The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

First, a deal just before the season starts:



Had to deal Sandstrom as he was out of options and would probably be claimed on waivers. The return is pretty good in Tudor, see below:



Tudor has options, which means the question is do I go with him on the active roster and send down either Ballmann or Mooney and go with only two lefties (one of those and Alvarado)? or do I send Tudor down even though he's overqualified for AAA. Jon Whiteleather and Danny Medina are out of options so they have to be kept up.

Opening Day Roster:

C-Corpus, Runnels (going to give Runnels another run as the backup)
1B-Rivas
2B-Kirkley
SS-Widmar
3B-Witt
IF-Gutierrez (keeping spot warm for Ayers)
LF-Clark
CF-Dominguez
RF-Jenkins
DH-Hardaway
OF/1B-de Jesus
OF-Hodges

deJesus will see plenty of playing time, filling in at RF, 1B and DH

SP-Aparicio, Hayes, Little, Sachais, Soranno
LR-Thompson
MR-Mooney, Medina, Whiteleather, Siqueiros
SU-Tudor, Alvarado
CL-J.Diaz

Decided to send Ballmann to Durham where I'm going to try him as a starter.

The preseason predictions:



109 wins seems right, but Aparicio's ERA rising nearly 3 runs? I know he's not going to replicate last season, it was a career year for even a Hall of Famer, but 4.27? Also that's a massive season from Rodolfo Rivas.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Another Rays season starts at Publix Park and after last year's shocking early playoff exit the motto around the clubhouse is "unfinished business". The Rays took care of business today in the opener, edging Toronto in what was shaping up to be a frustrating game as they continually put runners on base without bringing them home until they finally broke through in the 7th. Andy Aparicio got the Opening Day honor after his MVP/Cy Young double last year and picked right up where left off with another brilliant performance, going 8 5 1 1 1 10, and Jose Alvarado, who will be 37 in May, did his thing again with a 1-2-3 9th. Meanwhile it took until the team's 10th hit in the 7th inning to score a run when Nate Clark singled in pinch-runner Melvin Gutierrez with the tying run, and then Rodolfo Rivas capped a 4-hit day with the game-winner, driving in Ricky Widmar. Jaiden Hardaway made his MLB debut and singled in his first at-bat, but then was caught stealing when Toronto pitched out on a hit-and-run. Here's the commemorative box:



Game 2: Jon Hayes didn't have it today and the offense took too long to get going in a 6-3 loss to the Jays. Hayes was hit for a run in the 2nd, 2 more in the 3rd on a Riley Greene homer, and then 2 more in the 5th to end 5 8 5 5 1 5 and put the team in a 5-0 hole. Meanwhile Chris Gorman held the Rays in check until the 7th, when they finally put together a rally which saw Bobby Witt Jr single in a run and Luis Corpus deliver a sac fly. Jasson Dominguez homered in the 9th but it was too little, too late. A couple of pitchers made their Rays debuts in relief: Danny Medina had an interesting 1 1/3 innings in his MLB debut, walking 3 and striking out 3 but not allowing a run, and Mike Tudor was electric in the 9th, whiffing all 3 Jays he faced. Rodolfo Rivas had 2 more hits and is 6-for-8 (all singles) to start the season, and Connor Kirkley had 3 singles today as well.

Game 3: It was another struggle for the Rays but Rodolfo Rivas's walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th gave the Rays a 4-3 win and a 2-1 start to the season. The hulking first-sacker has started the year 8 for 13 but his 11th-inning blast was his first extra-base hit of the season and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Christian Little started and pitched pretty well outside of allowing a 2-run homer to his former catcher Gabriel Moreno in the 2nd inning as the Rays found themselves behind once again. He finished 7 5 3 3 2 10 as he took a 3-2 lead into the 8th but put the first two men on, and then the Publix Park crowd was subjected to the rare sight of Jose Alvarado blowing a save as he walked two men to force in the tying run and load the bases with one out. Jordan Diaz came in and got him out of that situation and pitched through the 9th. Tim Siqueiros got through 1 2/3 before walking a man in the 11th, so Mike Tudor came in and made it 4 whiffs in 4 as a Ray as he struck out the final batter of the inning, picking up the win when Rivas came through in the bottom of the frame. The offense was sluggish again with Jaiden Hardaway getting his first MLB RBI in the 2nd on a groundout, Dayle Jenkins singling in a run to tie it in the 6th, and Connor Kirkley hitting a moon shot to LCF for his 1st HR of the year to give them the lead in the 7th. Jasson Dominguez is off to a rough start at the plate; his homer yesterday is his only hit in 12 AB and he's struck out 7 times.

Game 4: A tough loss for the Rays as the bullpen let them down again and the Jays took a 5-4 decision in 11 innings. They took a 3-2 lead into the 9th with Jordan Diaz coming in, but he was immediately greeted by a Cody Schrier home run to tie the game and then he gave a double which came around to score to give the Jays a 4-3 lead. A rally in the bottom of the 9th saw a Nate Clark single tie it up, but on Rodolfo Rivas's fly ball Nestor Ramirez threw out Dayle Jenkins at the plate which would have been the winning run. And after Jon Whiteleather got through the 10th he gave up a leadoff double in the 11th which Jose Alvarado allowed to score with two base hits, marking Alvarado's second straight bad outing. Alec Sachais started and pitched pretty well, going 6 7 2 2 1 9 including striking out three straight Jays in the first after giving up a couple of infield singles and loading the bases. Nate Thompson looked great in his season debut, throwing 2 shutout innings with 3 whiffs and should have had the win. The Rays' runs earlier in regulation came on a Victor de Jesus RBI single and Ricky Widmar's 1st homer of the year in the 7th which tied the game at 2. And before Diaz blew the save it looked like Rivas would have the game-winner again, as his 2nd homer gave them a 3-2 lead in the 8th.

Team record: 2-2. Next up: An off-day, then we head to Baltimore for two games wrapped around another off-day, and then followed by an off-day.

MLB News: Cleveland decided to make long-time former Ray Evan Godwin a starter and he went and pitched 7 shutout innings today to get a win. Who knew?

[Art Deco]

Game 1: What a bizarre game. Baltimore's Zach Farese no-hit the Rays for 7 1/3 innings despite not striking out anyone, and then Victor de Jesus took him deep for his first homer of the year to tie the game at 1. Jon Soranno had kept the game at 1-0, going 6.2 7 1 1 1 3 before Mike Tudor got him out of the 7th. But Tudor gave up a leadoff homer to Tim Steele in the 8th and the Orioles went on to a 2-1 win as the offense continues to struggle out of the gate. Tudor continued his strikeout ways, whiffing all 4 Orioles he retired to give him 8 strikeouts in the 2 2/3 innings he's pitched but that's little consolation tonight. The loss drops them to 2-3, the first time they've been below .500 since they started the season 6-9 in 2028.

Game 2: Another day, another 2-1 loss to Baltimore as the offense remains in offseason hibernation. Today they only managed 5 hits (albeit an improvement on the last game's one) with Connor Kirkley's 7th-inning homer (#2) the only run they scored. Andy Aparicio pitched well - the first 10 in his 7 10 2 2 0 10 line was inflated by a few infield singles - but the offense hung him out to dry as he falls to 1-1 and team loses its third straight. Mike Mooney made his season debut in the 8th and was sharp, striking out 3 Orioles around a walk. They were shut down today by former Ray Steve Givens, Baltimore's return on the Adley Rutschman deal a couple of years back, who went 6 4 0 0 2 6. They did have a couple of opportunities with men in scoring position and less than two out, but in both cases the next two batters struck out, including in once instance Jasson Dominguez who has now whiffed 12 times in 24 at-bats.

