Andrew Greckel had an RBI double and solo homer (#35) in a losing cause.

The Rays parlayed a 5-run 3rd into a 6-4 win over Toronto in the second game. Andrew Greckel stayed hot and provided the big blow of the game, a grand slam (#36) in that 3rd inning. Dom Scavone and Wander Franco were each 2-4 with an RBI as well. Joe Ryan struggled with his command for the second straight start, but gutted out a win at 5 5 3 3 4 5 and went to 13-9. Yasunari Uehara, the fourth Rays reliever, notched save #26 despite allowing a run on two hits.

Corey Collins' 2-run homer in the 9th gave the Rays a 5-3 win and the series over the Jays. Collins took Toronto closer Jake McKowan deep with a man on to break a 3-3 tie and made a winner of Tylor Megill (6-2), who pitched the 8th. Yasunari Uehara put the first two men on in the 9th (one with a rare walk, only his 6th of the year) but then struck out the next three to secure save #27. Jackson Baumeister started and had a 2-hit shutout through 5 before unraveling in the 6th and allowing 3 runs to finish 5.1 6 3 3 3 4. Earlier Victor Robles had a solo shot (#10) and Wander Franco was 3-5 with an RBI.

Team record: 89-60. Next up: The road swing continues with 3 in Baltimore.

MLB News: It's the time of year when veterans hanging on in the minor leagues opt for retirement after the conclusion of the MiLB season and some big names did so today: Trea Turner, DJ LeMahieu, Jose Altuve and Trey Mancini were the most notable along with former Rays Wil Myers, Marcus Semien, and Anthony Banda.

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The Rays took 2 of 3 from the reeling Orioles, reducing their magic number to 5 as the Yankees swept the Jays to stave off division elimination.

It took 10 innings but the Rays finally prevailed over Baltimore in the opener at Camden Yards 3-1. Pablo Lopez was brilliant (6 4 1 0 0 6) but was done in by an unearned run off a 2-base Wander Franco error. Franco atoned in the 10th with his 3rd hit of the day, an RBI single to give the Rays some insurance after Ed Howard singled in the winner. Jose Crespo got his 3rd Rays win in relief after escaping men on 1st and 3rd with nobody out in the 9th, and Shane Panzini pitched the 10th for his 2nd save.

Slade Cecconi continues to alternate good and bad starts and today was time for one of the latter as the Orioles snapped a 13-game losing streak which took them out of the wild card race with a 7-2 win. Cecconi (7-7) was roasted to the tune of 3 9 7 7 1 2. Wennington Romero was brilliant in mop-up work, fanning 6 in 3 perfect innings.

Tampa Bay came back late to take the rubber game of the series 6-5 over the Orioles on Costanzo Ricciardi's 2-run double in the 8th which put them ahead to stay. James Hays had a rough early go of it, allowing a pair of 1st-inning homers to put the Rays in a 3-0 hole but he settled in after that and ended up improving to 15-8 after going 7.1 5 4 4 0 11. Yasunari Uehara allowed an unearned run in the 9th but survived for save #28. J.P. Crawford got a rare start and took advantage by homering to lead off the game, his first round-tripper in Rays colors, and Alex Kirilloff had a huge game, going 4-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.

Team record: 91-61. Next up: 4 games in Boston.

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A lousy series for the Rays as they dropped 3 of 4 to Boston. The Yankees did lose a couple of times so the magic number is down to 1.

The series did open with a Rays win as Joe Ryan bounced back from some inefficient starts with a fine outing in a 5-2 win. Ryan (14-9) was 7 5 2 2 2 6 and kept the ball in the park with Jose Crespo nailing down his 4th Rays save and 20th overall. Alex Kirilloff had an early 2-run shot (#22) and Dom Scavone added a solo blast (#25) and an RBI double.

