The 2021 (and only 2021) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Another day the office for MLB's hottest team as the Rays took a 4-2 win over Boston to make it 11 straight and open a 13-game division lead over the Yankees, who took 2nd place back tonight after Toronto lost. Michael Wacha was brilliant, going 6.2 4 1 1 0 8, losing his shutout in the 7th when Franchy Cordero took him deep with a massive shot to dead center. Rafael Dolis made his Rays debut in relief of Wacha and with a man on 2nd, but got the final out of the 7th and a 1-2-3 8th as he impressed his new teammates. Diego Castillo pitched the 9th for save #7 despite allowing a Rafael Devers solo shot while Wacha improved to 9-4, 3.90. The bats were up against former Ray Matt Andriese who came in with a sub-3 ERA and left with one as he allowed them only one earned run through 6, Brandon Lowe's 29th HR of the year in the 6th, as the first run scored on a passed ball. The Rays tacked on runs in the 7th on a Willy Adames sac fly and in the 8th on a wild pitch as they scored just enough to win tonight.

MLB News: A relatively quiet trade deadline as surprise wild card (and AL Central) contenders Kansas City acquired Anthony DeScalafani from San Francisco and the Astros beefed up their bullpen with Pittsburgh closer Richard Rodriguez (who has 20 saves but a 6.99 ERA, so it's questionable how much beefing up they did). Also the Mets acquired Braves middle reliever and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. We decided to stay put with just the minor Dolis acquisition. I would have liked an impact starter like Scherzer but he didn't want to come here and anything else available wasn't any better than what we have, and what we have is pretty good (1st in runs allowed in the AL).

Game 2: It took 15 innings, but the Rays' 11-game winning streak was finally snapped as Boston took a 6-5 win. Franchy Cordero tripled off Rich Hill to start the top of the 15th and scored one out later on a wild pitch. The reason we went so long was that Brandon Lowe, who had earlier hit HR #30 off Chris Sale (who left with a strained oblique and will miss 2 months) in the 1st, doubled in Austin Meadows in the bottom of the 9th to tie it up. Before all that the Rays looked like they'd cruise up 3-1 after 4 with Shane McClanahan 1-hitting Boston and whiffing 6, having only allowed a Christian Vazquez homer. But things unraveled for Mac in the 5th and that man Cordero had a big RBI double in a 3-run inning that put Boston ahead. McClanahan came back out for the 6th with a decent pitch count, but gave up another run and it was 5-2 Sox as he finished 5 5 5 5 3 8. But the Rays answered back with a pair in the 7th on an RBI single from Randy Arozarena (who had 4 hits in 7 trips today) and a Wander Franco sac fly. This set up Lowe's equalizer in the 9th and on and on we went. The bullpen ended up pitching the equivalent of a complete-game shutout, holding Boston scoreless for 9 innings thanks to Andrew Kittredge (2 2/3 IP), Cody Reed (1 1/3), Pete Fairbanks (3) and Nick Anderson (2). We really didn't want to use Hill with his tweaked back but had no choice by the 15th.

August 1: Sent P Chris Archer to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment, waived P Oliver Drake and designated him for assignment.

Archer was only out 3 weeks so he probably only needs one start at Durham. Drake, meanwhile, completed the 30 days of his assignment and just isn't going to make the team; after his injury his stuff has diminished to 40 and especially with the Rafael Dolis acquisition there's no place for him. If he clears, I'll see if he'll go back to Durham, otherwise he'll be released.

Game 3: Tyler Glasnow went from pitching a perfect game to being on the hook as the losing pitcher, but his teammates rallied as the Rays took a 5-4 win over Boston in the rubber game of the series. Glasnow was overpowering out of the gate, not allowing a baserunner until he walked Bobby Dalbec with one out in the 5th. Up 2-0, he took a no-hitter into the 6th and got two out after walking a man but gave up a Xander Bogaerts single to put two on, and the wheels came off as Franchy Cordero got an infield single to score a run and then JD Martinez drilled a 2-run double to give Boston the lead. Glasnow came out at that point over 100 pitches with a 5.2 3 3 3 2 9 line and Rafael Dolis relieved him, picking up the final out. But the Rays immediately responded in the bottom of the 6th as that man Brandon Lowe homered once again with his 31st of the year evening the score. They then put on a rally which culminated in a 2-run single by Kevin Kiermaier to make it 5-3. Dolis got through the 7th (and picked up his first Rays win) before Chaz Roe surrendered a Cordero homer in the 8th which cut the lead to 5-4. Diego Castillo got the call in the 9th and he struck out the side around a walk to nab his 8th save. The division lead stands at 12 1/2 over Toronto and the magic # is reduced to 45.

Team record: 71-35. Next up: Seattle visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: A short-handed bullpen and an inability to cash in on opportunities cost the Rays today in a 7-3 loss to Seattle. With the pen still feeling the effects of Saturday's 15-inning loss to Boston it was basically Cody Reed, Nick Anderson and whatever shape Rich Hill was in as the available relievers which meant Brendan McKay needed to go deep. Things started shakily for McKay when he put two men on ahead of Kyle Lewis in the 1st and the Seattle OF took him deep to make it 3-0. But he settled in from there, and the Rays managed to tie things up by the 4th after a Yandy Diaz solo homer (#9) and an RBI single and sac fly from Brandon Lowe. McKay made it through 6 around 100 pitches but with the depleted pen he came back for the 7th, and after whiffing a batter gave up a single. Reed then came in and allowed the runner to eventually score, and then Reed himself gave up a 2-run homer to Kyle Seager along with another run in the 9th. McKay finished 6.1 7 4 4 2 8 and will probably go back to Durham with Chris Archer rejoining the rotation. Meanwhile the offense had several chances with multiple runners on but couldn't get anyone home, so the Rays took a rare loss.

MLB News: Yoshi Tsutsugo was named NL Player of the Week after going 12-25 with 3 HR and 7 RBI. Had he done something like that for us he might still be with the team. Also the Astros lost closer Ryan Pressly for the season with shoulder inflammation.

August 3: Optioned P Brendan McKay to AAA Durham, recalled P Chris Mazza from AAA Durham.

Mazza gives us a fresh bullpen arm, he's nothing special but pitched well at Durham with a 2.19 ERA and a 6/25 BB/K ratio in 24 2/3 IP. Barring further injury to the rotation, McKay will probably be back with September roster expansion.

Game 2: Never count this team out. After Ryan Yarbrough had a rough outing putting them in a 5-2 hole in the 4th inning, the bullpen came through big to buy the bats enough time to come back, and Mike Zunino walked it off in the bottom of the 10th with an RBI single after a dramatic Austin Meadows HR (#25) in the 9th tied it up. Yarbrough got roughed up by Jared Kelenic and Kyle Seager who each homered off him and he finished an ugly 3.2 9 5 5 1 5. Chris Mazza was impressive in his Rays debut taking over for Yarbrough, going 2 1/3 scoreless with 4 whiffs. Also outstanding was Rafael Dolis with 2 perfect innings with 4 Ks of his own. And Rich Hill whiffed 3 M's in his 1 2/3 innings before Chaz Roe got the final out (and win #3) in the 10th. Wander Franco gave the Rays an early 2-1 lead with a 2-run blast in the 2nd (#6) off Rick Porcello, and after Randy Arozarena tripled in a run in the 6th Franco singled him in to cut the lead to 5-4. That set up Meadows' homer off Aaron Fletcher in the 9th and in the 10th Ji-Man Choi led off with a walk before Willly Adames doubled him to 3rd. After Kevin Kiermaier made the 2nd out with a flyball too shallow to score the run, Zunino lined a single up the middle for the game-winner. The magic # is down to 43, and Toronto is now in 2nd 12 1/2 games back.

August 5: Sent P Hunter Strickland to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

Had forgotten about Strickland, not sure there's a place for him on the big club any longer but we'll see.

Rehab update: Chris Archer is ready to come back, I'm fairly certain after pitching a 2-hit shutout for Durham last night on 103 pitches.

Game 3: Turnabout is fair play and all that, as today the Mariners were the team coming from behind late to beat the Rays 4-3. Twice it looked like the Rays had won the game thanks to Kevin Kiermaier, and twice the normally reliable back end of the bullpen blew the lead. Michael Wacha was brilliant in his start today, going 6 3 1 1 2 5 on 100 pitches but left with the game tied at 1. But in the bottom of the 7th after Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless inning Kiermaier tripled and scored on a Mike Zunino sac fly. Diego Castillo came on to pitch the 8th with the one-run lead but immediately surrendered a leadoff homer to Tom Murphy to tie it again at 2. No problem for the Rays as in the bottom of the inning Randy Arozarena singled, moved up to second on a Seattle error and scored on Kiermaier's single. So Nick Anderson came on to save it in the 9th, but walked Kyle Seager and then served up a 2-run homer to Kyle Lewis and this time there would be no Rays comeback in the bottom of the inning although they did get Manuel Margot on base. The loss meant the Rays dropped a series for the first time in three weeks after they lost 2 of 3 in Atlanta. Despite losing, a Toronto loss dropped the magic # to 42.

Team record: 72-37. Next up: An off-day then a weekend visit to Baltimore.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Rather than try to recap it, I'll just post the box:



I will note that only a 31-78 team would commit two errors and walk three guys with the bases loaded in the same inning (the 9-run 5th). Magic # is now 41.