Team record: 2-4. Next up: An off-day then we return home to face Cleveland. In the third game, Evan Godwin is tentatively scheduled to start for them.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays used the longball to come back against Cleveland and take a 5-3 win at Publix Park. Tied at 3 going to the bottom of the 6th, Connor Kirkley (#3) and Bobby Witt Jr (#1) went back-to-back to provide the winning margin for the Rays. Jon Hayes started and had a rough first, giving up a pair of runs but settling in from there and only allowing an unearned run in the 4th thanks to the first of Kirkley's two errors on the day. He finished 6 5 3 2 0 10 and left a couple of men on in the 7th (one of which was Kirkley's second error) before Nate Thompson got a double play to get out of it. And when Thompson put a couple on in the 8th Jose Alvarado ended the threat with one pitch, another double play ball. Alvarado stuck around against the lefty-heavy Cleveland lineup and finished up for save #2. Earlier the Rays scored on a Dayle Jenkins RBI double (he was 3-3 and missed the cycle by a homer), a Nate Clark RBI single and Ricky Widmar's 2nd HR of the year which tied it at 3 in the 5th. They still only managed 7 hits for the game but it was one more than they had in the two games in Baltimore combined.

Game 2: Just more terrible baseball all-around from the Rays today as they were crushed by Cleveland 9-3. Christian Little was terrible, going 3.2 8 6 6 2 4 as Cleveland had a parade of men on the bases constantly circling them as Rays pitching allowed 14 hits in total but not a single homer. Danny Medina took over in long relief and went 3.1 6 3 2 1 5 as he wasn't much better with Jon Whiteleather finally pitching 2 shutout innings. And the bats continued to prove to be unable to score unless they hit it out of the park. Nate Clark hit first of the season in the first to briefly tie the game at 2, and Victor de Jesus hit #2 in the 4th, but that was it as once again the hits were in the single digits (7) and when they did get runners on they hit into three double plays. The only thing that they didn't suffer today was the indignity of getting beat by their long-time middle reliever-turned-starter Evan Godwin, who had to leave two batters into the game with a back issue. So instead they were beat by a parade of Cleveland middle relievers.

Game 3: The Rays' offense once again didn't do much today, but they got some good pitching and it was enough to eke out a 3-2 win over Cleveland to take two out of three in the series. Alec Sachais started and pitched well again, going 7 7 2 2 2 7 and after he walked the leadoff man in the 8th, Jose Alvarado got a quick fly ball and a double play to get through the 8th, and stayed on in the 9th to give up a single and get another double play to end up with the win after the Rays broke a 2-2 tie in the 8th. Ricky Widmar and Dayle Jenkins led off the 8th with singles, Nate Clark was hit by a pitch, and despite loading the bases with nobody out they still only managed one run after Jasson Dominguez struck out (again) but Victor de Jesus delivered his second sac fly of the day and it turned out that would be all they needed. Bobby Witt Jr hit his 2nd HR of the year in the 5th to get them on the board. They ticked up to 8 hits today, so baby steps I guess.

Team record: 4-5. Next up: The White Sox come to town for the weekend.

[Art Deco]

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.

[Art Deco]

April 20: Placed OF Jasson Dominguez on the 10-day IL with back spasms, activated IF/OF Dane Ayers from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

Ayers was 6-9 in two rehab games, he should be ready.

Game 1: The Rays lost in the most excruciating fashion as they led 5-3 and there was two out and nobody on in the bottom of the 9th with closer Jordan Diaz on the mound, but Diaz managed to blow the game as Boston got a 6-5 walk-off win. After whiffing the first two batters of the inning, Diaz issued two walks and then gave up a 2-run double to Bob Kelly to tie the game. Kelly took third on the throw home and then scored on a Thairo Estrada single. It was Diaz's 2nd blown save in the early going and he sports an ugly 7.92 ERA. It wasted a fine comeback from the Rays, who dug out of an early 3-0 hole to score five times in the last four innings. Christian Little started and was shaky through the first four innings before striking out 5 of the last 6 he faced, and ended 6 6 3 3 3 10 with his ERA still an unsightly 6.48. Nate Thompson pitched a scoreless 7th and Jose Alvarado put 2 on with 2 out in the 8th before Diaz got the final out of that inning. The comeback started in the 6th with an RBI double from Nate Clark and a Rodolfo Rivas RBI groundout, and they took the lead in the 7th on a 2-run single from Luis Corpus. Dayle Jenkins, who had his 3rd consecutive 3-hit game, doubled in a run in the 9th which looked like a big insurance run but only served in the end to prolong the agony of the bottom of the inning.

Game 2: Perhaps for the first time this season they looked like the big, bad Rays of recent years in a 12-6 rout of Boston which really wasn't even that close. They jumped all over former Ray Shane Baz, who also helped them out by issuing 8 walks in his 4 2/3 innings of work. Rodolfo Rivas had an RBI double and Victor de Jesus a sac fly to make it 2-0 in the first, the Connor Kirkley had the first of his 2 infield RBI singles and a run scored on a wild pitch in the 4th. Jaiden Hardaway then doubled in a run and Luis Corpus singled him home in the 5th, and after a Bobby Witt Jr RBI single in the 6th Hardaway belted his first MLB homer over the Monster with two aboard to cap a 4-RBI day. de Jesus added a solo shot (#4) in the 8th. Alec Sachais started and pitched well, going 6 6 2 2 0 2 to pick up his first win of the year. Danny Medina came on for what was hoped to be a 3-inning save but despite his rating of 75 movement, he gave up a couple of homers leading to 4 runs and put another man on in the 9th so Jon Whiteleather had to get the last two outs of the game.

Game 3: A very frustrating game finally ended in relief for the Rays as they edged Boston 8-7 in 12 innings after taking several leads and watching the Sox eventually tie it up. The Rays had leads of 4-0, 5-3 and 7-4 but Boston kept chipping away and finally tied it in a 3-run 8th inning. Then the Rays had multiple runners on in the 9th, 10th and 11th (including the bases loaded and one out in the 10th) but couldn't score. But Dayle Jenkins (with yet another 3-hit game) tripled in Ricky Widmar, who had singled with two out in the 12th and it proved to be the game-winning run. Tim Siqueiros pitched 3 innings of dominant one-hit relief, whiffing four, to pick up a deserved win after his bullpen mates couldn't get the job done before him. Connor Kirkley's 4th HR of the year with a man on made it 4-0 in the 3rd, and although Jon Soranno gave up a couple of runs he hung in through the 6th going 5.1 6 3 3 4 3 and Nate Thompson got him out of the inning. Thompson got into some trouble in the 7th with a run scoring due to Jakob Runnels' passed ball to make it 5-4. But it looked like the Rays would have the insurance they needed on RBI singles from Dane Ayers and Jaiden Hardaway to make it 7-4 in the top of the 8th before Boston scored three times off Mike Tudor, with Jose Alvarado giving up an agonizing slow grounder to Bob Kelly that he beat out for an infield hit to tie it up. Alvarado got through the 9th before Siqueiros took over in extras. Bobby Witt Jr also hit HR #4 in the game and Rodolfo Rivas drove in a pair. Whew.

Team record: 9-6. Next up: We head down I-95 to New York to take on the Yankees for a weekend series.