Jackson Baumeister had a rough start and a Rays comeback fell just short in a 5-4 loss in the second game. Baumeister (2-1, 7-6) was hit hard to the tune of 5 10 5 5 1 5 with a couple of homers allowed. The Alex Kirilloff-Dominic Scavone duo supplied the offense again with Kirilloff blasting a 3-run HR (#23) to get them within one run and Scavone (#26) going deep over The Monster earlier in the game.

The Rays took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the 6th behind a 3-run JT Realmuto blast (#9/19) and the pitching of Pablo Lopez, but it all went bad in that inning as Lopez and especially Robinson Ortiz allowed 6 runs to give Boston a 6-5 win. Despite holding the Red Sox off the scoreboard through 5, Lopez struggled with his control and he left two men on before Ortiz (3-5) took over and couldn't get anyone out, allowing both of Lopez' men to score and 4 of his own. Lopez finished 5 2 2 2 4 2 and Brendan Rodgers hit a 2-run homer (#7) in the 9th to make it interesting but it was too little, too late.

Boston took the series and 3 of 4 from the Rays with an 11-6 win in the finale which wasn't really even that close. They took a 7-0 lead off Slade Cecconi and former Ray Justin Dunn no-hit his old squad for 6 innings before Alex Kirilloff led off the 7th with a single. Cecconi was battered for 3.2 8 7 7 3 2 and will not make his final start as Shane Panzini will get the nod instead. He wasn't going to be in the playoff rotation anyway. Kelly Crumpton snapped out of his deep slump to hit a 2-run shot (#35) among the runs Tampa Bay scored.

Team record: 92-64. 100 wins is out the window now, and San Diego has them by 2 games for the best record in MLB (as well as Detroit now being a game better than them). Next up: An off-day then 3 games in Kansas City.

Some MLB News: Matt Olson hit career HR #400 while Michael Conforto and Rowdy Tellez each hit #300. The playoff-bound Padres lost one of their top starters as Emerson Hancock tore a back muscle and is done for the year. Hancock was 12-4, 2.87 for San Diego.

Here's a look at the standings and races going into the final 6 days of the season (remember we've gone to the 3-wild card format):

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The Rays finally clinched the AL East with a win in the opener in Kansas City and ended up taking 2 of 3 and re-taking the #1 seed in the AL after Detroit was swept at home by the White Sox.

Tampa Bay clinched its 9th straight AL East division title on a rainy night in Kansas City as they routed the Royals 8-0 while sitting through a not-nice 69-minute rain delay. James Hays closed out his regular season 16-8, 3.43 after going 6 3 0 0 2 6, a great season for most pitchers but an ordinary-seeming one after his historic run last year which saw him win Cy Young and MVP. JT Ginn picked up his 4th save of the year with 3 1-hit innings. Andrew Greckel's 37th homer got them on the board and Brendan Rodgers blasted a 2-run shot (#8) to cap the 3-run second and added an RBI double in the 3rd.

After the hangover of their division-clinching celebrations the Rays ran out a makeshift lineup comprised mostly of reserves and were shellacked 11-0 by Kansas City in the second game. Joe Ryan closed what will likely be his final regular season as a Ray in miserable fashion, going 2.2 7 9 1 3 0 with 2 homers allowed but all but one of the runs unearned due to a Wander Franco error. Ryan finishes the regular season 15-10, 3.83 with an all-time record of 92-54, 3.79 since coming up in 2022 with 17.4 WAR, an excellent run. Things got so out of hand that Kelly Crumpton, who was a pretty decent 2-way player in the minors, made his MLB pitching debut in the 8th and fanned 2 Royals in a scoreless inning, allowing only a hit and getting it up there in the mid-high 90s. Tampa Bay was done in by a pair of homers from former Ray Angelo DiSpigna, who homered twice including a grand slam off Ryan.

