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Tampa Bay Rays News and Links: Round Numbers

Plus: the baseball world is given TWO game 163s today

Toronto Blue Jays v Tampa Bay Rays Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

On the final day of the 2018 MLB season (well, final for most teams as we’ll get to later) there was still a lot to play for in the world of Rays baseball. The Rays accomplished all of it.

The round numbers:

3.00 — Ryne Stanek Opened the game, notching 3 more Ks and lowered his season ERA to 2.98.

32Tommy Pham’s on base streak reached 32 games with the Rays, breaking a tie he had with Ben Zobrist for 5th longest in team history. He also hit his 6th 3B with the Rays (nearly matching his career total of 7 3B).

.200 Jake Bauers has been in a tough slump in the 2nd half after starting out blazingly hot to begin his pro career. On his final game of the 2018 season, Bauers went 3-3 with a BB, including this big RBI double to move above the Mendoza line on the season (ending his year hitting .201 in BA).

40 — Mallex Smith added 2 stolen bases to push his season total to a nice round 40 SB on the year (3rd best in all of baseball). Mallex certainly Affected this season.

16Ryan Yarbrough, the oft used Bulk Guy following Stanek’s Opener picked up his 16th win of the year, which is now 4th most Wins by any Rays starting pitcher ever.

.300Joey Wendle entered the game hitting .300, but of course Wendle was not going to sit out game 162 and rest on his laurels. With his 1st inning out, Joey needed 1 hit to get back to .300, and he delivered with an RBI base hit to give the Rays their first lead of the day. Kevin Cash would eventually pull Wendle mid-inning late in the game to preserve his .300 batting average and give Joey the much deserved ovation.

90 — Last but certainly not least: The Rays got their 90th win. 90 wins is a nice, round number. It’s also a really important number in baseball. 90 wins is a great season. 90 wins usually gets you into the playoffs (the Rays will be the only 90 win team to miss out). And ending the season with a win, to say they aren’t just a “high 80s” wins club, but a 90 win ballclub going into 2019? That sounds a lot better.

As Marc Topkin notes:

This was the first time the Rays won 90 since 2013, but the sixth in 11 seasons, since the 2008 name change. Only the Red Sox (7), Dodgers (7) and Yankees (6) have as many.

Rays Links:

  • One last time in 2018, Kevin Cash (who should get a lot of votes for the Manager of the Year award) spoke postgame:

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