The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 2

Art Deco · 06-18-2020, 04:10 PM

December 25 update:

First of all, Merry Christmas everyone. Had my Christmas dinner interrupted to get this message:

Minimum wage my ass, that was your asking price when I made the initial offer. Almost tempted to withdraw on principle, but I'll play his silly game for now and up my offer (we went through a month of this last winter before he signed). At least Zack Greinke is enjoying Christmas with his family and not bothering MLB GMs.

December 28 update:

Oakland Athletics: Signed free agent LF Kyle Schwarber to a 3-year contract worth a total of $13,400,000.
Seattle Mariners: Signed free agent RP Addison Reed to a 1-year contract worth a total of $2,200,000.
Atlanta Braves: Signed free agent SP Tyler Anderson to a 2-year contract worth a total of $15,000,000.
Philadelphia Phillies: Signed free agent RP Craig Kimbrel to a 2-year contract worth a total of $15,200,000.

Some interesting signings. Of course there goes another one of our rentals from last year, that's a pretty cheap contract for Schwarber and might have been in on that had I known he'd take that little. Of course I'm planning on my own minimum wage version of him to take the DH job next year, Seth Beer. But I do have to say that Schwarber seems like the prototypical Oakland A in a tradition going back to Ken Phelps and Matt Stairs. Anderson had a nice season last year between the Giants and Indians and is a good little pickup for Atlanta. Kimbrel IRL as of 2019 looked cooked with a 6.53 ERA but he's bounced back nicely in our universe and had 31 saves between the Cubs and a return engagement with the Red Sox last season. The Phillies could use a closer as Hector Neris signed with St. Louis earlier and Seranthony Dominguez was pretty mediocre in the role last year.

December 31 update:

New York Yankees: Signed free agent 2B Kolten Wong to a 6-year contract worth a total of $70,200,000.

After losing DJ LeMahieu to free agency last winter with Washington, the Yankees went with Tyler Wade who had a pretty good season as they won 105 games. But they gave the job to Thairo Estrada in the playoffs so I guess they wanted the upgrade at that position. Wong has more of a track record, but he shouldn't be much of an improvement over the 2021 version of Wade.

Meanwhile, Brad Hand snubbed my latest offer and now apparently wants $11M. Screw that, especially with my pending Greinke offer out there.

January 2 News:

Happy New Year everyone! Now this extremely important Rays update:

Being a Winthrop man myself, I hope the Kiermaiers appreciate my role in getting Theo placed. That said, Josh Lowe is still set to take over for Kiermaier in 2023 when Kevin's contract is up.

January 4 (big) News:

The deal is done. But I'd like to know what longtime Rays fans think "the club is too focused on players whose prime has passed them by". Did they go into a coma right after the "Hit Show" in 2000 and just wake up? Anyway, I received a separate message that the fan interest increase is "amazing". So did I need Greinke? No. Am I glad we got him? Yes. Does it mean I might shop Blake Snell, given his fragility and with only one year left on his deal after this one? Maybe. I know at least there's some kind of move to follow since I need to open a 40-man spot.

January 8: Placed P Lucas Sims on waivers, added Zack Greinke to the active roster.

Had to make room on the 40-man, Sims wasn't fetching anything worth picking up nor was I going to force some kind of 2 for 1 deal, so away he goes. Was hoping he'd clear waivers, but the next day I saw that three teams had claimed him, so oh well.

Meanwhile, in a roundup of other MLB news, the Astros continued to improve their bullpen by re-signing Roberto Osuna and adding erstwhile Boston closer Matt Barnes, while the Yankees added San Diego's closer David Bednar but at cost of #40 overall prospect SS Alexander Vargas. Rick Porcello signed with the Braves on a 2-year deal.

January 22 MLB Update:

Philadelphia Phillies: Signed free agent RP Wade Davis to a 1-year contract worth a total of $2,360,000.
San Francisco Giants: Signed free agent 3B Marwin Gonzalez to a 2-year contract worth a total of $16,200,000.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Signed free agent RP Zack Britton to a 2-year contract worth a total of $4,000,000.
Kansas City Royals: Signed free agent SP Lance Lynn to a 2-year contract worth a total of $11,000,000.

The Giants have been spending freely this winter, getting Javy Baez and also signing the top free agent C out there, Tucker Barnhart (unless you consider Sal Perez the best), and now they get Gonzalez, a player I like and was close to acquiring last year. Speaking of guys I was looking at, I was seriously considering Britton as I need a lefty in the pen, but only wanted him for one year.

January 24 News:

Well just like last year he strung us along for a month before eventually signing, but this time it was for about $500K less. But the bullpen is back intact now (Roe's gone, but the Adams-Alvarado-Anderson setup troika is back). Gotta make room on the 40-man again, this time expect a trade.

I'm considering a blockbuster with Pittsburgh sending Snell and Trevor Richards for Josh Bell and Mitch Keller. Bell is a free agent next year, only had 47 HR and 140 RBI and is a switch-hitter with no discernible platoon difference who would make sense for our lefty-heavy middle of the order (Meadows/Kepler/Choi). Snell has this year and next left on his contract but Keller would make a very good 4th-5th starter and has a few years of control himself. I'm mulling this one, it would also probably mean Ji-Man would be on the move as I remain committed to giving Beer/Kirilloff the DH slot (they're ready and I can't keep making them play AAA). Still not sure about this, though.

January 26 Update:

New York Yankees: Signed free agent RP Archie Bradley to a 2-year contract worth a total of $15,800,000.

The biggest free agent left on the market goes to New York as they continue to add to their bullpen (guess when you blow 11-0 leads in the playoffs you can never have enough relievers). They added Zuber, Bednar, Bradley to go with Giles and Chapman at the back end as the AL East Bullpen Arms Race continues.

January 29: Tampa Bay Rays traded 28-year-old reliever Diego Castillo and 25-year-old minor league reliever Grant Wolfram to the Cleveland Indians, getting 23-year-old minor league starting pitcher CJ Van Eyk, 23-year-old minor league reliever Nick Frasso and 20-year-old minor league second baseman Christian Cairo in return.

Someone had to go to make room for Hand and it was time to get off the Diegocoaster. Got 3 pretty good prospects, Van Eyk and Frasso were Cleveland's two first round picks in 2020 and put up good numbers, and Cairo is another excellent prospect (one who also happened to play little league baseball in Safety Harbor, FL with my sons as well).

February 5 Update:

Signed Drew Smyly and Chris Volstad to minor league contracts to give Durham and the organization some more pitching depth. Smyly would have probably been called up at one point last season had he not gotten injured, and that of course has been his problem throughout his career. In MLB doings, former Ray Tommy Pham signed a 2-year, $23.2M deal with Seattle.

March 2: Traded 28-year-old reliever Trevor Richards and 20-year-old minor league third baseman Daury Del Rosario to the Chicago Cubs, getting 23-year-old minor league shortstop Nick Loftin and 23-year-old minor league reliever Hunter Bigge in return.

Goodbye, Richie. Got a message the fan interest decreased which is kind of silly since he was up-and-down throughout 2020 and was the 13th man on the staff in 2021. Guess we get that whenever a player that's been on the team a few years get dealt. Anyway, wanted to open a 40-man spot for a veteran C or a decent RH bat and picked up a prime prospect in Loftin, a bat-first SS (with quite a bat) that I'll be moving to 2B and Bigge is a lottery ticket with a decent arm. Not concerned about throwing in Del Rosario. Time for spring training games to begin.

March 7: Signed OF Khris Davis to a 1-year minor league contract.

Time to start scooping up some leftovers from free agency, and Davis and his .247 average with RH power could come in useful.

March 12: Signed C Christian Vazquez to a 1-year minor league contract.

Wanted to get Sal Perez here, but his demands seemed too high. So imagine my surprise when he signed a minor league deal with the A's. So Vazquez seemed to be the next best choice when Yan Gomes got all pissy that I offered him a minor-league deal. He's an 80 on D, making him a good complement to play 1/3 of the time for Keibert Ruiz. Also in a spring training scare, Blake Snell had to come out of a game in the 3rd inning but it was just back spasms to sideline him for a few days.

March 23: Placed P Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day IL with triceps tendinitis.

Welp. The Greinke signing looks less of a luxury now and more of a necessity, as Glasnow is supposed to be out 7 weeks so with a rehab and all he'll miss the first two months of the season. Hopefully this is the only significant injury we get out of spring training which is mercifully almost over.

March 24: Placed P Zack Greinke on the 15-day IL with biceps tendinitis.

Maybe it's time to find a new trainer. So much for that insurance policy, although Greinke is only supposed to miss two weeks. Guess that makes Yonny the 5th starter now.

Art Deco · 06-19-2020, 11:59 PM

March 31: Signed OF/DH Nelson Cruz to a 1-year, $7M contract, placed P Josh Fleming on waivers.

Need that right-handed power in between Meadows, Choi and Kepler. Cruz has been linked to the Rays for years, and he hit 40 HR at age 40 last year. If he doesn't pan out, there's still Beer and Kirilloff at Durham, but of course they're both lefty hitters. Beer hit a few HR early in spring, then slumped badly while Kirilloff produced well and was the last cut in favor of Cruz. I know I said I was going to play the kids, but... Elsewhere, Fleming had to be on the 40 after coming off the 60-day DL in the offseason.

Here's the opening day roster. There are actually some kids on it, though.

C-K.Ruiz, R.Hernandez
1B-Choi
2B-Merrifield
SS-Wander Franco
3B-Toro
CI-Bohm
MI-Brujan
OF-Meadows, Kiermaier, Kepler, Yusniel Diaz
DH-N.Cruz

SP-Snell, McKay, Fried, Ryan, Chirinos
RP-Hand, Anderson, Alvarado, Adams, Nix, D.Jimenez, Gonsolin, Menez.

DL: Greinke, Glasnow.

Ronaldo got the nod over Christian Vazquez thanks to a hitting tear he went on late in ST, he probably goes down to play regularly later but I figured I'd reward him in the short term. Brujan makes the team as the backup middle infielder, but I will try to work him in some for Merrifield, who can also play the outfield. Gonsolin and Menez make the team due to the injuries to 2/5 of the rotation. Latest word on Greinke is that he will be out a little longer than expected. Wonderful.

Art Deco · 06-20-2020, 08:00 AM

Game 1: Opening Day started off poorly for the Rays as Blake Snell wasn't sharp at all and gave up a 3-run HR to Xander Bogaerts in the 1st inning. And it didn't get better from there as Snell loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth and Tony Gonsolin let them all score along with 2 of his own and the Rays were down 9-0. And this was before they even had their first hit off Chris Sale. But the hits started coming, and a 4-run bottom of the 5th was capped off by a 3-run homer from Wander. Keibert Ruiz then added a massive shot to dead center to make it 9-5, and the Rays got to reliever Josh Taylor for 3 more in the 8th and incredibly it was 9-8. But Austin Adams couldn't hold it there in the 9th, yielding a 2-run HR to Adam Eaton, and while someone named Durbin Feltman came in to close and the Rays loaded the bases against him in the 9th, they couldn't push a run across and Boston took the opener 11-8. In their Rays debuts, Ruiz was 3-5 with that HR, Abraham Toro was 3-4, Max Kepler was 0-4 but had 2 RBI on a sac fly and a ground out, and Nelson Cruz was 0-3 with a pair of walks.

April 1: Signed IF Ehire Adrianza to a minor league contract.

This year's Freddy Galvis, Adrianza will provide a credible middle infield backup if Brujan doesn't produce/doesn't play enough.

Game 2: Vidal Brujan, ladies and gentlemen. Making his MLB debut, Brujan came through a key RBI triple and doubled and scored as the Rays got their first win of the year, 5-3 over the Red Sox. Brendan McKay started and was pretty good even if he wasn't exactly dominant (6 8 2 2 0 6). His only mistake was a second inning 2-run shot by Eric Thames on an 0-2 pitch. That put the Rays in another early hole but this time they didn't let it get out of hand. Alec Bohm, getting a start at 1B, went deep to make it 2-1 in the 4th, and then Brjuan took over, tripling in Kepler, scoring on a Kiermaier ground out and giving the Rays their first lead of 2022. Insurance was acquired in the 7th when Brujan's double was the key hit loading the bases for Kiermaier to hit a 2-run single through the drawn-in infield. Alvarado and Nick Anderson had shutdown 1-2-3 2K innings in the 7th and 8th and then things got interesting in the 9th with Brad Hand. He got 2 outs around a Buster Posey double and looked to have the game won when Ender Inciarte popped to Bohm in foul territory. However Bohm dropped it, Inciarte then doubled to make it 5-3, Jose Peraza singled to put runners and 1st and 3rd, but Hand got pinch-hitter Yairo Munoz to ground out to secure win #1.

Rick Hahn, GM of the White Sox, just offered me Eloy Jimenez for Blake Snell, the first time I think I got a legitimate blockbuster offer unsolicited. Usually it's your star for someone just halfway decent. Needless to say I turned him down given the state of the rotation (and I'm also glad now I didn't trade Snell for Josh Bell earlier, bad opening day outing aside).

Game 3: It's not too often a team can allow 6 HRs and win, but that's what the Rays did today in a 12-7 win over Boston. Max Fried started and was great - except for when he pitched to Marcell Ozuna. The Red Sox LF took him deep twice on solo shots and the Rays were down again 2-0 mid 4th but Alec Bohm, DHing in place of Nelson Cruz today, hit his second in as many games, a 2-run shot to tie it up. And then in the sixth the Rays took the lead for good on an Abraham Toro (he strong like bull) grand slam. Fried made it through seven, but allowed a solo shot to Alex Verdugo to end with a fine 7 4 3 3 2 7 line. The Rays really busted it open in the bottom of the 7th, scoring 6 times in all kinds of ways including a Boston error, a Wander HBP with the bases loaded and then a 2-run single from Merrifield and a 2-run double from Austin Meadows, his first hit of the season. But entrusted with a 12-3 run lead in the ninth, Tony Gonsolin crapped the bed again allowing Ozuna's 3rd of the game and a 2-run shot by Verdugo. Jacob Nix finished up but allowed an Eric Thames longball as the fans in the Trop OF came away with quite a few souvenirs. Lost in the all the longballs was Ronaldo Hernandez's first start of the season which saw him go 2 for 3 (his first MLB hits) with a walk, also gunning down Rafael Devers trying to steal.

April 3: Optioned P Tony Gonsolin to AAA Durham, recalled P Shane McClanahan.

Right now I don't trust Gonsolin in a 10-run game so up comes our top pitching prospect, to work either long relief or if I need some key lefties out in the middle innings.

Game 4: The Rays couldn't stop Rafael Devers, who was 4 for 5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI today. But it didn't matter as those were only 6 runs Boston scored in a 7-6 Rays win. Joe Ryan got the start and after giving up an RBI double to Devers in the first, settled down and ended up striking out 7 through the first 4 innings. Meanwhile, the Rays took advantage of a dropped fly ball in the first by Alex Verdugo to have Ji-Man follow with an RBI single which immediately tied the game. Then Ji-Man went to work in the third, with his 3-run shot off Marcus Walden the highlight of a 5-run inning that put the Rays up 6-1 (Choi was 4-4 with 4 RBI today). But Ryan struggled in the 5th, allowing a 3-run HR to Devers and necessitating his exit. Enter the just-recalled Shane McClanahan, who was brilliant in his MLB debut. McClanahan went 2 2/3, allowing two hits, no walks, no runs and striking out 4 to pick up the win. Kiermaier added a 6th inning HR to make it 7-4 and that turned out to be big as although Nick Anderson got the Rays through the 8th, Brad Hand was shaky again in the 9th, giving up a one-out 2-run HR to Devers and then allowing Yairo Munoz to double with 2 out before finally getting Bogaerts on a fly ball as a collective "whew" was heard throughout Tropicana Field. The 3-1 start is the mirror image of last year's opening 4-game series against Boston where they lost 3 of 4. The new-look offense is firing on all cylinders with 32 runs in these first 4 games but the pitching (albeit mostly in spots: Snell's bad start, Gonsolin's arson, a shaky Brad Hand) hasn't been that great, allowing 27 runs of their own. Not sure winning by an average score of 8-7 is something sustainable.

Random notes: Nelson Cruz had his first 2 hits in a Rays uniform, including a double which was followed by an Abraham Toro double to get the final run in that 5-run 3rd. Keibert Ruiz also had an RBI single. Brujan got another start, picking up a single in the 8th but was cut down attempting to get his first MLB steal.

Art Deco · 06-20-2020, 02:09 PM

April 4: P Josh Fleming cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Yankees came into their home opener 0-4 after being swept north of the border by the Blue Jays, and 0-8 when you add in last year's ALCS sweep by the White Sox. So it was into the lion's den to face a wounded lion. But the Rays dug in their claws in the first when with two out Meadows singled, stole second and scored on a double by the scorching hot Ji-Man Choi. The Rays tacked on two more in the second on a Kiermaier RBI single and a Wander sac fly. Yonny Chirinos meanwhile got the start and was rolling through 4, striking out 5 and only allowing a Stanton HR. A Kepler sac fly and a Toro RBI double in the 5th made it 5-1 before Yonny got into trouble in the bottom of the frame, allowing a 2-run HR to Gio Urshela and solo shot to Luke Voit which cut the lead to 5-4. He got through the 6th, Austin Adams got through the 7th, and then Toro launched a solo blast to make it 6-4 in the 8th. Like yesterday the Rays needed to cash in that insurance policy as Nick Anderson struggled in the 8th. After getting two out, he walked Stanton and Judge and gave up an RBI single to Miguel Andujar. Jacob Nix got him out of the inning and then the Rays loaded the bases with nobody out against Aroldis Chapman but hit into two forces at the plate and Toro flew out, which reminds me of this run expectancy chart Jason Collette would post on Twitter when the Rays had this situation in the past:

With Hand unavailable, Nix started the 9th but gave up a leadoff single to Robinson Chirinos, Jose Alvarado came on to face the lefty Kolten Wong, walked him, but got a strikeout, force out and fly ball to strand the runners and to hang on for another close win. It helped that the final batter was Tyler Wade and not Stanton, as the Yankees had pinch ran for him in the 8th. Yonny gets the win with a 6 7 4 4 0 6 line and Toro was "man of the match" going 3-5 with that HR and 2 RBI as the Yankees are now looking up out of an 0-5 hole. Day off tomorrow which will give the pen a much-needed rest before Snell tries to wash away the sour taste of his opening start and will face Gerrit Cole.

April 6: Claimed P Ryne Stanek on waivers, designated P Tony Gonsolin for assignment, optioned P Conner Menez to AAA Durham.

Welcome back Ryne Stanek. He's a definite upgrade for the pen (sub-3 ERAs and a K per inning the last 2 years) and really had no business being on waivers (he got a save for the Cubs on opening day but they claimed Trevor Gott from the Mets and Adam Kolarek from the Dodgers so they needed room). Gonsolin was the easy choice to go from the 40-man, and Menez hadn't pitched yet for the Rays as McClanahan usurped his role as the lefty long man.

Game 2: Things looked bleak early when Blake Snell was off his game again, walking the bases loaded with 2 out in the first and surrendering a grand slam to Miguel Andujar. This came after Keibert Ruiz homered in the first off Gerrit Cole but falling behind 4-1 early against him is not a great plan for success. But then again we're forgetting about the offensive juggernaut which is the 2022 Tampa Bay Rays. Merrifield had an RBI single in the 2nd to make it 4-2 and Ruiz homered again off Cole in the 5th to make it 4-3. Snell settled down admirably after the bad first inning but still let Thairo Estrada hit one into the short RF porch to make it 5-3. But the Rays went to work in the 6th. Alec Bohm (filling in at DH) singled in a run, another Merrifield RBI single tied the game, and Kiermaier stroked a 2-run double to put the Rays up 7-5. Snell made it into the 7th, where he allowed a leadoff single to Andujar and was replaced by Ryne Stanek who finished off the inning with a couple of strikeouts. And then Wander went to work, ripping a 2-run shot into the RF stands to make it 9-5, and Austin Adams and Dany Jimenez blanked the Yanks the rest of the way, and we're 5-1 now, averaging just under 8 runs per game. Snell ended up with a 6 3 5 5 3 7 line which was actually very good once you got past the first (5 2 1 1 0 6) and evened his record at 1-1. The encouraging thing about this offensive start is that it's almost completely come without anything from Meadows or Kepler, a combined 1-10 today and hitting .130 and .136 respectively with 0 HR and 5 RBI between them. It's on for another set with Boston as hopefully we treat the Sox home opener as we treated the Yankees'.

Team record: 5-1, 1/2 game behind Toronto's 6-1 as the Jays finally lost today.

Art Deco · 06-20-2020, 07:50 PM

Game 1: I'm not even going to try to describe this game, so here's the box score. All I will note is that Brendan McKay got the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the first inning on 3 pitches and all hell broke loose after that. Congrats Ronaldo Hernandez on your first MLB HR, and I guess Shane McClanahan is something special. Also somehow there were only 4 HRs total in this game. One of them came from Meadows, who had a better-than-a-cycle game with an extra double in lieu of a single. Thank goodness tomorrow's an off day.

April 8: Signed P Mike Minor and P Arodys Vizcaino to minor league contracts.

