Catching Some Rays- 7/10-7/16

After stumbling into the break, the Rays will greatly need this time off to regroup and get back to their winning ways. Four players will represent the team in Seattle for Monday and Tuesday's festivities. Once the dust settles in the battle for league supremacy, the Rays will be on the road to kick off the "second half." The first series back will be in Kansas City as the Rays battle the Royals in a three-game set. 

All-Star Break Recap
The Rays represented in a big way over the two-day fest. On Monday, Randy Arozarena put on a clinic in the Home Run Derby. Arozarena defeated Texas' Adolis Garcia in the first round, 24-17, and Luis Robert Jr, 35-22, in the second round before ultimately falling to Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 25-23, in the finals. His 82 total home runs are the second-most in Home Run Derby history and his 35 homers in the second round are tied for the fourth-most in a single round. 

Outside of a really bad mishap where both Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan were snubbed during the introductions, Tuesday's All-Star Game showed why the Rays are the best team in the American League. Randy Arozarena made a fantastic play to deny Freddie Freeman at the wall in the top of the first inning. He then singled in the bottom of the inning to provide the American League with their first base runner. Yandy Diaz opened the scoring in the second inning with a solo home run. Wander Franco would make his All-Star debut late in the game and nearly tied things in the bottom of the ninth, flying out on the warning track in a 3-2 loss for the American League. 

Saturday 7/15
Game 1
Rays 6, Royals 1
WP- Tyler Glasnow (3-3), LP- Alec Marsh (0-3)

With Friday's series opener being rained out, the Rays and the Royals would battle in a doubleheader. In Game 1, the offense took a little time to get going. Jose Siri knocked his team-leading 17th home run of the season to get things going in the third inning. Francisco Mejia and Bobby Witt Jr would trade solo shots in the fifth as the Rays held a 2-1 lead that would last until the eighth inning. Tyler Glasnow and Alec Marsh battled for six innings and while Marsh struck out 11 Rays, Glasnow made the one mistake to Witt Jr, striking out seven. After three walks loaded the bases in the eighth inning, Luke Raley broke the game open with a two-run single and Josh Lowe added a sac fly as the Rays pushed the lead to four runs. Siri put things away for good with his second solo home run of the game in the ninth as the Rays cruised to the win to open the series. 
Player of the Game- Jose Siri (TB) (2-for-4, 2 solo home runs)

Game 2
Rays 4, Royals 2
WP- Colin Poche (7-2), LP- Carlos Hernandez (0-5), SV- Pete Fairbanks (10)

Just like in Game 1, we saw a low-scoring affair for most of the second game. Also like this afternoon's game, the Rays opened the scoring in the third inning as Randy Arozarena singled home the game's opening run. Kansas City immediately responded in the bottom of the third and would take the lead in the fifth, their first lead of the day. Cole Ragans was effective for the Royals, holding the Rays to one run in five strong innings of work. The Rays evened things up after Josh Lowe came off the bench in the seventh inning and hit an RBI triple. Luke Raley, just like in the earlier game, would find a hole to drive in a run in the eighth inning, this time giving the Rays the lead back. Harold Ramirez added an insurance run in the ninth on a sac fly and Pete Fairbanks shut the Royals down in the ninth inning to sweep the doubleheader, win the series, and earn the 60th win of the season
Player of the Game- Randy Arozarena (TB) (3-for-5, 1 triple, 1 RBI)

Sunday 7/16
Royals 8, Rays 4
WP- Brady Singer (6-8), LP- Zach Eflin (10-5)

The Royals jumped on Zach Eflin early and put them away with ease behind a major rally in the second inning. After picking up one run in the first, Kansas City struck for four runs in the second inning to put the Rays in a 5-0 hole. Home runs by Drew Waters and Bobby Witt Jr dug the Rays into an even bigger hole. Brady Singer was in charge of keeping the Rays in check and he did an excellent job of it for seven innings. In the eighth, Isaac Paredes broke the shutout with a solo shot and Francisco Mejia made it even closer with a three-run home run to make it 7-4 with the winds of a comeback starting to swirl. It would come to fruition as MJ Melendez smacked the Royals' third home run of the game and held on for an 8-4 victory. 
Player of the Game- Bobby Witt Jr (KC) (2-for-4, 1 run, 1 triple, 1 home run, 3 RBIs)

Series Review
  • The Rays beat the Royals, 2-1
  • The Rays outscored the Royals, 14-11
  • With Saturday's Game 2 win, Kevin Cash earned his 700th win as a manager
  • The Rays are the 2nd MLB team, 1st AL team to win 60 games this season (Atlanta)
  • Series MVP- Francisco Mejia (3-for-8, 3 runs, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs)
Injury Report & Other News
With the All-Star Break allowing the team to heal, there was no major injury news. In a minor move, the Rays traded Ben Gamel to the Padres for cash considerations. 

The Week Ahead
This is going to be the biggest week of the season for the Rays. With their lead in the division sitting at one game, they'll start the week in Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers. A series win will be especially crucial with the weekend series being a four-game test against the Baltimore Orioles. This is the single most important series of the season, which is not something I thought I'd say at the beginning of the season. 

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