Game 2: Another blowout win for the Rays that didn't quite come as easy as last night's but the scoreboard said 11-4 at the end. The hiccup tonight was that Tyler Glasnow had to leave the game in the 2nd inning with a sore ankle that's listed as "moderate" for one week. We'll just go ahead and IL him with the big division lead and not take any chances, but we had to piece together a bullpen game today. Rich Hill came on and went 3 innings allowing 2 runs to pick up his 7th win, and Rafael Dolis continued to dominate as a Ray with 3 whiffs in 1 2/3 scoreless, giving him 1 walk and 11 whiffs in 6 inning since joining the team. And Andrew Kittredge went the final 3 innings for his first save of the season. On offense Willy Adames led the way with 4 RBI while Randy Arozarena had a bases-clearing double. Speaking of the big division lead, it grew by a game as the Yankees lost to Seattle, reducing the magic number to 39.

August 8: Placed P Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day IL with a sore ankle, optioned P Chris Mazza to AAA Durham, activated P Chris Archer from the 15-day IL, recalled P Brendan McKay from AAA Durham.

Moves galore, Archer will rejoin the rotation and McKay will take Glasnow's place for now.

Game 3: Both teams' bullpens tried to blow this game for their teams, and the worst of the two accomplished its mission as the Rays bested Baltimore in 10 innings 9-5 to make it 11 of 12 over the Orioles this season. For 6 innings it was a duel between the just-activated Chris Archer and Baltimore's Dean Kremer, with the score 1-1 with the Rays' run coming on Randy Arozarena's 22nd HR of the season. Archer was excellent, going 6 3 1 1 0 4 before walking the leadoff man in the 7th. That came after the Rays put 3 on the board in the top of the 7th on RBI singles from Austin Meadows, Wander Franco and Brandon Lowe. Pete Fairbanks came in for Archer and was flat-out horrible, giving up 3 hits, throwing two wild pitches, and allowing Baltimore to tie it up without recording an out. Cody Reed came in to clean up his mess, and gave up a sac fly that allowed the Orioles to take a 5-4 lead. But in the top of the 8th Baltimore relievers issued three straight walks to force in the tying run for the Rays, and in the 10th it was more of the same as bases-loaded walks to Meadows and Lowe brought home a pair, and Ji-Man Choi had a 2-run single to make it 9-5. Diego Castillo pitched the 8th and 9th for the Rays and picked up his 3rd win, while Chaz Roe took care of Baltimore in the 10th. The magic # falls to 38 as Toronto moves back into 2nd, 13 games back.

Team record: 75-37. Next up: a day off to head up I-95 to play three in Boston.

[Art Deco]

August 10: Placed C Mike Zunino on the 10-day IL with a hand contusion, purchased the contract of C Brett Sullivan from AAA Durham.

Zunino was going to be completely unavailable for 4 more days, so I figured I'd better call up another catcher. Kevan Smith would have been the choice but he broke his arm so we turn to Sullivan, a 27-year-old minor league vet who's been in our system since 2015 and finally gets his cup of coffee.

Game 1: Yandy Diaz drove in 5 runs and Michael Wacha continued his great run of pitching as the Rays easily handled Boston 9-2. Diaz's grand slam in the 5th (#11) made a 3-0 game a 7-0 affair and he later singled in a run as well. Francisco Mejia was responsible for 2 of the first 3 runs with a pair of RBI doubles while Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena each supplied a sac fly. Wacha meanwhile was in control, going 6 4 2 0 0 7 with a pair of unearned runs against thanks to two Rays errors in the 5th. Rafael Dolis, Cody Reed and Chaz Roe each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the game out. Toronto and the Yankees lose again as the magic # dwindles to 36.

Game 2: A wild affair at Fenway saw the Rays come out on top 10-7 for their 5th straight win and 28th in their last 33 as they continue to roll. Francisco Mejia, who had a couple of big RBI doubles last night, had the big hit tonight with a 2-run single to break a 5-5 tie in the 8th and then Austin Meadows hit a 3-run shot (#26) to make it 10-5. They needed those extra runs as the bullpen struggled tonight and Andrew Kittredge allowed solo homers to Hunter Renfroe and Christian Arroyo in the bottom of the 8th and put a man on ahead of JD Martinez, whom Diego Castillo came in to face and whiffed. Nick Anderson got the save despite putting a couple on and bringing the tying run to the plate, his 24th of the season. The Rays built an early 5-3 lead on a couple of RBI knocks from Randy Arozarena and a long homer over The Monster from Brendan McKay, who got the start at DH and hit his 1st of the year as everything seems to come up Rays these days. Ryan Yarbrough met the bare definition of a quality start, going 6 6 3 3 3 3 and leaving with the lead, but for the second straight outing Pete Fairbanks melted down and gave up a 2-run homer to Rafael Devers to tie it in the 7th. Fairbanks vultured the win when they scored the 5 in the 8th, his 4th of the season.

Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep of Boston with a 9-5 win in 11 innings, a game which saw them bang out 21 hits and which should have been won in regulation if not for 16 men left on base. It also should have been won in regulation had the bullpen not imploded again, a disturbing trend of late despite the wins piling up. Shane McClanahan pitched his best game yet, going 6 3 1 1 2 6 and leaving with a 5-1 lead. But Cody Reed loaded the bases with nobody out in the 7th and Diego Castillo served up a grand slam to Jeter Downs to tie the game. Rich Hill got through the 8th but predictably had to leave the game in the 9th, this time with a dead arm which will sideline him 5 days. Nick Anderson got through the rest of the inning and pitched the 10th for his 5th win, and with the bullpen completely depleted of fresh arms, tomorrow's projected starter Brendan McKay had to come on to pitch the 11th and he got a quick 1-2-3 inning. Chris Archer will still be able to go on full rest tomorrow at Minnesota, though. The hitting star today was Yandy Diaz, who rapped out 5 hits but only scored once thanks to the team's LOB problems. Wander Franco (#7) had a 2-run shot in the 7th and Willy Adames went back-to-back with him for #8 to make it 5-1, and in the 11th Franco's RBI single broke the tie, Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI and Brett Sullivan, who earlier had his first MLB hit, got his first MLB RBI with a sac fly (I had to play Sullivan at Fenway considered there were probably a few hundred Sullivans in the stands).

Team record: 78-37, magic number is 32. Next up: A weekend in Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays got a step up in competition after playing the Bostons and Baltimores of the world in Minnesota, which is 69-48 and atop the AL Central and therefore a possible playoff opponent. It turned out to be a playoff-style game tonight as it was a tense, low-scoring affair with the Twins coming out on top 3-2. Chris Archer and Kenta Maeda were both outstanding tonight and neither factored into the decision. Archer went 5 4 1 1 2 7 but those 5 innings took 102 pitches so the bullpen was pressed into action early with mixed results. Rafael Dolis made it 8 1/3 scoreless as a Ray pitching the 6th, but Chaz Roe was tagged for a couple of two-out runs in the 7th when Miguel Sano tripled in a run and then scored on a single. Andrew Kittredge had a 1-2-3 8th. The Rays only managed 1 run in 6 1/3 against Maeda, on a Joey Wendle RBI single, and rallied in the 8th off Robbie Ray when Wander Franco singled in a run to cut it to 3-2, but could get no closer.

August 14: Placed P Rich Hill on the 15-day IL with a dead arm, optioned P Brendan McKay to AAA Durham, recalled P Brian Moran from AAA Durham and P Luis Patino from AA Montgomery.

We need a fresh arm tonight, so carrying Hill while waiting for him to get over the dead arm was a luxury we could no longer afford. Moran had impressed in his previous two stints. Also, somehow I mismanaged the rotation by using McKay in relief the other day, so I needed a starter for today and Patino was fully rested and already on the 40-man so he gets the nod.

Game 2: The Rays took a 9-2 lead tonight and ended up holding on to a 9-7 win over Minnesota as their depleted bullpen caught up with them. But the big news coming out of the game is that Wander Franco tore an abdominal muscle on an RBI double in the 6th and will be out 6 weeks. This will get him back in time for the playoffs at least, barring any setbacks. The Twins actually took a 2-1 lead into the 6th with the only Rays run coming on a Ji-Man Choi homer (#13) but they exploded for 7 runs in the next two innings. They went doubles-happy in the 6th, as after Franco's RBI double, Francisco Mejia followed with one of his own, a ground-rule job to score a run and then Yandy Diaz doubled home two more to make it 5-2 Rays. Then in the 7th Joey Wendle, who had replaced Franco, hit a 3-run blast into the second deck in RF (#5) to up the lead to 8-2 and Randy Arozarena added an RBI single in the 8th (his MLB-best 92nd RBI). Luis Patino was pressed into action as we needed a starter, and he pitched pretty well considering, going 4.1 5 2 2 3 7. He had to leave in the 5th with a mild oblique strain but was at 96 pitches anyway. Brian Moran came through again, going 2 2/3 scoreless and although he walked 3 he erased 2 of them on double plays and picked up his 2nd win. The problem was that we tried to get Cody Reed to pitch the last two innings and after giving up a run in the 8th he tired out big-time in the 9th and gave up 3 more runs. Pete Fairbanks finally came in and allowed a double to score another of Reed's runners but whiffed Byron Buxton as the tying run to end the game and get his 3rd save.

August 15: Placed 3B Wander Franco on the 10-day IL with a torn abdominal muscle, optioned P Luis Patino to AA Montgomery, recalled 3B Kevin Padlo and P Brendan McKay from AAA Durham.

Padlo gets the call, having hit 21 HR at Durham. He's a .240-.250 hitter so the power is his calling card, although Mike Brosseau and Joey Wendle will probably get the bulk of the playing time at 3B.