Vizcaino still has a live arm but if he ends up having to be added to the roster, we might be in some kind of trouble, although a few more 19-17 games and who knows? The big get here is Minor, who has some problems staying healthy but is pretty effective when he is; last year he had 1.6 WAR in 142 innings between the Mets and the White Sox. The Mets had signed him to a big contract and then traded him to the White Sox, who waived him at the beginning of the year. With his $7.5M salary, he cleared so I offered him $4M if he makes the team. With Greinke still having an unknown return date and Glasnow out for 4-5 more weeks, I wanted to have the depth in the short term.

Game 2: It was nice to return to normal baseball today, although there's nothing normal about how well the Rays continue to hit. They took a 7-1 decision over the Red Sox by scoring one run in 7 of the 9 innings and hitting 8 doubles. The only HR came from Whit Merrifield, while the Big Ray Machine knocked out 16 hits in total, led by Nelson Cruz's 3 for 5 with 2 RBI. Kiermaier had 2 more doubles today and 2 more RBI and it speaks to how top-to-bottom solid this offense is that his 11 RBI lead the team despite hitting out of the 9-hole. Meanwhile Max Fried wasn't at his best and pitching around baserunners all day (his line was 6.1 8 1 1 2 3) but he still got the key outs and the one run was the fewest the Rays have allowed in a game this year as they go to 6-2. Jacob Nix had a 1-2-3 outing to finish the game after his 7-batter, 7-run debacle yesterday.

Game 3: Joe Ryan got the call today and picked up some early support when Nelson Cruz hit his first Rays HR, a 2-run shot off Marcus Walden in the top of the 1st. He made that stand up until the 5th, when doubles by Alex Verdugo and Buster Posey tied the game, and Posey came around to score on a sac fly, so after an 4th inning Devers solo shot (could hardly get him out this series) Boston had taken a 3-2 lead. But no problem for the Rays as Austin Meadows launched a 2-run dinger in the top of the 6th to restore the Rays advantage. Wander Franco added a run in the 7th with a sac fly and after Ryan got through the 6th, Ryne Stanek, Jose Alvarado and Brad Hand (with his best outing of the season, a 1-2-3 9th with strikeouts of Bogaerts and Verdugo) shut Boston down on 1 hit the rest of the way for a nice, normal 5-3 win. Ryan nabbed his first win of the year and Hand his 3rd save. Only 8 hits and 0 walks for the offense, but even on a quiet day they managed 5 runs.

Team record: 7-2, though still 1 1/2 games behind the 9-1 Blue Jays.

Art Deco · 06-21-2020, 01:04 PM

April 11: Sent P Zack Greinke to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment.

Greinke was ready to come back from his biceps tendinitis, so off to Durham he went for one start since he wasn't out long and had a full spring training. Gave him the start tonight at Durham and managed the game and he was just fine, going 6.2 4 2 2 0 4 with the two runs coming on a HR. Typical Greinke, and he'll be good to start this weekend against the Phillies. By the way Durham won 8-3 behind Khris Davis's 3-4 with a HR.

Game 1: The Rays had a rough time of it last year in Chicago, losing 3 of 4 to the eventual World Series champs. Today, though, was anything but rough as the Rays rode the strong pitching of Yonny Chirinos and four longballs to a comfortable 7-1 win. Chirinos pitched like he didn't want Greinke to replace him in the rotation, going 7 4 1 1 2 8 to go to 2-0. Rays had to wait until the 3rd inning to start scoring, but score they did picking up runs on an RBI double from Kiermaier, an RBI single from Wander and a HR from Meadows after Wander was caught stealing. Nelson Cruz had his second HR in as many days to make it 4-0 in the 4th, and later Wander and Ronaldo Hernandez had 9th inning blasts to provide the final margin of victory. And for once Toronto lost meaning the Rays are 1/2 game behind.

Game 2: This was the ultimate gut-it-out win, something the Rays haven't had to do much this year. Blake Snell, after two poor starts, struggled in this one again although he managed to hang in there and limit the damage. A bad 2nd saw the only runs score against him in his 5.2 6 2 2 4 2 outing. Meanwhile the Rays were being no-hit by Lucas Giolito through 5, but they broke through in the top of the 6th. Merrifield led off with a single, Kiermaier was hit by a pitch, and then Wander doubled home Merrifield to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Keibert Ruiz followed with a single through the drawn-in infield, scoring them both. Ryne Stanek, who got Snell out of the 6th, stayed in and surrender a leadoff HR to Luis Robert to tie the game but the Rays retook the lead in the 8th when Kiermaier singled, went to third on a ground out and a fly out, and was singled home by Meadows. Anderson took care of the 8th, and Brad Hand struck out the side in the 9th after allowing a leadoff single to preserve the 4-3 win. Austin Adams got the win with a 4-strikeout 7th inning which included Jose Abreu reaching on a passed ball after a K. The Rays only had 6 hits for the game which I'm pretty sure is a season low, but it didn't matter.

Game 3: Brendan McKay, fresh off getting torched for 7 runs in 1 1/3 innings in the 19-17 loss to Boston, had his first start since and didn't fare that much better, giving up 4 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings. But his teammates, especially Shane McClanahan and Keibert Ruiz, picked him up as the Rays swept the White Sox with a 12-4 win. McClanahan came in for McKay and got him out a jam in the 5th, on his way to a 2.2 1 0 0 2 5 outing and another win. Ruiz, meanwhile, launched a 2-run HR to get the Rays on the board in the 3rd and had a pair of RBI singles. The biggest hit came from Meadows, a 3-run HR in the 5th that put them in the lead to stay. Alec Bohm also had a bases-clearing double as the league's top offense lit up the scoreboard again.

Team record: 10-2.

Art Deco · 06-21-2020, 07:29 PM

Game 1: Back to the Trop for the first time since opening weekend and it turned out to be a classic, back-in-the-day Rays-type game that saw the inning-by-inning scoreline in binary. The Rays prevailed 2-0 in their first shutout of the year and it was also the first time they've scored fewer than 4 runs in a game. Max Fried started and went 4 two-hit innings before having to leave with forearm soreness, his first injury as a Ray. It doesn't seem too serious as he'll only be out 6 days, but it temporarily answers whose spot in the rotation Greinke will take. Wander provided all the offense that was needed with a 3rd inning HR off Zack Wheeler, and Abraham Toro supplied an RBI single in the 6th. Jacob Nix pitched the fifth and sixth and picked up the win, while the Alvarado-Anderson-Hand troika completed the combined 4-hit shutout, Hand getting save #5. And Cleveland beat the Blue Jays so the Rays move into first place, 1/2 game up.

Game 2: The Rays made it 7 in a row behind a dominant Joe Ryan performance. The righty won his second game of the year with a 6 3 1 1 2 11 line that was blemished only by my bringing him out for the 7th inning and allowing a solo HR to Derek Fisher. At that point it made the game 2-1 Rays as they had picked up 2 runs in the 4th off Spencer Howard on a bases-loaded GIDP by Nelson Cruz and an RBI single from Vidal Brujan. Ryne Stanek got the Rays through the 7th, and the Rays then busted it open against Howard and brief former teammate Tony Watson for 4 runs capped by a Max Kepler bases-clearing double, his biggest hit so far as a Ray. Things did get a bit dicey in the 8th when Stanek got the first out, and with lefties Nate Lowe and Bryce Harper due and Jose Alvarado unavailable, Shane McClanahan got the call but walked Lowe and surrendered a HR to Harper to make it 6-3. And to make matters worse he had to leave the game after retiring the next batter with a "diagnosis pending" injury. Austin Adams got the final out in the inning and a 1-2-3 ninth to nail down his first save of the season and Wander singled in a run to make the final 7-3.

April 17: Placed P Shane McClanahan on the 15-day IL, activated P Zack Greinke from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

No word yet on McClanahan's injury, but I'm guessing it's not good. Greinke makes his Rays debut today with the start against the Phillies. Also in not-good injury news, Alex Kirilloff suffered a serious hamstring injury at Durham last night and will be out 2-3 months.

Game 3: Having won 12 of 13, the Rays were due for a clunker, but we didn't expect to clunk so hard. Zack Greinke had a nightmarish Rays debut, allowing 4 runs in the 1st (including an uncharacteristic bases-loaded walk), then surrendered a 3-run HR to Andrew McCutchen in the 2nd. He hung around for 3 1/3, allowing another run to make the final damage total 8 runs and 11 hits, and he didn't strike out anybody. Maybe he could have used another rehab start. The final was 10-2, with the Rays runs coming on Yusniel Diaz's first HR of the year and an Alec Bohm sac fly against his old organization. The Jays won but the Rays remain 1/2 game up.

Team record: 12-3.

Art Deco · 06-22-2020, 09:21 AM

I'll lead off here by saying for the first time playing OOTP I had an "injury, diagnosis pending" turn out to be basically nothing as my trainer informed me Shane McClanahan had a minor abdominal strain and is good to go. Too bad I put him on the 15-day DL yesterday. Enjoy the two weeks off, Shane!

Game 1: This looked like it might be an easy win as the Rays went up 3-0 against Tyler Phillips, hardly a Cy Young candidate. But Phillips settled in after a 1st inning that had Max Kepler deliver a key 2-run single (the Rays loaded the bases again in the inning but couldn't score) and a subsequent Meadows sac fly. Meanwhile Yonny Chirinos was pitching another fine game, up 3-1 after 6. But he ran into trouble in the 7th when Nick Ciuffo singled home Rougned Odor who had doubled. Enter Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado and Brad Hand once again to close the door, and Kiermaier added insurance with a solo HR as the Rays won 4-2. Meadows ended 3-3 on the night with the sac fly, and Keibert Ruiz had two more hits and was hit by a pitch. Yonny goes to 3-0 off his efficient 6.1 7 2 2 1 3 line and Hand gets save #6. One true oddity from this game: the Rays did not strike out a single time, which I'm pretty sure is the first time in my 2+ years of managing the Rays this has happened.

Game 2: A high-drama affair at the Trop as Blake Snell pitched far and away his best game of the season, but was matched pitch-for-pitch by one of the league's worst starters the last few years, Texas's Kyle Gibson. The Rays came closest to scoring of either team through the first 7 innings when Joey Gallo gunned down Whit Merrifield at the plate in the 2nd, but it wasn't until Kyle Seager hit a 2-out solo HR off Snell in the top of the 8th that the ice was broken. Snell got through the inning and had a brilliant 8 3 1 1 1 8 line on an efficient 96 pitches. But in the bottom of the 8th, Kiermaier led off with a solo HR off Gibson and later in the inning Meadows hit a 2-out double and came around to score on Ji-Man's single, this time testing Gallo's arm and passing. So with Brad Hand tired, Nick Anderson came on for the save in the 9th but ran into quick trouble, allowing an Elvis Andrus leadoff single and after a Willie Calhoun double put runners on 2nd and 3rd, Danny Santana's sac fly tied the game. With Gallo due up Jose Alvarado came on, got him to ground out and struck out Lewin Diaz. Texas brought on their closer Jose LeClerc in the bottom of the inning and he walked Nelson Cruz to start the inning. Vidal Brujan came in to pinch run but it was more like pinch jog as Abraham Toro drilled a LeClerc offering into the RF stands to give the Rays a 4-2 walk-off win and improve them to 14-3. The Jays fell to Kansas City so the Rays up their lead to 1 1/2 games.

Game 3: Brendan McKay took the hill today, and the Rays' most consistent starter over the last 2 seasons was coming off perhaps the worst two-start stretch of his career, torched for 11 runs in 5 innings combined. But like Blake Snell yesterday, he came through with a dominating start (6.1 3 1 1 3 12) and like Snell yesterday he wasn't provided with much run support. The Rays struggled some with wily veteran Johnny Cueto, although it helped him that Wander got his first day off and Nelson Cruz and Keibert Ruiz also sat for this Wednesday matinee. Brujan got his first start at SS and immediately booted his first chance in the 1st inning but McKay pitched around it. Still, Rougned Odor's solo shot in the 2nd had Texas up early, but a walk to Meadows, a single from Alec Bohm and another single from Toro enabled the Rays to equalize in the 4th. And then in the 6th Ji-Man took Cueto the opposite way for his 2nd HR of the season (he's hitting a cool .414 at the moment) to put the Rays up 2-1. Ryne Stanek and Austin Adams bridged the gap in the 7th and 8th, and in the bottom of the 8th Meadows hit an inside-the-park HR off Brandon Workman to make it 3-1. That run proved huge as Brad Hand gave up a leadoff double which came around to score but he struck out Sam Huff to end the game and earn save #7. McKay goes to 2-1 and brings his ERA down to a still-unsightly 6.87. McKay and Snell were aided the last two days by a very lefty-heavy Texas lineup but it was still good to see them back in form, especially now that the offense is cooling off. Max Kepler continues to have trouble hitting his way out of a paper bag, now down to .140 with 0 HR. Renfroe isn't doing much better with Minnesota, with only 1 HR himself. Still a minor blemish on what is an MLB-best 15-3 record, but a record only good for a 1.5 game lead as Toronto won.

Team record: 15-3. Day off tomorrow before a 3-game home set against Minnesota and our good buddy Renfroe.

Art Deco · 06-22-2020, 04:53 PM

Before we get into this weekend's series, here's a look at the MLB Standings and batting leaders going in:

As you can see Ji-Man leads the AL in batting average and Meadows is third in the AL in WAR. The Brewers have been something else in the NL as Corbin Burnes and Dennis Rasmussen have given them great pitching, the Dodgers are the Dodgers and the Braves are the Braves. Closer to home, the Yankees knocked off the Jays last night to expand the Rays' lead to 2 games (3 in the loss column). After their 0-6 start the Yankees are back in the swing with a 9-4 run and Baltimore with Adley Rutschman dominating as a #1 overall pick should is 10-10. The Tigers are off to another fast start in a mediocre division (they seem a little more "real" this year) while in the west Houston is down (but not out) right now with their top two pitchers (Scherzer, Forrest Whitley) on the shelf for a while.

Game 1: In the battle of slumping rightfielders traded for each other, give Round 1 to Hunter Renfroe. Coming in with 1 HR and 4 RBI on the season, Renfroe returned to the Trop and hit a pair of 3-run homers in a 10-4 Minnesota win. Max Kepler was apparently inspired enough by the challenge to finally hit his 1st HR as a Ray but it wasn't nearly enough. Coming off his minor injury, Max Fried got the start and wasn't at his sharpest. He got out of the first allowing two baserunners and got out of the second after loading the bases, but his profligacy caught up with him in the 3rd when he allowed an RBI single and the first of Renfroe's 3-run blasts. Fried ended up with a 5 5 4 4 5 6 line, with the five walks very unlike him. It stayed 4-1 until the 7th when Dany Jimenez put a couple of men on, and Jacob Nix gave up an Andrew Benintendi 2-run HR that made it 7-1. Kiermaier had a 2-run shot and Ji-Man hit an absolute blast to deep LCF but Ryne Stanek gave up the 2nd 3-run Renfroe shot in the 9th to give us the final score. Outside of the 3 HRs the Rays couldn't do much with Jose Berrios although Meadows had a single to keep his hitting streak alive at 13. Toronto won so the lead is down to 1 game.

Game 2: Zack Greinke made his second Rays start and while it wasn't the nightmare his first one was, he wasn't that great either, pitching to a 5.1 7 3 3 2 4 line. But it was enough to earn him his first Rays victory as the bullpen was brilliant again, holding Minnesota hitless over the final 3 2/3 to preserve a 5-3 Rays win. The Rays jumped out quickly to a 3-0 lead in the first when Wander led off with a walk, Keibert Ruiz doubled and Austin Meadows wasted no time keeping his now-14-game hitting streak alive with a 3-run blast, his 6th of the year. The Twins quickly got two back against Greinke in the 2nd, but Ruiz and Meadows had back-to-back doubles in the 3rd to make it 4-2. Benintendi homered off Greinke in the 5th to cut it back to 4-3 and Grienke put a couple of runners on with one out in the 6th. Enter Austin Adams, who immediately induced a 5-4-3 double play from Jacob Stallings to snuff the threat. Alvarado and Anderson kept it that way until Nelson Cruz added a sac fly in the 8th, and for once the Rays didn't need the insurance run as Hand got the side 1-2-3 in the 9th for save #8, capping the game off with a strikeout of last night's nemesis Hunter Renfroe. The Yankees edged Toronto, so the lead is back to 2.

Game 3: Ever have one of those days where everything goes right? Well that was the Rays today as they bombed Minnesota 10-1. Three players in particular were standouts today. First on the mound Joe Ryan got the start and with 6 starters going at the moment and off days in between it's like college where you pitch once a week. The rest apparently benefited Ryan as he dominated, going 7 3 1 1 0 8 to go to 3-0. And on offense the stars today were a pair of homegrown talents, Ronaldo Hernandez and Wander Franco. Hernandez clubbed two massive (as in no-doubt) HRs, a 2-run shot to make it 3-0 after Wander led off the 1st with a solo shot, and another 2-run blast in the 6th. All he's done so far in spelling Keibert Ruiz is to go 9 for 22 with 4 HR and 7 RBI. Speaking of Wander, he capped off the festivities with an 8th-inning grand slam, giving him a 2 HR, 5 RBI day to perhaps get rid of the little snowflake next to his name in the lineup. And Austin Meadows didn't do much today but got 1 hit in his 5 at-bats to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, currently tops in MLB. Also chipping in were Whit Merrifield with 3 hits, Yusniel Diaz in a rare start showing no rust by going 2-4 and scoring 3 runs, and Max Kepler getting the Rays' 2nd inside-the-park HR of the week. The Rays are now off to a franchise-best 17-4 start (they were 17-5 in 2010 and 2021). They can't shake Toronto, though, who took 2 of 3 from the Yankees this weekend and remain 2 back.

Team record: 17-4.

Art Deco · 06-23-2020, 08:14 AM

Game 1: This one was over before the Orioles even came to the plate as the Rays put up a touchdown and extra point in the top of the first and cruised to a 13-2 win at Camden Yards. The first was highlighted by a 2-run Max Kepler double and then later in the inning, a bases-clearing double from Whit Merrifield. It was all way more than Yonny Chirinos needed; after he gave up Adley Rutschman's MLB-leading 12th HR of the season in the first he wasn't touched again until a leadoff single he allowed in the 9th came around to score. His final line was a very Yonny-like 8 5 2 2 0 3 to go to 4-0 on the season. Meadows singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, and the Rays were beneficiaries of 11 walks from Baltimore pitchers to go along with 13 hits. Every Ray in the lineup had at least one hit, and every one had at least one walk except Merrifield (who's still looking for his first of the season - he's pulling off the mean feat of batting .302 but with a .297 OBP). Kepler led the team with a season-high 4 RBI and Nelson Cruz had the team's only HR, a solo shot in the 3rd. The 18-4 start is now officially the franchise's best. Toronto also won by a football score (20-7 over Boston) to stay 2 back.

April 27: Traded P Mike Minor and minor-league P Chase Walter to the Colorado Rockies for minor-league OF Heston Kjerstad.

The big club is going too well for me to scratch my trade itch there, and Minor was going to have to be promoted or could opt out in a few days. There's obviously no room in the rotation for him (and Glasnow is 10 days or so away from a rehab assignment) so I managed to pick up an excellent OF prospect (yeah I know we have a glut of those) who was a high 2020 draft pick. Walter was a minor-league FA signing but he was a guy Colorado wanted thrown in to get the deal done, so yeah sure.

Game 2: Well we had another one of those ridiculous games. The final was 20-12 Rays as there must be some offensive setting off in the game that we're getting some many games with football scores. We're stuck with it for the season I guess. The Rays jumped out early again in this one taking a 13-2 lead in the top of the 4th, but Blake Snell couldn't get it done and had to be taken out as he and Jacob Nix combined to allow 7 runs in the bottom of the inning. Nix plugged along for a couple of more innings and got the win, Stanek pitched an inning and gave up a run, Adams had a scoreless eighth and I tried to leave him in for the 9th and not bring in one of Anderson/Alvarado/Hand but he gave up a 2-run HR and I had to have Alvarado get the last two outs. Offensively, Kepler and Kiermaier had grand slams and 6 RBI apiece, Kiermaier and Nelson Cruz had a pair of HRs, Meadows homered and reached base 6 times in 7 plate appearances so his streak's at 17, and the Rays received 13 more walks to go with their 17 hits. Glad to be 19-4 but not a big fan of games like this. Meanwhile Toronto keeps winning (18-7 record) so they stay two back.

Game 3: We were back to normal baseball tonight, but the way it ended was anything but normal. The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 4 off RBI singles from Ronaldo Hernandez and Merrifield in the 2nd and an Alec Bohm solo shot in the 3rd, but the Orioles chipped away against Brendan McKay with a Richie Martin homer in the 5th, and then I left McKay in one batter too long and he gave up a 2-run HR to Hanser Alberto in the 7th to tie the game. Nick Anderson got him out of that inning but stayed in to start the 8th and gave up a go-ahead RBI double to Austin Hays and then Jose Alvarado allowed Rio Ruiz to knock Hays home to make it 5-3. So on to the top of the 9th, and after Abraham Toro singled to lead off the inning, Yusniel Diaz flied to right and Hernandez whiffed. Down to their final out, Merrifield doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd, and needing a base hit from Wander Franco (who dipped below .300 going 0-4 before this at-bat), Wander did one better and deposited a Sam Delaplane offering into the right center-field stands to make it 6-5. Brad Hand came on for his ninth appearance got his ninth save with a 1-2-3 inning. The only dark cloud was the end of Austin Meadows' 17-game hitting streak as he went 0-3 and in his last at-bat in the eighth walked. Alvarado gets the win, McKay had a 6.1 6 3 3 3 6 line that would have looked better had I pulled him when I should. Meanwhile the Red Sox (our next opponent for a 3-game set at Fenway) knocked off the Jays by bombing Nate Pearson (now with a 6.04 ERA), extending the division lead to 3.