News from Durham: Brad Ballmann had to leave his second start of the season in the first inning today with shoulder inflammation and will be out 6-7 weeks.

MLB News: Congrats to Wander Franco on his 2000th hit tonight, a homer off Houston's Jack Flaherty.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays continued to shake off their sluggish start to the season by winning for the 8th time in 10 games, 9-4 over New York at Yankee Stadium. After getting a run off Yankee opener Cristopher Sanchez, the Yankees got two unearned runs off Andy Aparicio thanks to a dropped popup by Bobby Witt Jr. And then the Yankees brought on Tim Sandstrom, traded by the Rays just before the start of the season for Mike Tudor. It looked at first like the deal might backfire on the Rays as Sandstrom pitched 3 perfect innings but they got to him in the 5th for 3 runs with the big blow a 2-run Dayle Jenkins double, and then they added 3 more off him in the 6th on a Connor Kirkley solo shot (#5) and a 2-run blast from Jaiden Hardaway (#2) to make it 7-2. They tacked on two more against a one-time Rays draftee, Justin Bursey, in the 7th on Nate Clark's 3rd HR of the year and a Witt single. Aparicio meanwhile didn't have his best stuff but pitched into the 7th before running into trouble, finishing with a strange 6.1 9 4 2 2 2 line but good enough to go to 3-1. Nate Thompson got him out of a jam in the 7th and pitched a perfect 8th, but ran into some trouble of his own in the 9th so Mike Mooney picked up the final two outs. I haven't mentioned the standings yet since it's early, but the win brought the Rays to within 1/2 game of the surprising Baltimore Orioles for the AL East lead.

Game 2: The Rays came out on the wrong end of a pitchers' duel, falling 2-1 to Eric Peterson and the Yankees today. Peterson held the Rays to 4 hits in 6 2/3 innings and they didn't score against him until the 7th when Dane Ayers singled in a run. The Rays did mount a threat in the 9th when Connor Kirkley and Jaiden Haradway walked to lead off the inning against New York close Joe Jimenez, but the next three batters couldn't advance the runners. Jon Hayes started for the Rays and while he wasn't at his best, he kept the Yankees largely in check going 6 6 2 2 4 6. Mike Tudor and Danny Medina each had a scoreless inning in relief to keep it close, but 1 run and 6 hits is rarely going to win you a game. Fortunately Baltimore lost so the Rays stay 1/2 game behind but the Yankees pulled to within 1/2 of the Rays.

Game 3: Another blown game by the bullpen as the Yankees scored twice in the 9th to knock off the Rays 4-3 and take 2 of 3 in the series. Jordan Diaz had a 7-pitch 1-2-3 8th, walked the leadoff man in the 9th but whiffed Vlad Guerrero Jr. for the first out. With tough lefties Mario Aguilar and Ivan Vega due up, I turned to Jose Alvarado but as seen in that scouting report a few posts back, he's lost some of his stuff and it became apparent today as he didn't retire any of the next four batters, walking a man and giving up 3 singles to lose the game. We may just have to go out and try to find a lefty reliever as our talisman has become unreliable. Of course scoring more than 3 runs would have helped, but Dave Falco kept the Rays at bay much of the game after a Jaiden Hardaway RBI double in the 2nd. They finally broke through for a pair in the 6th on an RBI single from Nate Clark and a Victor de Jesus sac fly to go up 3-0, but Christian Little who was otherwise brilliant gave up a 2-run homer to Vlad Jr in the bottom of the frame to let the Yankees back within 3-2. Little finished 7 4 2 2 0 10 in his best outing of the season but the bullpen let it go to waste. With Baltimore winning the Rays now find themselves third in the division 1 1/2 back of the Orioles and 1/2 game behind the Yankees. Will this be a rough start like 2028 that turned into a cakewalk or will the Rays find themselves in a dogfight for the first time since 2025 when they won "only" 96 games and it took until late August/early September before they took first place for good? Or something even worse? Stay tuned.

Team record: 10-8. Next up: Back home for 3 vs those first-place Orioles.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The losing goes on as the Rays squandered a 5-1 lead to drop a 7-5 decision in 10 innings to Baltimore at Publix Park, their third straight defeat which dropped them 2 1/2 behind the Orioles. It looked like the rout was on when they jumped out ahead 5-1 after 3 innings with Connor Kirkley driving in 3 on a 2-run HR (a team-best #6) and a groundout and Luis Corpus hitting a solo shot (#2). But Alec Sachais gave Baltimore back 3 runs in the top of the 4th on a pair of homers and finished 6 8 4 4 1 8. Mike Mooney took over in the 7th and was greeted with another Baltimore homer on his first pitch to tie the game, and then Tim Siqueiros, whom I probably shouldn't have pushed to a 2nd inning, gave up a 2-run shot in the 10th to Logan Tanner to lose it. The offense did next to nothing after the five early runs which were also aided by 5 walks from Baltimore starter Jorge Cadena, and ended up with only 8 hits. Having two runners thrown out at home and another caught stealing didn't help matters either.

Game 2: Despite the best efforts of the bullpen to blow another game, the Rays took a 10-4 win when they erupted for 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th and snapped their 3-game losing streak, moving back within 1 1/2 games of Baltimore. Jon Soranno started and pitched great, victimized by his defense when Connor Kirkley's error directly led to a run in the 3rd, and then the victim of an inherited runner scoring when Mike Tudor blew a 4-2 lead in the 8th, allowing a homer to Gunnar Henderson. In the end Soranno went 7.1 7 3 2 0 7 and although he has a 2.73 ERA he's had no-decisions in 3 of his 4 starts. Tudor vultured the win when the Rays teed off on Baltimore's Adrian Luna. First, Kirkley went deep yet again with a man aboard (#7) to make it 6-4, then the next two reached for Luis Corpus to homer for the second straight day as well (#3) to up the lead to 9-4, and for good measure Nate Clark hit #4 as he tries to snap out of his slow start, finally getting over the Mendoza Line today. Danny Medina pitched a scoreless 9th to finish it off. Earlier the Rays took leads to 2-1 and 4-2 with Dane Ayers figuring in both 2-run rallies with an RBI single and an RBI triple and Jaiden Hardaway added a sac fly.

Game 3: No lead seems to be safe with this team, and a game that looked like a cakewalk with the Rays up 8-1 in the 4th turned into a nailbiter as they hung on to win 9-7. Today most of the blame falls on Andy Aparicio instead of the bullpen, though. Given a 7-run lead, Aparicio came unglued in the 6th, giving up hit after hit, culminating in a 2-run Logan Tanner triple that made it 8-5. Mike Mooney came in and wild-pitched Tanner home and AA ended up with one of the worst starts of his career, going 5.1 7 6 6 2 4 although he still picked up his 4th win. And while the bullpen only allowed one run the rest of the way, it wasn't exactly lights-out as Nate Thompson gave up three hits over parts of 2 innings to put men on, and while Jose Alvarado got the final out of the 8th to get Thompson out of his jam, he gave up a leadoff homer in the 9th to Tim Steele to make it 9-7. Jordan Diaz then came in and walked a man to put the tying run on the base but finished with a pair of strikeouts to get his 2nd save. Coming in it looked like Aparicio would have to win a low-scoring game as 4 regulars had to sit with fatigue (Widmar, de Jesus, Kirkley, Corpus) so D'Andre Hodges was in against a lefty and the light-hitting Melvin Gutierrez got a start. But the irregulars came through with Hodges going 3-4 with a ribbie and Gutierrez 2-4 with his first MLB extra-base hit, a double. Another bench guy came through big as Dane Ayers hit a 2-run HR (#1) in the 2nd to put them ahead to stay, and Jaiden Hardaway had a big day, going 4-5 with 2 RBI including a big insurance run in the 8th. Rodolfo Rivas also contributed a 2-run double as the Rays pull within 1/2 game of the division lead, however harrowing today was.