Game 3: The Rays coasted to a 7-1 win over Minnesota behind Michael Wacha, some solid bullpen work, and the bats of Austin Meadows and Randy Arozarena. Wacha was solid as usual, going 5.2 6 1 1 2 4 and in command until the 6th inning when he loaded the bases with two out as he struggled a bit the third time through the order. But Rafael Dolis came in and was clutch as usual, getting a Mitch Garver strikeout to end that threat and pitching through the 7th. Andrew Kittredge had 2 scoreless innings to finish the game. Wacha goes to 11-4 and lowers his ERA to 3.52, which is second-best in the AL behind Shane Bieber. Meadows had a 4-hit game including an RBI single and HR #27 in the 9th to cap the scoring while Arozarena added to his MLB RBI lead at 95 after a 2-run HR in the 1st off Michael Pineda (#23) and an RBI double in the 3rd as he had a 3-4 day.

Team record: 80-38. Magic number: 30. Next up: Back home to the Trop for 4 vs Baltimore.

It's been a while, so here's a look at the standings and leaders:



Only two division races of note, with Minnesota holding off the surprising Royals while the Dodgers have lost the lead in NL West by dropping 7 straight and allowing San Diego to take over. Wild card race is wide open in the AL while the D-backs and Dodgers look secure in the NL.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: This Orioles team is really bad (now 37-81) and would be relegated to the International League if promotion/relegation were a thing in MLB. Tonight they Rays coasted to a 10-0 win which was pretty much over when Tampa Bay scored 4 times in the 1st inning on Brandon Lowe's 3-run HR (#32) and Mike Brosseau's 4th. Lowe drove in 4 tonight while Randy Arozarena knocked in 1 to pull Lowe within 2 of Arozarena's MLB-leading 96 RBI. Kevin Padlo made his MLB debut and picked up hit #1 in his 5 at-bats. Ryan Yarbrough started and went 6 4 0 0 1 3 to pick up the win and could have pitched longer but had to leave after tweaking his back (he'll make his next start). He's now 10-7, 4.29 but his early exit forced us to use the "A" bullpen in a blowout as they were the only non-tired relievers, so Chaz Roe, Pete Fairbanks and Diego Castillo pitched the final 3 innings. At least Fairbanks got away with only throwing 9 pitches.

Game 2: Another comfortable win over Baltimore (the Rays have taken 13 of their 14 meetings this season) as Brendan McKay pitched his best game as a big leaguer in a 6-1 victory. McKay came within one out of a shutout but I pushed him too hard to get it (113 pitches) and he left with forearm tendinitis and will be out 3 weeks. He went 8.2 8 1 0 1 5 as a Brendan Lowe error behind Brian Moran allowed a run to score before Moran got the final out. On offense Joey Wendle was 2-4 with 2 RBI, Ji-Man Choi likewise, and Austin Meadows was 2-5 with an RBI. A Toronto win means the magic # drops to 28.

August 18: Placed P Brendan McKay on the 15-day IL with forearm tendinitis, recalled P Chris Mazza from AAA Durham.

Mazza gives us an extra arm in the pen which McKay pretty much saved yesterday despite the injury. Luis Patino will get called up again over the weekend to take McKay's place in the rotation.

Game 3: As great as this season has been going for the Rays, one concern has been the relative unreliability of the back end of the bullpen and it came the fore today as the Rays blew two late leads and dropped a 6-5 decision to Baltimore in 12 innings today. Shane McClanahan started and was excellent today, going 6 4 2 2 1 9 and only allowing a 2-run Anthony Santander homer in his final inning of work to let Baltimore back within 3-2. Peter Fairbanks came on for the seventh, struck out the first two men he faced and then struck out the 3rd, but catcher Brett Sullivan misplayed the ball allowing the runner to reach and he scored on a Pedro Severino double to tie it up. Making up for his gaffe, Sullivan tripled to lead off the bottom of the 7th and scored on a Yandy Diaz single, and Diaz scored later on a Ji-Man fielder's Choi-ce to make it 5-3. Diego Castillo came in for the 8th, put the first two men on but got out of it with a double play, and it was Nick Anderson time in the 9th. Nick has been very homer-prone this year, allowing 8 in 40.2 innings, and he immediately gave up a Chance Sisco longball to cut the lead to 5-4. He got the next two out but Severino took him deep to tie it up. Anderson pitched the 10th without incident and Rafael Dolis got through the 11th. But in the 12th Dolis loaded the bases and allowed his first run as a Ray on an Austin Hays sac fly and the Rays couldn't answer back in the bottom of the inning so they suffered a rare loss, both overall and to Baltimore who beat them for only the 2nd time this year in 14 tries.

August 19: Activated Mike Zunino from the 10-day IL, optioned C Brett Sullivan to AAA Durham.

Game 4: The Rays took a 10-5 win over Baltimore behind yet another big day from MVP candidate Brandon Lowe, who was 4-5 with a HR and 2 RBI. Lowe is now .305-33-96 and among the AL WAR leaders at 5.8. Ji-Man Choi had a 2-run double and Joey Wendle drove in a pair as well, and Randy Arozarena was 3-5 with an RBI. Chris Archer started and won, going 6 6 3 3 2 5 to improve to 8-3, 3.68 as he's had a solid reunion year with the Rays. Cody Reed had a 1-2-3 2K 7th but Brian Moran ran into some trouble, allowing a pair of Oriole runs in the 8th. Andrew Kittredge got the final out as the game was 6-5 at that point and then pitched the 9th with a 5-run lead to get his 2nd save.

Team record: 83-39. Magic number: 27. Next up: The White Sox, in the thick of the wild card race and 3 1/2 behind Minnesota, come to town for a 3-game weekend set.

MLB News: Black Thursday in the NL West as the Dodgers and Padres each lost an ace to injury. Clayton Kershaw tore his meniscus and is done for the season while San Diego's Yu Darvish tore his labrum and also sees his season end. The Royals, in the middle of the AL wild card race, lost Hunter Dozier and his 24 HR for the rest of the year as well with a ruptured MCL.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays entertained the White Sox, who currently hold down the 1st wildcard and therefore are a potential playoff opponent, and were dealt a 5-3 loss by the Southsiders who have now taken 6 straight. Michael Wacha held the Sox to 1 run through 4 but he was walking a tightrope with numerous runners against and he fell off in the 5th, giving up a Tim Anderson homer and allowing a further rally which led to 2 more runs. He left with 2 out, going 4.2 10 4 4 1 4 and giving way to Chris Mazza, who was excellent with 3 1/3 shutout innings. After the Rays cut the Chicago lead to 4-3, Chaz Roe came in for the 9th and promptly gave up a Luis Robert homer and that provided the final margin of victory for the White Sox. Offensively they couldn't get much going against Jake Thompson, who held them to 3 hits and 1 run with 8 whiffs in 5 IP before he had to leave with a tired arm. They got a couple of runs off Aaron Bummer in the 6th on Willy Adames' 9th HR and an Austin Meadows RBI single but went down in order the rest of the way.

August 21: Optioned P Chris Mazza to AAA Durham, recalled P Luis Patino from AA Montgomery.

Mazza's reward for a brilliant outing is a trip to the minors, while Patino comes back up to rejoin the rotation and start today.

Game 2: Luis Patino was brilliant and the bats turned a close, low-scoring game into a blowout in the late innings as the Rays bounced back from yesterday's loss to thump the White Sox 11-2. Patino retired the first 14 batters, 7 on strikes, before giving up an Adam Eaton single. He started to run out of gas in the 6th, allowing a 2-run HR to Tim Anderson and giving up a couple of more hits, but Chaz Roe got him out of the inning with the lead. Patino finished 5.2 4 2 2 0 8 to improve to 2-1 with the big club, while Roe pitched through the 7th with 3 whiffs. Andrew Kittredge went the final two innings perfect to close it out. Until the 5th inning, Yandy Diaz's single after Austin Meadows' leadoff triple in the first was the only run, but then Brandon Lowe went to work. He drilled a 2-run HR in the 5th to make it 3-0, and then launched another 2-run shot in the 8th to give him 35 HR, 100 RBI and a .304 average with the Tropicana Field crowd chanting "M-V-P" as he rounded the bases on the second one. Also homering were Francisco Mejia (#6) with a 2-run jack in the 7th and Ji-Man Choi (#14) with a solo shot in the same inning. Willy Adames was 4-4 with 3 doubles while Diaz and Randy Arozarena each extended their respective hitting streaks to 18 games.

Game 3: The Rays ran into a buzzsaw in the person of Lucas Giolito as the White Sox ace dominated them in a 4-0 loss. Giolito went 8 2 0 0 1 14 in one of the more overpowering pitching performances we'll see this year, achieving a Game Score of 91. Matt Foster added a pair of whiffs in the 9th so Rays batters came up empty 16 times in total. Ryan Yarbrough started and looked good with 4 strikeouts in 2 1/3 but had to leave with back tightness, which will maybe push him back a day for his next start, and he gave way to Brian Moran. Moran looked good in his first inning + of work but ran into trouble in the 5th and gave up 3 runs including a long and loud homer from Yasmani Grandal. Rafael Dolis took over and went a couple of innings and Cody Reed pitched the final 3, allowing an unearned run. Randy Arozarena saw his hit streak snapped at 18 while Yandy Diaz was fortunate to have the day off so his remains intact.