Team record: 20-4.

Art Deco · 06-23-2020, 02:27 PM

Game 1: It's Boston, again. Having played them 7 times already out of the first 24 games it's time to revisit the scene of the 19-17 loss which still has me scarred. Nothing like that tonight, though, as Max Fried took the mound and pretty much shut the Sox down. Which was important because the Rays offensive juggernaut was slowed tonight to the tune of 6 hits, but they were opportunistic in the 4-2 win. The game was scoreless until the top of the 6th when Wander Franco reached on an error, stole second, and then Meadows went opposite field over the Monster for HR #8 of the season to make it 2-0. Xander Bogaerts doubled in a run off Fried in the bottom of the 7th, and with Adams and Alvarado tired, Dany Jimenez got pinch-hitter Jeter Downs to fly out to end the threat and earn his first hold of the season. And in the top of the 8th with two out, Ji-Man came through with a clutch 2-run double to make it 4-1. Tried sneaking Jimenez through the 8th but with two out he gave up a HR to Yairo Munoz to cut the lead to 2. Nick Anderson got Alex Verdugo to fly out to end that threat, and then he stayed on in the 9th to face Buster Posey, only to walk him. Enter Brad Hand with the lefty Eric Thames due up, and Hand got Thames to roll into a 4-6-3 DP on his way to save #10. The record now stands at 21-4 as Fried goes to 3-1 and lowers his ERA to 2.79. Incidentally Whit Merrifield finally walked for the first time this season. The Jays beat Texas so the lead remains 3 games.

Game 2: With the key end-game relievers needing a rest, it was time for Zack Greinke to step up and earn the $15+ million contract he was given. And step up he did, tossing a complete-game shutout (the Rays' first since Blake Snell's 1-hitter vs Toronto last season) as the offense made it easy for him in a 10-0 win. He wasn't dominant or overpowering - his line was 9 8 0 0 1 5 - but he hung in there and threw a team-high 123 pitches. Given his veteran arm and the fact he's getting an extra day's rest with our current 6-man rotation, it was an easy call to leave him in as long as he was effective. On the hitting side of the equation, Nelson Cruz had a pair of 2-RBI singles, the more important one in the first inning with 2 out to put the Rays on the board. Max Kepler had an RBI single in the 3rd, Kiermaier went oppo over the Monster as Meadows did last night for a solo shot and just about everybody got into the act with team totals of 12 hits and 9 walks. Meadows was 2-3 with a pair of walks and 4 runs scored. The only one who didn't crash the party was Wander Franco, 0-5 today and in perhaps his worst slump as an MLBer with his batting average down to .280. It really does say something about this offense though if they can put 10 on the board without any contribution from him. They're now 22-4 and 4 games up on Toronto as the Jays fell to Texas 9-7.

May 1: Hitters of the month at all the levels! (Meadows took the honor last June and July as well)

Game 3: The Rays got out to an early 2-0 lead after a Ji-Man sac fly in the 1st and yet another Ronaldo Hernandez bomb over the Monster, and then broke it open with a 6-run 4th that kicked off with a Kepler solo shot and finished with a 3-run Meadows blast. That was more than enough for Joe Ryan, who dealt with numerous baserunners but still turned in a nice 6 6 1 1 2 7 line. With an 8-1 lead, Jacob Nix came on in the 7th, gave up a run, but got through the 8th. Then the fun started, Nix gave up another run to make it 8-3, Dany Jimenez walked a couple of batters including one with the bases loaded, and suddenly it was 8-4 with the tying run at the plate and two outs. Eric Thames was due up so I had no choice but to bring in Alvarado. The Red Sox countered by pinch-hitting Bogaerts but Alvarado got the strikeout and the Rays preserved the win to go to 23-4. Ryan is now 4-0, 3.07 and Meadows was 4-5 today giving him an insane 396/484/802 triple slash. His 1.286 OPS and 2.6 WAR lead MLB by a decent margin. Hernandez continues to rake playing every 3rd-4th day, now at 433/469/933 himself with 5 HR and 10 RBI in only 30 AB.

Team record: 23-4, 4 games up on Toronto.

Art Deco · 06-23-2020, 09:09 PM

May 2: Activated P Shane McClanahan from the 15-day IL, optioned P Jacob Nix to AAA Durham.

The DL stint that wasn't necessary finally ends with McClanahan hopefully tanned, ready and rested after his 2-week vacation. Nix hasn't been all that effective in the middle/long relief role so he was the easy choice to demote.

Game 1: I'm running out of words to describe how things are going because tonight looked an "L" if there ever was going to be one. After Keibert Ruiz and Isaac Parades traded first-inning HRs, the Rays took a brief lead in the 3rd when Wander reached on an error, stole 2nd, went to 3rd on the bad throw, and scored on Ruiz' sac fly. Yonny was pitching well but put a man on in the 5th and gave up a 2-run HR to Daz Cameron putting Detroit in front. With Yonny's pitch count low (60 through 6) he pitched into the 7th but ran into trouble, giving up a 2-run double to Victor Reyes to make it 5-2 Tigers after 7. The Rays offense meanwhile was being stymied by a parade of Detroit relievers who had to come on after "follower" Trevor Williams was forced to leave early due to injury. They finally picked the wrong one in Joey Wentz, who came on in the 8th after a leadoff single. Wentz allowed a single to Kepler, an RBI double to Nelson Cruz, and then a 3-run HR to Abraham Toro to suddenly put the Rays in front 6-5. After Alvarado got them through the 8th, the Rays put 2 more on in front of Toro again in the 9th, and he repeated the feat with another 3-run shot and the Rays took a 9-5 win - their ninth straight - to go to 24-4. Ryne Stanek picked up the win by getting the final out of the 7th in relief of Chirinos. The one bit of bad news to come out of the game is that Wander, who was coming out of his slump with a double and a triple, injured himself sliding into 3rd on the triple and is out for a week with a mild hamstring strain. Hopefully it doesn't develop into another 6-week hamstring injury like last season. Brujan will take over at SS and a roster move should follow. Elsewhere Josh Donaldson's walk-off grand slam gave the Twins a win over Toronto, upping the Rays' lead to a season-high 5 games.

May 3: Placed SS Wander Franco on the 10-day IL with a mild hamstring strain, recalled IF Nolan Gorman from AAA Durham, sent P Tyler Glasnow to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

Not going to fool around with Wander's one-week injury, and because he'll only be out 10 days, I'm not going to bring in a player not on the 40-man since there's nobody on the 40-man I want to part with (Stanek would be the closest). Gorman is really a third baseman but has been playing SS at Durham with Owen Miller and Ehire Adrianza injured. He was acquired from St. Louis last year in the Howie Kendrick deal and has considerable power, hitting 36 HR at AA in 2020 and another 22 last year mostly at Durham. He only has 1 this year and he has swing-and-miss issues so his star has faded, especially with Toro and Bohm ahead of him at the position. Nevertheless, he's on the 40-man and he'll get a few at-bats with the big club but Brujan will play pretty much every day at SS in the interim.

Glasnow meanwhile will pitch for the first time since spring training and with 6 starters in the rotation right now he won't be rushed back from his rehab assignment. I'm expecting him to make 3 starts at Durham, and if nobody else in the rotation gets hurt by that time I don't know who I'm going to drop.

Game 2: Like last night, the Rays dug themselves a hole. Unlike last night the hole was too big and they stayed in it, losing 6-1 to Detroit. I'm not sure which piece of bad news to lead with first, so I'll go with the thought that Blake Snell looks broken. After a 1-2-3 first, he walked two guys and then gave up a 3-run HR to David Bote in the 2nd, and then struggled and allowed 3 more in the 3rd although a Merrifield error did not help. After he put a couple of more on with two out in the 4th, he was pulled and ended with an ugly 3.2 5 6 4 4 3 line. He's only had one good start this year, the one against Texas. The other bad news is that Kiermaier was hurt making a diving catch and is out 5 weeks with a hamstring. Normally my move to replace him would be to go to heir apparent Josh Lowe, but Lowe struggled so bad at Durham the first few weeks that he went back to AA where he isn't hitting much better. Yusniel Diaz isn't really a full-time CF so I'll have to figure things out. Diaz had the Rays' lone RBI tonight and the one bright spot out of the whole game was Shane McClanahan's first game back. He took over for Snell in the 4th and pitched 3 1/3 perfect innings, striking out four. Otherwise Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal was brilliant, going 8 5 1 1 3 9 against them as he was only the 4th lefty they've had start against them this season so perhaps it was the unfamiliarity that did them in. And Nate Pearson pitched a no-hitter for Toronto so they've gotten back within 4.

Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: First start at Durham (facing a lot of MLB vets like Smoak, T.Shaw, N.Walker, DeShields, Aguilar): 3 1 1 1 2 6, struck out the side in the first. Ended up throwing 59 pitches, a few more than planned, looking at 70-75 pitches next start.

May 4: Placed OF Kevin Kiermaier on the 15-day IL with a hamstring strain, recalled OF Josh Lowe from AA Montgomery.

Decided to go with Lowe after all, although Yusniel Diaz will get the vast majority of starts while Kiermaier is out. Need a legitimate backup OF as Nelson Cruz really isn't fit to play the position.

Game 3: Normal service resumed as the Rays rolled past the Tigers today 11-3. A Meadows RBI groundout, a Yusniel Diaz RBI single and a Nelson Cruz solo HR put them up 3-0 through 4, and then they broke it open with 5 runs in the 5th highlighted by a Max Kepler 3-run shot to chase starter Matt Manning, and then Cruz greeted Alex Faedo with another HR of his own. Abe Toro went deep again later, and Josh Lowe and Nolan Gorman got at-bats in the 9th with the game in hand as Lowe walked in his first MLB plate appearance and Gorman singled in his Rays debut. Brendan McKay was the beneficiary of this run support, and while he wasn't at his sharpest (6 4 2 2 4 4) he was good enough to go to 3-1. Kepler helped out on defense by gunning down two runners trying to take an extra base. Toronto won to stay within 4 ahead of the big series between the Rays and Jays coming up a couple of days.

Team record: 25-5.

Art Deco · 06-24-2020, 04:09 PM

Game 1: Well here's the biggest series of the year to date as the Rays host the Jays for 3, holding a 4-game lead. And thanks to the Rays' inability to hit lefty Anthony Kay, it's now a 3-game lead. Max Fried took the hill for the Rays and after getting through the first 2 innings started dying the death of a thousand cuts as the Jays ended up touching him for 10 hits and 4 runs, two of which came on a Lourdes Gurriel HR in the 4th. He lasted 5 2/3 before giving way to Austin Adams, who yielded a 2-out RBI single to Cavan Biggio to allow the 4th Jays run to score. This game played out similarly to the Wild Card Game last year as the Jays built the mid-inning lead and the Rays chipped away. It wasn't until the 5th that they finally got some hits against Kay, and Vidal Brujan hit his first MLB HR in the 6th to make it 4-1. Nelson Cruz hit his 4th HR of the week in the 7th to make it 4-2, but the Rays wasted a 1-out Whit Merrifield triple in the 8th and got the first two on in the 9th via walk against Keith Ginkel only for Choi to fly out and Toro to ground into a DP to end the game. Shane McClanahan pitched another 2 hitless innings, striking out 3 including the tough to K Vlad Guerrero Jr. The Rays drop to 2-4 against LH starters this year (technically 3-4 but Daniel Strumpf was an opener for Nate Eovaldi), and considering the likes of Meadows, Choi and Kepler are all lefty hitters it does make some sense.

Game 2: I guess all we needed was for a righty to start and Jordan Romano & Co. were all that was needed to revive the Rays offense as they obliterated the Jays 17-1. Max Kepler was the star as his 2-run double in the first got the Rays going, and his 3-run HR in the third was the highlight of a 9-run inning that made the game a rout. Nelson Cruz had 2 more dingers, giving him 6 this week and the inside track on AL Player of the Week, Meadows broke out of his mini-slump with 4 hits including a HR to dead center, and Whit Merrifield was 4-5 with 3 RBI. The only Ray not to get in on the action was Ji-Man, 0-5 with 3 strikeouts as he seems to be getting into one of his patented slumps. Just like last week against Boston, Zack Greinke coasted with all this run support, going 8 6 1 1 2 2 with the only blemish a Randal Grichuk HR as the Rays restore their lead to 4 games.

Game 3: A white-knuckle affair at the Trop in the rubber match of the first big series of the season. The Rays were going against Nate Pearson, coming off a no-hitter but someone they've had more success against than most other teams the last couple of seasons. And it didn't take long to be sure Pearson wouldn't be the next Johnny Vander Meer as Ji-Man hit a two-out, two-run HR off him in the first and Kepler followed with a blast of his own to make it 3-0. In games past this would be enough for Jay-killer Joe Ryan, but he gave 2 runs right back on a Cavan Biggio HR in the 2nd and then Vlad Jr tied it in the 5th with an RBI single. But Ronaldo Hernandez restored the lead in the bottom of the 5th with his 6th HR in 38 AB, and Vidal Brujan followed with a triple and scored on Abraham Toro's sac fly to make it 5-3 and chase Pearson. The Jays struck right back in the 6th against Ryan, with Bo Bichette knocking in a run to cut the lead to 5-4. With the Jays threatening more, Jose Alvarado got an early call in the 6th and whiffed Shogo Akiyama to end the inning. He stayed on for a 1-2-3 7th, and then with two lefties due up to start the 8th, he stayed in to whiff Ryan Noda and get Biggio to ground out for an outing that lasted 2 perfect innings with 3 Ks (it helps that there are two off-days in the next 4 coming up). For the season Alvarado has pitched 12 scoreless innings with a 5/22 BB/K ratio, some damn impressive numbers. Nick Anderson came on and promptly walked the first two batters he faced (he's been unusually wild this year with 7 walks in 9 1/3 IP) but got Bo Bichette to fly out to end that threat. And Brad Hand got the Jays 1-2-3 in 9th to preserve a hard-fought 5-4 victory to go 11-for-11 in saves. Ryan goes to 5-0 despite a somewhat rough 5.1 5 4 4 3 8 line as the Rays go to 27-6 and extend their lead back to 5 games over Toronto.

Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: Over 78 pitches, Glasnow went 5 2 1 1 2 9 vs Lehigh Valley so he's just about ready.

Team record: 27-6.

Art Deco · 06-25-2020, 08:15 AM

Game 1: With a 6-man rotation and two off days this week it was getting ridiculous how much time starters were going without pitching so I skipped Yonny Chirinos and went with Blake Snell, still on 6 days' rest, hoping he'd get straightened out. The Rays took a brief 2-1 lead after 2 innings off tough customer Mike Soroka on solo HRs from Nelson Cruz and Abraham Toro but Snell's struggles continued in the 3rd as he put 2 on ahead of Mookie Betts, who took him deep. After a Meadows HR made it 4-3, Snell ran into more trouble in the fourth, allowing a run and putting one on, and he was pulled for Yonny, who gave up Snell's run and one of his own to make it 7-3 and that was pretty much that as it ended 9-5. Snell's final line was 3 7 6 6 2 5, his ERA is now 8.55, and it's getting to where he might get dropped from the rotation for a while when Glasnow comes back. Keibert Ruiz added a solo shot off Soroka who got the win despite giving up the 4 solo HRs. The Rays have hit their first semi-rough patch of the season, having lost almost as many games (3) in their last six as they did (4) in the first 28. Toronto won to move back within 4.

Game 2: It finally happened - the Rays lost 2 in a row. This was a tough one as the Rays jumped out 3-0 against Robbie Ray in the 1st inning when Meadows doubled home Brujan and Nelson Cruz homered. Brendan McKay gave two right back on an Ozzie Albies HR but the red-hot Meadows homered in the third to make it 4-2. The Braves strung together several hits in the 5th to tie the game, and Ray settled in after that as the game went 4-4 into the top of the eighth. Nick Anderson came on and allowed a leadoff double to Mookie Betts, and after striking out the next two batters, gave up a single to Cal Raleigh to give Atlanta the lead. With 2 out in the 9th, Abraham Toro looked like he might have a tying HR off Will Smith but it was caught at the LF wall and the Rays fell 5-4, another loss against a lefty starter (they had only 5 hits on the night). McKay had another mediocre outing (6 9 4 4 0 4) as his ERA sits at 5.65. And Toronto wins again to cut the lead to 3.

Team record: 27-8.

Art Deco · 06-25-2020, 11:26 AM

May 12: Traded 26-year-old minor league starting pitcher Jacob Nix to the Chicago Cubs, getting 23-year-old minor league center fielder Zach DeLoach, 24-year-old minor league center fielder Brandon Marsh and 23-year-old minor league starting pitcher Austin Vernon in return. Added Marsh to the active roster, optioned OF Josh Lowe to AAA Durham.

Two losses in a row? Heads are going to roll. After the Kiermaier injury, I realized how little cover I had for the CF position with all of my eggs in Josh Lowe's basket. Hence the deal for Marsh, who the Cubs inexplicably had in AAA this season despite a great rookie year that saw him accumulate 2.8 WAR in only 88 MLB games. He was 286/370/510 with 15 HR, 42 RBI and 10 SB. He's a 55 defender in CF (65 in RF) and a 75 base stealer. All DeLoach does is hit, the 2020 draft pick hit .320 and .360 at two levels last year and was hitting .440 in the Midwest League. He's more of a gap hitter, but the bat will play. Vernon is a power arm that needs to work on his control but could pan out. All of this for the low price of Jacob Nix, who has great potential but has had inconsistent results since joining the Rays. He could turn out to be a stud, but Marsh was too good to pass up with the CF need. Lowe goes to Durham to make room for Marsh on the active roster.

May 12: Claimed P Zack Britton on waivers from Los Angeles Dodgers, designated P Ryne Stanek for assignment.

I wanted another lefty in the pen and almost tried signing Britton in the offseason. He remains an effective pitcher if not the elite closer he was 5-6 years earlier. Stanek did OK, but wasn't overpowering and his numbers might have more of a product of the NL than the AL. Still hoping he clears so I can send him to Durham.

May 13: Activated SS Wander Franco from the 10-day IL, optioned IF Nolan Gorman to AAA Durham.

Yay, Wander is back! I'm thinking it's no coincidence that we lost more games during his absence than we have the rest of the season.

Game 1: Friday the 13th saw the Rays' recent luck turn around as they easily handled the Orioles 7-1 to snap the 2-game losing streak. Max Fried was brilliant in this one. After giving up a solo HR to Austin Hays in the 1st, he locked it down the rest of the way to put up a 7 3 1 1 3 9 line and go to 4-2. Dany Jimenez followed with two perfect innings to finish. It took a while for the bats to get going against Michael Baumann who came in 0-5 with an ERA near 7, but they finally broke through in the 5th when Whit Merrifield doubled in Nelson Cruz to tie it up, and Brandon Marsh in his Rays debut followed with an RBI groundout to score Abe Toro. They broke it open in the 6th when Meadows led off with his 13th HR, and then after two quick outs six consecutive Rays reached base highlighted by a 2-run double by Marsh in what turned out to be a 5-run inning. Marsh ended up 2-3 with a walk and 3 RBI, although he was caught stealing. Meanwhile the Jays never seem to lose as they had won yesterday while the Rays were off and won again tonight, so they're 2.5 back.

Game 2: This game did not start out at all well for the Rays, although they did take a brief 1-0 lead on a Merrifield RBI single in the 2nd. Zack Greinke did not have it tonight and he allowed 3 solo HRs and a 4th run among his 6 hits and 2 walks through 3 2/3 and gave way to Shane McClanahan. Then McClanahan served up a solo HR to Chance Sisco and the Rays were down 5-1 in the 5th. But Max Kepler got the Rays back in it with a 2-run shot in the 6th to halve Baltimore's lead, and McClanahan held the O's at bay with 4 Ks in his 2 1/3 innings. And then the Rays offense took over in the 7th. With one out Merrifield singled, Brandon Marsh doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd, Wander managed an infield single to score Merrifield, Keibert Ruiz walked to load the bases and then Andrew Vazquez walked Meadows to force in the tying run. After Ji-Man whiffed, Kepler lined a 2-run double to give the Rays a 7-5 lead. From there the Terrific Trio of Alvarado, Anderson and Hand took over and Keibert homered in the top of the 9th to give the Rays a bit more room and they won 8-5. McClanahan got his third win in the role of "middle reliever holding down the fort until the offense can come back", and Hand is at 12 appearances, 12 saves. Meadows could not be retired tonight, going 2-2 with 3 walks and Kepler's 4 RBI give him 37 in 37 games despite still only hitting .229. I almost don't need to mention that the Jays won, these days it can just be assumed.