Team record: 12-9. Next up: An off-day then we get our second visit of the year from the Blue Jays over the weekend.

[Art Deco]

April 30: Activated OF Jasson Dominguez from the 10-day IL, optioned SS Melvin Gutierrez to AAA Durham.

Game 1: It was a rotten day in Tampa Bay as not only did the Rays lose a 3-run early lead once again and fell 8-6 to the Blue Jays, but Connor Kirkley was injured in a collision at 2nd base and broke his hamate bone which will sideline him for three months. We'll start with the game first as it was the same old story. They scored 3 times and batted around in the 1st with Nate Clark hitting a 2-run homer and Bobby Witt Jr singling in a run. After Jon Hayes gave Toronto a run back in the 2nd, they restored the 3-run lead on Clark's 2nd HR of the game and 6th of the year. Then Hayes started getting shelled, allowing 5 runs over the next two innings on a pair of homers. He settled in and ended up with a weird 6 8 6 6 1 11 line, so when he wasn't giving up homers he was whiffing people. Particularly frustrating were a pair of slow dribbler infield singles that preceded Werner Blakely's 3-run homer. The Rays crept back to tie it on Ricky Widmar's 3rd HR in the 4th and a solo shot from the just-activated Jasson Dominguez (#4) in the 5th. Jon Whiteleather and Mike Mooney got them through the 7th but Tim Siqueiros ran into trouble in the 8th, loading the bases with two out and giving up yet another infield dribbler (Toronto had 5 infield hits in total today) to score the go-ahead run. Mike Tudor was tagged for another run in the 9th and although they loaded the bases with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, Rodolfo Rivas hit an infield popup to end the game. And then afterward they learned of Kirkley's prognosis, which means Jaiden Hardaway takes the full-time 2B job with Dane Ayers filling in as well. Kirkley was their best overall hitter so far (284/392/587 with 7 HR) and will be missed. Meanwhile the Orioles and Yankees both won, dropping the Rays to third, two games back. Just a lovely day all around.

Some good news from the farm:



Omar is BNN's #2 prospect in all of baseball, and will be patrolling our outfield most likely next season.

May 1: Placed 2B Connor Kirkley on the 60-day IL with a broken hamate bone, purchased the contract of IF Xavier Edwards from AAA Durham.

Look who finally made the Rays! Edwards of course was a top prospect with the Rays in the early-to-mid 20s before being traded to Kansas City in a deal which saw Spencer Torkelson come to Tampa Bay, as Edwards was blocked by Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco at the time. He had a few really good years with KC before falling off, and we signed him as a minor league free agent where he did well with Durham the last 2-3 weeks. His OBP, defensive and speed skills seem to be intact so he will help out as a pinch-runner, defensive replacement for the 45 Jaiden Hardaway at 2B and occasional starter.

Game 2: The Rays finally won comfortably and it was thanks to Christian Little, who pitched one of the best games of his career in a 6-0 victory. Little took a no-hitter into the 6th before Cody Schrier doubled with two out, and finished 7 1 0 0 0 14 on 103 pitches to pick up his first win of the season and get his ERA a bit more respectable at 4.11. Danny Medina finished with 2 1-hit innings for a combined 2-hit team shutout. They built an early lead again which held up for a change, with Bobby Witt Jr's RBI grounder getting them on the board in the 2nd before a big 3-run 3rd which featured a Rodolfo Rivas RBI single and a 2-run triple from Victor de Jesus. Rivas added a sac fly in the 5th and then a solo homer (#5) in the 7th to cap a 3-3, 3-run, 3 RBI day. Baltimore lost so they've pulled with a game of the lead but with the Yankees winning they're still in 3rd.

Game 3: The Rays got another gem of a start and shut Toronto out for the second straight game in a 4-0 win. Alec Sachais, who seems to own the Blue Jays, went 6 2 0 0 2 8 on 103 pitches to improve to 2-0, 2.90, Nate Thompson went two scoreless and Jordan Diaz pitched the 9th for the combined shutout. Offensively, they had 11 hits and ran rampant on former teammate Gabriel Moreno, stealing 8 bases. Jaiden Hardaway had 3 and Dayle Jenkins 2 to lead the SB parade, yet they only managed the 4 runs, 2 of which came in the first inning on Nate Clark's 7th HR of the year as he heats up. Ricky Widmar (who also stole a base) and Hardaway (who was 3-3 with a walk) had RBI singles for the other two runs, but with the pitching they got their profligacy with baserunners didn't matter today. Baltimore and the Yankees won so it's status quo in the division.

Team record: 14-10. Next up: An off-day then the LA Dodgers come to town for two games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays welcomed their 2024 and 2029 World Series opponents to Publix Park for the first time and treated their guests rudely in an 8-3 win. A 5-run 3rd inning which saw Nate Clark single in a run and then Rodolfo Rivas clear the bases with a double propelled them to the win, and Clark later homered (#8) as did Bobby Witt Jr (#5). Jon Soranno started and pitched decently, going 6.2 8 3 3 2 5 to pick up his 2nd win of the season. Tim Siqueiros went 1 1/3 and Jon Whiteleather 1 inning of scoreless relief to close out the game. The Yankees beat Baltimore, taking over first place and leaving the Orioles in a tie with the Rays 1/2 game behind.

Game 2: It was another one of those 2032 games as the Rays took a 5-0 lead in the first, led 6-3 after 2 with ace Andy Aparicio on the mound, and had to end up hanging on to win 10-7 for their fourth straight victory. We'll get to the offense which more than did its job today in a minute but first we have to wonder what's wrong with Andy Aparicio. Last year even a 2 or 3-run lead would be "game over" with him on the mound. But this year he's had his struggles and none moreso today where he coughed up leads of 5-0, 6-3 and 7-6 before finally being pulled in the 5th after allowing the tying run. He gave up a pair of homers and finished 4.2 8 7 7 1 4 as his ERA ballooned to an ugly 5.45. Fortunately for the Rays Danny Medina came to the rescue and the rookie righty had his best outing as a big leaguer, retiring all 10 Dodgers he faced, going 3.1 0 0 0 0 5 and more than earning his first win. Jordan Diaz pitched a scoreless 9th for save #3. Now, the offense. Their 5-run 1st was aided by a couple of ground balls booted by LA infielders but Rodolfo Rivas and Jasson Dominguez had RBI singles and Luis Corpus had a 2-RBI single. Victor de Jesus singled in a run in the 2nd, and after the Dodgers tied it at 6 Rivas hit HR #6 in the bottom of the 4 to make it 7-6. And after the Dodgers tied it again, Corpus answered with a 2-run HR (#4) in the bottom of the 5th which proved to be the game-winning hit and gave him a 4-RBI day. Dayle Jenkins hit his first of the year in the 8th to give them a little more breathing room while Rivas ended up with a 4-hit day to bring his season triple slash to 365/391/615 and de Jesus rapped out 3 hits as well. The Yankees beat Baltimore again, which keeps the Rays 1/2 game back but gives them sole possession of 2nd in the AL East.