Team record: 84-41. Magic number: 25. Next up: An off-day then we head to Philly for a couple of games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: I'm not sure it's possible for a team to play a worse baseball game than the Rays did today in a 22-0 loss to the Phillies. You read that right, 22-0. It started in the first when Tyler Glasnow walked 3, threw a wild pitch and had a Brandon Lowe error behind them as Philly scored twice without a hit, and in the 3rd more wildness and another error set it up for JT Realmuto to hit a 2-run homer. Realmuto took Glasnow deep again in the 4th with another 3-run shot to make it 8-0. Andrew Kittredge came on in relief and hurt his back while giving up a 2-run homer to Bryce Harper, Rafael Dolis came in and hurt himself too allowing another run, so it was "screw it, just bring in position players to pitch" time, and neither Joey Wendle nor Kevin Padlo could find the strike zone and when they did they were hit for homers, including an Alec Bohm grand slam. I finally had to bring in Nick Anderson just to end the game. To add insult to injuries (which both turned out to be minimal thankfully), Yandy Diaz lost his 18-game hitting streak as Aaron Nola completely dominated the bats. Here's the box score for those of you who like looking at car accidents:



August 25: Placed P Andrew Kittredge on the 15-day IL with back stiffness, recalled P Chris Mazza from AAA Durham.

Game 2: The nightmare in Philadelphia continued into a second day as the Rays lost 5-3 and most significantly lost Shane McClanahan. The rookie lefty, counted on to be part of the rotation, tore his labrum in the first inning and is not only done for the year but done for 10 months (not as big a deal I guess as I only plan on playing this for 2021). The just-recalled Chris Mazza came in for him, pitched 2 1/3 good innings and the Rays actually led 2-0 on a 2-run double from Manuel Margot. But you use enough pitchers and you'll find one that doesn't have it, and that was Cody Reed today as he gave up 3 Phillies homers to score 4 runs and put the Rays behind. Willy Adames doubled in a run to make it 4-3 in the 6th, and Chaz Roe got them through the 6th. Peter Fairbanks had a quick 7th but gave up a run in the 8th and then he too had to come out injured although it was with an oblique strain, considered 5 days and minimal. They had a chance against Philly closer Archie Bradley in the 9th after he loaded the bases with 2 out, but Yandy Diaz flied to center and that was that. At least they're done with this city.

Team record: 84-43. Magic number: 24. Next up: A much-needed off-day then a trip to Baltimore for the weekend.

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August 27: Placed Shane McClanahan on the 60-day IL with a torn labrum, recalled P Hunter Strickland from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays lost another game and another starting pitcher as their bleak week continues. They fell 3-0 to Baltimore to make it 5 losses in their last 6 games as they were probably due some regression off their amazing first 4 1/2 months. But the starting pitcher attrition is another story as Michael Wacha had to leave in the 4th with a strained forearm and will be out 7 weeks, in other words until mid-October. It's a real blow as Wacha was probably their most consistent starting pitcher this year, even moreso than Tyler Glasnow who could be unhittable one night and throw 100 pitches in 4 innings on another. He went 3 2/3 scoreless today and his regular season finishes 11-5, 3.57 with a 37/121 BB/K ratio in 141 innings, good for 2.6 WAR. Wacha joins Shane McClanahan, Brendan McKay, Alex Wood and Yonny Chirinos (out all year) on the shelf, with only McKay coming back before the regular season ends. As for the game the less said the better; Brian Moran came in for Wacha and gave up a 2-run HR to Austin Hays in the 6th and Chris Mazza allowed another run in the 7th. Meanwhile the bats could only scratch out 2 hits, although they had the bases loaded with one out in the 1st when Oriole rookie starter Grayson Rodriguez walked three Rays, but a popup and strikeout ended that scoring chance and Rodriguez one-hit them for 6 innings.

August 28: Placed P Michael Wacha on the 15-day IL with a strained forearm, recalled P Luis Patino from AAA Durham.

Patino looks like a regular member of the rotation now, perhaps even in the playoffs.

Game 2: The bad times continue to roll as the Rays dropped their 2nd straight game to Baltimore and 5th straight overall, 6-2. Chris Archer started and looked great through 3, not allowing a hit, but he gave up quite a few of them in the 4th as the Orioles scored 5 times. He stuck around for the 5th and put another man on whom Hunter Strickland allowed to score, giving Archer a final line of 4.1 7 6 6 2 4 as he drops to 8-4, 4.06. The good news is that he didn't leave the game injured. Strickland went 1 2/3 and Rafael Dolis 2 scoreless to finish things out. Offensively it was a challenge again, although 2 runs on 5 hits was an improvement over yesterday's 0 and 2. Kevin Padlo tripled for their first hit in the 5th inning and scored on a Kevin Kiermaier single, and Ji-Man Choi singled in a run in the 6th. Fortunately for Tampa Bay the Blue Jays lost again, dropping their third straight (including two nights ago when we were off) so the magic # has dropped to 21. Also the Astros have lost to Texas the last two nights so the Rays continue to retain the best record in the AL, right now by one game.

August 29: Optioned P Chris Mazza to AAA Durham, activated P Rich Hill from the 15-day IL.

Who knows how long Hill will last this time around? He could get a start or two but I fully expect him to break down again at any time.

Game 3: The Rays snapped their 5-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over Baltimore behind some fine pitching by Ryan Yarbrough and a big game from Brandon Lowe. Yarbrough took a 4-hit shutout into the 8th before putting the first two men on, and Chaz Roe made a mess, loading the bases, hitting a man to force in a run and giving up a 2-run single to let the Orioles within 2 but Diego Castillo got a whiff and a double play, and Nick Anderson struck out the side in the 9th for save #25. Yarbrough finished 7 5 2 2 1 2 to improve to 11-7, 4.15. Lowe got things going on offense by singling, stealing second and scoring on Randy Arozarena's 24th HR of the year in the 1st, and then added a 2-run homer in the 8th (#36) which proved to be the margin of victory. Austin Meadows added an RBI single in the 5th for the other Rays run.

Team record: 85-45. Magic number: 19, after Toronto was swept in Detroit this weekend. Next up: Back home to take on Boston at the Trop for 4.

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Game 1: The Rays scored 4 times in the first inning and rode a solid outing from Tyler Glasnow to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox at Tropicana Field. The first four Rays to bat all reached and scored against Boston rookie Tanner Houck with Randy Arozarena's bases-clearing double the big hit of the inning. The 3 RBI put Arozarena over 100 for the year, joining teammate Brandon Lowe in that department. Ji-Man Choi's grounder scored the 4th run. Glasnow meanwhile had his way with the Red Sox except for Bobby Dalbec, who hit a pair of solo moonshots off him to keep Boston in the game. He finished 7 7 2 2 1 7 and is now 11-5, 3.75. Diego Castillo struck out a pair in a perfect 8th and Nick Anderson nailed down save #26 with a 1-2-3 9th.

Game 2: The Rays downed the Red Sox today by a football score of 13-7. We'll start with the lowlights, i.e., the pitching staff as Rich Hill got his first start since originally going on the IL May 7 (he's only pitched in relief since then) and he wasn't very good despite being staked to a 6-1 lead in the 2nd. The only thing that can be said about his start is that he didn't get hurt, but 3.1 6 4 3 2 1 is getting hurt a different way. Brian Moran looked decent again in middle relief and got his 3rd win in the deal even though he was charged with 2 runs in his 3 innings of work as one of them scored when Cody Reed came relieved him and immediately gave up an Enrique Hernandez homer (that's 11 dingers allowed in 47.2 innings for a guy with 60 movement supposedly). Reed pitched through the 8th and Hunter Strickland finished the 9th. On offense there were many stars, including Kevin Padlo, who had an RBI double in that 6-run 2nd and later hit his first MLB homer, a 2-run shot in the 8th. Willy Adames had a big 2-run double in that 2nd inning and was 3-4 with 3 RBI, Brandon Lowe hit HR #37 and drove in 3, and Austin Meadows was on base 4 times in 5 PAs, with 2 hits, 2 walks and an RBI to go with 3 runs scored as the Rays were hitting all night.

September 1: Recalled P Chris Mazza from AAA Durham and P Ryan Thompson from AA Montgomery.

September roster expansion time. Not sure why Thompson was demoted to AA as he pitched well for us and was fine at Durham but that's the AI for you.

Game 3: The Rays made it three in a row over Boston with a 5-2 win behind homers from their big stars and some solid pitching from Luis Patino and the bullpen. Patino looked good going 5 4 2 2 2 5 with both runs against via the homer including a Rafael Devers shot to lead off the 6th and sent him to the showers. Ryan Thompson celebrated his return by getting through the 6th, Rafael Dolis went 1 2/3 to lower his ERA as a Ray to 1.00 in 18 innings and Peter Fairbanks got the final 4 outs with a pair of whiffs for his 4th save with Diego and Nick Anderson unavailable. They got all the runs they'd need in the 1st on Austin Meadows' 28th HR of the year leading off the game and a Randy Arozarena 2-run jack (#25) later in the inning. Yandy Diaz hit #12 in the 5th inning and Manuel Margot delivered a sac fly in the 8th for the other two runs.

MLB News: Jorge Soler hit 3 homers for Kansas City tonight but they still lost to Cleveland 8-7. KC is 1 game out of the 2nd wild card in a crazy, wide-open race for the two wild cards. The Mets aren't worrying about a wild card as they're up big in the NL East but they just lost their star slugger Pete Alonso to a fractured cheekbone and he'll miss 5-6 weeks which should put him out of the NLDS at least. His regular season finishes with an even 30 HR and 100 RBI.