Final Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: 6.1 4 1 1 0 11 vs Norfolk. I'd say he's ready and he should start next weekend in Los Angeles against the Angels. The Bulls won 4-1 and Josh Lowe homered for the second time in three games since being sent down. Khris Davis and Chris Betts also had longballs for Durham.

Game 3: Never. Count. This. Team. Out. It looked like another empty day against a lefty starter as Caleb Smith, who gave them trouble last year, had shut them down into the 7th with a 5-1 lead. Joe Ryan was off today, and his error plus two walks loaded the bases for dark horse MVP candidate Adley Rustchman who of course hit a grand slam. But never underestimate this Rays offense or the ineptitude of the Orioles bullpen, and in the 8th with Meadows on board and two out, this sequence occurred: walk, walk, bases loaded walk, bases loaded walk, 2-run single by Ronaldo Hernandez and we were tied at 5. Nick Anderson got the O's in the 8th and when the Rays didn't score in the 9th, Jose Alvarado did his thing in the bottom of the inning. So in the top of the 10th we started walk, walk, fly out, strike out, Wander RBI single to give them the lead, Merrifield single to load the bases, and then - who else? - an Austin Meadows grand slam. The Rays went on to win 10-5 in 10 with Zack Britton pitching a scoreless 10th in his Rays debut. They ended up with more walks (11) than hits (9). Aaron Nola pitched a 2-hit shutout for Toronto so they're not going anywhere. Incidentally they swept the Red Sox, who while they have had some bad seasons sprinkled in with the good, are now 13-28.

Team record: 30-8.

Art Deco · 06-25-2020, 06:14 PM

May 16: P Ryne Stanek cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA Durham.

Game 1: So should I start with the good news, the bad news or (potentially) the very bad news? The good news is that Blake Snell had a great start, leading the Rays to an 8-2 win over the Royals. He went 7 3 2 2 3 5 and after a shaky first inning where he walked the leadoff batter who went around to score, he settled down after that in an encouraging sign. The bad news? Max Kepler was hurt and is day-to-day for 5 days with a hyperextended knee. The (potentially) very bad news? Austin Meadows was injured going into 2nd base on a first inning double and has the dreaded "diagnosis pending" tag. Needless to say losing the guy leading MLB in WAR and OPS would be a horrendous blow. Keeping our fingers crossed but some roster moves are in the offing with 2 starting OFs down. That Brandon Marsh trade is looking real good right about now. Speaking of Marsh, his bases-clearing double in the 6th broke the game open, making it 5-1. Before being injured Kepler knocked in a couple as did Nelson Cruz, who might need to get his outfielder's glove out of mothballs. The Blue Jays were off so the lead is up to 3 (the Rays still have two games in hand on Toronto).

MEADOWS UPDATE: Torn meniscus, out 4 months. FML, I hate OOTP. This would put him back mid-September so he would be available for the playoffs barring a complete collapse, but with the way Toronto's going there's a chance that could be one game instead of a guaranteed series. Might be time to trade some of this minor league depth I've built up for a major middle-of-the-order bat. For now I can put Brujan in at 2B and play Merrifield in LF. When Kiermaier comes back, Marsh or Yusniel Diaz can play left. Alex Kirilloff would have been a natural replacement but he's still out 6-7 weeks. At least I get 40-man flexibility with Meadows going on the 60-day IL.

May 17: Placed OF Austin Meadows on the 60-day IL with a torn meniscus, recalled OF Josh Lowe from AAA Durham.

For the moment, especially with Kepler out 5 days (he's not going on the IL), I need a decent fielding OF on the team. My internal longer-term options are play Nelson Cruz and his 30 defense in LF and call up Seth Beer (317/386/634 at Durham), purchase the contract of Khris Davis with the 40-man spot open and get .247 with some decent power, or call up Trevor Larnach who's on the 40-man and hitting doubles and for average at Durham but is still looking for his first homer of the year. When Kiermaier comes back in 3 weeks, I can play him and Marsh together as well.

Game 2: The first game in the A.M. (After Meadows) era found the Rays playing a different kind of ballgame than they were used to: having to win with pitching and defense. Well, mostly pitching as Brendan McKay went 6 shutout innings but had to leave due to a high pitch count brought on in part by 4 walks and 7 strikeouts (a Keibert Ruiz dropped foul popup cost him about 15 pitches). No problem though as the Alvarado-Anderson-Hand troika completed the shutout and the Rays won 2-0. Alvarado nearly gave up his first run, allowing a one-out triple, but got a popup and strikeout to get out of it. Hand is now 13-for-13 and McKay goes to 4-1. The Rays had a tough time with former Florida Gator Jackson Kowar but got to him for their two runs in the 2nd. Choi was hit by a pitch and then doubled home by Nelson Cruz, and Cruz came around to score on Yusniel Diaz's groundout. They only had 7 hits in a new-look lineup which saw Wander bat 3rd for the first time and Brujan lead off. They're now 32-8 and with Jays finally losing (to the Mets), the division lead expands to 4 games.

Game 3: Well without Meadows and Kepler in the lineup, it's going to be harder to score runs. That was apparent last night, but the shutout glossed that over. Today, 1 run wasn't going to win it as Yonny Chrinos pitched well but wasn't perfect and the Rays fell 3-1. Things got off to a good start against Lance Lynn in the first when Ji-Man doubled in Merrifield, but that was it for the day. Yonny gave up a 3rd inning HR to Kevin Cron, a run in the 6th, and then old friend Brandon Lowe took him deep to dead center to give us the final score. Zack Britton had 2 perfect innings in relief. The Rays only managed 6 hits and 2 of those came from Ronaldo Hernandez, now hitting a cool .432. Wander continues in his slump, going 0-4 to drop his average to .278. The Mets did us a favor though by smoking the Jays 10-1 to keep the lead at 4 games, and now it's on to LA to play the Angels for 4 games.

Team record: 32-9.

Art Deco · 06-26-2020, 09:17 AM

Game 1: The Rays drop another one with Meadows out but this one can be blamed on the pitching, not the offense, as they fell 9-8 in 10 innings. The Rays got 3 in the first, but Max Fried gave those 3 back in the 2nd only for the Rays to re-take the lead 5-3 in the 4th, including Josh Lowe's first major league HR, and chase Shoei Ohtani. But Fried couldn't stand prosperity again and let the Angels get 3 in the 5th, and then even Shane McClanahan proved he was human by allowing 2 more in the 6th and the Rays were down 8-5. Daniel Norris had come in for Ohtani and did the usual "lefty bedeviling the Rays offense" thing but the Rays put on a huge rally in the 9th off Norris to start and then Ty Buttrey, with Wander delivering a 2-run double and Ji-Man's sac fly tying the game. Nick Anderson got the Angels in the 9th and with three lefties due up bottom 10 and Alvarado tired, Brad Hand came in for the first time this year in a non-save situation, allowed a leadoff single and wild pitched him to second and then allowed a single by lefty Austin Allen (4-5 facing lefties all night) to score the game-winner. Brandon Marsh and Keibert Ruiz each had 3 hits to lead the Rays offense. Jays won to cut the lead to 3.

Game 2: This game started as a carbon copy of last night's as the Rays took a 4-0 lead in the top of the 3rd keyed by a 3-run Nelson Cruz homer, only for Zack Greinke to give it right back in the bottom of the inning with 5 runs against. The Rays tied it in the 5th when Merrifield (who had 3 hits for the night) led off with a double and came around to score on a Wander sac fly. But in the bottom of the 6th Greinke ran into trouble again, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Austin Adams came on and got a big strikeout and then a ground out, and in the top of the 7th Keibert Ruiz singled in a run to put the Rays up 6-5. Alvarado got through the 7th despite allowing a leadoff double, and in the 8th the Rays broke it open on a Brujan RBI double and a 2-run blast by Brandon Marsh against his old team. And in the 9th they broke it open even further with a 2-run HR by Wander and Cruz's 2nd of the game, a solo shot, to make the final score 12-5. Adams got the deserved win after cleaning up Greinke's mess. It's encouraging to see the offense put up 20 runs the last two nights without Meadows, but the starting pitching remains frustratingly inconsistent. Tyler Glasnow will get his shot tomorrow. Meanwhile yes the Jays won again, still a 3-game lead.

May 21: Activated P Tyler Glasnow from his rehab assignment, optioned P Shane McClanahan to AAA Durham.

Someone had to go down, and McClanahan was the choice despite showing he can pitch at the major league level. The addition of Britton gave me a third lefty in the pen and Yonny will become (probably along with Ryan) the long man.

Game 3: Welcome back, Tyler Glasnow! In his first MLB appearance this season, the power righty shut out the Angels over 7 innings, going 7 6 0 0 1 8. He was really only in trouble in the second when he loaded the bases, but got out of it. On any other night the big talk of tonight's game would be Ronaldo Hernandez, who just keeps producing every time he gets a start. Tonight he smacked a pair of 2-run homers (giving him 8 in 48 AB and a cool .958 slugging %), the first to put the Rays on the board in the 3rd and the second part of a 3-run 4th inning as the Rays cruised to a 10-0 win. And on a night when Glasnow and Hernandez hadn't stood out the big news would be the return of Max Kepler to the lineup who doubled and had a 3-run HR, both off lefties, giving him 43 RBI in 38 games. Vidal Brujan had 3 hits, Yusniel Diaz was 2-3 with an RBI and a walk, and even Alec Bohm, the forgotten man on the bench, had 2 hits and an RBI spelling Ji-Man against a lefty. And the Jays were pounded 10-3 at home by Oakland (with a HR from old buddy Kyle Schwarber) so the lead is back to 4.

Game 4: There are ways to lose, and there are ways to lose like the Rays did today, on a walk-off wild pitch. The game was a pretty good pitcher's duel between Joe Ryan and Griffin Canning with Ohtani homering off Ryan in the 4th to give LA a 1-0 lead which was immediately erased in the top of the 5th on an Alec Bohm RBI double. We stayed that way until the 7th when Ji-Man took Canning deep for his 5th of the year to give the Rays a lead, but Jake Cave homered off Ryan in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 2. In a fine outing overall, Ryan ended 7 4 2 2 0 7, Austin Adams got two outs in the eighth but put a man on, Alvarado put another one then got out of the inning and in the bottom of the 9th Alvarado walked Jo Adell with one out, and after Zack Britton came on Adell stole second. He intentionally walked Justin Upton to put men on 1st and 2nd and then got the ground ball he was looking for but the Rays could not turn two and Adell advanced to third where Britton wild-pitched him home and they ended up with a split of this series. The run was charged to Alvarado, the first he's allowed all season. Wander was 0-4 as his slump continues and his BA drops to .267. Toronto blasted Oakland to pull back within 3.

Team record: 34-11.

Art Deco · 06-26-2020, 05:17 PM

Game 1: The Rays gear up for their fourth series already with Boston and their 8-2 record against them is a big reason why the Sox are a terrible 14-33 coming in. Today was a rematch of opening day with Chris Sale going up against Blake Snell, but it was nothing like the 11-8 slugfest that found Boston on top. Although Snell did start a bit shaky, giving up a double to Rafael Devers (seems like we never get him out) and an RBI single to Xander Bogaerts. But in the bottom of the frame Vidal Brujan walked and two batters later Nelson Cruz went oppo into the RF stands to make it 2-1. And in the 2nd Brujan singled and Keibert Ruiz hit one out to left center and it was 4-1. An Abraham Toro solo shot in the 3rd chased Sale and made it 5-1, and that turned out to be the final score as the Rays were happy to swap 0s the rest of the way. Snell for the first time all year put together two quality starts in a row (he was 2 of 8 in that stat coming in), going 7 6 1 1 1 5 (the one walk might have been the most impressive thing) to lower his ERA to a still-ugly 6.61. Adams and Britton pitched scoreless innings to close it out. Toronto won of course so the lead is still 3.

Game 2: It was a disaster of a first inning for Brendan McKay, who gave up a leadoff single and then a 2-run HR from Marcell Ozuna, and then proceeded to allow 2 more runs from there and the Rays were down 4-0 before coming to bat. But McKay settled down from there and didn't allow Boston a thing over the next 5 innings. Meanwhile the Rays chipped away at the Red Sox lead, starting with a Ji-Man RBI double in the bottom of the 1st, a Brandon Marsh RBI double in the 2nd, and an Abe Toro solo shot into the rays touch tank in the 4th. Dany Jimenez got the Sox out in the 7th, and then Keibert Ruiz launched a 3-run HR to give the Rays a 6-4 lead. Anderson and Alvarado got the next 5 outs, and then Hand stuck out Ozuna for the final out for save #14. And yes the Jays won again.

Game 3: On a night when Nelson Cruz singled in the 8th to get his 2,000th career hit, it was all Max Fried and Vidal Brujan. Fried went all the way on a 3-hit shutout (he walked 4 and K'd 5, throwing 120 pitches) while Brujan paced the offense with a 4-4 night as the Rays swept the series with a 5-0 win. Fried's now 5-2 and two of three hits he allowed were of the infield variety, which is where the ball mostly stayed as he picked up 12 outs on the ground. Meanwhile, Brujan ignited the offense, singling to lead off the first and coming around to score on a Wander sac fly, then in the 4th after Toro and Merrifield hit doubles to score the first run, he singled in Merrifield and then came around to score after stealing his second base of the night, going to third on a wild pitch and coming home on a Keibert Ruiz sac fly. Brujan has been the biggest beneficiary of the Meadows injury, getting to bat leadoff and play every day with Merrifield moving to left and has (literally) run with the opportunity, now hitting .330 for the season. And the Rays finally caught a break when the Angels beat the Jays, so the lead which keeps oscillating between 3 and 4 is back up to 4.

Team record: 37-11.

Art Deco · 06-27-2020, 09:23 AM

Advised by my trainer that Kevin Kiermaier will be out another 2-3 weeks in his recovery from a hamstring strain, so I'll say again how glad I am I picked up Brandon Marsh.

Game 1: Tyler Glasnow was dealing again in start #2, striking out the side in the first inning on his way to a 7.1 7 2 2 0 11 line. The two runs against were courtesy of a 5th inning 2-run HR from former Ray Manuel Margot and it gave the O's a brief lead after Wander hit a 500-foot shot to center in the first to put the Rays ahead. After Keibert Ruiz doubled in the bottom of the 5th, Ji-Man singled him home to tie it up, but the Rays offense couldn't break through again until the 8th when Nelson Cruz doubled, went to third on a Toro single and scored on a Merrifield sac fly. Brad Hand handled the Orioles in the 9th for save #15 and the Rays had a hard-fought 3-2 win. Jose Alvarado, who finished up the 8th, picked up his 4th win of the season. The Phillies edged Toronto 2-1 in the return of Aaron Nola to Philadelphia so the division lead expands to 5.

Game 2: Zack Greinke got the call today, and it was another disastrous outing for him. He gave up a 3-run HR to Manuel Margot and a 2-run shot to Austin Hays as part of a 6-run 2nd inning from which the Rays never recovered in a 10-4 loss. Greinke ended with a 3.1 7 8 6 1 1 line and aside from how hard he's been hit, he's not striking out anyone with just 14 Ks in 38.1 innings. He's pitching his way out of the rotation at the moment, and I'm not 100% sure he gets a start the next time around as we're still going with a 6-man rotation. It's possible at age 38 that he's just lost it. Yonny Chirinos pitched the rest of the way, going 5.2 4 2 2 1 5 which is typical Yonny. On offense they did OK with 11 hits and 4 walks but Ronaldo Hernandez had his first rough game, going 0-4 and throwing wildly on an attempted steal of 3rd. Fortunately Philly took care of Toronto again to keep the lead at 5.

Game 3: A classic pitcher's duel today between Joe Ryan and Jimmy Nelson (a guy the Rays always have trouble with for some reason despite his overall numbers) saw the Rays come out on top 2-1. Ryan was brilliant again, going 7 3 1 1 1 5 and upping his season record to 6-0 as his rotation spot remains secure. The Rays got all of their offense in the first inning (and I mean that literally as they had only one hit after the first) when Vidal Brujan led off with a single, came around to score on a Ji-Man single and then Max Kepler doubled Ji-Man home. But that was enough for Ryan as well as Nick Anderson, who fanned two of the three men he faced in the eighth, and Brad Hand, who worked around a leadoff Rutschman single to whiff a pair himself and nail down save #16. Jays beat the Phillies in 12 innings to keep the lead at 5.

Team record: 39-12.

Art Deco · 06-27-2020, 03:20 PM

Game 1: The Rays opened a road trip on Memorial Day in Oakland with Blake Snell getting the start. Snell began brilliantly and the Rays jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 4th inning on a Wander RBI double and then a Nelson Cruz grand slam, his 16th HR of the year, off Daulton Jefferies. But Snell gave 3 runs right back to Oakland in the bottom of the inning on 3 straight doubles and an infield hit. He settled down from there, though, and ended up with a 7 7 3 3 2 7 line for his third straight quality start. Merrifield had an insurance RBI double in the 9th after Alvarado held in the 8th despite putting two runners on, and with Brad Hand tired Nick Anderson picked up his first save of the season despite putting two men on as well. The win takes them to 40-12, and the lead is still 5 as Toronto beat up on Boston 9-3 behind 3 HR from Vlad Jr.

Game 2: A tough loss for the Rays as they blew a 4-2 lead in the 6th and wound up losing 7-4 in 11 innings. Brendan McKay had kind of a mediocre start but thanks to 2 RBI from Ji-Man which came on hustle (he beat out an infield hit to drive in one and beat the relay on a force out that drove in the other) the game was still winnable as it went 4-3 into the 8th. With Nick Anderson unavailable, Austin Adams came on in the 8th and put two runners with one out and was replaced by Alvarado, who allowed a sac fly to tie the game. The Rays offense went hitless over the last 4 1/3, and although Zack Britton pulled Houdini acts in the 9th and 10th to keep Oakland from scoring (bases loaded & 1 out in the 9th, second and third with nobody out in the 10th), Brad Hand, as the last fresh pitcher in the 11th, walked the first two men he faced and promptly gave up a HR to Stephen Piscotty to end the game. Luckily Boston knocked off Toronto to keep the lead at 5.

June 1: Optioned OF Josh Lowe to AAA Durham, purchased the contract of P Ryne Stanek from AAA Durham.

With Adams, Dany Jimenez and Chirinos the only available bullpen arms tonight, another one was needed and with the open spot on the 40-man I was able to bring back Stanek. Maybe Max Fried can pitch consecutive shutouts.

Game 3: Things looked good for the Rays early as they took a 4-1 lead in the 4th behind a 2-run Nelson Cruz HR off the LF foul pole but then it all went very wrong for Max Fried in the bottom of the inning. A series of singles, including a couple of the infield variety and a walk led to Oakland, tying, taking the lead and then after a Brujan error with two out loaded the bases, a grand slam by last night's hero Stephen Piscotty made it 9-4 Oakland just like that. And that was pretty much that as the A's prevailed 10-5. Fried allowed all 10 runs, although only half of them were earned. Wander was 0-3 with a sac fly to see his average now plummet to .256 as his slump continues on as the Rays lose 2 in a row for only the second time this season. Once again, the Jays result parallels the Rays' result as they lose again to Boston and the lead stays at 5.

Game 4: This one had all the hallmarks of another tough Rays loss: the blown leads, the bullpen meltdowns, Hand having to come on in a non-save situation, extra innings. But somehow the Rays prevailed 9-8 in 11 innings. Glasnow got the start and was picking up where he left off in his first 2 starts, retiring the first 10 batters with 4 strikeouts. Then the obligatory starter meltdown inning commenced as it has in several of the last games, and Glasnow turned a 2-0 lead into a 4-2 deficit. Keibert Ruiz hit the first of his two HRs to tie it in the 5th, and the teams exchanged leads and ties until the Rays tied it in the top of the 8th at 8. Ryne Stanek, who was part of the problem walking in the 8th A's run with the bases loaded, became part of the solution as he got the team through the 8th and 9th innings. Brad Hand came on in the 10th, pitched a scoreless inning this time, and Nelson Cruz singled in Ruiz with two out to give them the lead. Hand got through the 11th to pick up the win but it wasn't easy as with one out he hit Franklin Barreto and then Sean Murphy singled but Max Kepler gunned Baretto down trying to take 3rd and David Fletcher grounded out as the Rays exhaled a huge sigh of relief and salvaged a split of the series. Meanwhile the wrong kind of WanderWatch continues as he went 0-6 today to drop his average to .249. The Jays were idle today so the lead grows to 5 1/2 games.

Team record: 41-14.