Team record: 16-10. Next up: An off-day followed by a west coast road rip starting in Anaheim.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: After taking care of one LA team with a pair of wins it was time to play another, this time on their home turf as the Rays headed to The Big "A" to play the Angels. And like their games with the Dodgers Tampa Bay came out on top, 8-6 in another game where a big lead was cut down to a small one. This time around though it was more of a pitchers' duel during the first 5 innings where Carmen Mlodzinski and the Angels held a 2-1 lead over Jon Hayes and the Rays (sounds like a band name). But Jasson Dominguez had an RBI double and Jaiden Hardaway an RBI single to give the Rays a 3-2 lead, and then they busted it open with a 5-run 8th on a Luis Corpus RBI single, a Dayle Jenkins sac fly, and a 3-run blast from Nate Clark (#9). Hayes meanwhile didn't give LA much after Bob Osorio led off the game with a homer off him, going 8 6 2 2 2 5 and improving to 3-2, 4.74. Jon Whiteleather was then entrusted with a 6-run lead and proceeded to crap the bed, loading the bases with 3 walks with one out and then giving up a grand slam to Rich Gil, so Jose Alvarado had to come in and get the final two outs for save #3. The Yankees keep winning so the Rays stay a game back. Maybe we'll have a real race this year.

Game 2: The Rays made it 6 straight with a 5-1 win over the Angels. Christian Little was dominant for his second straight start, not allowing a hit until the 5th and going 6 2 0 0 3 8 to extend his scoreless streak to 14 innings and improve to 2-1, 3.44. Mike Mooney had a scoreless inning and Mike Tudor got the first two outs of the 8th before tweaking his back. Tim Siqueiros got the final out of the 8th and had a bit of a rough 9th, allowing a 470-ft HR to Francisco Lindor and putting a couple of more men on but finished the game with his 3rd whiff. Offensively the team's two hottest hitters stayed that way, as Nate Clark was 3-4 with a 2-run HR (#10) capping a 3-run 7th which turned a 2-0 game into a 5-0 game and Luis Corpus also was 3-4, singling in the first run in the 2nd. Rodolfo Rivas clubbed HR #7 in the 3rd to make it 2-0, a shot almost as impressive as Lindor's, and Dayle Jenkins had an RBI triple which preceded Clark's homer in the 8th. It was a costly win in terms of injuries; in addition to Tudor's back, we got 24 games out of the "wrecked" Bobby Witt Jr before he suffered another significant injury, a strained groin beating out an infield single (I swear 75% of the injuries I get to hitters are when they beat out an infield single) which will sideline him for two months. Tudor's injury is "moderate" for a week so expect a pair of callups from Durham tomorrow. In good news, the Yankees lost so the Rays are now tied with them atop the AL East.

May 9: Placed 3B Bobby Witt Jr on the 10-day DL with a strained groin, placed P Mike Tudor on the 15-day IL with a strained back. Recalled 3B Bo Angeac and P Chris Hicks from AAA Durham.

Angeac was a former top 10 MLB prospect who was #16 on the last list in the fall before he graduated off it as he's now 26. He'd been starting at Durham and was hot lately. He's basically a .250 hitter a great eye (100-walk potential) and decent power (25-30 HR range) and he's a 55 3B. He won't play every day, but we'll get him 3-4 starts/week while Witt is out and see how it goes.

Game 3: A bunch of regulars got days off and the offense struggled, as did Alec Sachais for really the first time this season and the Rays dropped a 5-4 decision to the Angels which was only that close because Jasson Dominguez hit a 9th-inning 3-run homer. Sachais cruised through the first 3 innings but gave up 5 runs in the middle three, ending 5 9 5 5 1 5. He did leave with nobody out in the 6th and two men on whom Danny Medina allowed to score, although all Medina allowed was a sac bunt and a single, while otherwise looking good. Chris Hicks got into the game and pitched a 1-2-3 2K 8th. There wasn't much doing with the bats as Widmar, Jenkins and Corpus had the day off, except for Victor de Jesus, who homered in the top of the 4th (#5) to briefly put the Rays ahead 1-0 and later singled and walked. They did draw two walks ahead of Dominguez in the 9th who took Angels closer Danny De Jesus deep for his 5th of the year, but D'Andre Hodges (0-4) and Bo Angeac (also 0-4 in his MLB debut) flied out to end the game. The Yankees won so the Rays drop out of the tie with them and a game back.

Team record: 18-11. Next up: 3 games in Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays couldn't solve Ismael Restrepo, a guy who had a 5.30 ERA in AAA last year in 154 IP, and wasted a brilliant performance from Jon Soranno in a 12-inning 2-1 loss in Seattle. Restrepo went 7 3 1 1 3 7 as the Rays had their full-strength lineup back together with only Bo Angeac's first MLB homer in the 5th getting them on the scoreboard. Soranno meanwhile was mowing down Mariners left and right with his only blemish a homer from (of course) Adley Rutschman as he ended 6.2 5 1 1 1 12, with the 12 whiffs a career high. Nate Thompson, Jordan Diaz and Jose Alvarado pitched the next 4 1/3 scoreless, but Tim Siqueiros couldn't get anyone out in the 12th, loading the bases on a double, an infield hit and a walk without retiring anyone. Mike Mooney was summoned with the impossible task of getting them out of that jam and gave up a bloop single to Jared Kelenic to end the game. The bats only managed 7 hits through 12 innings, with only Jasson Dominguez getting more than one. A Yankees win puts them 2 back in the division.

Game 2: The Rays were up 5-2 going into the bottom of the 9th. Jordan Diaz came on for the save and struck out the first two batters. He gave up a homer, no big deal, still 5-3. Then he walked the next three. Then he gave up a 2-run single to tie the game, and was finally pulled for Mike Mooney. Mooney got a popup to end the inning, and thankfully for the Rays Ricky Widmar led off the 10th with his 4th homer and Jasson Dominguez later singled in a run and the Rays still ended up winning 7-5 in 10. But man, Diaz has become unreliable as he's now blown as many saves (3) as he's notched. With Jose Alvarado's stuff diminishing, the back end of the bullpen is suddenly a major question mark, never a good thing. Anyway as for the game at least Andy Aparicio bounced back, although it looked like more of the same of his recent struggles early when he gave up 2 runs in the 2nd. But he rolled from there and ended up 6 5 2 2 2 10 and should have had a win if not for Diaz. Danny Medina, once the 13th man on the staff, came in and looked so good in his first inning that he got a second, both of which were 1-2-3 with a whiff. Maybe he should be the closer. Mooney stayed on for the 10th and despite giving up a 2-out hit in the 10th that made us think "here we go again", he picked up the win with Nate Thompson coming for his first Rays save and getting the final out. Offensively the star was Dane Ayers, who started at 3B today and went 3-4 with 3 RBI. Dominguez got them on the board in the 4th with HR #6 and Jaiden Hardaway also singled in a run. The Yankees lost so the Rays are back within a game of the lead.

Game 3: The Rays won a game comfortably for a change, taking an 8-2 decision over the Mariners behind Jon Hayes and a great game from rookie Bo Angeac. Hayes gave up 2 second-inning runs but was lights-out after that, going 7 6 2 2 1 6 and improving to 4-2. Jon Whiteleather and Chris Hicks each had a scoreless inning to finish the game. Dane Ayers picked up where he left off from last night's 3-RBI with 2 more on double to make it 2-0 Rays in the 2nd and then Angeac went deep for the second time in three games to make it 4-0. In the 5th Angeac walked to lead off the inning, stole second and scored on Dayle Jenkins' grounder, and then he singled in a run in the 6th. Jasson Dominguez added a 2-run HR (#7) in the 8th to round out the scoring. The Yankees won to stay a game ahead.

