Cleveland Guardians at Tampa Bay Rays

With the Rays leading the American League East and owning the AL’s best record, there’s been a lot of talk about what kind of impactful acquisitions their aggressive approach to the Trade Deadline may yield over the next nine days. They’ll have a hard time making a better move than one they pulled off in February: signing a veteran free agent by the name of Nick Martinez. Martinez continued his incredible run with the Rays by holding the Guardians scoreless for six innings in Tampa Bay’s 3-0 win over Cleveland on Saturday night at Tropicana Field. The 35-year-old right-hander earned his 10th win, and the Rays improved to 16-4 in his starts this year. Martinez’s 2.45 ERA is the second-lowest mark among qualified pitchers in the AL, trailing only Yankees ace Cam Schlittler (2.07), and he joined Sonny Gray (12), Gavin Williams (10), Nathan Eovaldi (10) and Schlittler (10) as the only AL arms with a double-digit win total. “I don’t know what to say. I can say a million words, but I’d still be short,” veteran designated hitter Yandy Díaz said. “He’s just been marvelous for us the entire year.” Martinez stuck to the formula that’s made him such a huge part of Tampa Bay’s rotation all year, throwing strikes with a mix of his three fastballs and excellent changeup to make quick work of Cleveland’s lineup. He allowed only four hits, all singles, and didn’t walk a batter while striking out five as the Rays rolled to their seventh shutout win of the season. He cruised through his team-leading 11th quality start with just 84 pitches, which is on brand for the pitcher who leads all qualifiers with an average of 14.05 pitches per inning. “It’s just part of our identity of attacking the zone and getting ahead and winning that race to two strikes,” Martinez said. “\[Force\