06-18-2020, 04:10 PM	#21
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	2021-22 Offseason, part 2 December 25 update: First of all, Merry Christmas everyone. Had my Christmas dinner interrupted to get this message: Minimum wage my ass, that was your asking price when I made the initial offer. Almost tempted to withdraw on principle, but I'll play his silly game for now and up my offer (we went through a month of this last winter before he signed). At least Zack Greinke is enjoying Christmas with his family and not bothering MLB GMs. December 28 update: Oakland Athletics: Signed free agent LF Kyle Schwarber to a 3-year contract worth a total of $13,400,000. Seattle Mariners: Signed free agent RP Addison Reed to a 1-year contract worth a total of $2,200,000. Atlanta Braves: Signed free agent SP Tyler Anderson to a 2-year contract worth a total of $15,000,000. Philadelphia Phillies: Signed free agent RP Craig Kimbrel to a 2-year contract worth a total of $15,200,000. Some interesting signings. Of course there goes another one of our rentals from last year, that's a pretty cheap contract for Schwarber and might have been in on that had I known he'd take that little. Of course I'm planning on my own minimum wage version of him to take the DH job next year, Seth Beer. But I do have to say that Schwarber seems like the prototypical Oakland A in a tradition going back to Ken Phelps and Matt Stairs. Anderson had a nice season last year between the Giants and Indians and is a good little pickup for Atlanta. Kimbrel IRL as of 2019 looked cooked with a 6.53 ERA but he's bounced back nicely in our universe and had 31 saves between the Cubs and a return engagement with the Red Sox last season. The Phillies could use a closer as Hector Neris signed with St. Louis earlier and Seranthony Dominguez was pretty mediocre in the role last year. December 31 update: New York Yankees: Signed free agent 2B Kolten Wong to a 6-year contract worth a total of $70,200,000. After losing DJ LeMahieu to free agency last winter with Washington, the Yankees went with Tyler Wade who had a pretty good season as they won 105 games. But they gave the job to Thairo Estrada in the playoffs so I guess they wanted the upgrade at that position. Wong has more of a track record, but he shouldn't be much of an improvement over the 2021 version of Wade. Meanwhile, Brad Hand snubbed my latest offer and now apparently wants $11M. Screw that, especially with my pending Greinke offer out there. January 2 News: Happy New Year everyone! Now this extremely important Rays update: Being a Winthrop man myself, I hope the Kiermaiers appreciate my role in getting Theo placed. That said, Josh Lowe is still set to take over for Kiermaier in 2023 when Kevin's contract is up. January 4 (big) News: The deal is done. But I'd like to know what longtime Rays fans think "the club is too focused on players whose prime has passed them by". Did they go into a coma right after the "Hit Show" in 2000 and just wake up? Anyway, I received a separate message that the fan interest increase is "amazing". So did I need Greinke? No. Am I glad we got him? Yes. Does it mean I might shop Blake Snell, given his fragility and with only one year left on his deal after this one? Maybe. I know at least there's some kind of move to follow since I need to open a 40-man spot. January 8: Placed P Lucas Sims on waivers, added Zack Greinke to the active roster. Had to make room on the 40-man, Sims wasn't fetching anything worth picking up nor was I going to force some kind of 2 for 1 deal, so away he goes. Was hoping he'd clear waivers, but the next day I saw that three teams had claimed him, so oh well. Meanwhile, in a roundup of other MLB news, the Astros continued to improve their bullpen by re-signing Roberto Osuna and adding erstwhile Boston closer Matt Barnes, while the Yankees added San Diego's closer David Bednar but at cost of #40 overall prospect SS Alexander Vargas. Rick Porcello signed with the Braves on a 2-year deal. January 22 MLB Update: Philadelphia Phillies: Signed free agent RP Wade Davis to a 1-year contract worth a total of $2,360,000. San Francisco Giants: Signed free agent 3B Marwin Gonzalez to a 2-year contract worth a total of $16,200,000. Los Angeles Dodgers: Signed free agent RP Zack Britton to a 2-year contract worth a total of $4,000,000. Kansas City Royals: Signed free agent SP Lance Lynn to a 2-year contract worth a total of $11,000,000. The Giants have been spending freely this winter, getting Javy Baez and also signing the top free agent C out there, Tucker Barnhart (unless you consider Sal Perez the best), and now they get Gonzalez, a player I like and was close to acquiring last year. Speaking of guys I was looking at, I was seriously considering Britton as I need a lefty in the pen, but only wanted him for one year. January 24 News: Well just like last year he strung us along for a month before eventually signing, but this time it was for about $500K less. But the bullpen is back intact now (Roe's gone, but the Adams-Alvarado-Anderson setup troika is back). Gotta make room on the 40-man again, this time expect a trade. I'm considering a blockbuster with Pittsburgh sending Snell and Trevor Richards for Josh Bell and Mitch Keller. Bell is a free agent next year, only had 47 HR and 140 RBI and is a switch-hitter with no discernible platoon difference who would make sense for our lefty-heavy middle of the order (Meadows/Kepler/Choi). Snell has this year and next left on his contract but Keller would make a very good 4th-5th starter and has a few years of control himself. I'm mulling this one, it would also probably mean Ji-Man would be on the move as I remain committed to giving Beer/Kirilloff the DH slot (they're ready and I can't keep making them play AAA). Still not sure about this, though. January 26 Update: New York Yankees: Signed free agent RP Archie Bradley to a 2-year contract worth a total of $15,800,000. The biggest free agent left on the market goes to New York as they continue to add to their bullpen (guess when you blow 11-0 leads in the playoffs you can never have enough relievers). They added Zuber, Bednar, Bradley to go with Giles and Chapman at the back end as the AL East Bullpen Arms Race continues. January 29: Tampa Bay Rays traded 28-year-old reliever Diego Castillo and 25-year-old minor league reliever Grant Wolfram to the Cleveland Indians, getting 23-year-old minor league starting pitcher CJ Van Eyk, 23-year-old minor league reliever Nick Frasso and 20-year-old minor league second baseman Christian Cairo in return. Someone had to go to make room for Hand and it was time to get off the Diegocoaster. Got 3 pretty good prospects, Van Eyk and Frasso were Cleveland's two first round picks in 2020 and put up good numbers, and Cairo is another excellent prospect (one who also happened to play little league baseball in Safety Harbor, FL with my sons as well). February 5 Update: Signed Drew Smyly and Chris Volstad to minor league contracts to give Durham and the organization some more pitching depth. Smyly would have probably been called up at one point last season had he not gotten injured, and that of course has been his problem throughout his career. In MLB doings, former Ray Tommy Pham signed a 2-year, $23.2M deal with Seattle. March 2: Traded 28-year-old reliever Trevor Richards and 20-year-old minor league third baseman Daury Del Rosario to the Chicago Cubs, getting 23-year-old minor league shortstop Nick Loftin and 23-year-old minor league reliever Hunter Bigge in return. Goodbye, Richie. Got a message the fan interest decreased which is kind of silly since he was up-and-down throughout 2020 and was the 13th man on the staff in 2021. Guess we get that whenever a player that's been on the team a few years get dealt. Anyway, wanted to open a 40-man spot for a veteran C or a decent RH bat and picked up a prime prospect in Loftin, a bat-first SS (with quite a bat) that I'll be moving to 2B and Bigge is a lottery ticket with a decent arm. Not concerned about throwing in Del Rosario. Time for spring training games to begin. March 7: Signed OF Khris Davis to a 1-year minor league contract. Time to start scooping up some leftovers from free agency, and Davis and his .247 average with RH power could come in useful. March 12: Signed C Christian Vazquez to a 1-year minor league contract. Wanted to get Sal Perez here, but his demands seemed too high. So imagine my surprise when he signed a minor league deal with the A's. So Vazquez seemed to be the next best choice when Yan Gomes got all pissy that I offered him a minor-league deal. He's an 80 on D, making him a good complement to play 1/3 of the time for Keibert Ruiz. Also in a spring training scare, Blake Snell had to come out of a game in the 3rd inning but it was just back spasms to sideline him for a few days. March 23: Placed P Tyler Glasnow on the 15-day IL with triceps tendinitis. Welp. The Greinke signing looks less of a luxury now and more of a necessity, as Glasnow is supposed to be out 7 weeks so with a rehab and all he'll miss the first two months of the season. Hopefully this is the only significant injury we get out of spring training which is mercifully almost over. March 24: Placed P Zack Greinke on the 15-day IL with biceps tendinitis. Maybe it's time to find a new trainer. So much for that insurance policy, although Greinke is only supposed to miss two weeks. Guess that makes Yonny the 5th starter now. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-19-2020 at 10:53 PM.

06-19-2020, 11:59 PM	#22
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	Opening Day 2022 March 31: Signed OF/DH Nelson Cruz to a 1-year, $7M contract, placed P Josh Fleming on waivers. Need that right-handed power in between Meadows, Choi and Kepler. Cruz has been linked to the Rays for years, and he hit 40 HR at age 40 last year. If he doesn't pan out, there's still Beer and Kirilloff at Durham, but of course they're both lefty hitters. Beer hit a few HR early in spring, then slumped badly while Kirilloff produced well and was the last cut in favor of Cruz. I know I said I was going to play the kids, but... Elsewhere, Fleming had to be on the 40 after coming off the 60-day DL in the offseason. Here's the opening day roster. There are actually some kids on it, though. C-K.Ruiz, R.Hernandez 1B-Choi 2B-Merrifield SS-Wander Franco 3B-Toro CI-Bohm MI-Brujan OF-Meadows, Kiermaier, Kepler, Yusniel Diaz DH-N.Cruz SP-Snell, McKay, Fried, Ryan, Chirinos RP-Hand, Anderson, Alvarado, Adams, Nix, D.Jimenez, Gonsolin, Menez. DL: Greinke, Glasnow. Ronaldo got the nod over Christian Vazquez thanks to a hitting tear he went on late in ST, he probably goes down to play regularly later but I figured I'd reward him in the short term. Brujan makes the team as the backup middle infielder, but I will try to work him in some for Merrifield, who can also play the outfield. Gonsolin and Menez make the team due to the injuries to 2/5 of the rotation. Latest word on Greinke is that he will be out a little longer than expected. Wonderful. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-20-2020 at 12:01 AM.

06-20-2020, 08:00 AM	#23
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	March 31-April 3, vs Boston (4) Game 1: Opening Day started off poorly for the Rays as Blake Snell wasn't sharp at all and gave up a 3-run HR to Xander Bogaerts in the 1st inning. And it didn't get better from there as Snell loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth and Tony Gonsolin let them all score along with 2 of his own and the Rays were down 9-0. And this was before they even had their first hit off Chris Sale. But the hits started coming, and a 4-run bottom of the 5th was capped off by a 3-run homer from Wander. Keibert Ruiz then added a massive shot to dead center to make it 9-5, and the Rays got to reliever Josh Taylor for 3 more in the 8th and incredibly it was 9-8. But Austin Adams couldn't hold it there in the 9th, yielding a 2-run HR to Adam Eaton, and while someone named Durbin Feltman came in to close and the Rays loaded the bases against him in the 9th, they couldn't push a run across and Boston took the opener 11-8. In their Rays debuts, Ruiz was 3-5 with that HR, Abraham Toro was 3-4, Max Kepler was 0-4 but had 2 RBI on a sac fly and a ground out, and Nelson Cruz was 0-3 with a pair of walks. April 1: Signed IF Ehire Adrianza to a minor league contract. This year's Freddy Galvis, Adrianza will provide a credible middle infield backup if Brujan doesn't produce/doesn't play enough. Game 2: Vidal Brujan, ladies and gentlemen. Making his MLB debut, Brujan came through a key RBI triple and doubled and scored as the Rays got their first win of the year, 5-3 over the Red Sox. Brendan McKay started and was pretty good even if he wasn't exactly dominant (6 8 2 2 0 6). His only mistake was a second inning 2-run shot by Eric Thames on an 0-2 pitch. That put the Rays in another early hole but this time they didn't let it get out of hand. Alec Bohm, getting a start at 1B, went deep to make it 2-1 in the 4th, and then Brjuan took over, tripling in Kepler, scoring on a Kiermaier ground out and giving the Rays their first lead of 2022. Insurance was acquired in the 7th when Brujan's double was the key hit loading the bases for Kiermaier to hit a 2-run single through the drawn-in infield. Alvarado and Nick Anderson had shutdown 1-2-3 2K innings in the 7th and 8th and then things got interesting in the 9th with Brad Hand. He got 2 outs around a Buster Posey double and looked to have the game won when Ender Inciarte popped to Bohm in foul territory. However Bohm dropped it, Inciarte then doubled to make it 5-3, Jose Peraza singled to put runners and 1st and 3rd, but Hand got pinch-hitter Yairo Munoz to ground out to secure win #1. Rick Hahn, GM of the White Sox, just offered me Eloy Jimenez for Blake Snell, the first time I think I got a legitimate blockbuster offer unsolicited. Usually it's your star for someone just halfway decent. Needless to say I turned him down given the state of the rotation (and I'm also glad now I didn't trade Snell for Josh Bell earlier, bad opening day outing aside). Game 3: It's not too often a team can allow 6 HRs and win, but that's what the Rays did today in a 12-7 win over Boston. Max Fried started and was great - except for when he pitched to Marcell Ozuna. The Red Sox LF took him deep twice on solo shots and the Rays were down again 2-0 mid 4th but Alec Bohm, DHing in place of Nelson Cruz today, hit his second in as many games, a 2-run shot to tie it up. And then in the sixth the Rays took the lead for good on an Abraham Toro (he strong like bull) grand slam. Fried made it through seven, but allowed a solo shot to Alex Verdugo to end with a fine 7 4 3 3 2 7 line. The Rays really busted it open in the bottom of the 7th, scoring 6 times in all kinds of ways including a Boston error, a Wander HBP with the bases loaded and then a 2-run single from Merrifield and a 2-run double from Austin Meadows, his first hit of the season. But entrusted with a 12-3 run lead in the ninth, Tony Gonsolin crapped the bed again allowing Ozuna's 3rd of the game and a 2-run shot by Verdugo. Jacob Nix finished up but allowed an Eric Thames longball as the fans in the Trop OF came away with quite a few souvenirs. Lost in the all the longballs was Ronaldo Hernandez's first start of the season which saw him go 2 for 3 (his first MLB hits) with a walk, also gunning down Rafael Devers trying to steal. April 3: Optioned P Tony Gonsolin to AAA Durham, recalled P Shane McClanahan. Right now I don't trust Gonsolin in a 10-run game so up comes our top pitching prospect, to work either long relief or if I need some key lefties out in the middle innings. Game 4: The Rays couldn't stop Rafael Devers, who was 4 for 5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI today. But it didn't matter as those were only 6 runs Boston scored in a 7-6 Rays win. Joe Ryan got the start and after giving up an RBI double to Devers in the first, settled down and ended up striking out 7 through the first 4 innings. Meanwhile, the Rays took advantage of a dropped fly ball in the first by Alex Verdugo to have Ji-Man follow with an RBI single which immediately tied the game. Then Ji-Man went to work in the third, with his 3-run shot off Marcus Walden the highlight of a 5-run inning that put the Rays up 6-1 (Choi was 4-4 with 4 RBI today). But Ryan struggled in the 5th, allowing a 3-run HR to Devers and necessitating his exit. Enter the just-recalled Shane McClanahan, who was brilliant in his MLB debut. McClanahan went 2 2/3, allowing two hits, no walks, no runs and striking out 4 to pick up the win. Kiermaier added a 6th inning HR to make it 7-4 and that turned out to be big as although Nick Anderson got the Rays through the 8th, Brad Hand was shaky again in the 9th, giving up a one-out 2-run HR to Devers and then allowing Yairo Munoz to double with 2 out before finally getting Bogaerts on a fly ball as a collective "whew" was heard throughout Tropicana Field. The 3-1 start is the mirror image of last year's opening 4-game series against Boston where they lost 3 of 4. The new-look offense is firing on all cylinders with 32 runs in these first 4 games but the pitching (albeit mostly in spots: Snell's bad start, Gonsolin's arson, a shaky Brad Hand) hasn't been that great, allowing 27 runs of their own. Not sure winning by an average score of 8-7 is something sustainable. Random notes: Nelson Cruz had his first 2 hits in a Rays uniform, including a double which was followed by an Abraham Toro double to get the final run in that 5-run 3rd. Keibert Ruiz also had an RBI single. Brujan got another start, picking up a single in the 8th but was cut down attempting to get his first MLB steal. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-20-2020 at 12:54 PM.

06-20-2020, 02:09 PM	#24
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 4-6, 2022 at New York Yankees (2) April 4: P Josh Fleming cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA Durham. Game 1: The Yankees came into their home opener 0-4 after being swept north of the border by the Blue Jays, and 0-8 when you add in last year's ALCS sweep by the White Sox. So it was into the lion's den to face a wounded lion. But the Rays dug in their claws in the first when with two out Meadows singled, stole second and scored on a double by the scorching hot Ji-Man Choi. The Rays tacked on two more in the second on a Kiermaier RBI single and a Wander sac fly. Yonny Chirinos meanwhile got the start and was rolling through 4, striking out 5 and only allowing a Stanton HR. A Kepler sac fly and a Toro RBI double in the 5th made it 5-1 before Yonny got into trouble in the bottom of the frame, allowing a 2-run HR to Gio Urshela and solo shot to Luke Voit which cut the lead to 5-4. He got through the 6th, Austin Adams got through the 7th, and then Toro launched a solo blast to make it 6-4 in the 8th. Like yesterday the Rays needed to cash in that insurance policy as Nick Anderson struggled in the 8th. After getting two out, he walked Stanton and Judge and gave up an RBI single to Miguel Andujar. Jacob Nix got him out of the inning and then the Rays loaded the bases with nobody out against Aroldis Chapman but hit into two forces at the plate and Toro flew out, which reminds me of this run expectancy chart Jason Collette would post on Twitter when the Rays had this situation in the past: With Hand unavailable, Nix started the 9th but gave up a leadoff single to Robinson Chirinos, Jose Alvarado came on to face the lefty Kolten Wong, walked him, but got a strikeout, force out and fly ball to strand the runners and to hang on for another close win. It helped that the final batter was Tyler Wade and not Stanton, as the Yankees had pinch ran for him in the 8th. Yonny gets the win with a 6 7 4 4 0 6 line and Toro was "man of the match" going 3-5 with that HR and 2 RBI as the Yankees are now looking up out of an 0-5 hole. Day off tomorrow which will give the pen a much-needed rest before Snell tries to wash away the sour taste of his opening start and will face Gerrit Cole. April 6: Claimed P Ryne Stanek on waivers, designated P Tony Gonsolin for assignment, optioned P Conner Menez to AAA Durham. Welcome back Ryne Stanek. He's a definite upgrade for the pen (sub-3 ERAs and a K per inning the last 2 years) and really had no business being on waivers (he got a save for the Cubs on opening day but they claimed Trevor Gott from the Mets and Adam Kolarek from the Dodgers so they needed room). Gonsolin was the easy choice to go from the 40-man, and Menez hadn't pitched yet for the Rays as McClanahan usurped his role as the lefty long man. Game 2: Things looked bleak early when Blake Snell was off his game again, walking the bases loaded with 2 out in the first and surrendering a grand slam to Miguel Andujar. This came after Keibert Ruiz homered in the first off Gerrit Cole but falling behind 4-1 early against him is not a great plan for success. But then again we're forgetting about the offensive juggernaut which is the 2022 Tampa Bay Rays. Merrifield had an RBI single in the 2nd to make it 4-2 and Ruiz homered again off Cole in the 5th to make it 4-3. Snell settled down admirably after the bad first inning but still let Thairo Estrada hit one into the short RF porch to make it 5-3. But the Rays went to work in the 6th. Alec Bohm (filling in at DH) singled in a run, another Merrifield RBI single tied the game, and Kiermaier stroked a 2-run double to put the Rays up 7-5. Snell made it into the 7th, where he allowed a leadoff single to Andujar and was replaced by Ryne Stanek who finished off the inning with a couple of strikeouts. And then Wander went to work, ripping a 2-run shot into the RF stands to make it 9-5, and Austin Adams and Dany Jimenez blanked the Yanks the rest of the way, and we're 5-1 now, averaging just under 8 runs per game. Snell ended up with a 6 3 5 5 3 7 line which was actually very good once you got past the first (5 2 1 1 0 6) and evened his record at 1-1. The encouraging thing about this offensive start is that it's almost completely come without anything from Meadows or Kepler, a combined 1-10 today and hitting .130 and .136 respectively with 0 HR and 5 RBI between them. It's on for another set with Boston as hopefully we treat the Sox home opener as we treated the Yankees'. Team record: 5-1, 1/2 game behind Toronto's 6-1 as the Jays finally lost today. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-20-2020 at 07:48 PM.

