Game 1: The Rays got a strong outing from Jon Soranno and some late thunder to defeat the White Sox 6-2 and pull themselves back to .500. Soranno was in command just about the whole time, before giving up a 2-run homer to Michael Toglia in the 7th to allow Chicago to pull within 3-2. He finished the inning and went 7 5 2 2 1 7 to pick up his first win of the year. Jordan Diaz got Chicago in the 8th and after the lead grew to 4, Mike Mooney finished the game instead of Jose Alvarado and had a scoreless inning of his own. After the White Sox had pulled within in a run in the top of the 7th, the bats started hitting the ball out of the park. Luis Corpus led off the bottom of the inning with his first of the year and Nate Clark, who earlier drove in a run with a groundout, hit #2 to make it 5-2. And in the 8th Jasson Dominguez, who had an RBI double in the 3rd, hit his 2nd of the year to cushion the lead. Ricky Widmar had a big day, going 3-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 steals, and manufactured their first run by singling, stealing second, going to 3rd on a grounder and scoring on a wild pitch.
MLB News: Vlad Guerrero Jr hit his 500th career homer tonight, and it seems like about 100 of them have been against the Rays since he's been in our division his entire career. Also, the St. Louis Cardinals are off to a 10-0 start after beating Cincinnati, off to a good start of their own at 8-2, 3-1.
Well it seems Father Time might be catching up to Jose Alvarado, based on this scouting report from OSA:
Hasn't been confirmed by Rob Metzler yet, but I imagine it will be soon. He should still be an effective reliever, just not the freak he's been the last several years.
Game 2: The Rays rode four homers and a pretty good outing from Andy Aparicio to down the White Sox 7-5 at Publix Park and move above .500 for the first time since starting 2-1. The Rays' ace had an early hiccup allowing a pair of runs in the 3rd, but cruised from there until he ran into Michael Toglia in the 7th inning, who homered for the second straight day off a Rays starter in that frame. AA then gave up a triple which scored and ended with a 6.2 6 5 5 1 10 line but picked up his 2nd win of the season. Sequencing and BABIP luck are probably not going to be his friends these days after his ridiculous year last season. Jose Alvarado got a couple of outs and so did Tim Siqueiros to get through the 8th, and Jordan Diaz whiffed a pair around a walk in a scoreless 9th to grab his 1st save of the season. The homers started early with Bobby Witt Jr going deep after Connor Kirkley reached on an error with 2 out in the 2nd, and they kept the rally going with the first of Dayle Jenkins' 2 doubles bringing home a run (he was 3-4 today). Jasson Dominguez added a 2-run shot in the 5th before Victor de Jesus went deep with him back-to-back, and Rodolfo Rivas added a solo homer in the 7th after Chicago had pulled within 6-5. In a statistical oddity, all four Rays homers were the 3rd of the season for those who hit them, and along with Connor Kirkley those four all share the team lead. Ricky Widmar and Nate Clark have two apiece as they've spread the power so far.
MLB News: No sooner do I mention the Cardinals' undefeated start than they lose to Cincinnati 4-1, beaten by - you guessed it - Jack Leiter. In fact he faced off against his teammate from 2030 Corbin Martin, who started for St. Louis. And the only Cardinal run off Leiter was singled in by none other than Leiter & Morton's 2030 Rays teammate Isaac DeLeon.
April 18: Sent IF/OF Dane Ayers to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment.
Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep of the White Sox with a 6-3 win as they continued their power surge and got a quality start from Jon Hayes. Hayes went 7 7 3 3 1 10 and was the third Rays starter in this series to give up a 2-run HR in the 7th to bring Chicago close, although today it came from Carter Bins and not Michael Toglia, but it didn't cost him his 2nd win of the season. Mike Mooney pitched a scoreless 8th and with Jordan Diaz unavailable, Mike Tudor came in for the 9th, struck out the first two White Sox, gave up a hit, and then finally got his first non-strikeout out by getting a fly ball to end the game and pick up his first Rays save. Tudor has whiffed 10 in 3 2/3 innings this season. Meanwhile we our first "Sunday lineup" of the season with a bunch of irregulars getting the start, primarily Melvin Gutierrez giving Ricky Widmar a rest at SS and D'Andre Hodges subbing for Nate Clark. Both the bench guys came through, as Gutierrez was 1-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases while Hodges blasted his first HR of the season in the 6th inning to give them a 4-1 lead. Clark didn't end up with the day off, though, as Jasson Dominguez tweaked his back yet again (a DtD injury for a week so I'll probably IL him) and he had to come in after all. The big hit of the game came in the 3rd when Rodolfo Rivas unloaded his 4th HR with two men on, such a blast that the Chicago outfielders didn't even move. Bobby Witt Jr's sac fly in the 7th and Dayle Jenkins' RBI single in the 8th provided some insurance as Jenkins had yet another 3-hit game, his 2nd straight and 3rd in 5 games.
Team record: 7-5. Next up: An off-day then we head to Boston for 3 games.