Tuesday, September 3. Double Header. Game 2. Game 141. The seven-pitcher shutout.

Rays 2, Orioles 0

Record:  82-59

Attendance:  Same as Game 140, double header

The Rays bounced back almost nicely to take the second game of Tuesday's double header, 2-0.  They got single runs in the fourth on Austin Meadow's home run, his 26th, and in the seventh on Ji-Man Choi's triple and Avisail Garcia's RBI single.  It wasn't much after all as they went scoreless for six innings, plus eight more in the first game, and only managed seven hits, same as in the opener. 

Pitching was the story of the second game with seven bullpen regulars combining for a seven-hit shutout.  The winner was Diego Castillo, whose record improved to 3-8 and the save went to Emilio Pagan, his 17th.  All of that was made possible by an inning in which the Rays sloppy defense put them in serious trouble with a run in and a man on third with no one out.  Chris Davis led off with a single to right that Meadows played into a double.  Richie Martin then bunted.  Joey Wendle charged the ball but threw it wildly past first that scored Davis and put Martin on third, but the umpires decided to call it all back.  Martin had run inside the base line, interference according to the MLB rule book.  He was ruled out, Wendle's error was erased, and Davis's run was taken off the board as he returned to second base.  Kevin Kiermaier could not make a play on Jonathan Villar's drive to the wall, but when the dust settled, Davis held up at third, which surprised Villar who rounded second and was caught between second and third with Davis standing on the bag.  End of threat.  The Rays misplayed three balls and the Orioles lost runs by horrible base running. 

So in the end the Rays had themselves a seven-pitcher shutout and split the double header to put their record at 82-59. 

If you put 94 wins as a goal, the number that would almost surely put them in the postseason, they would have to finish 12-9 at least.  That sounds doable for a team that is 23 games over .500, but to get there they must do well against the Dodgers (the 11th and 12th of the month in L.A.), the Red Sox (the 20th to the 23rd at the Trop), and the Yankees (the 24th and 25th at the Trop).  They also have 13 games left against Toronto (seven), Texas (three), and the Los Angeles Angels (three).  But this is an achievable goal--unless the Rays fall into one of their extended batting slumps or the bullpen collapses or the defense springs a leak. And they have shown us all year that all those are possibilities.  But if September runs even close to reasonable expectations, the Rays will grab a piece of the postseason pie, for the first time since 2013.

This is the best part of the season, meaningful games in September.  Good job Rays.