Team record: 20-12. Next up: Instead of continuing this west coast trip in Oakland, we instead get a day off to return home to play Oakland. Maybe they're hitching a ride on our flight.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: As has so often been the script this year, the Rays jumped out a big early lead, let the other team come back and then hung on to win and that's what happened in today's 10-5 win over Oakland. The Rays jumped all over A's starter Michel Baez today and had an 8-2 lead after 4 innings. Dane Ayers got things going with a 2-run single, giving him 7 RBI in the last 3 games, Victor de Jesus hit a 2-run HR (#6) in the 3rd, and Ricky Widmar had RBI singles in the 2nd and 4th. They could have had more runs but twice former Ray Jhon Diaz threw men out at the plate and they had two more runners thrown out attempting to steal. But Christian Little couldn't stand prosperity, and he actually struggled throughout his start and ended 5 7 4 4 4 9 with a balk thrown in for good measure. It was enough to improve to 3-1 though. Mike Mooney took over for him in the 6th and wasn't very good, allowing a Little runner to score and one of his own and it turned out the reason he was struggling was because he blew out his elbow and and needs ligament reconstruction surgery, putting him out a calendar year. Tim Siqueiros took over for him and was very good, retiring all 5 men he faced, and Nate Thompson went the final two, loading the bases in the 9th but getting out of it. Jasson Dominguez added a couple of RBI late to give him a 3-5, 3-RBI day. The Mooney injury leaves Jose Alvarado as the only lefty in the bullpen, a vast departure from the days we usually had 4, and there really isn't anyone at Durham who fills the bill so expect a trade very soon. The Yankees won last night while we were idle but lost tonight, so the Rays are now 1/2 game back.

And there it is....



Thankfully we have an excess of prospects to deal from, and we parted with Romo, our big July 2 signing back in 2025 who steadily made his way up the ladder and spent the last couple of seasons at Durham where he's hit well, and deserves to be in the bigs but was behind Omar Rodriguez and Alex Buitrago just in the Durham outfield. And in return we get one of the better lefty relievers in the game, the reigning 2031 NL Reliever of the Year. He led the NL in saves last year with 43, but was moved out of the closer's role by the AI in San Diego for some reason as you can see he's pitched well this year too.

We have placed Mike Mooney on the 60-day IL with elbow reconstruction surgery.

Game 2: The Rays put another 10 on the board, and this time it was more comfortable in a 10-2 win over Oakland. Nate Clark slugged a 3-run homer (#11) in the 3rd after Dayle Jenkins singled in a run to give the Rays a 4-0 lead in the 3rd, and although Alec Sachais allowed a couple of runs for Oakland to get within 4-2, they broke it open with 6 runs in the 6th, 7th and 8th with a 2-run single from Victor de Jesus and a 2-run double from Bo Angeac the big hits in that stretch. Luis Corpus was 3-4 with a ribbie and Jenkins singled in another as they banged out 14 hits. Sachais was in command throughout, pitching efficiently and going 8 7 2 2 0 6 on 97 pitches to improve to 3-1, 3.48. Chris Hicks pitched a perfect 9th and has retired all 9 men he's faced in 3 appearances. And the news continued to be good as the Yankees lost, meaning the Rays are finally on top in the AL East.

Game 3: It was not the Rays' day as every ball put into play by Oakland seemed to drop for a hit and the bats couldn't do much against Fabian Petrovich as they fell 7-4, a scoreline that flattered them after they picked up three late runs. Jon Soranno started and he had good stuff but was smote by the BABIP gods, going 5.1 10 3 3 0 9. He kept the ball in the park but that wasn't good enough today as he suffered his first loss of the season. Danny Medina ended a string of excellent performances by giving up 2 more runs and Jon Whiteleather wasn't much better, giving up a pair of his own including a homer. Only Chris Hicks, who is now 12 for 12 in retiring batters since being recalled, could be happy with his performance with 2 whiffs in another perfect inning. With it being Sunday, several bench guys got starts including Xavier Edwards, at last making his Rays debut. He reached on an error in the 1st and scored on another one which briefly put the Rays in front and later had an infield single. D'Andre Hodges started and doubled in the 9th when the Rays put the tying run on, only for pinch-hitter Dayle Jenkins to hit into a double play to end the game. Hodges pulled a back muscle and will be out a week but with Angelo Romo just traded and Alex Buitrago getting hurt at Durham, we may just play a man down this week. That 3-run rally saw Jaiden Hardaway and Nate Clark each walk with the bases loaded and Rodolfo Rivas pick up a sac fly, but too little, too late. The only silver lining is that the Yankees lost again so we stay in first.

Team record: 22-13. Next up: North of the border to play the Jays for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: A pretty rotten start to the road trip as Andy Aparicio was bombed again and the Jays beat the Rays 7-4. After two really bad starts AA looked good last time out, but was way too hittable once again, going 3.2 10 6 6 2 5 including of couple of homers allowed as his ERA ballooned to an ugly 5.85. Nate Thompson went 2 1/3 scoreless in relief (and has yet to allow an earned run in 21 2/3 innings, which means of course he will in his next outing), and Alexander Beltre made his Rays debut. It was forgettable as the first man he faced, lefty Dan Phipps, took him deep and Beltre allowed 2 more hits in the inning before getting out of it. Tim Siqueiros struck out the side in the 8th. The offense was pretty quiet except for a 3-run rally in the 5th that got them within 6-4. Dayle Jenkins capped that rally with a 2-run triple but hit into a pair of double plays to kill other attempted rallies. The Yankees lost in Arizona so the Rays stay 1/2 game up.

Game 2: Deja vu all over again as Toronto battered one of Tampa Bay's aces for the second straight night, dooming the Rays to their third straight loss 8-3. Today it was Jon Hayes' turn in the dunk tank, as he was blasted for 7 runs and 9 hits in 3 1/3 innings after Andy Aparicio was treated similarly rudely last night. Hayes' ERA is now almost as bad as AA's, 5.40. To think these two were a combined 44-7 last year with ERAs under 3. Meanwhile Toronto picks up Ben Vespi off the scrap heap, gives him his first start of the season and he pitches a complete game 6-hitter. YCPB and all that, I guess. Nate Clark hit his 12th HR of the year in the first to give the Rays the briefest of leads as he moves into a tie for the MLB lead in that category. Victor de Jesus bookended Clark's long ball with one of his own in the 9th (#7) and Dane Ayers had an RBI grounder for the Rays runs. Danny Medina went 2 2/3 of scoreless relief, Jon Whiteleather had a scoreless inning, but Chris Hicks finally was touched after retiring the first 13 men he faced this year when Matt McGhee took him deep in the 8th. Fortunately for the Rays the Yankees are on a worse streak losing 5 straight, so they cling to a 1/2 game division lead.

