Palacios homers, but Rays fall 10-4 in Mets finale
The Rays dropped the finale to the Mets 10-4 to lose the series 2-1, but they still hold a 3.5-game lead in the AL East.
Palacios homers, but Mets take the finale 10-4
The Rays lost the series finale to the Mets 10-4 on September 2, dropping the three-game set 2-1 after opening with a 3-2 loss on August 31 and answering with a 6-2 win on September 1. Richie Palacios went 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI in the finale, and Manuel Rodríguez worked 1.2 innings out of the bullpen, allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 3 and walking none.
Mets2-3Mets6-2Mets4-10The result left the Rays 3-2 in their last 5 games, a split week that still ended with a series loss to a divisional contender they'd beaten in the middle game just a day earlier.
Rays hold a 3.5-game lead over the Yankees
At 83-56, the Rays sit atop the AL East with a 3.5-game cushion over the Yankees, whose elimination number now sits at 20. Boston trails by 8.5 games with an elimination number of 15, while Toronto and Baltimore are both 14.5 back with elimination numbers of 9.
| AL East | W | L | Pct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rays | 83 | 56 | .597 | — |
 Yankees | 80 | 60 | .571 | 3.5 |
 Red Sox | 75 | 65 | .536 | 8.5 |
 Blue Jays | 69 | 71 | .493 | 14.5 |
 Orioles | 69 | 71 | .493 | 14.5 |
The series loss to the Mets didn't threaten that margin — Tampa Bay's lead has held even as the week produced a losing series, a sign of how much room the club has built up over the rest of the division with the season winding down.
Upcoming
Shane McClanahan (10-6, 3.19 ERA) starts for the Rays, coming off a win over the Padres on August 28 in which he allowed 3 earned runs over 5.2 innings with 4 strikeouts. He'll be matched up with Cal Quantrill (6-5, 3.01 ERA), who took the loss at Milwaukee on August 29 despite striking out 8 over 6 shutout-until-late innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 4 hits. The Rays are in Texas tonight to open a three-game series with the Rangers.
Tampa Bay is favored to win, and the market expects a low-scoring game — a read that fits two starters who've each kept their ERAs under 3.20 and neither of whom has walked more than 2 batters in his last outing. If that number holds, it'll come down to which lineup manufactures the couple of runs the pitching is expected to allow.