Game 4: The Rays swept the 4-game series with Boston thanks to one of Chris Archer's best outings of the year in a 6-1 win. Archer went 7 3 0 0 1 8 and needed to put up those zeroes while he was in there as the Rays only led 2-0 when he departed. He's now 9-4, 3.80 and probably the team's #2 starter. Diego Castillo took over in the 8th and nearly let Boston tie it up or take the lead when he walked a pair and hit a man with nobody out to load the bases. But he got out of it with a sac fly and 2 whiffs and the lead remained intact at 2-1 after Brandon Lowe hit #38 in the 4th and Willy Adames doubled one home in the 7th. The Rays then broke the game open with 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th on a wild pitch which brought home a run, a Yandy Diaz sac fly and a 2-run jack from Randy Arozarena (#26) to tie Byron Buxton for the MLB RBI lead at 107. Chris Mazza got the call in the 9th and after walking the leadoff man he struck out the next three to finish the game.

Team record: 89-45. Magic number: 14. Next up: AL Central-leading Minnesota comes to the trop for 3 over the weekend.

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Game 1: Ryan Yarbrough and Jose Berrios were both electric tonight but Berrios was better as Minnesota blanked the Rays 3-0. Yarbrough had his strikeout pitch tonight, getting a season-high 10 in 6 2/3 innings while only allowing 4 hits and a walk but 2 of those hits were homers from Mitch Garver in the 2nd and Luis Arraez in the 7th, the latter chasing him from the game. Rafael Dolis went 1 1/3 scoreless but Cody Reed continued his homer-allowing ways by letting Garver go deep for the 2nd time in the game. Meanwhile Berrios was mowing Rays hitters down to the tune of 7 3 0 0 2 10; the only threat they sort of had was in the 5th when Joey Wendle singled and was thrown out stealing and Manuel Margot followed that with a double. Former Ray Alex Colome got the save by getting Willy Adames looking to end the game as the Rays SS had the golden sombrero tonight. Still, Toronto lost so the magic # was reduced to 13.

Minor League Update: Our DSL 1 team won the DSL championship after a 4-2 victory over Cleveland's DSL 1 team to sweep the series 3-0. Oneill Manzueta was .429-1-8 in the playoffs to pace the hitters.

Game 2: The Twins made it two in a row over Tampa Bay with 8-5 win thanks to Byron Buxton's 3-run homer off Nick Anderson in the top of the 9th. All the scoring before Buxton's blast came in the first four innings. The Rays jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks in large part to Austin Meadows' 29th HR of the year, a 3-run shot in the 2nd. And with Tyler Glasnow on the mound the Rays had reason to feel good. But those good feelings lasted precisely one half of an inning as Glasnow lost it in the 3rd, walking the bases loaded, giving up a 2-run double to Buxton and allowing Minnesota to tie it right up. He yielded another run in the 4th and left with a strange 4 5 5 5 5 6 line on 98 pitches. The Rays did battle back to equalize in the bottom of the 4th on a Brandon Lowe RBI single, and we stayed tied at 5 thanks to two shutout innings from Chris Mazza and one each from Pete Fairbanks and Diego Castillo. But after striking out the leadoff man in the 9th, Anderson but two on ahead of Buxton, and Anderson's bugaboo the gopher ball came back to haunt him again as that now makes 11 homers in 46 innings this season for the Tampa Bay closer. The homer was Buxton's 41st of the year to go with 112 RBI and combined with his CF defense makes him an MVP front-runner along with Lowe. Perhaps the Rays don't need to win again this season; Toronto lost to reduce their magic number to 12.

Game 3: Rich Hill took a no-hitter into the 6th but it all unraveled quickly and the Rays ended up being swept by Minnesota after a 6-1 loss. Manuel Margot's 3rd inning RBI double held up until the 6th on a day when Brandon Lowe and Austin Meadows had to rest, and the Rays offense suffered as a result with hitting into 3 double plays not helping. And Hill got the first two out in the 6th before he walked Andrelton Simmons and then gave up a single to Jorge Polanco. I probably should have pulled him there but left him in around 90 pitches to face Nelson Cruz, who hit a game-tying RBI single. Chaz Roe came in, walked Alex Kirilloff to load the bases and then gave up a bases-clearing double to Miguel Sano and just like that it was 4-1 Twins. After Roe put a man on in the 7th, Cody Reed came in and got two outs before giving up yet another homer, this one to Polanco to make it 6-1 and that was that. Ryan Thompson went 1 2/3 scoreless and Brian Moran got a couple of outs at the end while Hill ended up going 5.2 2 3 3 3 2 to drop to 7-3, 3.00. But Toronto lost yet again, so the magic number keeps dwindling, now down to 11.

Team record: 89-48. Next up: 3 games in Fenway.

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Game 1: The Rays played a Labor Day matinee at Fenway Park and Luis Patino labored through his 4 innings of work as Tampa Bay dropped its 4th straight game 5-2 to Boston. Patino got out of a bases-loaded jam in the 2nd with a popup and a strikeout but fell off the high wire in the 3rd when he allowed 3 Red Sox runs, including one on a bases-loaded walk. He was dinged for another run in the 4th and finished 4 7 4 4 3 4 on 88 pitches. Chris Mazza had 2 scoreless innings against his old team while Hunter Strickland was touched for 1 in his 2 innings of work. The offense was pretty quiet with Randy Arozarena and Willy Adames in need of rest. The Kevins got them within 4-2 with Kiermaier hitting HR #8 in the 5th and Padlo delivering an RBI double in the 6th but that was pretty much it. Yet they continue to see their magic # reduced as Toronto dropped its 5th straight today to make it 10. The Jays lost to the Yankees who now move ahead of them into 2nd place, 15 games back of the Rays.

MLB News: The division races in the AL are pretty set with the Rays, Twins and Astros in command. The wild card race, however, is a completely different story:



The NL is kind of the opposite. The Mets and Brewers have double-digit leads in their divisions, but the West is a three-team race between the Dodgers, Padres (1 behind) and Diamondbacks (4 behind). There really is no wild card race, as the two West teams which aren't in first have a huge lead (7 1/2 games) on the rest of the pack so the 5 playoff teams are basically set.

Game 2: Tonight the Rays got back on the winning track with their classic formula: an excellent start, solid bullpen work and just enough offense to take a 4-1 win over Boston. Chris Archer got the start and looked like he wouldn't be long for the game in the 1st inning with the bases loaded, a run in, and only one out, but he wriggled out of that jam and settled in from there, going 6 4 1 1 2 5 and improving to 10-4, 3.67. Then the bullpen did its thing with Pete Fairbanks, Diego Castillo and Nick Anderson all pitching 1-2-3 innings as Anderson got his 27th save. The star on offense was Randy Arozarena; his 2-run homer in the 1st (#27) gave the Rays a quick 2-0 lead and he singled in a run in the 3rd. Kevin Padlo took Connor Seabold deep for his 2nd MLB homer to make it 4-1 in the 4th as he's now slugging .600 in 35 at-bats and is looking like the man at 3B until Wander Franco returns later this month. With the win, the magic number drops to 9 as the Yankees won to keep pace.

MLB News: Miguel Cabrera hit his 500th career homer tonight for Detroit and former Ray Austin Pruitt pitched the game of his life for Houston, going 8.1 4 0 0 0 13 in a 4-0 win over Seattle.

Game 3: Shoddy defense cost the Rays in a 4-3, 11-inning loss at Boston tonight. Ryan Yarbrough started and pitched well, but in the 5th he should have been out of the inning when he got a grounder to Joey Wendle at 3B, but Wendle booted it opening the door for JD Martinez to come through with a 2-run single to make it 3-1 Boston. Yarbrough went 6 6 3 1 0 6 and lowered his ERA to an even 4.00 and Rafael Dolis had 2 more scoreless innings buying time for Kevin Kiermaier to come through with a dramatic 2-run 9th-inning HR (#9) off Bryan Mata to tie the game up. Diego Castillo went two scoreless himself, and that brought us to the bottom of the 11th with Pete Fairbanks on the mound. He allowed a leadoff single but retired the next two Red Sox when pinch-hitter Xander Bogaerts hit a squibber in front of the plate which Mike Zunino threw into RF. This put men on 2nd and 3rd, and after Alex Verdugo was intentionally walked to load the bases, Fairbanks walked Martinez to force in the winning run, making 3 of the 4 Boston runs tonight unearned. Wendle's RBI double accounted for the other Rays run as they two of three to Boston.

Team record: 90-50. Magic number: Down to 8 as Toronto beat the Yankees tonight. Next up: A day off then the road trip continues over the weekend in Detroit.

Real Life vs OOTP Update: It's May 15 and the Rays won today to improve to 22-19, putting them only two games off the pace of this save which had them at 24-17 through today. Still hoping they'll pull away like they did here.

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September 10: Activated P Andrew Kittredge from the 15-day IL, optioned P Ryan Thompson to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays were staring at another defeat, down 3-0 through 7 innings and being held to one hit by Spencer Turnbull and Matthew Boyd. But Manuel Margot started a rally with a single and Brandon Lowe came through as he has so often this year, drilling a 3-run HR (#39) off Boyd in top of the 8th to tie the game. And in the 9th Ji-Man Choi led off with a double, Willy Adames singled him to third, and Kevin Padlo came through with an RBI single to give the Rays a 4-3 lead. Then Margot stepped up and drilled his 3rd homer of the year to score Adames and Padlo and the Rays went from 1 hit to having 7 runs in the space of an inning-plus. Tyler Glasnow started and pitched decently, but left going 6 5 3 2 3 4 with no support. Andrew Kittredge, just off the IL, went two scoreless innings and with the 4-run lead Chaz Roe came on for the 9th. He struggled putting men on 2nd & 3rd with one out, so Nick Anderson came in after all, and after whiffing Spencer Torkelson, did what he's done so often lately and that's give up a homer with Jeimer Candelario's blast making it 7-6. But Anderson got the final out for a shaky save #28 while Kittredge picked up his 6th win in relief. Toronto won so the magic number drops to 7.