Game 3: Unbelievable. I'll let the line score tell the story:



7-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, let's give 2028 and 2030 Reliever of the Year Jordan Diaz some work! (Diaz implodes, gets two outs but gives up 3 runs and leaves with two on). OK, let's bring our brand new acquisition and 2031 Reliever of the Year Alexander Beltre to get the final out! (Beltre gives up 2-run triple then 2-run homer to complete a 7-run meltdown). Still shaking my head over this. Anyway the upshot is that the Rays have now lost 4 straight after they looked to have turned the corner and gotten hot, although they still remain 1/2 game up in The Division Nobody Wants™ as the Yankees can't stop losing either. Diaz and Beltre wasted another excellent start from Christian Little, who has been our true ace this season and went 6.2 3 1 1 4 10. Tim Siqueiros had 1 1/3 scoreless and I couldn't have done any worse to have just left him in. The offense came alive today, although they were greatly aided by 3 Toronto errors which accounted for 5 unearned runs. Still they took advantage of it, with Nate Clark and Jasson Dominguez driving in a pair as Clark hit #13 to take over the MLB HR lead by his lonesome, while Jakob Runnels had an RBI double and Dayle Jenkins an RBI single.

Team record: 22-16. Next up: A day off, then we head to Detroit for the weekend where we get to relive memories of the 2031 ALDS. Yipee!

[Art Deco]

Game 1: For the second straight day the Rays took a 6-run lead into the 9th inning and this time they actually held onto it in an 8-2 win at Detroit which snapped their 4-game losing streak. In a way it was returning to the scene of the crime after their shock loss to Detroit in last year's ALDS (although they actually won Game 4 in their last visit here before losing Game 5 in Tampa), and for 5 innings it was a frustrating 0-0 stalemate with the Rays not getting a hit off Tiger starter John Rizzo until Jaiden Hardaway singled with one out in the 5th. But they broke through in a big way in the 6th for 7 runs as Jasson Dominguez singled in a run, Victor de Jesus doubled in another, Bo Angeac walked with the bases loaded and then Luis Corpus brought 'em all home with a grand slam (HR #5). They tacked on a run in the 8th on a Dayle Jenkins single. While all this was going on Alec Sachais was dealing again, and pitched into the 8th with a shutout before he put a couple of men on who Jose Alvarado allowed to score. Alvarado hasn't been very good this year and has an ugly 7/6 BB/K ratio despite a misleadingly low 1.46 ERA. Nate Thompson pitched the 9th and did not have a meltdown thankfully. Sachais ended 7.1 5 2 2 1 10 and improved 4-1, 3.33. The Yankees won last night and tonight so they're tied in the standings but the Rays are percentage points ahead as the New York has played two more games.

Game 2: The Rays blasted six home runs as they took their frustrations out on Detroit by crushing them 14-1. 13 of the runs came in two big innings, a 6-run 4th and a 7-run 6th. The 4th was similar to yesterday's 6th in that they strung together some hits to score some runs and then it was capped off by a Luis Corpus homer (#6). The 6th, however, saw them homer four times with Victor de Jesus (#8), Dane Ayers (#2), Nate Clark (an MLB-tops #14), and Jasson Dominguez (#8) went deep. Rodolfo Rivas added his 8th in the 8th inning. Today's beneficiary of all the run support was Jon Soranno, who was excellent once again. He went 7 4 1 1 1 7 and is now 3-1, 2.77 with a 10/54 BB/K ratio in 52 innings. Jon Whiteleather and Chris Hicks each had a scoreless inning to mop things up. The Yankees won again so it's as you were in the AL East.

Game 3: After winning the first two games of this series by a combined score of 22-3, you just knew they'd lose this one by a run and that's exactly what happened as they fell 4-3. Andy Aparicio started and pitched his best game in a while, and should have left after the 7th up 3-1 instead of tied 3-3 as Jaiden Hardaway's throwing error with two out in the 2nd allowed two Detroit runs to score instead of ending the inning. AA finished 7 6 3 1 1 6 and gave way to Nate Thompson in the 8th, who picked the absolute worst time to give up his first earned run of the season in 19 innings of pitching by allowing a Phil Arias homer in the bottom of the 8th to provide the Tigers with the winning margin. Ricky Widmar led off the game with HR #5 off Kumar Rocker, and Bo Angeac tied the game at 2 in the 5th against his old organization with his 3rd of the year. After Aparicio gave up a Blaze Jordan homer to put Detroit in front, they tied it again in the 7th on a wild pitch. I conservatively held Victor de Jesus at 3rd with one out on a Hardaway single in the 8th, and it backfired as Angeac grounded to 3rd with the runner holding and Jakob Runnels predictably struck out. And to make matters worse, Widmar had to leave in the 8th with a pulled abdominal muscle. It's considered a DtD injury but it's for 8 days so we'll likely IL him. Thanks to our lousy (so far) bullpen this year we now have an atrocious 4-10 record in 1-run games, meaning we're two below our Pythagorean record. And we're now one behind the Yankees, who won today.

Team record: 24-17. Next up: We head down I-75 to play 2 games in Columbus.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays snapped back from yesterday's tough defeat in Detroit with a 7-1 thumping of the Lightning at Nationwide Ballpark. They were up against an old friend in Aaron Ashby, who's been in the Columbus rotation this year, and they greeted him rudely when Dayle Jenkins took him deep for HR #2 in the 1st inning and then Nate Clark tripled the lead in the 3rd with a 2-run shot (#15). Ashby had to leave the game with an elbow strain and the Rays took advantage of the pen with Jasson Dominguez adding a 2-run homer in the 5th (#9) as part of a 3-5 day with a steal. Jaiden Hardaway had a bases-loaded walk and Luis Corpus a sac fly for the other two runs. Jon Hayes said "thank you" for all this run support and pitched pretty well, going 6.1 6 1 1 2 5. He's now 5-3 and has his ERA below 5 at 4.94. Chris Hicks, Jose Alvarado and Jon Whiteleather finished out the game. The Yankees were idle so the Rays move within 1/2 game of the division lead.

May 25: Placed SS Ricky Widmar on the 10-day IL with a pulled abdominal muscle retroactive to 5/23, purchased the contract of SS Austin Martin from AAA Durham.

Bo Angeac is also hurting, his sprained elbow isn't getting any better even though he can play. I'd like to use Ayers at 3B to spell him, hence the need for a SS. Martin was once of the top young SSs in the game, with 3+ WAR seasons in 2026-27 but has tailed off. He'll still be useful in the role we'll have him in.

Game 2: The Rays were shut down by the Lightning's Kyle Harrison today in a 5-2 loss to Columbus. Harrison allowed them only 2 runs on 6 hits through 8 1/3 with the damage coming on Jasson Dominguez's 10th HR, a 2-run shot in the 6th which got them within 3-2. The homer extended Dominguez's hitting streak to 18 games but that was about the only good news tonight. Christian Little started and was perfect through four innings but none other than Eloy Jimenez homered off him to lead off the 5th and he came unglued after that, allowing two more runs in the inning and later he gave up a 3-run HR to Henry Parson in the 6th when he was one out away from getting out of the inning. He finished 6 4 6 6 2 8 and saw his ERA rise to 4.14. Danny Medina had a pair of scoreless innings in relief, while elsewhere the Yankees won to push the Rays back 1 1/2 games in the division.