06-20-2020, 07:50 PM	#25
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 7-10, 2022 at Boston (3) Game 1: I'm not even going to try to describe this game, so here's the box score. All I will note is that Brendan McKay got the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the first inning on 3 pitches and all hell broke loose after that. Congrats Ronaldo Hernandez on your first MLB HR, and I guess Shane McClanahan is something special. Also somehow there were only 4 HRs total in this game. One of them came from Meadows, who had a better-than-a-cycle game with an extra double in lieu of a single. Thank goodness tomorrow's an off day. April 8: Signed P Mike Minor and P Arodys Vizcaino to minor league contracts. Vizcaino still has a live arm but if he ends up having to be added to the roster, we might be in some kind of trouble, although a few more 19-17 games and who knows? The big get here is Minor, who has some problems staying healthy but is pretty effective when he is; last year he had 1.6 WAR in 142 innings between the Mets and the White Sox. The Mets had signed him to a big contract and then traded him to the White Sox, who waived him at the beginning of the year. With his $7.5M salary, he cleared so I offered him $4M if he makes the team. With Greinke still having an unknown return date and Glasnow out for 4-5 more weeks, I wanted to have the depth in the short term. Game 2: It was nice to return to normal baseball today, although there's nothing normal about how well the Rays continue to hit. They took a 7-1 decision over the Red Sox by scoring one run in 7 of the 9 innings and hitting 8 doubles. The only HR came from Whit Merrifield, while the Big Ray Machine knocked out 16 hits in total, led by Nelson Cruz's 3 for 5 with 2 RBI. Kiermaier had 2 more doubles today and 2 more RBI and it speaks to how top-to-bottom solid this offense is that his 11 RBI lead the team despite hitting out of the 9-hole. Meanwhile Max Fried wasn't at his best and pitching around baserunners all day (his line was 6.1 8 1 1 2 3) but he still got the key outs and the one run was the fewest the Rays have allowed in a game this year as they go to 6-2. Jacob Nix had a 1-2-3 outing to finish the game after his 7-batter, 7-run debacle yesterday. Game 3: Joe Ryan got the call today and picked up some early support when Nelson Cruz hit his first Rays HR, a 2-run shot off Marcus Walden in the top of the 1st. He made that stand up until the 5th, when doubles by Alex Verdugo and Buster Posey tied the game, and Posey came around to score on a sac fly, so after an 4th inning Devers solo shot (could hardly get him out this series) Boston had taken a 3-2 lead. But no problem for the Rays as Austin Meadows launched a 2-run dinger in the top of the 6th to restore the Rays advantage. Wander Franco added a run in the 7th with a sac fly and after Ryan got through the 6th, Ryne Stanek, Jose Alvarado and Brad Hand (with his best outing of the season, a 1-2-3 9th with strikeouts of Bogaerts and Verdugo) shut Boston down on 1 hit the rest of the way for a nice, normal 5-3 win. Ryan nabbed his first win of the year and Hand his 3rd save. Only 8 hits and 0 walks for the offense, but even on a quiet day they managed 5 runs. Team record: 7-2, though still 1 1/2 games behind the 9-1 Blue Jays. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-21-2020 at 12:18 PM.

06-21-2020, 01:04 PM	#26
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 11-13, 2022: at Chicago White Sox (3) April 11: Sent P Zack Greinke to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment. Greinke was ready to come back from his biceps tendinitis, so off to Durham he went for one start since he wasn't out long and had a full spring training. Gave him the start tonight at Durham and managed the game and he was just fine, going 6.2 4 2 2 0 4 with the two runs coming on a HR. Typical Greinke, and he'll be good to start this weekend against the Phillies. By the way Durham won 8-3 behind Khris Davis's 3-4 with a HR. Game 1: The Rays had a rough time of it last year in Chicago, losing 3 of 4 to the eventual World Series champs. Today, though, was anything but rough as the Rays rode the strong pitching of Yonny Chirinos and four longballs to a comfortable 7-1 win. Chirinos pitched like he didn't want Greinke to replace him in the rotation, going 7 4 1 1 2 8 to go to 2-0. Rays had to wait until the 3rd inning to start scoring, but score they did picking up runs on an RBI double from Kiermaier, an RBI single from Wander and a HR from Meadows after Wander was caught stealing. Nelson Cruz had his second HR in as many days to make it 4-0 in the 4th, and later Wander and Ronaldo Hernandez had 9th inning blasts to provide the final margin of victory. And for once Toronto lost meaning the Rays are 1/2 game behind. Game 2: This was the ultimate gut-it-out win, something the Rays haven't had to do much this year. Blake Snell, after two poor starts, struggled in this one again although he managed to hang in there and limit the damage. A bad 2nd saw the only runs score against him in his 5.2 6 2 2 4 2 outing. Meanwhile the Rays were being no-hit by Lucas Giolito through 5, but they broke through in the top of the 6th. Merrifield led off with a single, Kiermaier was hit by a pitch, and then Wander doubled home Merrifield to put runners at 2nd and 3rd. Keibert Ruiz followed with a single through the drawn-in infield, scoring them both. Ryne Stanek, who got Snell out of the 6th, stayed in and surrender a leadoff HR to Luis Robert to tie the game but the Rays retook the lead in the 8th when Kiermaier singled, went to third on a ground out and a fly out, and was singled home by Meadows. Anderson took care of the 8th, and Brad Hand struck out the side in the 9th after allowing a leadoff single to preserve the 4-3 win. Austin Adams got the win with a 4-strikeout 7th inning which included Jose Abreu reaching on a passed ball after a K. The Rays only had 6 hits for the game which I'm pretty sure is a season low, but it didn't matter. Game 3: Brendan McKay, fresh off getting torched for 7 runs in 1 1/3 innings in the 19-17 loss to Boston, had his first start since and didn't fare that much better, giving up 4 runs and 8 hits in 4 innings. But his teammates, especially Shane McClanahan and Keibert Ruiz, picked him up as the Rays swept the White Sox with a 12-4 win. McClanahan came in for McKay and got him out a jam in the 5th, on his way to a 2.2 1 0 0 2 5 outing and another win. Ruiz, meanwhile, launched a 2-run HR to get the Rays on the board in the 3rd and had a pair of RBI singles. The biggest hit came from Meadows, a 3-run HR in the 5th that put them in the lead to stay. Alec Bohm also had a bases-clearing double as the league's top offense lit up the scoreboard again. Team record: 10-2. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-24-2020 at 10:45 PM.

06-21-2020, 07:29 PM	#27
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 15-17, 2022: vs Philadelphia (3) Game 1: Back to the Trop for the first time since opening weekend and it turned out to be a classic, back-in-the-day Rays-type game that saw the inning-by-inning scoreline in binary. The Rays prevailed 2-0 in their first shutout of the year and it was also the first time they've scored fewer than 4 runs in a game. Max Fried started and went 4 two-hit innings before having to leave with forearm soreness, his first injury as a Ray. It doesn't seem too serious as he'll only be out 6 days, but it temporarily answers whose spot in the rotation Greinke will take. Wander provided all the offense that was needed with a 3rd inning HR off Zack Wheeler, and Abraham Toro supplied an RBI single in the 6th. Jacob Nix pitched the fifth and sixth and picked up the win, while the Alvarado-Anderson-Hand troika completed the combined 4-hit shutout, Hand getting save #5. And Cleveland beat the Blue Jays so the Rays move into first place, 1/2 game up. Game 2: The Rays made it 7 in a row behind a dominant Joe Ryan performance. The righty won his second game of the year with a 6 3 1 1 2 11 line that was blemished only by my bringing him out for the 7th inning and allowing a solo HR to Derek Fisher. At that point it made the game 2-1 Rays as they had picked up 2 runs in the 4th off Spencer Howard on a bases-loaded GIDP by Nelson Cruz and an RBI single from Vidal Brujan. Ryne Stanek got the Rays through the 7th, and the Rays then busted it open against Howard and brief former teammate Tony Watson for 4 runs capped by a Max Kepler bases-clearing double, his biggest hit so far as a Ray. Things did get a bit dicey in the 8th when Stanek got the first out, and with lefties Nate Lowe and Bryce Harper due and Jose Alvarado unavailable, Shane McClanahan got the call but walked Lowe and surrendered a HR to Harper to make it 6-3. And to make matters worse he had to leave the game after retiring the next batter with a "diagnosis pending" injury. Austin Adams got the final out in the inning and a 1-2-3 ninth to nail down his first save of the season and Wander singled in a run to make the final 7-3. April 17: Placed P Shane McClanahan on the 15-day IL, activated P Zack Greinke from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham. No word yet on McClanahan's injury, but I'm guessing it's not good. Greinke makes his Rays debut today with the start against the Phillies. Also in not-good injury news, Alex Kirilloff suffered a serious hamstring injury at Durham last night and will be out 2-3 months. Game 3: Having won 12 of 13, the Rays were due for a clunker, but we didn't expect to clunk so hard. Zack Greinke had a nightmarish Rays debut, allowing 4 runs in the 1st (including an uncharacteristic bases-loaded walk), then surrendered a 3-run HR to Andrew McCutchen in the 2nd. He hung around for 3 1/3, allowing another run to make the final damage total 8 runs and 11 hits, and he didn't strike out anybody. Maybe he could have used another rehab start. The final was 10-2, with the Rays runs coming on Yusniel Diaz's first HR of the year and an Alec Bohm sac fly against his old organization. The Jays won but the Rays remain 1/2 game up. Team record: 12-3. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-21-2020 at 10:26 PM.

06-22-2020, 09:21 AM	#28
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 18-20, 2022 vs Texas (3) I'll lead off here by saying for the first time playing OOTP I had an "injury, diagnosis pending" turn out to be basically nothing as my trainer informed me Shane McClanahan had a minor abdominal strain and is good to go. Too bad I put him on the 15-day DL yesterday. Enjoy the two weeks off, Shane! Game 1: This looked like it might be an easy win as the Rays went up 3-0 against Tyler Phillips, hardly a Cy Young candidate. But Phillips settled in after a 1st inning that had Max Kepler deliver a key 2-run single (the Rays loaded the bases again in the inning but couldn't score) and a subsequent Meadows sac fly. Meanwhile Yonny Chirinos was pitching another fine game, up 3-1 after 6. But he ran into trouble in the 7th when Nick Ciuffo singled home Rougned Odor who had doubled. Enter Nick Anderson, Jose Alvarado and Brad Hand once again to close the door, and Kiermaier added insurance with a solo HR as the Rays won 4-2. Meadows ended 3-3 on the night with the sac fly, and Keibert Ruiz had two more hits and was hit by a pitch. Yonny goes to 3-0 off his efficient 6.1 7 2 2 1 3 line and Hand gets save #6. One true oddity from this game: the Rays did not strike out a single time, which I'm pretty sure is the first time in my 2+ years of managing the Rays this has happened. Game 2: A high-drama affair at the Trop as Blake Snell pitched far and away his best game of the season, but was matched pitch-for-pitch by one of the league's worst starters the last few years, Texas's Kyle Gibson. The Rays came closest to scoring of either team through the first 7 innings when Joey Gallo gunned down Whit Merrifield at the plate in the 2nd, but it wasn't until Kyle Seager hit a 2-out solo HR off Snell in the top of the 8th that the ice was broken. Snell got through the inning and had a brilliant 8 3 1 1 1 8 line on an efficient 96 pitches. But in the bottom of the 8th, Kiermaier led off with a solo HR off Gibson and later in the inning Meadows hit a 2-out double and came around to score on Ji-Man's single, this time testing Gallo's arm and passing. So with Brad Hand tired, Nick Anderson came on for the save in the 9th but ran into quick trouble, allowing an Elvis Andrus leadoff single and after a Willie Calhoun double put runners on 2nd and 3rd, Danny Santana's sac fly tied the game. With Gallo due up Jose Alvarado came on, got him to ground out and struck out Lewin Diaz. Texas brought on their closer Jose LeClerc in the bottom of the inning and he walked Nelson Cruz to start the inning. Vidal Brujan came in to pinch run but it was more like pinch jog as Abraham Toro drilled a LeClerc offering into the RF stands to give the Rays a 4-2 walk-off win and improve them to 14-3. The Jays fell to Kansas City so the Rays up their lead to 1 1/2 games. Game 3: Brendan McKay took the hill today, and the Rays' most consistent starter over the last 2 seasons was coming off perhaps the worst two-start stretch of his career, torched for 11 runs in 5 innings combined. But like Blake Snell yesterday, he came through with a dominating start (6.1 3 1 1 3 12) and like Snell yesterday he wasn't provided with much run support. The Rays struggled some with wily veteran Johnny Cueto, although it helped him that Wander got his first day off and Nelson Cruz and Keibert Ruiz also sat for this Wednesday matinee. Brujan got his first start at SS and immediately booted his first chance in the 1st inning but McKay pitched around it. Still, Rougned Odor's solo shot in the 2nd had Texas up early, but a walk to Meadows, a single from Alec Bohm and another single from Toro enabled the Rays to equalize in the 4th. And then in the 6th Ji-Man took Cueto the opposite way for his 2nd HR of the season (he's hitting a cool .414 at the moment) to put the Rays up 2-1. Ryne Stanek and Austin Adams bridged the gap in the 7th and 8th, and in the bottom of the 8th Meadows hit an inside-the-park HR off Brandon Workman to make it 3-1. That run proved huge as Brad Hand gave up a leadoff double which came around to score but he struck out Sam Huff to end the game and earn save #7. McKay goes to 2-1 and brings his ERA down to a still-unsightly 6.87. McKay and Snell were aided the last two days by a very lefty-heavy Texas lineup but it was still good to see them back in form, especially now that the offense is cooling off. Max Kepler continues to have trouble hitting his way out of a paper bag, now down to .140 with 0 HR. Renfroe isn't doing much better with Minnesota, with only 1 HR himself. Still a minor blemish on what is an MLB-best 15-3 record, but a record only good for a 1.5 game lead as Toronto won. Team record: 15-3. Day off tomorrow before a 3-game home set against Minnesota and our good buddy Renfroe. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-22-2020 at 03:55 PM.

06-22-2020, 04:53 PM	#29
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 22-24, 2022 vs Minnesota (3) Before we get into this weekend's series, here's a look at the MLB Standings and batting leaders going in: As you can see Ji-Man leads the AL in batting average and Meadows is third in the AL in WAR. The Brewers have been something else in the NL as Corbin Burnes and Dennis Rasmussen have given them great pitching, the Dodgers are the Dodgers and the Braves are the Braves. Closer to home, the Yankees knocked off the Jays last night to expand the Rays' lead to 2 games (3 in the loss column). After their 0-6 start the Yankees are back in the swing with a 9-4 run and Baltimore with Adley Rutschman dominating as a #1 overall pick should is 10-10. The Tigers are off to another fast start in a mediocre division (they seem a little more "real" this year) while in the west Houston is down (but not out) right now with their top two pitchers (Scherzer, Forrest Whitley) on the shelf for a while. Game 1: In the battle of slumping rightfielders traded for each other, give Round 1 to Hunter Renfroe. Coming in with 1 HR and 4 RBI on the season, Renfroe returned to the Trop and hit a pair of 3-run homers in a 10-4 Minnesota win. Max Kepler was apparently inspired enough by the challenge to finally hit his 1st HR as a Ray but it wasn't nearly enough. Coming off his minor injury, Max Fried got the start and wasn't at his sharpest. He got out of the first allowing two baserunners and got out of the second after loading the bases, but his profligacy caught up with him in the 3rd when he allowed an RBI single and the first of Renfroe's 3-run blasts. Fried ended up with a 5 5 4 4 5 6 line, with the five walks very unlike him. It stayed 4-1 until the 7th when Dany Jimenez put a couple of men on, and Jacob Nix gave up an Andrew Benintendi 2-run HR that made it 7-1. Kiermaier had a 2-run shot and Ji-Man hit an absolute blast to deep LCF but Ryne Stanek gave up the 2nd 3-run Renfroe shot in the 9th to give us the final score. Outside of the 3 HRs the Rays couldn't do much with Jose Berrios although Meadows had a single to keep his hitting streak alive at 13. Toronto won so the lead is down to 1 game. Game 2: Zack Greinke made his second Rays start and while it wasn't the nightmare his first one was, he wasn't that great either, pitching to a 5.1 7 3 3 2 4 line. But it was enough to earn him his first Rays victory as the bullpen was brilliant again, holding Minnesota hitless over the final 3 2/3 to preserve a 5-3 Rays win. The Rays jumped out quickly to a 3-0 lead in the first when Wander led off with a walk, Keibert Ruiz doubled and Austin Meadows wasted no time keeping his now-14-game hitting streak alive with a 3-run blast, his 6th of the year. The Twins quickly got two back against Greinke in the 2nd, but Ruiz and Meadows had back-to-back doubles in the 3rd to make it 4-2. Benintendi homered off Greinke in the 5th to cut it back to 4-3 and Grienke put a couple of runners on with one out in the 6th. Enter Austin Adams, who immediately induced a 5-4-3 double play from Jacob Stallings to snuff the threat. Alvarado and Anderson kept it that way until Nelson Cruz added a sac fly in the 8th, and for once the Rays didn't need the insurance run as Hand got the side 1-2-3 in the 9th for save #8, capping the game off with a strikeout of last night's nemesis Hunter Renfroe. The Yankees edged Toronto, so the lead is back to 2. Game 3: Ever have one of those days where everything goes right? Well that was the Rays today as they bombed Minnesota 10-1. Three players in particular were standouts today. First on the mound Joe Ryan got the start and with 6 starters going at the moment and off days in between it's like college where you pitch once a week. The rest apparently benefited Ryan as he dominated, going 7 3 1 1 0 8 to go to 3-0. And on offense the stars today were a pair of homegrown talents, Ronaldo Hernandez and Wander Franco. Hernandez clubbed two massive (as in no-doubt) HRs, a 2-run shot to make it 3-0 after Wander led off the 1st with a solo shot, and another 2-run blast in the 6th. All he's done so far in spelling Keibert Ruiz is to go 9 for 22 with 4 HR and 7 RBI. Speaking of Wander, he capped off the festivities with an 8th-inning grand slam, giving him a 2 HR, 5 RBI day to perhaps get rid of the little snowflake next to his name in the lineup. And Austin Meadows didn't do much today but got 1 hit in his 5 at-bats to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, currently tops in MLB. Also chipping in were Whit Merrifield with 3 hits, Yusniel Diaz in a rare start showing no rust by going 2-4 and scoring 3 runs, and Max Kepler getting the Rays' 2nd inside-the-park HR of the week. The Rays are now off to a franchise-best 17-4 start (they were 17-5 in 2010 and 2021). They can't shake Toronto, though, who took 2 of 3 from the Yankees this weekend and remain 2 back. Team record: 17-4. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-22-2020 at 11:08 PM.

06-23-2020, 08:14 AM	#30
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 26-28, 2022: at Baltimore (3) Game 1: This one was over before the Orioles even came to the plate as the Rays put up a touchdown and extra point in the top of the first and cruised to a 13-2 win at Camden Yards. The first was highlighted by a 2-run Max Kepler double and then later in the inning, a bases-clearing double from Whit Merrifield. It was all way more than Yonny Chirinos needed; after he gave up Adley Rutschman's MLB-leading 12th HR of the season in the first he wasn't touched again until a leadoff single he allowed in the 9th came around to score. His final line was a very Yonny-like 8 5 2 2 0 3 to go to 4-0 on the season. Meadows singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, and the Rays were beneficiaries of 11 walks from Baltimore pitchers to go along with 13 hits. Every Ray in the lineup had at least one hit, and every one had at least one walk except Merrifield (who's still looking for his first of the season - he's pulling off the mean feat of batting .302 but with a .297 OBP). Kepler led the team with a season-high 4 RBI and Nelson Cruz had the team's only HR, a solo shot in the 3rd. The 18-4 start is now officially the franchise's best. Toronto also won by a football score (20-7 over Boston) to stay 2 back. April 27: Traded P Mike Minor and minor-league P Chase Walter to the Colorado Rockies for minor-league OF Heston Kjerstad. The big club is going too well for me to scratch my trade itch there, and Minor was going to have to be promoted or could opt out in a few days. There's obviously no room in the rotation for him (and Glasnow is 10 days or so away from a rehab assignment) so I managed to pick up an excellent OF prospect (yeah I know we have a glut of those) who was a high 2020 draft pick. Walter was a minor-league FA signing but he was a guy Colorado wanted thrown in to get the deal done, so yeah sure. Game 2: Well we had another one of those ridiculous games. The final was 20-12 Rays as there must be some offensive setting off in the game that we're getting some many games with football scores. We're stuck with it for the season I guess. The Rays jumped out early again in this one taking a 13-2 lead in the top of the 4th, but Blake Snell couldn't get it done and had to be taken out as he and Jacob Nix combined to allow 7 runs in the bottom of the inning. Nix plugged along for a couple of more innings and got the win, Stanek pitched an inning and gave up a run, Adams had a scoreless eighth and I tried to leave him in for the 9th and not bring in one of Anderson/Alvarado/Hand but he gave up a 2-run HR and I had to have Alvarado get the last two outs. Offensively, Kepler and Kiermaier had grand slams and 6 RBI apiece, Kiermaier and Nelson Cruz had a pair of HRs, Meadows homered and reached base 6 times in 7 plate appearances so his streak's at 17, and the Rays received 13 more walks to go with their 17 hits. Glad to be 19-4 but not a big fan of games like this. Meanwhile Toronto keeps winning (18-7 record) so they stay two back. Game 3: We were back to normal baseball tonight, but the way it ended was anything but normal. The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 4 off RBI singles from Ronaldo Hernandez and Merrifield in the 2nd and an Alec Bohm solo shot in the 3rd, but the Orioles chipped away against Brendan McKay with a Richie Martin homer in the 5th, and then I left McKay in one batter too long and he gave up a 2-run HR to Hanser Alberto in the 7th to tie the game. Nick Anderson got him out of that inning but stayed in to start the 8th and gave up a go-ahead RBI double to Austin Hays and then Jose Alvarado allowed Rio Ruiz to knock Hays home to make it 5-3. So on to the top of the 9th, and after Abraham Toro singled to lead off the inning, Yusniel Diaz flied to right and Hernandez whiffed. Down to their final out, Merrifield doubled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd, and needing a base hit from Wander Franco (who dipped below .300 going 0-4 before this at-bat), Wander did one better and deposited a Sam Delaplane offering into the right center-field stands to make it 6-5. Brad Hand came on for his ninth appearance got his ninth save with a 1-2-3 inning. The only dark cloud was the end of Austin Meadows' 17-game hitting streak as he went 0-3 and in his last at-bat in the eighth walked. Alvarado gets the win, McKay had a 6.1 6 3 3 3 6 line that would have looked better had I pulled him when I should. Meanwhile the Red Sox (our next opponent for a 3-game set at Fenway) knocked off the Jays by bombing Nate Pearson (now with a 6.04 ERA), extending the division lead to 3. Team record: 20-4. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-24-2020 at 10:51 PM.