The Rays took the rubber game of the series 8-5 behind a big game from Ed Howard, who singled, doubled and homered (#11) and stole his 53rd base of the season. Alex Kirilloff had a pair of RBI doubles to go over the 100-RBI mark and JT Realmuto added a 2-run double. Jackson Baumeister wasn't great but good enough for the win at 6 6 4 4 2 6, allowing a pair of homers. He finishes 3-1, 4.78 in 11 Rays starts and looks to be the 4th starter come playoff time. Yasunari Uehara had a scoreless 9th for save #29.

Team record: 94-65. Next up: We close out the regular season at the Trop with 3 against the Yankees, who themselves clinched the first wild card and will host a wild card series.

Playoff race update: Here's a look at the standings. Congratulations to the San Antonio Alamos, who clinched the franchise's first-ever playoff spot since joining as an expansion team in 2022 and who will likely travel to New York to face the Yankees in the wild card round although they still have an outside shot at taking the AL West. There will not be a 100-win team this year in MLB:

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The Rays and Yankees played out the string at Tropicana Field with nothing at stake for either team. New York took 2 out of the 3 but at this point it's simply accounting.

The Yankees shut out the Rays 4-0 in the opener as Tampa Bay batters only managed 3 hits. Pablo Lopez went 4 7 2 2 2 3 in his final regular season tuneup as the #2 playoff starter and finishes his season with the Rays at 9-8, 3.63.

The Rays took the second game 6-1 behind Slade Cecconi and a 3-run Andrew Greckel homer (#38). Cecconi ended up getting another start after all and was excellent at 6 4 1 1 0 6 to end up 8-8, 4.34.

New York scored 5 times in the 8th to take a 6-2 win in the series and regular season finale. Shane Panzini was very good in his first start in two months, going 5 5 1 1 1 6, but Landon Knack (5-4) walked the bases loaded in the 8th without retiring a batter and although AJ Minter struck out the next two he then allowed a bases-clearing double and a 2-run homer.

Final Regular Season Record: 95-67. Next up: The ALDS against the winner of the San Antonio-Yankees wild card series as despite dropping 2 of 3 this weekend the Rays did hang on to the #1 seed in the AL.

MLB Playoff Update: The Angels held off San Antonio to win the West, and in beating Houston on the final day LA opened the door for Seattle to take the third wild card which they did and those two teams will meet in the other WC series. Over in the NL, Washington edged the Mets by a game for the East and defending champs Atlanta kept their repeat hopes alive by winning their final 6 games of the year to beat out St. Louis and El Paso for the third wild card. They'll play the Cubs in one WC series while the Giants will face the Mets in the other. San Diego ended up with the best record in baseball at 98-64.

Retirements: Clayton Kershaw finally gave it up after a couple of seasons bouncing from team to team and pitching in the minors (including an ill-fated stint with us last year). The Dodgers are retiring his #22. Also hanging up the cleats were Josh Bell and former Ray pitcher Ryan Yarbrough.

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Luis Arraez won his 4th batting title in 5 seasons but it was with a pretty low .311 as only a handful of batters in either league hit .300 including our own Wander Franco. Ed Howard took the SB crown, leading MLB.

A look at the team stats:



An unusual Rays team in this save as we were great on offense, mediocre with pitching and terrible on defense. Interestingly the pitchers were actually good (1st in WAR), but the numbers were pedestrian because of the horrible defense. The batting stats:



Nice bounce-back year from Victor Robles, who would have earned 3 WAR had he not missed about 5-6 weeks, and JT Realmuto was outstanding in his time with us (he earned 3.9 WAR for the season including his time in Philly). Kelly Crumpton and Dom Scavone slumped over the last month or two. The pitchers:



As you can see we went through a lot of pitchers this year as we tried finding the right combo. Joe Ryan returned to giving up homers again, James Hays was very good but not the superhuman he was last year and outside of Pablo Lopez the new additions to the rotation didn't really get it done. The pitching will need to get somewhat hot if we want to make a deep run in the playoffs.

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Dylan Cease was absolutely dominant and the Alamos won their first-ever playoff game at the most hallowed of playoff grounds, Yankee Staidum. Also advantage Seattle.