RAYS POSTCAST: The Tampa Bay Rays SURVIVE vs the Chicago White Sox

RAYS POSTCAST: The Tampa Bay Rays SURVIVE vs the Chicago White Sox

[Music] This is the Rays Post Cast, your instant game reaction for the Tampa Bay Rays, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to Tampa Bay Rays Post, your spot for instant Rays reaction after every single game. My name is Jonathan Shields. Make sure you guys go follow me on Twitter, Johnny10 Shields, as the Rays, it felt like, I don’t know about you guys, felt like forever since the Rays have played the early game on Sunday, off day yesterday, laterish game, just five minutes later than normal Rays home game start time. But the Rays did almost blow another lead, but were able to pull it out in the end. In this one, we’re gonna talk about has Adrien Hower, I want to ask you guys, done enough to earn getting an extension, get an extended look next year with the Rays? Uh Tristan Gray has been fantastic lately. It was really good to see to see Pete have a clean ending after his struggles. A must sweep series in in my opinion. Last time I checked, Seattle was losing to St. Louis, but as Gary’s mentioned before, the Rays have to jump three teams. So, it’s not just Seattle losing. Now, uh Rudy against the Guardians because they, you know, you didn’t take care of business there. And we’ll look ahead to see how the Rays can take the second step in sweeping the series. But first, we got to talk about how homers equal wins for this Rays team. This is what you’ll be talking about. The Rays hit three home runs today. And when the Rays were in part of their sevename win streak, their longest of the season so far uh in parts of early last week, they were hitting home runs. and home runs after home runs after home runs is what have led the Rays to be as successful as they have been now. Uh those by the people that hit those home runs today is what stand out to me. You got Josh Low hitting one as he continues to have a stellar kind of late August, early September. You get Richie Flash hitting his first home run of the year which was huge. And then Tristan Gray with an absolute no doubter. And Tristan Graves is where we find our turning point. Time to reveal where the game was won or lost. It’s the turning point after the Rays gave up the lead or yes gave up the lead in the sense that the White Sox came back to tie the game and it the the one thing I will say Hower’s been fantastic with the Rays for every part of his outings except for the last batter a lot of the times. Again, he allows a triple to to get to get through and you know it kind of goes all crazy from there. or I guess they they called it a no it was a triple and then uh Baldwin ends up come coming around to score and then you get Mason Montgomery to come in and you know the scatter pours out on Montgomery teams are going to be sitting fast ball first pitch and both guys that hit RBI’s off him were sitting fast ball first pitch and the second one just got enough to get it into center the other one was hit pretty well to score the run but um and you hate to see the Montgomery’s missed high a lot this year and the high pitch eventually got the run to third was able to strike out the guy to get two outs, but you know, first pitch of the the very next batter because the scouts out on him, you know, you throw a fast ball 70 63% of the time, wherever it is. You know, that pitch is probably coming first and it’s sitting on it. But to have Tristan Gray come up and with one out in the seventh and immediately give the Rays back was so huge because the longer that game was tied, the more it favored the White Socks. And Tristan Gray had one of those like baller bat flips afterwards slash no doubter celebration that I’ve seen from a race player this year. I mean that was electric and that’s why he’s our player of the game. This is the locked on player of the game. Kristen Gray has nine hits in his last eight games. has averaged over 300 during that time with three home runs. His average for the season is up near 250. He’s been fantastic as of late. And if you’re a reoccurring viewer to race Postcast, that wouldn’t surprise you because we’ve talked about how I think that he should be getting the everyday shortstop reps against a righty because of how how much success he’s had lately. like Carson Williams development is great and and everything, but especially if the Manders lose today and you’re three and a half back with 18 to play that you have a realistic shot of still getting that final wild card. Now, things have to really break your way, but I think right now Tristan Grace still gives you the best opportunity to succeed with Car over Carson Williams in terms of of with the bat. Obviously, Carson Williams a much better defender and I think there’s a way that you could get all three of them on the field at the same time. Gray can play second. He moved Brandon Low over to first where he’s played a little bit this year. We even saw we even saw Tristan Gray at first today which almost cost the Rays the game a little bit at the end there. But have Williams play short and I wouldn’t be surprised if they rolled a lineup type like that. Bobby Seymour is another guy that needs to get some more at bats. But don’t be surprised tomorrow if it’s a righty if you see Williams Gray Brandon Laauo at first maybe just to get Carson Williams in the lineup to keep getting him those at bats but keep Tristan Grey’s hot bat in the lineup as well. that’s, you know, he’s our player of the game and he’s been fantastic for the Rays as of late. But, uh, again, the the Rays got down early. Adrien Hower’s