06-23-2020, 02:27 PM	#31
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	April 29-May 1, 2022: at Boston (3) Game 1: It's Boston, again. Having played them 7 times already out of the first 24 games it's time to revisit the scene of the 19-17 loss which still has me scarred. Nothing like that tonight, though, as Max Fried took the mound and pretty much shut the Sox down. Which was important because the Rays offensive juggernaut was slowed tonight to the tune of 6 hits, but they were opportunistic in the 4-2 win. The game was scoreless until the top of the 6th when Wander Franco reached on an error, stole second, and then Meadows went opposite field over the Monster for HR #8 of the season to make it 2-0. Xander Bogaerts doubled in a run off Fried in the bottom of the 7th, and with Adams and Alvarado tired, Dany Jimenez got pinch-hitter Jeter Downs to fly out to end the threat and earn his first hold of the season. And in the top of the 8th with two out, Ji-Man came through with a clutch 2-run double to make it 4-1. Tried sneaking Jimenez through the 8th but with two out he gave up a HR to Yairo Munoz to cut the lead to 2. Nick Anderson got Alex Verdugo to fly out to end that threat, and then he stayed on in the 9th to face Buster Posey, only to walk him. Enter Brad Hand with the lefty Eric Thames due up, and Hand got Thames to roll into a 4-6-3 DP on his way to save #10. The record now stands at 21-4 as Fried goes to 3-1 and lowers his ERA to 2.79. Incidentally Whit Merrifield finally walked for the first time this season. The Jays beat Texas so the lead remains 3 games. Game 2: With the key end-game relievers needing a rest, it was time for Zack Greinke to step up and earn the $15+ million contract he was given. And step up he did, tossing a complete-game shutout (the Rays' first since Blake Snell's 1-hitter vs Toronto last season) as the offense made it easy for him in a 10-0 win. He wasn't dominant or overpowering - his line was 9 8 0 0 1 5 - but he hung in there and threw a team-high 123 pitches. Given his veteran arm and the fact he's getting an extra day's rest with our current 6-man rotation, it was an easy call to leave him in as long as he was effective. On the hitting side of the equation, Nelson Cruz had a pair of 2-RBI singles, the more important one in the first inning with 2 out to put the Rays on the board. Max Kepler had an RBI single in the 3rd, Kiermaier went oppo over the Monster as Meadows did last night for a solo shot and just about everybody got into the act with team totals of 12 hits and 9 walks. Meadows was 2-3 with a pair of walks and 4 runs scored. The only one who didn't crash the party was Wander Franco, 0-5 today and in perhaps his worst slump as an MLBer with his batting average down to .280. It really does say something about this offense though if they can put 10 on the board without any contribution from him. They're now 22-4 and 4 games up on Toronto as the Jays fell to Texas 9-7. May 1: Hitters of the month at all the levels! (Meadows took the honor last June and July as well) Game 3: The Rays got out to an early 2-0 lead after a Ji-Man sac fly in the 1st and yet another Ronaldo Hernandez bomb over the Monster, and then broke it open with a 6-run 4th that kicked off with a Kepler solo shot and finished with a 3-run Meadows blast. That was more than enough for Joe Ryan, who dealt with numerous baserunners but still turned in a nice 6 6 1 1 2 7 line. With an 8-1 lead, Jacob Nix came on in the 7th, gave up a run, but got through the 8th. Then the fun started, Nix gave up another run to make it 8-3, Dany Jimenez walked a couple of batters including one with the bases loaded, and suddenly it was 8-4 with the tying run at the plate and two outs. Eric Thames was due up so I had no choice but to bring in Alvarado. The Red Sox countered by pinch-hitting Bogaerts but Alvarado got the strikeout and the Rays preserved the win to go to 23-4. Ryan is now 4-0, 3.07 and Meadows was 4-5 today giving him an insane 396/484/802 triple slash. His 1.286 OPS and 2.6 WAR lead MLB by a decent margin. Hernandez continues to rake playing every 3rd-4th day, now at 433/469/933 himself with 5 HR and 10 RBI in only 30 AB. Team record: 23-4, 4 games up on Toronto. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-23-2020 at 07:04 PM.

06-23-2020, 09:09 PM	#32
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 2-4, 2022: at Detroit (3) May 2: Activated P Shane McClanahan from the 15-day IL, optioned P Jacob Nix to AAA Durham. The DL stint that wasn't necessary finally ends with McClanahan hopefully tanned, ready and rested after his 2-week vacation. Nix hasn't been all that effective in the middle/long relief role so he was the easy choice to demote. Game 1: I'm running out of words to describe how things are going because tonight looked an "L" if there ever was going to be one. After Keibert Ruiz and Isaac Parades traded first-inning HRs, the Rays took a brief lead in the 3rd when Wander reached on an error, stole 2nd, went to 3rd on the bad throw, and scored on Ruiz' sac fly. Yonny was pitching well but put a man on in the 5th and gave up a 2-run HR to Daz Cameron putting Detroit in front. With Yonny's pitch count low (60 through 6) he pitched into the 7th but ran into trouble, giving up a 2-run double to Victor Reyes to make it 5-2 Tigers after 7. The Rays offense meanwhile was being stymied by a parade of Detroit relievers who had to come on after "follower" Trevor Williams was forced to leave early due to injury. They finally picked the wrong one in Joey Wentz, who came on in the 8th after a leadoff single. Wentz allowed a single to Kepler, an RBI double to Nelson Cruz, and then a 3-run HR to Abraham Toro to suddenly put the Rays in front 6-5. After Alvarado got them through the 8th, the Rays put 2 more on in front of Toro again in the 9th, and he repeated the feat with another 3-run shot and the Rays took a 9-5 win - their ninth straight - to go to 24-4. Ryne Stanek picked up the win by getting the final out of the 7th in relief of Chirinos. The one bit of bad news to come out of the game is that Wander, who was coming out of his slump with a double and a triple, injured himself sliding into 3rd on the triple and is out for a week with a mild hamstring strain. Hopefully it doesn't develop into another 6-week hamstring injury like last season. Brujan will take over at SS and a roster move should follow. Elsewhere Josh Donaldson's walk-off grand slam gave the Twins a win over Toronto, upping the Rays' lead to a season-high 5 games. May 3: Placed SS Wander Franco on the 10-day IL with a mild hamstring strain, recalled IF Nolan Gorman from AAA Durham, sent P Tyler Glasnow to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment. Not going to fool around with Wander's one-week injury, and because he'll only be out 10 days, I'm not going to bring in a player not on the 40-man since there's nobody on the 40-man I want to part with (Stanek would be the closest). Gorman is really a third baseman but has been playing SS at Durham with Owen Miller and Ehire Adrianza injured. He was acquired from St. Louis last year in the Howie Kendrick deal and has considerable power, hitting 36 HR at AA in 2020 and another 22 last year mostly at Durham. He only has 1 this year and he has swing-and-miss issues so his star has faded, especially with Toro and Bohm ahead of him at the position. Nevertheless, he's on the 40-man and he'll get a few at-bats with the big club but Brujan will play pretty much every day at SS in the interim. Glasnow meanwhile will pitch for the first time since spring training and with 6 starters in the rotation right now he won't be rushed back from his rehab assignment. I'm expecting him to make 3 starts at Durham, and if nobody else in the rotation gets hurt by that time I don't know who I'm going to drop. Game 2: Like last night, the Rays dug themselves a hole. Unlike last night the hole was too big and they stayed in it, losing 6-1 to Detroit. I'm not sure which piece of bad news to lead with first, so I'll go with the thought that Blake Snell looks broken. After a 1-2-3 first, he walked two guys and then gave up a 3-run HR to David Bote in the 2nd, and then struggled and allowed 3 more in the 3rd although a Merrifield error did not help. After he put a couple of more on with two out in the 4th, he was pulled and ended with an ugly 3.2 5 6 4 4 3 line. He's only had one good start this year, the one against Texas. The other bad news is that Kiermaier was hurt making a diving catch and is out 5 weeks with a hamstring. Normally my move to replace him would be to go to heir apparent Josh Lowe, but Lowe struggled so bad at Durham the first few weeks that he went back to AA where he isn't hitting much better. Yusniel Diaz isn't really a full-time CF so I'll have to figure things out. Diaz had the Rays' lone RBI tonight and the one bright spot out of the whole game was Shane McClanahan's first game back. He took over for Snell in the 4th and pitched 3 1/3 perfect innings, striking out four. Otherwise Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal was brilliant, going 8 5 1 1 3 9 against them as he was only the 4th lefty they've had start against them this season so perhaps it was the unfamiliarity that did them in. And Nate Pearson pitched a no-hitter for Toronto so they've gotten back within 4. Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: First start at Durham (facing a lot of MLB vets like Smoak, T.Shaw, N.Walker, DeShields, Aguilar): 3 1 1 1 2 6, struck out the side in the first. Ended up throwing 59 pitches, a few more than planned, looking at 70-75 pitches next start. May 4: Placed OF Kevin Kiermaier on the 15-day IL with a hamstring strain, recalled OF Josh Lowe from AA Montgomery. Decided to go with Lowe after all, although Yusniel Diaz will get the vast majority of starts while Kiermaier is out. Need a legitimate backup OF as Nelson Cruz really isn't fit to play the position. Game 3: Normal service resumed as the Rays rolled past the Tigers today 11-3. A Meadows RBI groundout, a Yusniel Diaz RBI single and a Nelson Cruz solo HR put them up 3-0 through 4, and then they broke it open with 5 runs in the 5th highlighted by a Max Kepler 3-run shot to chase starter Matt Manning, and then Cruz greeted Alex Faedo with another HR of his own. Abe Toro went deep again later, and Josh Lowe and Nolan Gorman got at-bats in the 9th with the game in hand as Lowe walked in his first MLB plate appearance and Gorman singled in his Rays debut. Brendan McKay was the beneficiary of this run support, and while he wasn't at his sharpest (6 4 2 2 4 4) he was good enough to go to 3-1. Kepler helped out on defense by gunning down two runners trying to take an extra base. Toronto won to stay within 4 ahead of the big series between the Rays and Jays coming up a couple of days. Team record: 25-5. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-24-2020 at 10:54 PM.

06-24-2020, 04:09 PM	#33
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 6-8, 2022: vs Toronto (3) Game 1: Well here's the biggest series of the year to date as the Rays host the Jays for 3, holding a 4-game lead. And thanks to the Rays' inability to hit lefty Anthony Kay, it's now a 3-game lead. Max Fried took the hill for the Rays and after getting through the first 2 innings started dying the death of a thousand cuts as the Jays ended up touching him for 10 hits and 4 runs, two of which came on a Lourdes Gurriel HR in the 4th. He lasted 5 2/3 before giving way to Austin Adams, who yielded a 2-out RBI single to Cavan Biggio to allow the 4th Jays run to score. This game played out similarly to the Wild Card Game last year as the Jays built the mid-inning lead and the Rays chipped away. It wasn't until the 5th that they finally got some hits against Kay, and Vidal Brujan hit his first MLB HR in the 6th to make it 4-1. Nelson Cruz hit his 4th HR of the week in the 7th to make it 4-2, but the Rays wasted a 1-out Whit Merrifield triple in the 8th and got the first two on in the 9th via walk against Keith Ginkel only for Choi to fly out and Toro to ground into a DP to end the game. Shane McClanahan pitched another 2 hitless innings, striking out 3 including the tough to K Vlad Guerrero Jr. The Rays drop to 2-4 against LH starters this year (technically 3-4 but Daniel Strumpf was an opener for Nate Eovaldi), and considering the likes of Meadows, Choi and Kepler are all lefty hitters it does make some sense. Game 2: I guess all we needed was for a righty to start and Jordan Romano & Co. were all that was needed to revive the Rays offense as they obliterated the Jays 17-1. Max Kepler was the star as his 2-run double in the first got the Rays going, and his 3-run HR in the third was the highlight of a 9-run inning that made the game a rout. Nelson Cruz had 2 more dingers, giving him 6 this week and the inside track on AL Player of the Week, Meadows broke out of his mini-slump with 4 hits including a HR to dead center, and Whit Merrifield was 4-5 with 3 RBI. The only Ray not to get in on the action was Ji-Man, 0-5 with 3 strikeouts as he seems to be getting into one of his patented slumps. Just like last week against Boston, Zack Greinke coasted with all this run support, going 8 6 1 1 2 2 with the only blemish a Randal Grichuk HR as the Rays restore their lead to 4 games. Game 3: A white-knuckle affair at the Trop in the rubber match of the first big series of the season. The Rays were going against Nate Pearson, coming off a no-hitter but someone they've had more success against than most other teams the last couple of seasons. And it didn't take long to be sure Pearson wouldn't be the next Johnny Vander Meer as Ji-Man hit a two-out, two-run HR off him in the first and Kepler followed with a blast of his own to make it 3-0. In games past this would be enough for Jay-killer Joe Ryan, but he gave 2 runs right back on a Cavan Biggio HR in the 2nd and then Vlad Jr tied it in the 5th with an RBI single. But Ronaldo Hernandez restored the lead in the bottom of the 5th with his 6th HR in 38 AB, and Vidal Brujan followed with a triple and scored on Abraham Toro's sac fly to make it 5-3 and chase Pearson. The Jays struck right back in the 6th against Ryan, with Bo Bichette knocking in a run to cut the lead to 5-4. With the Jays threatening more, Jose Alvarado got an early call in the 6th and whiffed Shogo Akiyama to end the inning. He stayed on for a 1-2-3 7th, and then with two lefties due up to start the 8th, he stayed in to whiff Ryan Noda and get Biggio to ground out for an outing that lasted 2 perfect innings with 3 Ks (it helps that there are two off-days in the next 4 coming up). For the season Alvarado has pitched 12 scoreless innings with a 5/22 BB/K ratio, some damn impressive numbers. Nick Anderson came on and promptly walked the first two batters he faced (he's been unusually wild this year with 7 walks in 9 1/3 IP) but got Bo Bichette to fly out to end that threat. And Brad Hand got the Jays 1-2-3 in 9th to preserve a hard-fought 5-4 victory to go 11-for-11 in saves. Ryan goes to 5-0 despite a somewhat rough 5.1 5 4 4 3 8 line as the Rays go to 27-6 and extend their lead back to 5 games over Toronto. Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: Over 78 pitches, Glasnow went 5 2 1 1 2 9 vs Lehigh Valley so he's just about ready. Team record: 27-6. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-24-2020 at 10:57 PM.

06-25-2020, 08:15 AM	#34
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 10-11, 2022 vs Atlanta (2) Game 1: With a 6-man rotation and two off days this week it was getting ridiculous how much time starters were going without pitching so I skipped Yonny Chirinos and went with Blake Snell, still on 6 days' rest, hoping he'd get straightened out. The Rays took a brief 2-1 lead after 2 innings off tough customer Mike Soroka on solo HRs from Nelson Cruz and Abraham Toro but Snell's struggles continued in the 3rd as he put 2 on ahead of Mookie Betts, who took him deep. After a Meadows HR made it 4-3, Snell ran into more trouble in the fourth, allowing a run and putting one on, and he was pulled for Yonny, who gave up Snell's run and one of his own to make it 7-3 and that was pretty much that as it ended 9-5. Snell's final line was 3 7 6 6 2 5, his ERA is now 8.55, and it's getting to where he might get dropped from the rotation for a while when Glasnow comes back. Keibert Ruiz added a solo shot off Soroka who got the win despite giving up the 4 solo HRs. The Rays have hit their first semi-rough patch of the season, having lost almost as many games (3) in their last six as they did (4) in the first 28. Toronto won to move back within 4. Game 2: It finally happened - the Rays lost 2 in a row. This was a tough one as the Rays jumped out 3-0 against Robbie Ray in the 1st inning when Meadows doubled home Brujan and Nelson Cruz homered. Brendan McKay gave two right back on an Ozzie Albies HR but the red-hot Meadows homered in the third to make it 4-2. The Braves strung together several hits in the 5th to tie the game, and Ray settled in after that as the game went 4-4 into the top of the eighth. Nick Anderson came on and allowed a leadoff double to Mookie Betts, and after striking out the next two batters, gave up a single to Cal Raleigh to give Atlanta the lead. With 2 out in the 9th, Abraham Toro looked like he might have a tying HR off Will Smith but it was caught at the LF wall and the Rays fell 5-4, another loss against a lefty starter (they had only 5 hits on the night). McKay had another mediocre outing (6 9 4 4 0 4) as his ERA sits at 5.65. And Toronto wins again to cut the lead to 3. Team record: 27-8. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-25-2020 at 11:16 AM.

06-25-2020, 11:26 AM	#35
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 13-15, 2022: at Baltimore (3) May 12: Traded 26-year-old minor league starting pitcher Jacob Nix to the Chicago Cubs, getting 23-year-old minor league center fielder Zach DeLoach, 24-year-old minor league center fielder Brandon Marsh and 23-year-old minor league starting pitcher Austin Vernon in return. Added Marsh to the active roster, optioned OF Josh Lowe to AAA Durham. Two losses in a row? Heads are going to roll. After the Kiermaier injury, I realized how little cover I had for the CF position with all of my eggs in Josh Lowe's basket. Hence the deal for Marsh, who the Cubs inexplicably had in AAA this season despite a great rookie year that saw him accumulate 2.8 WAR in only 88 MLB games. He was 286/370/510 with 15 HR, 42 RBI and 10 SB. He's a 55 defender in CF (65 in RF) and a 75 base stealer. All DeLoach does is hit, the 2020 draft pick hit .320 and .360 at two levels last year and was hitting .440 in the Midwest League. He's more of a gap hitter, but the bat will play. Vernon is a power arm that needs to work on his control but could pan out. All of this for the low price of Jacob Nix, who has great potential but has had inconsistent results since joining the Rays. He could turn out to be a stud, but Marsh was too good to pass up with the CF need. Lowe goes to Durham to make room for Marsh on the active roster. May 12: Claimed P Zack Britton on waivers from Los Angeles Dodgers, designated P Ryne Stanek for assignment. I wanted another lefty in the pen and almost tried signing Britton in the offseason. He remains an effective pitcher if not the elite closer he was 5-6 years earlier. Stanek did OK, but wasn't overpowering and his numbers might have more of a product of the NL than the AL. Still hoping he clears so I can send him to Durham. May 13: Activated SS Wander Franco from the 10-day IL, optioned IF Nolan Gorman to AAA Durham. Yay, Wander is back! I'm thinking it's no coincidence that we lost more games during his absence than we have the rest of the season. Game 1: Friday the 13th saw the Rays' recent luck turn around as they easily handled the Orioles 7-1 to snap the 2-game losing streak. Max Fried was brilliant in this one. After giving up a solo HR to Austin Hays in the 1st, he locked it down the rest of the way to put up a 7 3 1 1 3 9 line and go to 4-2. Dany Jimenez followed with two perfect innings to finish. It took a while for the bats to get going against Michael Baumann who came in 0-5 with an ERA near 7, but they finally broke through in the 5th when Whit Merrifield doubled in Nelson Cruz to tie it up, and Brandon Marsh in his Rays debut followed with an RBI groundout to score Abe Toro. They broke it open in the 6th when Meadows led off with his 13th HR, and then after two quick outs six consecutive Rays reached base highlighted by a 2-run double by Marsh in what turned out to be a 5-run inning. Marsh ended up 2-3 with a walk and 3 RBI, although he was caught stealing. Meanwhile the Jays never seem to lose as they had won yesterday while the Rays were off and won again tonight, so they're 2.5 back. Game 2: This game did not start out at all well for the Rays, although they did take a brief 1-0 lead on a Merrifield RBI single in the 2nd. Zack Greinke did not have it tonight and he allowed 3 solo HRs and a 4th run among his 6 hits and 2 walks through 3 2/3 and gave way to Shane McClanahan. Then McClanahan served up a solo HR to Chance Sisco and the Rays were down 5-1 in the 5th. But Max Kepler got the Rays back in it with a 2-run shot in the 6th to halve Baltimore's lead, and McClanahan held the O's at bay with 4 Ks in his 2 1/3 innings. And then the Rays offense took over in the 7th. With one out Merrifield singled, Brandon Marsh doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd, Wander managed an infield single to score Merrifield, Keibert Ruiz walked to load the bases and then Andrew Vazquez walked Meadows to force in the tying run. After Ji-Man whiffed, Kepler lined a 2-run double to give the Rays a 7-5 lead. From there the Terrific Trio of Alvarado, Anderson and Hand took over and Keibert homered in the top of the 9th to give the Rays a bit more room and they won 8-5. McClanahan got his third win in the role of "middle reliever holding down the fort until the offense can come back", and Hand is at 12 appearances, 12 saves. Meadows could not be retired tonight, going 2-2 with 3 walks and Kepler's 4 RBI give him 37 in 37 games despite still only hitting .229. I almost don't need to mention that the Jays won, these days it can just be assumed. Final Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: 6.1 4 1 1 0 11 vs Norfolk. I'd say he's ready and he should start next weekend in Los Angeles against the Angels. The Bulls won 4-1 and Josh Lowe homered for the second time in three games since being sent down. Khris Davis and Chris Betts also had longballs for Durham. Game 3: Never. Count. This. Team. Out. It looked like another empty day against a lefty starter as Caleb Smith, who gave them trouble last year, had shut them down into the 7th with a 5-1 lead. Joe Ryan was off today, and his error plus two walks loaded the bases for dark horse MVP candidate Adley Rustchman who of course hit a grand slam. But never underestimate this Rays offense or the ineptitude of the Orioles bullpen, and in the 8th with Meadows on board and two out, this sequence occurred: walk, walk, bases loaded walk, bases loaded walk, 2-run single by Ronaldo Hernandez and we were tied at 5. Nick Anderson got the O's in the 8th and when the Rays didn't score in the 9th, Jose Alvarado did his thing in the bottom of the inning. So in the top of the 10th we started walk, walk, fly out, strike out, Wander RBI single to give them the lead, Merrifield single to load the bases, and then - who else? - an Austin Meadows grand slam. The Rays went on to win 10-5 in 10 with Zack Britton pitching a scoreless 10th in his Rays debut. They ended up with more walks (11) than hits (9). Aaron Nola pitched a 2-hit shutout for Toronto so they're not going anywhere. Incidentally they swept the Red Sox, who while they have had some bad seasons sprinkled in with the good, are now 13-28. Team record: 30-8. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-25-2020 at 04:48 PM.

