The Tampa Bay Rays swept the doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday — winning 3-1 in the first game, and 10-6 in the second — and in doing so, they punched their ticket to a second consecutive postseason berth; the sixth playoff berth in franchise history.
Next stop: working their way to an AL East title.
The Rays enter play Friday 15 games over .500, and with a 3-1/2 game lead over the second-place Yankees, with nine games left to play. Any combination of six Tampa Bay wins and New York losses will give the Rays a third-ever division title, and their first since 2010.
Willy Adames is undoubtedly the hero of the second game of the day/night doubleheader. Mired in a big slump, Adames broke through in the first inning with a big three-run homer to left-field. That snapped the team’s 0-for-20 stretch with runners in scoring position dating back to Tuesday. The Rays went 5-for-8 in the second game.
Adames later collected another hit and ended the night with two runs and three RBI.
Hunter Renfroe also came up big. After allowing a run to cross the plate in the top of the third inning — with a runner on first, Ryan Mountcastle hit a liner to right that went under the glove of a diving Renfroe for an RBI double — the outfielder crushed a 91 mph center/center fastball to put the Rays up by two.
Yet for the eighth time in nine appearances (and for the sixth consecutive appearance), starter Trevor Richards allowed two crucial runs to cross the plate on a bloop (a leadoff single into right-center in front of a four-man outfield) and a blast (a Rio Ruiz homer to right-center) in the fourth inning — spelling the end of his night.
And Richards departed, things continued to go downhill. Ryan Thompson entered the game in relief and punched out Austin Hays, yet Pat “Cobra Kai” Valaika reached on a two-out single that rolled toward third before Cedric Mullins slashed a single to left. D.J. Stewart followed with a two-RBI double into the right-field corner, giving Baltimore a short-lived two-run lead.
However, Tampa Bay knotted things up in the bottom of the frame. Starter Bruce Zimmerman departed the contest after a Nate Lowe single to left. Right-hander Travis Lakins Sr. took over and got the next two batters, but Joey Wendle blasted a 1-2 offspeed pitch to right, tying the score at six.
Tampa Bay took the lead for good in the fifth inning, which Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) wrote about.
With the contest tied at six, Mike Brosseau started the rally against Cole Sulser by drawing a walk. Brosseau then stole second and Adames hit a grounder toward the bag at third. Adames reached on an infield hit, and Brosseau moved to third on a Rio Ruiz throwing error. Nate Lowe then looped a single to left, putting Tampa Bay ahead 7–6, and chasing Sulser.
Dillon Tate came on and Manuel Margot reached on a bunt single, loading the bases. Kevan Smith then hit a dribble to the third-base side of the mound and Tate’s throw home hit Adames as he scored on the infield single to make it 8–6 Rays. Joey Wendle and Randy Arozarena followed with successive sacrifice flies for a 10–6 advantage.
— Neil Solondz
There is still work to be done, which INF Joey Wendle spoke about in a pre-game media Zoom call.
We’re in a position to do that. If we continue to play good baseball from here on out, that would be our goal. Our short-term goal is to win the division, obviously.
It’s kind of hard to focus on that necessarily as a goal when we don’t feel like we’re playing well, so I think goal one is to kind of turn things around, start playing a little bit better, start putting together good at-bats, good games, good series. Here, (then) a good series when we go to New York (to face the Mets next). I think winning the division would be a product of that.
— Joey Wendle
With a 94.8% chance of winning the AL East (according to FanGraphs), and with the first postseason hurdle out of the way, that work begins in earnest on Friday … that is, assuming there is no imaginary celebratory hangover from all the imaginary champagne bottles they popped Thursday night.
The New What Next
Tyler Glasnow (3-1, 4.47 ERA) will take the mound in the third game of the five-game set, pitching opposite of former Ray Alex Cobb (1-4, 5.03 ERA).
Tyler Glasnow gave up four runs on six hits and a walk over seven innings on Saturday against the Red Sox. He struck out seven. It wasn’t the sharpest outing for Glasnow yet he got just enough offensive support to get the win. Part of Glasnow’s problem was his inability to control the running game —the Red Sox went 6-for-6 on steal attempts against the battery of Glasnow and Michael Perez, an ongoing weakness that other teams could exploit down the stretch if they get the chance. The right-hander will take a 4.47 ERA and 3.84 K/BB across 46-1/3 innings into his next start on Friday. Glasnow is 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA in five starts against the Orioles, and 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in two starts at Camden Yards.
Alex Cobb coughed up five runs on seven hits — including three homers — and a walk over four innings of work against the Yankees. He struck out three. The right-hander’s first start since August 29 went poorly, to say the least, as New York took Cobb deep twice before he even recorded the first out. It’s the first time in eight outings he’s served up multiple homers, while the rough return to action pushed his ERA above 5.00 for the first time this season. The Rays scored two runs on four hits over four innings of work against Cobb back on July 31, although they were able to chase him after 87 pitches. Overall, Cobb is 0-3 with a 4.61 ERA in five starts against his former team. Key Matchups: Willy Adames (2-4, 2B), Manuel Margot (1-2, 2B), Michael Perez (1-4, 2B), Hunter Renfore (1-2, 2B), Yoshi Tsutsugo (1-2, 2B), Joey Wendle (4-11)
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 9/18/20 Starting Lineup
- Tsutsugo DH
- Arozarena LF
- B. Lowe 2B
- Brosseau 3B
- N. Lowe 1B
- Margot CF
- Renfroe RF
- Adames SS
- Perez C
Noteworthiness
— After exiting Thursday night’s ballgame due to left oblique soreness, OF Austin Meadows was placed on the Injured List with a left oblique strain. LHP Sean Gilmartin, who had been on the taxi squad, has been selected to take Meadows’ place on the active roster. In order to clear room on the 40-man roster, LHP Cody Reed has been moved from the 10-day IL to the 45-day IL.
— These hats are already available via the Rays online store, and they’re sharp!