only hit for a while was a solo home run to Coutiel and then he really locked in nine strikeouts for Agent Hower. Man, he he’s been really, really good. Uh, as of late, ever since that first inning in Seattle, since then, he’s really settled in uh for the Rays. But again, I want to touch on who hit the home runs for the Rays, right? Josh Low, who has had a little bit of a resurgence this past I would say two and a half, three weeks as in September, he’s now hitting over 250 with already two big home runs. But if you take in account the last two days of August, he’s hit four home runs in the last about eightish games, nineish games. So that that’s the type of productivity we expect from Josh Luke coming into the season. He provided it very briefly when he when he came up, right? You remember he immediately had three hits in that game. Hit 321 in June. I mean, he was on fire and then was got colder in June, was ice cold in July, August, he he started out slow, then really start picking it up, and now he’s getting hot again. So, it’s great to see Josh Slow. Good to see Rich Plaza. He’s been hurt for really the the second half of last year and then the entirety of this year to kind of take that next step and uh get a big time home run. Love how he tracked that curveball too. Got the barrel to it and sent it out. So impressed by not only the the Rays hitting the home runs, but who hit the home runs for the Rays, right? It wasn’t Brandon Low. It wasn’t Junior. Wasn’t Yandi who were top three for the Rays. It’s Rich who hit his first. Gray who hit his third. Josh Low who hit his ninth or ninth or tth. I’m not entirely sure what what Josh’s was, but it goes to the the lineup depth that the Rays have been uh have been trying to establish for a long time. And you know, we thought we we thought that lineup with high Kim was going to be kind of powerful. Obviously, he gets DFAD or put on waiverss. He’s picked up by the Braves. But so the Rays are trying to piece together holes in their in their lineup. So having Tristan Gray provide a little bit of that pop has been huge for the Rays. But, uh, we’re going to talk about a little bit about Pete Fairbanks, how good it was for him to have a clean ending, and why this is a must sweep series right after this. This episode is brought to you by Game Time. There’s nothing like catching a baseball game live. The energy of the crowd, the chance to see your team in person, but actually getting tickets, that’s the tough part. Cues, login screens, surprise fees, and takes the fun out of it. That’s why I use Game Time, the app that gives you that gives advantage back to fans. Game time is fast, easy, and backed by the game time guarantee. You’ll always get 100% authentic tickets delivered on time and at the best price. Plus, all fees are included. So, the price you see is the price you pay. And the best part is having those fees included. You know your total upfront with no surprise fees. And the Rays are going to their last home stand of the year next week. So, you guys got to make sure you get you get there and use game time. 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So, I don’t know if he tried to like mix in a cutter a little bit, which we we saw Shane Bos do a little bit, but when you look at his breakdown, it says, yeah, four same slider, but the max on his slider was 90, which is like the hardest he’s thrown it this year. So, I wonder if that’s something a little bit different out of Pete. But just good to see him, you know, get back in that save category in a high level situation, one-run game. There’s an error, right? One hit to the wall and left. Uh things were chaotic as they normally are, but he was able to shut it down. So very good for Pete. But let’s look go ahead and look at ahead at the game tomorrow, same time, first pitch. Ryan Pepio will go to the mound. Still undecided for the White Sox. So anyone in the comments if they have announced that, I saw they put on the broadcast that they still haven’t. If you guys get any word that they have announced it, let me know. But for Ryan Pepio, he’s 11-10 with a 35 RA. He’s been really good for the Rays this year. Last time out against Cleveland, five innings, six strikeouts. He’s given up just two hits over his last 15 innings. And I feel like he hasn’t even pitched his best last time against Cleveland. He was really battling against Washington to an extent. He was he he he was really battling. You see that in his walk totals. Two walks against Cleveland, three walks against the Nationals. That’s very unlike Pep to an extent. So he’s been really good without having his best stuff. He’s kind of due for that to to turn around where he’s dominant and you can tell he’s has his best stuff. But what most thing I’ve been impressed with Pepio is his ability to get to get the the productivity that he’s gotten without having his best stuff and battling through some of that adversity. I thought I think it’s been huge for him. And again, one of the biggest keys for the for the Rays in the rest of these last 18 games. And the Rays are realistically going to need like a you know, another like 15 and four mark if you count this last game pl this game, which was game 19 left for the Rays. Now there’s 18 after this game. One of those kind of kind of runs, right? Like a you know like a whatever the you’re going to have to win probably four or five more games at least, six games at least, then you’re going to lose going forward. But let’s get to the comments. go to coastal Kyle Kyle. He says, “I never doubted Pete. Good team win.” Of course, Kyle is one of the people that said, “I did