Game 2: The Rays jumped all over Tigers rookie starter Matt Manning for 6 runs in the 1st inning, culminated by a bases-clearing double from Francisco Mejia, and looked to be on their way to a romp. But Rich Hill had other ideas and he immediately gave the Tigers 3 back in the bottom of the inning, and then 6 (!) more in the 2nd without retiring a batter. Hill, who had a no-hitter in the 6th his last time out, was just atrocious giving up 3 homers in all with a 1 7 9 8 1 1 line. Chris Mazza (3), Brian Moran (2) and Hunter Strickland (2) combined for 7 scoreless innings to keep the game close, and the Rays added an RBI triple from Willy Adames and an 8th-inning homer from Mejia (#7) to get within 9-8. But they couldn't get over the hump and somehow lost a game they were up 6-0 in. The magic number still dropped to 6, though, as the Blue Jays lost at Baltimore.

Game 3: The Rays couldn't get Victor Reyes out today and it cost them in an 8-5 loss to Detroit to continue their mediocre September. The Tiger CF hit for the cycle today, and his bases-clearing triple in the 6th off Rafael Dolis turned a 4-3 Rays lead into a 6-4 Detroit advantage and then his 2-run homer off Chaz Roe in the 8th gave the Tigers insurance. Luis Patino started for the Rays and pitched well, if not efficiently, as his only bad stretch came in the 3rd when he gave up a single to Reyes, an infield single to Willi Castro and then grooved a 3-1 pitch which Spencer Torkelson deposited into the LF stands, the Tiger rookie's 25th HR of the year. But the Rays bounced right back to score 4 times in the 4th on a bases-clearing triple from Willy Adames and Kevin Kiermaier's sac fly. Patino left 5 5 3 3 2 8 on 99 pitches and gave way to Rafael Dolis in the 6th. The righty reliever got the first two outs before he totally lost the plot in a rare bad outing as a Ray, leading to Reyes' bases-loaded triple. Andrew Kittredge went 1 1/3 scoreless before Roe came on and gave up the Reyes homer after Joey Wendle got the Rays within 6-5 on an RBI double in the top of the 8th.

Team record: 91-52. Magic number: down to 5 after the Jays lost yet again as the Rays seem like they're going to back their way into the division title. Next up: We cross the border to take on those Jays, depending on what the Yankees do a sweep could clinch the division but with the way the Rays have played lately (4-7 in September) a Toronto sweep seems more likely.

MLB News: Lucas Giolito struck out 13 today in a win over Boston today to give him 312 strikeouts.

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Game 1: The Rays continued their run of bad baseball, dropping to 4-8 in September after a 7-1 thrashing by Toronto. The bats were completely shackled by Hyun-Jin Ryu, who gave up a Brandon Lowe singled in the first and then didn't allow the Rays a baserunner until they mounted a brief rally in the 7th which culminated in a Mike Brosseau RBI single for their lone run and one of their 4 hits. Chris Archer started and was decent, striking out the side in the 1st and going 5.2 6 3 3 1 8. Chris Mazza got the final out in the 6th but then got into all kinds of trouble in the 7th and gave up a 2-run homer to Lourdes Gurriel as part of a 3-run inning. Cody Reed gave up his obligatory homer in the 7th to Rowdy Tellez, Tellez's 2nd of the game. Rays hitters whiffed 12 times, including all 3 trips for Kevin Padlo. Houston won today so they've pulled within 1/2 game of the Rays for the best record in the AL (and MLB).

MLB News: Big injury news for the playoff-bound Twins as their MVP candidate Byron Buxton, leading MLB with 116 RBI to go with his 41 HR and his Gold Glove defense, will miss 5 weeks with a strained oblique meaning he's done for the year unless the Twins make the World Series, a task which just got much more unlikely.

Game 2: I've played thousands of games in OOTP and this was hands-down one of the craziest. The Blue Jays built a 10-1 lead on the Rays through 7 innings but Tampa Bay scored 10 times in the 8th and 9th with the final Rays runs coming on a Willy Adames inside-the-park grand slam to give them an 11-10 lead, only for George Springer to hit his third homer of the game, a 2-run shot off Diego Castillo to give Toronto a 12-11 walk-off win. The Rays have now lost 4 straight and 7 of their last 9 as they continue to slump in September. Most of the game was a pretty good pitching duel between Ryan Yarbrough and Nate Pearson, with Pearson leaving up 3-1 after 6 thanks to homers from Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Springer off Yarbrough, who finished 6 6 3 3 0 6 in a typical outing for him. But then the Rays bullpen melted down in the 7th, allowing 7 runs including a 3-run shot from Springer and a 3-run Rowdy Tellez homer off, both of which came off Brian Moran after Hunter Strickland was charged with 3 runs. The Rays got 4 back in the 8th including a 2-run Brandon Lowe HR, his 40th, but they looked like consolation runs. That was until the 9th when Alek Manoah couldn't get anyone out, walking a pair to load the bases. This brought on Jays closer Kirby Yates, who hit Randy Arozarena with a pitch to force in a run and walked Ji-Man Choi to force in another before Adames hit one into the LCF gap that took a weird bounce and kept rolling before Gurriel could pick it up. I made the choice to go with Castillo instead of Nick Anderson given the latter's recent propensity for giving up homers, which of course meant Castillo gave up the 2-run homer to Springer to end the game. Perhaps the Rays are getting all of their bad mojo out of their system before the playoffs start.

September 15: Optioned P Brian Moran to AAA Durham, activated P Colin Poche from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

The league caught up with Moran, who had some nice outings but isn't that great, so it's time to welcome back Poche. He's a reliever with great stuff but who's homer-prone, so he should fit right in with the rest of the bullpen. He'll see his first action since 2019 after he missed 2020 and most of 2021 with Tommy John surgery.

Game 3: The beatings go on for the Rays as Toronto completed the sweep with an 8-2 thrashing to make it 5 straight in the L column for Tampa Bay. Rays pitching continues to give out homers like candy and Tyler Glasnow coughed up a 2-run homer in the 1st to Vlad Guerrero Jr and a 3-run shot in the 2nd to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the game was over barely after it started with Toronto up 5-0, despite what happened last night. That's because Matt Shoemaker only allowed the Rays 1 run and 2 hits through 6, with Manuel Margot's 4th HR of the year keeping them from being shutout. Glasnow didn't give anything from there, going 6 4 5 5 4 9, but the damage was done and Rafael Dolis did not impress his former teammates by giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in the 7th. Cody Reed relieved him and somehow managed not to give up a homer in his 1 1/3 innings, breaking a streak of 6 appearances which saw him allow 7 homers in 6 2/3 innings combined, a truly remarkable run. Brandon Lowe hit HR #41 in the 9th for purely accounting purposes. With the win the Blue Jays move within 1 game of the White Sox for the 2nd wild card.

Team record: 91-55. Thanks to Houston's win tonight over the Rangers, the Rays no longer have the best record in baseball. Next up: Back home for 4 against Detroit at the Trop, where theoretically it's harder to give up homers.

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Game 1: The Rays' losing streak reached 6 tonight with an 11-inning, 3-2 loss to Detroit at Tropicana Field. Diego Castillo took his second loss of the week after giving up an RBI single to Renato Nunez in the 11th as the bats only managed 6 hits and got their 2 runs thanks to a pair of Detroit errors in the 7th. They wasted an excellent start from Rich Hill, who bounced back from his 8-run debacle in Detroit to hold the Tigers to 7 4 2 2 0 5 with the damage coming from a 2-run homer from former Ray Wilson "Buffalo" Ramos in the 5th. They did get a 2-run single from Randy Arozarena to tie it up after Detroit loaded the bases with a walk and two errors, and had a great chance to win in the 9th when Mike Zunino led off with a single, pinch-runner Kevin Kiermaier stole second and Austin Meadows walked with nobody out, but Yandy Diaz had one of the Rays hitters' 15 strikeouts and Brandon Lowe grounded into a double play. Pete Fairbanks had a scoreless innings and Nick Anderson turned in a pair, but Castillo couldn't get the job done in the 11th. Toronto was idle so we couldn't rely on them losing to lower the magic number, which has sat at 5 for four days now.

AL Playoff Race Update: The divisions are set with the Rays, Twins and Astros well in command, but the AL wild card race is truly wild with just over two weeks to go:



Over in the NL, the Mets and Brewers have long effectively wrapped up their divisions, but the West remains interesting with the Padres having moved a game ahead of the Dodgers. The Diamondbacks look set to be the 2nd wild card so all 5 playoff teams are pretty much determined.

September 17: Optioned P Chris Mazza to AAA Durham, activated P Brendan McKay from the 15-day IL.

McKay was only out a month so I'm not going to send him on rehab, instead he'll be used in relief but could make a start before the season ends and maybe even one in the playoffs.