06-25-2020, 06:14 PM	#36
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 16-18, at Kansas City (3) May 16: P Ryne Stanek cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA Durham. Game 1: So should I start with the good news, the bad news or (potentially) the very bad news? The good news is that Blake Snell had a great start, leading the Rays to an 8-2 win over the Royals. He went 7 3 2 2 3 5 and after a shaky first inning where he walked the leadoff batter who went around to score, he settled down after that in an encouraging sign. The bad news? Max Kepler was hurt and is day-to-day for 5 days with a hyperextended knee. The (potentially) very bad news? Austin Meadows was injured going into 2nd base on a first inning double and has the dreaded "diagnosis pending" tag. Needless to say losing the guy leading MLB in WAR and OPS would be a horrendous blow. Keeping our fingers crossed but some roster moves are in the offing with 2 starting OFs down. That Brandon Marsh trade is looking real good right about now. Speaking of Marsh, his bases-clearing double in the 6th broke the game open, making it 5-1. Before being injured Kepler knocked in a couple as did Nelson Cruz, who might need to get his outfielder's glove out of mothballs. The Blue Jays were off so the lead is up to 3 (the Rays still have two games in hand on Toronto). MEADOWS UPDATE: Torn meniscus, out 4 months. FML, I hate OOTP. This would put him back mid-September so he would be available for the playoffs barring a complete collapse, but with the way Toronto's going there's a chance that could be one game instead of a guaranteed series. Might be time to trade some of this minor league depth I've built up for a major middle-of-the-order bat. For now I can put Brujan in at 2B and play Merrifield in LF. When Kiermaier comes back, Marsh or Yusniel Diaz can play left. Alex Kirilloff would have been a natural replacement but he's still out 6-7 weeks. At least I get 40-man flexibility with Meadows going on the 60-day IL. May 17: Placed OF Austin Meadows on the 60-day IL with a torn meniscus, recalled OF Josh Lowe from AAA Durham. For the moment, especially with Kepler out 5 days (he's not going on the IL), I need a decent fielding OF on the team. My internal longer-term options are play Nelson Cruz and his 30 defense in LF and call up Seth Beer (317/386/634 at Durham), purchase the contract of Khris Davis with the 40-man spot open and get .247 with some decent power, or call up Trevor Larnach who's on the 40-man and hitting doubles and for average at Durham but is still looking for his first homer of the year. When Kiermaier comes back in 3 weeks, I can play him and Marsh together as well. Game 2: The first game in the A.M. (After Meadows) era found the Rays playing a different kind of ballgame than they were used to: having to win with pitching and defense. Well, mostly pitching as Brendan McKay went 6 shutout innings but had to leave due to a high pitch count brought on in part by 4 walks and 7 strikeouts (a Keibert Ruiz dropped foul popup cost him about 15 pitches). No problem though as the Alvarado-Anderson-Hand troika completed the shutout and the Rays won 2-0. Alvarado nearly gave up his first run, allowing a one-out triple, but got a popup and strikeout to get out of it. Hand is now 13-for-13 and McKay goes to 4-1. The Rays had a tough time with former Florida Gator Jackson Kowar but got to him for their two runs in the 2nd. Choi was hit by a pitch and then doubled home by Nelson Cruz, and Cruz came around to score on Yusniel Diaz's groundout. They only had 7 hits in a new-look lineup which saw Wander bat 3rd for the first time and Brujan lead off. They're now 32-8 and with Jays finally losing (to the Mets), the division lead expands to 4 games. Game 3: Well without Meadows and Kepler in the lineup, it's going to be harder to score runs. That was apparent last night, but the shutout glossed that over. Today, 1 run wasn't going to win it as Yonny Chrinos pitched well but wasn't perfect and the Rays fell 3-1. Things got off to a good start against Lance Lynn in the first when Ji-Man doubled in Merrifield, but that was it for the day. Yonny gave up a 3rd inning HR to Kevin Cron, a run in the 6th, and then old friend Brandon Lowe took him deep to dead center to give us the final score. Zack Britton had 2 perfect innings in relief. The Rays only managed 6 hits and 2 of those came from Ronaldo Hernandez, now hitting a cool .432. Wander continues in his slump, going 0-4 to drop his average to .278. The Mets did us a favor though by smoking the Jays 10-1 to keep the lead at 4 games, and now it's on to LA to play the Angels for 4 games. Team record: 32-9. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-25-2020 at 09:40 PM.

06-26-2020, 09:17 AM	#37
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 19-22, 2022 at Los Angeles Angels (4) Game 1: The Rays drop another one with Meadows out but this one can be blamed on the pitching, not the offense, as they fell 9-8 in 10 innings. The Rays got 3 in the first, but Max Fried gave those 3 back in the 2nd only for the Rays to re-take the lead 5-3 in the 4th, including Josh Lowe's first major league HR, and chase Shoei Ohtani. But Fried couldn't stand prosperity again and let the Angels get 3 in the 5th, and then even Shane McClanahan proved he was human by allowing 2 more in the 6th and the Rays were down 8-5. Daniel Norris had come in for Ohtani and did the usual "lefty bedeviling the Rays offense" thing but the Rays put on a huge rally in the 9th off Norris to start and then Ty Buttrey, with Wander delivering a 2-run double and Ji-Man's sac fly tying the game. Nick Anderson got the Angels in the 9th and with three lefties due up bottom 10 and Alvarado tired, Brad Hand came in for the first time this year in a non-save situation, allowed a leadoff single and wild pitched him to second and then allowed a single by lefty Austin Allen (4-5 facing lefties all night) to score the game-winner. Brandon Marsh and Keibert Ruiz each had 3 hits to lead the Rays offense. Jays won to cut the lead to 3. Game 2: This game started as a carbon copy of last night's as the Rays took a 4-0 lead in the top of the 3rd keyed by a 3-run Nelson Cruz homer, only for Zack Greinke to give it right back in the bottom of the inning with 5 runs against. The Rays tied it in the 5th when Merrifield (who had 3 hits for the night) led off with a double and came around to score on a Wander sac fly. But in the bottom of the 6th Greinke ran into trouble again, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Austin Adams came on and got a big strikeout and then a ground out, and in the top of the 7th Keibert Ruiz singled in a run to put the Rays up 6-5. Alvarado got through the 7th despite allowing a leadoff double, and in the 8th the Rays broke it open on a Brujan RBI double and a 2-run blast by Brandon Marsh against his old team. And in the 9th they broke it open even further with a 2-run HR by Wander and Cruz's 2nd of the game, a solo shot, to make the final score 12-5. Adams got the deserved win after cleaning up Greinke's mess. It's encouraging to see the offense put up 20 runs the last two nights without Meadows, but the starting pitching remains frustratingly inconsistent. Tyler Glasnow will get his shot tomorrow. Meanwhile yes the Jays won again, still a 3-game lead. May 21: Activated P Tyler Glasnow from his rehab assignment, optioned P Shane McClanahan to AAA Durham. Someone had to go down, and McClanahan was the choice despite showing he can pitch at the major league level. The addition of Britton gave me a third lefty in the pen and Yonny will become (probably along with Ryan) the long man. Game 3: Welcome back, Tyler Glasnow! In his first MLB appearance this season, the power righty shut out the Angels over 7 innings, going 7 6 0 0 1 8. He was really only in trouble in the second when he loaded the bases, but got out of it. On any other night the big talk of tonight's game would be Ronaldo Hernandez, who just keeps producing every time he gets a start. Tonight he smacked a pair of 2-run homers (giving him 8 in 48 AB and a cool .958 slugging %), the first to put the Rays on the board in the 3rd and the second part of a 3-run 4th inning as the Rays cruised to a 10-0 win. And on a night when Glasnow and Hernandez hadn't stood out the big news would be the return of Max Kepler to the lineup who doubled and had a 3-run HR, both off lefties, giving him 43 RBI in 38 games. Vidal Brujan had 3 hits, Yusniel Diaz was 2-3 with an RBI and a walk, and even Alec Bohm, the forgotten man on the bench, had 2 hits and an RBI spelling Ji-Man against a lefty. And the Jays were pounded 10-3 at home by Oakland (with a HR from old buddy Kyle Schwarber) so the lead is back to 4. Game 4: There are ways to lose, and there are ways to lose like the Rays did today, on a walk-off wild pitch. The game was a pretty good pitcher's duel between Joe Ryan and Griffin Canning with Ohtani homering off Ryan in the 4th to give LA a 1-0 lead which was immediately erased in the top of the 5th on an Alec Bohm RBI double. We stayed that way until the 7th when Ji-Man took Canning deep for his 5th of the year to give the Rays a lead, but Jake Cave homered off Ryan in the bottom of the inning to tie it at 2. In a fine outing overall, Ryan ended 7 4 2 2 0 7, Austin Adams got two outs in the eighth but put a man on, Alvarado put another one then got out of the inning and in the bottom of the 9th Alvarado walked Jo Adell with one out, and after Zack Britton came on Adell stole second. He intentionally walked Justin Upton to put men on 1st and 2nd and then got the ground ball he was looking for but the Rays could not turn two and Adell advanced to third where Britton wild-pitched him home and they ended up with a split of this series. The run was charged to Alvarado, the first he's allowed all season. Wander was 0-4 as his slump continues and his BA drops to .267. Toronto blasted Oakland to pull back within 3. Team record: 34-11. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-26-2020 at 02:18 PM.

06-26-2020, 05:17 PM	#38
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 24-26, 2022 vs Boston (3) Game 1: The Rays gear up for their fourth series already with Boston and their 8-2 record against them is a big reason why the Sox are a terrible 14-33 coming in. Today was a rematch of opening day with Chris Sale going up against Blake Snell, but it was nothing like the 11-8 slugfest that found Boston on top. Although Snell did start a bit shaky, giving up a double to Rafael Devers (seems like we never get him out) and an RBI single to Xander Bogaerts. But in the bottom of the frame Vidal Brujan walked and two batters later Nelson Cruz went oppo into the RF stands to make it 2-1. And in the 2nd Brujan singled and Keibert Ruiz hit one out to left center and it was 4-1. An Abraham Toro solo shot in the 3rd chased Sale and made it 5-1, and that turned out to be the final score as the Rays were happy to swap 0s the rest of the way. Snell for the first time all year put together two quality starts in a row (he was 2 of 8 in that stat coming in), going 7 6 1 1 1 5 (the one walk might have been the most impressive thing) to lower his ERA to a still-ugly 6.61. Adams and Britton pitched scoreless innings to close it out. Toronto won of course so the lead is still 3. Game 2: It was a disaster of a first inning for Brendan McKay, who gave up a leadoff single and then a 2-run HR from Marcell Ozuna, and then proceeded to allow 2 more runs from there and the Rays were down 4-0 before coming to bat. But McKay settled down from there and didn't allow Boston a thing over the next 5 innings. Meanwhile the Rays chipped away at the Red Sox lead, starting with a Ji-Man RBI double in the bottom of the 1st, a Brandon Marsh RBI double in the 2nd, and an Abe Toro solo shot into the rays touch tank in the 4th. Dany Jimenez got the Sox out in the 7th, and then Keibert Ruiz launched a 3-run HR to give the Rays a 6-4 lead. Anderson and Alvarado got the next 5 outs, and then Hand stuck out Ozuna for the final out for save #14. And yes the Jays won again. Game 3: On a night when Nelson Cruz singled in the 8th to get his 2,000th career hit, it was all Max Fried and Vidal Brujan. Fried went all the way on a 3-hit shutout (he walked 4 and K'd 5, throwing 120 pitches) while Brujan paced the offense with a 4-4 night as the Rays swept the series with a 5-0 win. Fried's now 5-2 and two of three hits he allowed were of the infield variety, which is where the ball mostly stayed as he picked up 12 outs on the ground. Meanwhile, Brujan ignited the offense, singling to lead off the first and coming around to score on a Wander sac fly, then in the 4th after Toro and Merrifield hit doubles to score the first run, he singled in Merrifield and then came around to score after stealing his second base of the night, going to third on a wild pitch and coming home on a Keibert Ruiz sac fly. Brujan has been the biggest beneficiary of the Meadows injury, getting to bat leadoff and play every day with Merrifield moving to left and has (literally) run with the opportunity, now hitting .330 for the season. And the Rays finally caught a break when the Angels beat the Jays, so the lead which keeps oscillating between 3 and 4 is back up to 4. Team record: 37-11. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-26-2020 at 11:09 PM.

06-27-2020, 09:23 AM	#39
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 27-29, 2022: vs Baltimore (3) Advised by my trainer that Kevin Kiermaier will be out another 2-3 weeks in his recovery from a hamstring strain, so I'll say again how glad I am I picked up Brandon Marsh. Game 1: Tyler Glasnow was dealing again in start #2, striking out the side in the first inning on his way to a 7.1 7 2 2 0 11 line. The two runs against were courtesy of a 5th inning 2-run HR from former Ray Manuel Margot and it gave the O's a brief lead after Wander hit a 500-foot shot to center in the first to put the Rays ahead. After Keibert Ruiz doubled in the bottom of the 5th, Ji-Man singled him home to tie it up, but the Rays offense couldn't break through again until the 8th when Nelson Cruz doubled, went to third on a Toro single and scored on a Merrifield sac fly. Brad Hand handled the Orioles in the 9th for save #15 and the Rays had a hard-fought 3-2 win. Jose Alvarado, who finished up the 8th, picked up his 4th win of the season. The Phillies edged Toronto 2-1 in the return of Aaron Nola to Philadelphia so the division lead expands to 5. Game 2: Zack Greinke got the call today, and it was another disastrous outing for him. He gave up a 3-run HR to Manuel Margot and a 2-run shot to Austin Hays as part of a 6-run 2nd inning from which the Rays never recovered in a 10-4 loss. Greinke ended with a 3.1 7 8 6 1 1 line and aside from how hard he's been hit, he's not striking out anyone with just 14 Ks in 38.1 innings. He's pitching his way out of the rotation at the moment, and I'm not 100% sure he gets a start the next time around as we're still going with a 6-man rotation. It's possible at age 38 that he's just lost it. Yonny Chirinos pitched the rest of the way, going 5.2 4 2 2 1 5 which is typical Yonny. On offense they did OK with 11 hits and 4 walks but Ronaldo Hernandez had his first rough game, going 0-4 and throwing wildly on an attempted steal of 3rd. Fortunately Philly took care of Toronto again to keep the lead at 5. Game 3: A classic pitcher's duel today between Joe Ryan and Jimmy Nelson (a guy the Rays always have trouble with for some reason despite his overall numbers) saw the Rays come out on top 2-1. Ryan was brilliant again, going 7 3 1 1 1 5 and upping his season record to 6-0 as his rotation spot remains secure. The Rays got all of their offense in the first inning (and I mean that literally as they had only one hit after the first) when Vidal Brujan led off with a single, came around to score on a Ji-Man single and then Max Kepler doubled Ji-Man home. But that was enough for Ryan as well as Nick Anderson, who fanned two of the three men he faced in the eighth, and Brad Hand, who worked around a leadoff Rutschman single to whiff a pair himself and nail down save #16. Jays beat the Phillies in 12 innings to keep the lead at 5. Team record: 39-12. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-27-2020 at 03:20 PM.

06-27-2020, 03:20 PM	#40
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 6,078	May 30-June 2, 2022 at Oakland (4) Game 1: The Rays opened a road trip on Memorial Day in Oakland with Blake Snell getting the start. Snell began brilliantly and the Rays jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 4th inning on a Wander RBI double and then a Nelson Cruz grand slam, his 16th HR of the year, off Daulton Jefferies. But Snell gave 3 runs right back to Oakland in the bottom of the inning on 3 straight doubles and an infield hit. He settled down from there, though, and ended up with a 7 7 3 3 2 7 line for his third straight quality start. Merrifield had an insurance RBI double in the 9th after Alvarado held in the 8th despite putting two runners on, and with Brad Hand tired Nick Anderson picked up his first save of the season despite putting two men on as well. The win takes them to 40-12, and the lead is still 5 as Toronto beat up on Boston 9-3 behind 3 HR from Vlad Jr. Game 2: A tough loss for the Rays as they blew a 4-2 lead in the 6th and wound up losing 7-4 in 11 innings. Brendan McKay had kind of a mediocre start but thanks to 2 RBI from Ji-Man which came on hustle (he beat out an infield hit to drive in one and beat the relay on a force out that drove in the other) the game was still winnable as it went 4-3 into the 8th. With Nick Anderson unavailable, Austin Adams came on in the 8th and put two runners with one out and was replaced by Alvarado, who allowed a sac fly to tie the game. The Rays offense went hitless over the last 4 1/3, and although Zack Britton pulled Houdini acts in the 9th and 10th to keep Oakland from scoring (bases loaded & 1 out in the 9th, second and third with nobody out in the 10th), Brad Hand, as the last fresh pitcher in the 11th, walked the first two men he faced and promptly gave up a HR to Stephen Piscotty to end the game. Luckily Boston knocked off Toronto to keep the lead at 5. June 1: Optioned OF Josh Lowe to AAA Durham, purchased the contract of P Ryne Stanek from AAA Durham. With Adams, Dany Jimenez and Chirinos the only available bullpen arms tonight, another one was needed and with the open spot on the 40-man I was able to bring back Stanek. Maybe Max Fried can pitch consecutive shutouts. Game 3: Things looked good for the Rays early as they took a 4-1 lead in the 4th behind a 2-run Nelson Cruz HR off the LF foul pole but then it all went very wrong for Max Fried in the bottom of the inning. A series of singles, including a couple of the infield variety and a walk led to Oakland, tying, taking the lead and then after a Brujan error with two out loaded the bases, a grand slam by last night's hero Stephen Piscotty made it 9-4 Oakland just like that. And that was pretty much that as the A's prevailed 10-5. Fried allowed all 10 runs, although only half of them were earned. Wander was 0-3 with a sac fly to see his average now plummet to .256 as his slump continues on as the Rays lose 2 in a row for only the second time this season. Once again, the Jays result parallels the Rays' result as they lose again to Boston and the lead stays at 5. Game 4: This one had all the hallmarks of another tough Rays loss: the blown leads, the bullpen meltdowns, Hand having to come on in a non-save situation, extra innings. But somehow the Rays prevailed 9-8 in 11 innings. Glasnow got the start and was picking up where he left off in his first 2 starts, retiring the first 10 batters with 4 strikeouts. Then the obligatory starter meltdown inning commenced as it has in several of the last games, and Glasnow turned a 2-0 lead into a 4-2 deficit. Keibert Ruiz hit the first of his two HRs to tie it in the 5th, and the teams exchanged leads and ties until the Rays tied it in the top of the 8th at 8. Ryne Stanek, who was part of the problem walking in the 8th A's run with the bases loaded, became part of the solution as he got the team through the 8th and 9th innings. Brad Hand came on in the 10th, pitched a scoreless inning this time, and Nelson Cruz singled in Ruiz with two out to give them the lead. Hand got through the 11th to pick up the win but it wasn't easy as with one out he hit Franklin Barreto and then Sean Murphy singled but Max Kepler gunned Baretto down trying to take 3rd and David Fletcher grounded out as the Rays exhaled a huge sigh of relief and salvaged a split of the series. Meanwhile the wrong kind of WanderWatch continues as he went 0-6 today to drop his average to .249. The Jays were idle today so the lead grows to 5 1/2 games. Team record: 41-14. Last edited by Art Deco; 06-27-2020 at 08:46 PM.