doubt Pete a little bit, but I love the humor there.” Yeah, look, again, Pete Fairbanks has welcomed the the criticism, right? He uh deserves the criticisms as now Seattle was winning. That’s devastating after, of course, Randy hit a three-run home run. What a guy. But uh hopefully St. Louis can do a job there. But but yeah, you know, it was just good to see Pete get on track. Let’s go to Gary says, “Good to get back in the win column and see Pete Fairbanks bounce back with a sha save.” Josh Loic Plus and Tristan Gray supply the power. Yeah, when the race hit home runs, they’ve been a different team this year, but you know, unfortunately it might be a little bit too little too late as July once again looks like it’s going to doom the race unfortunately. But as we go Jack says, “Glad they pulled out, but man, they did they try to give it away today. It’s the same story as last season. Played smart fun baseball. They dominate but sloppy and risky plays bite them often.” I didn’t think the Rays played sloppy today. Like they didn’t walk anyone. That’s my biggest thing. When the Rays walk people, it bothers me because uh all the time, especially at this level, you see those those walks come back around to score. You know, the Rays did not walk a single player today. So, besides the I know Junior had an error in the first and the Trist won the ninth, but when the White Socks scored their runs, it wasn’t because the Rays were sloppy. I thought they get put together good at bats. They knew the uh they they knew the opport they knew the scout on Montgomery was fast ball heavy. They’re sitting on that for him. So, you know, I kind of disagree with that to an extent, but because I don’t think the race played sloppy outside of maybe two plays. And anytime I see a race game where they don’t walk anyone, you take that 100% of the time, especially when you have Montgomery pitching who’s been known to walk a lot of people. So, as we go to Gary, which is not the news we want to see, he says, “Since the loss of the Rays last Thursday, Guardians now won five in a row. Have to give them credit.” Yeah, they’re doing it with with no with below average lineup and without their two best relief pitchers or two of their best relief pitcher, another solid one. Yeah, I mean they’re getting hot at the right time. The Rays need to go like five and one on this road trip. That’s the kind of road trip they need in order to stay in it, you know. And again, I don’t want to talk about playoffs to death because, you know, the Rays are four games back right now. And I if the if the Mariners end up winning, they’ll be right back to four and a half back and four and a half back with 18 to play. It just isn’t great for the Rays playoff chances. So So yeah. So as we go to Gary Gennis is not trying to nitpick, but I would love to see Bob Seymour get as many ABS as possible between now and the end of the season. And Eric Orsy, why is he not with the big club? Yeah, look, Eric Orsley is not on this roster for a reason. There’s a reason, especially with the Rays going out and acquiring a pitcher off waiverss from the Rangers when Van Bell went down. So there’s a reason I’m going to trust the race front office. They’ve earned that trust from us. So but yeah, it’s interesting. As for Seymour, I would expect him if there’s a writing to be in there tomorrow to to an extent. I was kind of surprised he wasn’t in there today. He hasn’t played in a little bit, but you know, it’s that fine line right now where the Rays like aren’t as far out of it where like you can’t just play other young guys and they’re still in it to an extent to where you need to play the guys that you think are going to put you in the best situation to win. So as we go to Mr. Bob Seymour. He has not played since Friday. Yeah. Uh that that’s a that’s a good amount of time off. Again, another guy I would love to see get a start against a righty is morale, right? He’s hit righties better than lefties this season. And you know, the he’s another guy that the Rays really need to get a look at to see if he’s in their future plans. So again, Rays win five to four. Uh only 18 games left, man. Crazy. This I feel like this season uh since kind of July has flown by. which is crazy crazy that it’s almost over, but we’ll be here every night until it is over and hopefully the Rays can somehow go another run, get near the playoffs again. But it’s going to need some help and some more good baseball like they did for majority of today. So, uh, if you guys are in the live, please make sure you leave a like before you guys head out. We’ll be right back tomorrow at the exact same time, hopefully talking about another race win. We will see you guys then.

The Tampa Bay Rays survive a late comeback by the Chicago White Sox to win 5-4. The White Sox got out to a quick lead after a solo home run in the 1st inning to make it 1-0. The Rays would immediately take the lead in the 2nd inning off a 2 run homer by Josh Lowe. The Rays would add another on a Chandler Simpson RBI single to make it 3-1. Richie Palacios would hit his first homer of the season in the 4th inning to give the Rays a 4-1 lead. The White Sox would come back in the 6th inning to tie the game at 4. But Tristian Gray would give the Rays the lead back right away with a monster solo homer to give the Rays a 5-4 lead. The Rays bullpen would shut it down from there to give the Rays the lead. Adrian Houser started against his former team and was solid. He went 5.1 IP striking out 9 and giving up 3 runs. The Rays will go for the series win tomorrow night.

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