Game 2: It seems weird to say that a 91-win team with an 11 1/2-game lead in mid-September needed a win, but boy did the Rays need a win after how they've gone lately, and they snapped their 6-game losing streak with an emphatic 8-2 triumph over Detroit. Luis Patino was on the bump today and he turned his best performance as a major leaguer with 6 dominant innings, 6 5 1 0 1 8 to be specific. He improved to 4-2, 4.46 with the outing, Pete Fairbanks pitched the 7th and after the Rays really broke it open, Brendan McKay got some work in after being activated and whiffed 5 in 2 innings although he did allow a run on 3 hits. The main men led the offense early with Brandon Lowe hitting HR #42 with a man on in the 1st against Tiger phenom Matt Manning, and Austin Meadows hit #30 in the 3rd to make it 3-1 Rays. It stayed there until the bottom of the 6th when Ji-Man Choi delivered an RBI double and Willy Adames singled him home. They added 3 more in the 7th with the big hit Choi's 15th homer of the year, a 2-run blast. And the news was good all around as Toronto lost, meaning the magic number which had been stuck on 5 is now down to 3.

Game 3: Chris Archer was masterful again as the Rays downed Detroit 6-1. The veteran righty had a perfect game through 5 before giving up a Miguel Cabrera double to lead off the 6th and he came around to score for the only run against in a 7 3 1 1 0 9 outing on 84 pitches. Archer is now 11-5, 3.59 and remains our most consistent starter; he'll be starting one of the first two playoff games for sure. Diego Castillo had a 1-2-3 2K 8th and Colin Poche saw his first MLB action in two years with a scoreless 9th that saw him strike out 2. It's great to have him back as Cody Reed isn't my definition of a quality lefty reliever. On offense Joey Wendle had a big double in the 2nd which led to a Kevin Padlo RBI groundout and in the 5th Mike Zunino clubbed a 2-run homer, #17. They broke it open with 3 in the 8th on a Willy Adames sac fly and Kevin Kiermaier's 2-run single. One bit of bad news: Wendle strained his oblique during the game and will be out 3 weeks. Toronto won today so the magic number was reduced to 2, meaning we could clinch as early as tomorrow.

September 19: Placed IF Joey Wendle on the 10-day IL with a strained oblique, recalled IF Taylor Walls from AAA Durham; sent 3B Wander Franco to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment.

The sexy thing to do here would have been to call up Vidal Brujan, especially as this is planned as a 1-year save, but I'm trying to be as realistic as possible so Walls is the likelier choice with service time and all that. Walls is going to be a backup anyway and is a 65 2B and a 55 SS so he's a legit option. He'll probably get a start today as Willy Adames was forced into action with the Wendle injury on a day he showed as fatigued. The big news of course is Franco's rehab. He'll join Durham for their final game of the season, which they need to win to ensure more games for him to rehab (i.e., make the AAA East playoffs).

Game 4: The Rays got an excellent start from Ryan Yarbrough but wasted it by not scoring enough runs, losing 3-2 in 12 innings to Detroit. Yarbrough went 7 6 2 2 0 6 with the only damage a 2-run Willi Castro homer in the 6th. Mike Brosseau answered back in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run single to tie it up, but they couldn't score after that, blowing a golden chance in the 10th when Yandy Diaz led off the inning with a double but couldn't be brought home. Finally in the 12th, former Ray Wilson Ramos did them in again with an RBI double off Andrew Kittredge. They did get 4 scoreless innings from the pen after Yarbrough left with Diego Castillo (1), Nick Anderson (2) and Rafael Dolis (1) turning them in. Taylor Walls made his MLB debut and while he was flawless in the field at SS his times at-bat were forgettable as he went 0-5 and struck out 3 times.

Team record: 93-57. Magic number: 2. Next up: Toronto comes to the Trop for 3 games. Win any one of them and we clinch the division.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Nate Pearson and the Blue Jays spoiled the Rays' division-clinching party tonight with a 3-0 win over Tampa Bay. The rookie righty dominated the Rays to the tune of 6.1 4 0 0 0 6, and Jordan Romano and Kirby Yates finished off the shutout as they'll have to wait at least another night to clinch. Tyler Glasnow started and pitched OK except for a couple of homers allowed to Danny Jansen and Rowdy Tellez, finishing 5.1 6 3 3 2 5. Chaz Roe went 1 2/3 scoreless and Brendan McKay pitched 2 perfect innings with a couple of whiffs to keep the game within striking distance.

Not exactly what I wanted to hear from my head scout:



He has been less effective lately, although 75 stuff is still pretty darn good.

Game 2: The Rays' woes continue as they miss out on another chance to clinch the division with an 8-5 loss to Toronto. The win was big for the Jays, who are now in the 2nd wild card spot in the AL, 1 1/2 games up on both the White Sox and Royals. The game was pretty much over in the first couple of innings when Toronto raced out to a 5-0 lead against Rich Hill featuring homers from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Bo Bichette. Hill settled down after that to save the bullpen and the Rays got back to within 5-2 when Kevin Kiermaier and Ji-Man Choi (!) each tripled and scored. But the Jays caught up with Hill again in the 5th when Cavan Biggio hit a 2-run blast which chased him from the game with an ugly 4.2 8 7 7 2 2 line. Andrew Kittredge gave up a run in his 2 1/3 while Hunter Strickland and Cody Reed managed scoreless innings. The Rays did score 3 times in the 6th to make it semi-interesting as Brandon Lowe hit #43, Mike Brosseau had an RBI single and Kiermaier a sac fly, but the offense could do nothing over the final 3 innings. They've now lost 14 of their last 18, not the way you want to be going into the playoffs.

Game 3: They'll still clinch the division, won't they? We're beginning to question it as the Jays completed the sweep of the Rays 3-2, sending Tampa Bay to its 15th loss in 19 games and fourth in a row. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered again, as did Rowdy Tellez to give Toronto and early 3-0 lead against Luis Patino, while Chris Flexen dominated the Rays' bats to the tune of 8 4 0 0 0 7. The Rays seem to have Jays closer Kirby Yates' number, though, and they loaded the bases with nobody out in the 9th against him and he walked Mike Brosseau to force in a run before getting an out and being yanked for Simeon Woods Richardson, who walked Mike Zunino to force in a run after Kevin Kiermaier popped out. Manuel Margot pinch-hit for Taylor Walls, who is 0-8 starting his MLB career, and grounded out to end the game. Patino pitched well after the early struggles and finished 5.2 4 3 3 2 5, while the bullpen kept it close with Chaz Roe going 1 1/3 and Rafael Dolis and Hunter Strickland turning in scoreless frames.

Team record: 93-60. Next up: They won't lose tomorrow since they're off, and then the Miami Marlins come to town for the weekend.

[Art Deco]

September 24: Optioned IF Kevin Padlo to AAA Durham, activated IF Wander Franco from the 10-day IL.

We can definitely use Wander back in the lineup.

Game 1: The Rays' September not to remember continued with a 5-3 loss to Miami, making it 5 straight defeats and 16 in the last 20 as they continue to limp to the finish line. Chris Archer followed the recent trend of his rotation mates by getting hit hard early as he gave up a triple, single and then homer to former Ray Corey Dickerson to quickly fall behind 3-0 in the 1st. The Rays battled back to tie it on a Randy Arozarena RBI double in the bottom of the first (Arozarena had to immediately leave with a mild calf strain, he's DtD for a couple) and a 2-run HR from Mike Zunino (#18) in the 5th. But the deadlock didn't last long as in the top of the 6th Archer got into trouble, putting 2 on with 2 out and a lefty due, so Colin Poche was summoned from the pen. Miami countered with a righty, whom Poche walked and then he surrendered a 2-run single to Miguel Rojas to restore the Marlin advantage. That was it as the Rays couldn't rub two sticks together the rest of the way despite the efforts of Poche in the 7th, Rafael Dolis in the 8th and Pete Fairbanks in the 9th to keep it close. Wander Franco's return was one to forget as he went 0-4, striking out and grounding into a pair of double plays, including one to end the game. The good news is that the magic number is down to 1 after Toronto lost last night while the Rays were idle; the Jays did win tonight to keep us from backing into the division title.

Game 2: 2021 AL EAST CHAMPS! The Rays clinched their second straight AL East title and they came in through the front door, taking a 9-6 come-from-behind win over Miami to snap their 5-game losing streak. They took an early 2-1 lead behind Ryan Yarbrough but Yarbs coughed it up in the 4th by allowing a grand slam to non-power hitter Jon Berti and when Brian Anderson took him deep in the 5th to make it 6-2, the thought on everyone's mind was "here we go again". But they bounced back in the bottom of the 5th with 3 runs on an RBI single from Brandon Lowe, an RBI double from Ji-Man Choi, and an RBI single from Wander Franco for his first hit since his lengthy absence. Andrew Kittredge took over for Yarbrough, who ended an ugly 5 8 6 5 1 1, and pitched two scoreless innings including getting out of a jam in the 6th. This bought time for the offense to come all the way back which they did in the 7th. Franco came through big again with a 2-run triple to give them the lead and then Willy Adames followed with his 11th homer of the season and it was suddenly 9-6. Diego Castillo took care of the 8th and Nick Anderson the 9th for save #29 while Kittredge notched his 7th win. Toronto did win today so the Rays had to win to clinch, and so they did.

MLB News: Former Rays superstar Evan Longoria, winding down his career with San Francisco, had a 5-hit game at Coors Field tonight as the Giants went nuts in a 23-4 win which saw them score 10 times in the first inning. All five of Longo's hits were singles and he drove in a run.

