Game of the Week: August 5: TB @ CHW

[Commissioner Erick]

Tampa Bay Rays (54-52) @ Chicago White Sox (63-41)


TB: Steven Matz: (7-9, 4.96)
CHW: Carlos Rodon: (11-6, 3.62)



When Kevin Kiermaier fractured his ankle, it seemed as if the Tampa Bay Ray season would officially end. Instead, helped out by a weak schedule, they pieced together a strong July to stay in contention. With nobody in the American League running away with a wild card berth, Tampa Bay sits just two games behind Texas for the second spot.

Their August schedule is much rougher though, with a series against the Mets, and road games against the White Sox, Astros, and Rangers due up over the next few weeks.

Their gauntlet for the postseason begins tonight when the Tampa Bay Rays visit Chicago to take on the defending champion Chicago White Sox.

Tampa Bay survived July by getting more power from their power hitters. Eric Hosmer slugged six home runs during the month, while Matt Chapman smashed seven. Jake Bauers and Casey Gillaspie connected on eight big flies.

Eric Hosmer's month was important. After a dreadful April, he's been a reliable player for the Rays. While July saw his lowest average, it saw his highest slugging, as he's now holding an OPS of .823. Even in this increased run environment, that's not bad and has helped Tampa Bay weather a down season and injury for Kiermaier. Considering the seasons Khris Davis and Adrian Beltre had in Tampa Bay last year, Hosmer's been a strong addition.

The Rays have also gotten a breakout from Jake Bauers. Only in his second season, Bauers has shown spectacular bat-to-ball skills and great power. He's batting .320 with 20 home runs and is on pace to walk over 100 times. That feature, of hitting .320 with 20 home runs and 100 walks, only Bryce Harper has ever replicated if my research is accurate. Bauers is an unheralded star, and another of the game's great young players.

Tampa Bay will take on a White Sox team that is clicking. Andrew McCutchen was the Batter of the Month in July, Carlos Rodon was the Pitcher of the Month in July, their three young stars are all amazing, and they added Eugenio Suarez to bolster the bottom of their lineup. Rookies Brett Austin and Corey D. Ray are playing well. Chicago's really playing well, and according to their peripherals, are right there with Houston as the best team in the American League.

They're getting Carlos Rodon at a level where he may have solved his home run issues. Rodon was giving up an enormous quantity of dingers when he wasn't striking everyone out, culminating in a four home run game on June 16th against Tampa Bay. Since then, he's allowed just three home runs in 50.1 innings. Unsurprisingly, from June 25th on, his results have also been much better as he's worked to a 1.91 ERA over that span. He's second in the league in strikeouts and strikeouts-per-nine, so once he stopped catching the sweet spot of bats, he's become, well, the best pitcher in July.

How he fares against a Rays lineup that touched him up for four home runs last time out will determine the game.


Questions for the GMs:


For Graham Stratford, your squad has weather the loss of Kevin Kiermaier so far. How has it been able to do so?

Carlos Rodon is striking out everything right now. He was homer prone early in the year but that's turned around dramatically. What would you like your team's strategy to be against him today?

Steven Matz gets the start today and he's been wildly inconsistent. Why hasn't he been on top of his game so far?

For Mike Ball, you have a fourth round pick from 2017 as your new starting first baseman. Describe Ryan Lillard's ascent through the minors.

You acquired Eugenio Suarez despite having a number of infield options. Why did you target him and bring him on board?

Your bullpen isn't the rock it once was, and Dan Jennings is now in Colorado. How confident are you in your bullpen today if the game is close?

[Mike RedSox]

For Mike Ball, you have a fourth round pick from 2017 as your new starting first baseman. Describe Ryan Lillard's ascent through the minors.

Lillard was drafted as a SS with good character, but he's proved to be a solid hitter with the ability to play multiple positions.  He's beyond a UTIL player and has earned the right to play often.

You acquired Eugenio Suarez despite having a number of infield options. Why did you target him and bring him on board?

Depth is never a bad thing and Suarez can play 1st, 3rd but he'll probably DH quite a bit.  My biggest fear is that some of the rookies that are playing will be inconsistent.  He provides a low risk solution to many key positions.

Your bullpen isn't the rock it once was, and Dan Jennings is now in Colorado. How confident are you in your bullpen today if the game is close?

Our bullpen ERA is 7th, Tony Zych has been great as a closer and has the opportunity to hold down that job for years.  Bullpens are tough to solve.  There are guys in the minors that will get a chance (Brian Clark, Gomez among others).  Hader's role will probably be lessened, we'll keep tweaking things until we figure it out...

[Commissioner Erick]

White Sox 3 - Rays 2 (15)


WP: R. Lopez (2-4)
LP: J. Diekman (2-5)


Despite their spectacular young offensive core, the Chicago White Sox boast one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, a fact that is often lost on teams.

The Rays got a full taste of that exemplary pitching Monday night.

The Chicago White Sox held the Tampa Bay Rays to two runs over 15 innings, stifling the Rays bats before a Jake Diekman wild pitch sent Chicago off as 3-2 winners in the Game of the Week.

Chicago's arms were suffocating throughout the game. Carlos Rodon was in the middle of a stretch where he stopped giving up home runs. That stretch started after Tampa Bay took him deep four times in one outing. The trends met in the middle, with slugger Casey Gillaspie getting to Rodon once in Rodon's 7 innings of work.