Game 3: The Rays reverted to losing ways in the most heartbreaking of fashions as Nick Anderson gave up a 3-run homer to Magneuris Sierra with 2 out in the 9th inning to doom them to a 5-4 loss. Anderson's 13th HR allowed in 53 innings is just not cutting it as closer and he may soon find himself out of that job. He wasted a fine Tyler Glasnow performance (6.2 5 2 2 2 5) and a come-from-behind performance from the offense which saw Mike Brosseau and Willy Adames get infield RBI singles along with a clean RBI single from Yandy Diaz. Pete Fairbanks went 2/3 of an inning and got in trouble but Colin Poche got him out of it before Anderson went strikeout, single, single, strikeout, 3-run homer, strikeout in the 9th. That's his 5th blown save and 6th loss of the season.

Team record: 94-62. Next up: An off-day then we go to Houston for 3. It could be a playoff preview but we're all but assured of playing the Twins in the ALDS so we'd have to get by them first.

[Art Deco]

As mentioned, the Rays, Twins and Astros have their divisions locked up in the AL, and in the NL the Mets and Brewers have done likewise. Here are the only races left, and they're really not much of races:



In the AL, the Royals blew a 9-1 lead in the middle of the 7th to lose 10-9 to Cleveland, a critical loss for them which knocked them 3 back with only 6 games left. It looks like the only suspense might be whether the Blue Jays or Angels host the wild card game. In the NL, all 3 of LA, San Diego and Arizona are in the playoffs with the division up for grabs.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays took an impressive 2-1 win at Houston as they look to right the ship in time for the playoffs. Luis Patino started but had to leave after an inning with back spasms, thrusting Brendan McKay into a long man/follower type situation and he responded wonderfully, going 4 3 0 0 0 6 against a tough Astros lineup and picking up a well-deserved 2nd win of the season. Andrew Kittredge went 2 innings, giving up a Carlos Correa homer, and Pete Fairbanks and Diego Castillo closed out the game with the latter getting his 9th save. There wasn't much offense but the Rays took advantage of Francis Martes' wildness, he walked 5 and in the 3rd he wild-pitched in a run before Brandon Lowe singled in another.

Playoff Race update: The Blue Jays and Angels both won, and the Royals lost, so the wild card race in the AL is pretty much over. Things got more interesting in the NL West, though, as the Padres beat the Dodgers to pull within 1 game of the division lead, and the Diamondbacks did likewise with a win so the top 3 are separated by a game.

Game 2: The Rays wasted some golden opportunities and things snowballed on Rich Hill as they fell 7-2 to Houston. The Rays loaded the bases in both the 1st inning and the 7th inning with nobody out and failed to score both times, with Eduardo Rodriguez striking out 3 consecutive Rays in the 1st and a strikeout and a double play ending the second threat. Brandon Lowe continued his MVP-caliber season with HR #45 to put them up 1-0 in the 3rd but Rich Hill lost the plot in the middle innings, giving up 2 in the 4th and then a 3-run homer to Kyle Tucker followed by a Yordan Alvarez shot to go down 6-2 in the 5th. Hill finished an ugly 4 5 6 6 3 3 as his ERA ends the year at 5.05. Hunter Strickland went 2 scoreless, Cody Reed allowed an unearned run in his inning and Chaz Roe had a scoreless 8th in mop-up duty. Willy Adames' 2nd double of the game and 44th of the year scored the 2nd Rays run but it was too little, too late.

Playoff race update: The Angels and Blue Jays each need one more win to clinch the two AL wild card spots while the Dodgers struck back against the Padres and dropped them to 3rd place 2 back as Arizona won to stay a game behind LA as they try to figure out who wins the NL West and who the two wild card teams are among them.

Game 3: The Rays had their way with Zack Greinke, blasting three homers off him, and Chris Archer went 5 2/3 scoreless to lead the Rays to an 8-1 rout of Houston in perhaps the best game they've played in a month. Willy Adames, quietly having a 5.5 WAR season*, drilled a 3-run homer (#12) off the veteran Astro righty to give the Rays an early lead in the 2nd, Randy Arozarena singled in a run in the 3rd, and Mike Zunino hit a 461-foot blast onto the railroad tracks in LF (#19) to make it 5-0. Arozarena later hit #28 to lead off the 7th against Greinke, and Austin Meadows had a 2-run shot (#31) off former Ray Austin Pruitt in the 9th. Archer meanwhile continued his recent brilliant run of pitching with a 5.2 4 0 0 3 4 performance against the tough Houston lineup to finish the year 12-6, 3.62, with Rafael Dolis getting a big out in the 6th to end that inning after the Astros threatened. Dolis pitched through the 7th, allowing an unearned run off an Adames error, Colin Poche had a sharp 8th and Nick Anderson pitched the 9th to give the Rays 2 out of 3 against the top team in the league just before the playoffs start.

*Sadly the Rays just traded him IRL so hopefully they don't miss out on a 5.5 WAR season from him.

Team record: 96-63. Next up: We head to Yankee Stadium for the weekend to close out the regular season.

Playoff race update: The Angels and Blue Jays both lost while the White Sox won, so Chicago remains mathematically in it. The Dodgers all are but there now to win the NL West after knocking off San Diego again, while Arizona lost, so LA has a 2-game lead on the Diamondbacks and 3 on the Padres with 3 games left.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Tyler Glasnow went out of turn (but on normal rest) today to get him lined up for Game 1 of the ALDS but he was outpitched tonight by Luis Severino as the Yankees topped the Rays 3-1. Glasnow had a shaky first inning in which he allowed a run and was lucky not to allow 2 as a runner was thrown out at the plate. He gave up 2 more runs, including a Gleyber Torres solo homer and finished 6 6 3 3 2 8 to end the year 11-8, 4.05 with 228 whiffs in 173 innings but 31 HR allowed. As a result his final WAR was only 1.9 in what has to go down as a disappointing season. Andrew Kittredge pitched the final 2 innings scoreless and was impressive with 5 strikeouts. Severino held them to 1 run and 5 hits through 8, with Mike Zunino's 20th HR of the year in the 3rd briefly tying the game and representing their only run. They did get the tying run to the plate in the 9th against Aroldis Chapman and Mike Brosseau pinch hit of course, but he lined one to the right fielder. With Minnesota losing tonight, the Rays did clinch home-field advantage for the ALDS, and with Houston winning game #100 tonight, the Rays are now locked into a matchup with the Twins.

Playoff race update: The Angels and Blue Jays each won tonight to officially clinch the two AL wild cards, but the location of the game is still up in the air as the teams have identical records. Over in the NL just when the Dodgers looked safe, they lost while Arizona and San Diego won so the D-backs are one game behind and the Padres two.

Game 2: The Rays lost a 12-8 slugfest to the Yankees today which saw Ryan Yarbrough and a parade of relievers all pitch ineffectively. Yarbs was hit for an Aaron Judge grand slam in the first, settled down for a while as the Rays took a 7-4 lead in the 5th, and then walked a man to lead off the 5th and with a high pitch count and the need to rest he came out. But Chaz Roe was a disaster, hitting a man, walking one and giving up 3 hits to see the Yankees tie it at 7. He left with the bases loaded for Rafael Dolis, who promptly walked the first two men he faced to force in a pair of runs and New York was back ahead 9-7 just like that. Hunter Strickland gave up a pair of solo homers and Nick Anderson was touched for a run so no Rays pitcher today could hold their head high. There were some hitters that could, though, as Francisco Mejia was 4-4 with an RBI, Wander Franco had a 3-run homer (#8), Randy Arozarena was 3-5 with a solo shot (#29) and Mike Brosseau hit #5. Brendan McKay got a chance to DH and was 2-4 with an RBI double.

Playoff race update: The Dodgers won to clinch at least a tie for the division, and eliminated the Padres, who will play the wild card game on the road, from division contention. Arizona won however to keep the pressure on LA and stay a game back going into the season's final day.

Game 3: Just what everyone wanted on the final day of the season in a meaningless game, a 4:47 11-inning marathon. But it was one the Rays won, scoring 9(!) times in the 11th inning to take a 17-9 win over the Yankees. With the victory the Rays won their 97th game of the season, tying the 2008 World Series squad for most regular-season wins. They scored 6 times in the 1st when Jonathan Loaisiga walked 5 Rays in 2/3 of an inning with Taylor Walls' bases-clearing double the big hit. Unsurprisingly, the Yankees came back with 5 against Luis Patino in his 5 innings but got a little breathing room with Mike Zunino went deep for #21 in the 6th to make it 8-5. Brendan McKay went 2 innings and gave up a Giancarlo Stanton solo shot to cut it to 8-6 but Pete Fairbanks had a 1-2-3 8th and Diego Castillo was one out away from ending it in regulation when Luke Voit drilled a 2-run double off him to send us to extras. Colin Poche had a quick 10th and then all hell broke loose in the 11th with Kevin Kiermaier's 2-run single starting the 9-run rally and his second RBI single of the inning ending it. In between Yandy Diaz had an RBI single, Brandon Lowe had a 2-RBI single to finish with an MLB-leading 124 RBI, and Mike Brosseau had an RBI double. Cody Reed pitched the 11th and of course he gave up a homer but allowed nothing else to mercifully end the game and the regular season.

Final Regular Season Record: 97-65. Next up: The ALDS later in the week with Minnesota coming to the Trop for Games 1 and 2.

Playoff Race Update: Well, we have a tie in the NL West as the Diamondbacks won while the Dodgers fell to Milwaukee, so they'll do battle to decide who gets to play the Mets in the NLDS and who gets to host San Diego in the Wild Card Game.