Aside from that long ball though, Rodon was impeccable, though in surprising ways. He walked three which is a bit high for him, he allowed only four hits which is a bit low, and he struck out just four which is unrecognizable. Four strikeouts tied a season low for him which he set only twice. Once was against the Twins early in the season, and the other was in his ineffective start against Tampa Bay almost two months ago.

There may be something where Tampa Bay is predisposed to home runs against Rodon, as they tagged him for two in an 8.1 inning start last year. However, the lack of strikeouts is strange as Tampa Bay fanned 12 times against Rodon in that start last year, and is a high strikeout team this year.

Regardless, Rodon made it work. He retired nine in a row from the third to the fifth inning, and it took until the sixth to run into trouble. After a leadoff double by Starlin Castro, a strikeout and groundout saw Castro at third with two outs. Jake Bauers walked, brining up Gillaspie, who homered earlier in the game. Rodon fell behind 2-1, but after three straight foul balls, he got him swinging on a slider to end the threat.

Tampa Bay threatened again in the seventh. Joe McCarthy walked, and being aggressive in a low-scoring game, stole second and advanced to third on an error on the throw. With McCarthy on third, Graham Stratford's manager bot called for a safety squeeze bunt for Matt Duffy. Rodon made a great play, picking the bunt up to the third base side of the mound and shoveling it home to retire McCarthy keeping the game 1-1. Rodon got Thomas Nido to fly out to end the frame and preserve the tie heading to the bottom of the inning.

After that, Chicago's bullpen took over. Will Smith, Tony Zych, and newly acquired Joe Jiminez each worked hitless innings to preserve the tie until the tenth. Drew Storen and Tommy Kahnel each worked a pair of scoreless innings after to keep Chicago in it until their bats would wake up.

The bats really never did. Chicago got a home run from Tim Anderson in the sixth, but was shut down by Steven Matz all game. Matz worked 7 shutout innings, allowing just a run on five hits, walking none and striking out seven in one of his better starts this year.

Jumbo Diaz, Danny Farquhar, Alex Colome, and Paul Fry each followed with a hitless inning, with Xavier Cedeno coming on next to fire 1.2 hitless frames. Matt Barnes got the last out of the thirteenth, but after allowing two to reach in the fourteenth, was pulled for Jake Diekman. Diekman got Brett Austin and Gavin Cecchini to end the threat and get to the fifteenth.

From there, the bats finally awakened. After Matt Duffy opened the fifteenth with a single, Reynaldo Lopez came on. He induced a double play by Nido, but Castro continued his solid game with a home run that gave the Rays a 2-1 lead headed to the bottom of the fifteenth.

Diekman was working his second inning though, and had worked the Friday and Saturday prior. Against the top of Chicago's lineup, he walked Yoan Moncada to start, and after a ground out by Anderson, a hard single by Benintendi to right-center put runners on the corners with one out. Diekman then plunked Devers to load the bases. With the infield in, a weak ground ball to the left side was flagged down by Willy Adames who got a force play at the plate to keep it 2-1. However, Diekmann walked Andrew McCutchen on four pitches.

With nobody left in the pen, Diekmann stayed on with a favorable matchup against the lefty Garin Cecchini. He struck him out on a 1-2 slider in the dirt that bounced away from Nido. Cecchini scampered to first base, Devers scampered home, and the Chicago White Sox persevered with a 3-2 walkoff win over Tampa Bay


Questions for the GMs:


For Graham Stratford, Starlin Castro had another big day and has been a boon for you this year. Now with a 1.070 OPS, will he see more at bats down the stretch?

Back in the seventh inning, your team tried a squeeze play that failed with McCarthy on third and Duffy at the plate. How do you feel about the decision?

Brett Austin committed an error when Joe McCarthy stole a base. Any thoughts on why you didn't run more in the game?

For Mike Ball, there were some questions regarding your bullpen and it answered those questions splendidly. Who were you most impressed with in yesterdays outing?

You gave Corey D. Ray the start against the left-hander, but Andrew McCutchen got in the game later on anyway. Why did you make the call to sit McCutchen down after his Player-of-the-month winning July.

You started five left-handers in the lineup and they did little against Matz. After those results, will you try to get the platoon-advantage in more future outings against lefties?

[Mike RedSox]

For Mike Ball, there were some questions regarding your bullpen and it answered those questions splendidly. Who were you most impressed with in yesterdays outing?

It's nice to see the newly acquired Joe Jimenez step up.  We need to see improvements in the middle innings if we want to do any damage in the playoffs.

You gave Corey D. Ray the start against the left-hander, but Andrew McCutchen got in the game later on anyway. Why did you make the call to sit McCutchen down after his Player-of-the-month winning July.

Cutch needs regular rest and Ray needs plate appearances if he's going to improve.  With the division lead as it is we will be trying to let some of the young guys play more.

You started five left-handers in the lineup and they did little against Matz. After those results, will you try to get the platoon-advantage in more future outings against lefties?

It depends, in a meaningless game, no we're going to try and develop our weak side.  In the playoffs, yes, definitely.

[Commissioner Erick]

Good answers!