Team record: 25-18. Next up: 2 more games with the Lightning, but at Publix Park.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Well this was an odd game. It was 7-6 Rays in the 5th inning and ended....7-6, though not without some late drama. Speaking of odd, Alec Sachais started and got the win with 10 strikeouts in 5 innings - and 6 runs allowed. He's 5-1, 3.99 now as he was either unhittable or very hittable, from at-bat to at-bat, giving up a couple of homers and some other hard-hit balls. But in a change from our normal 2032 script, the bullpen did the job over the final 4 innings with Tim Siqueiros, Jose Alvarado, Nate Thompson and yes, Jordan Diaz getting it done. Of course there's a "but" with Diaz and that was because he gave up a leadoff single in the 9th, wild-pitched him to 2nd, and then gave up another single but fortunately Dayle Jenkins gunned down Leody Taveras at home plate before Diaz struck out Jorge Perez to end the game and get save #4. The offense scored in each of the first four innings and then took the rest of the game off. Rodolfo Rivas' sac fly and Dane Ayers' RBI singles got them on the board in the first two, and Jasson Dominguez ended the suspense by extending his hitting streak to 19 in the 3rd with an RBI single. The big inning was the fourth when they scored four times, with Rivas hitting a 3-run jack (#9) and Victor de Jesus following with his 9th of the year. Ayers was 3-5 to lead a 12-hit attack. The Yankees won again so the Rays remain 1 1/2 back.

Game 2: One step forward, one step back as the Rays fell 9-6 to Columbus today. Another shaky outing from a starter and an ill-timed homer allowed by a reliever were the problems today. Jon Soranno, who had been quite good and quite consistent this year, had a nightmarish first inning allowing four runs on three walks and three hits. He settled in as the Rays came back to tie the game at 4, but ran into trouble again in the 5th, giving up a run and loading the bases with one out. Enter Tim Siqueiros, who got a force at the plate for the 2nd out, but then gave up a grand slam to Lightning rookie Rob Winchester, and that was the ball game. As a result Soranno ended with a hideous 4.1 9 8 8 5 5 line and saw his record drop to 3-2, 3.83. Chris Hicks (2 innings), Danny Medina and Alexander Beltre pitched scoreless innings to hold Columbus at 9, and the Rays did have a few chances to come back, most notably in the 8th when they loaded the bases with one out down 9-5 only for pinch-hitter D'Andre Hodges to ground into a double play. And they cut it to 9-6 in the 9th and had two men on with two out but Victor de Jesus' fly ball only made the warning track. Jaiden Haradway had a big game, going 3-4 with a 3-run HR (#3) and de Jesus hit #10 in the 6th. Jasson Dominguez had an RBI double in the 9th, his second hit of the day and he extended his hitting streak to 20 while Rodolfo Rivas was 3-5 with an RBI. Fortunately the Yankees lost so no ground was.

Team record: 26-19. Next up: A huge Memorial Day weekend series with those Yankees coming to town.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The first game of this showdown series empathically went the Rays' way as they clobbered the Yankees 10-1 and moved to within 1/2 game of the AL East lead. It was over early as the Rays put up a 5-spot in the 2nd inning to give them a 6-0 lead, and Andy Aparicio looked more like his 2031 self in not letting the New Yorkers back into the game. Dane Ayers and Dayle Jenkins at the top the order were a literal 1-2 punch, combining to go 7-11 with a homer and 6 runs batted in with Jenkins hitting #3, a 2-run shot in the 5th. D'Andre Hodges started in place of a fatigued Jasson Dominguez tonight (whose hitting streak is placed on hold) and responded with HR #2 to lead off that big 2nd inning, which also saw a Yankee error, a wild pitch to score a run, and a bases-loaded walk to Ayers. Rodolfo Rivas had another 3-hit game, driving in a run as well. Aparicio meanwhile wasn't totally dominating, but was effective and took a shutout into the 9th before leaving after 112 pitches and having given up two singles. Jon Whiteleather came in and gave up a sac fly to spoil the shutout but finished it out. AA is now 5-2, 4.71 after going 8.1 7 1 1 3 5 today.

Ayers and Jenkins were the #1 and #3 stars of the night:



Game 2: The Rays continue their run of mediocrity as for the eighth straight game they've alternated wins with losses, dropping a sloppily-played 5-2 decision to the Yankees. A Bo Angeac throwing error in the 3rd was responsible for two Yankee runs, and a Jaiden Hardaway miscue resulted in another in the 7th while at the same time the bats couldn't get anything going against a parade of Yankee relievers after starter Leonardo Pestana had to leave in the 1st inning. Jon Hayes started and continued to either strike people out or give up hits (his BABIP is around .370), going 5.2 7 3 1 2 9. Nate Thompson got him out of a 6th-inning jam but gave up that unearned run in the 7th, and Chris Hicks yielded a run in the 8th before Jon Whiteleather struck out the side in the 9th. The offense was extremely disappointing with the only runs coming on a pair of solo HRs, Hardaway's 4th in the 5th that cut the Yankee lead to 2-1, and Victor de Jesus's 11th in the 7th inning. Jasson Dominguez saw his hitting streak snapped at 20 despite a few hard hit balls, including a line out to shortstop in his final at-bat in the 8th that saw him as the tying run at the plate. The Rays now drop back 1 1/2 behind again, and will look to salvage the series behind Christian Little tomorrow.

Game 3: The Rays continue to alternate wins and losses, and today that was a good thing as they beat the Yankees 4-1 behind Christian Little despite only mustering 4 hits for the entire game. Little was dealing, striking out the side in the 2nd with 5 total at that point and getting through the 7th to go 7 7 1 1 0 9. His only real trouble after allowing a 3rd-inning run was in the 7th, when two errors including his own loaded the bases, but he got Iso Kurokawa to ground out to end the threat. Alexander Beltre had a 1-2-3 8th in his first high-leverage action since giving up the winning homer against Toronto in his 2nd appearance with us, and Jose Alvarado got a 1-2-3 9th to nab save #4. Not only did the offense only manage four hits, but they all came in the same inning which was quite beneficial. Jaiden Hardaway led off the 4th with a double, went to third on a Dane Ayers single, and a Rodolfo Rivas double brought them both home. And then Jasson Dominguez brought Rivas and himself home with HR #11 and the Rays had four quick runs. The win gets them back within 1/2 game of the Yankees in the AL East, and the teams are even in the loss column.

Team record: 28-20. Next up: A long road trip begins with 3 games in Kansas City.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: This year's bullpen seems to have the ability to blow any lead at any time and that's what it did again today. After the Rays clawed back to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the 8th, Alexander Beltre and Chris Hicks conspired to allow 4 runs in the bottom of the inning as the Rays fell 7-4 to Kansas City and for the 10th straight game have alternated wins and losses. Trailing 3-1 going into the top of the 7th the Rays got homers from Bo Angeac (#4), a 2-run shot to tie it, and Dayle Jenkins (#4) in the 8th to take the lead. But Beltre, who got Tim Siqueiros out of a jam in the 7th, put men on 2nd and 3rd with two outs, and gave up a 2-run single, and then Hicks loaded the bases and gave up another 2-run single. The Rays did manage to put 2 on in the 9th to bring Jenkins to the plate as the tying run, but he grounded out to end the game. Alec Sachais started and was fair, going 6 7 3 3 0 8. Fortunately the Yankees lost in Toronto, so the Rays remain 1/2 behind.

Game 2: Sometimes a win feels like a loss and that's what today was as the Rays were up 6-1 after 7 and held on to win a 6-4 nail-biter thanks to more terrible bullpen work. The game couldn't have started any better as the first two men reached and Nate Clark drilled a 3-run homer (#16), and Victor de Jesus tripled later in the inning and scored on D'Andre Hodges' groundout. de Jesus (#12) and Bo Angeac (#5) added solo homers in the 3rd and the Rays were rolling behind Jon Soranno, who was excellent today in going 7 4 1 1 1 2 and improving to 4-2, 3.55. But two of the incredibly annoying hallmarks of this team came into play. First, the offense again went ice cold after scoring early. Yes, six runs should be enough to win but this team never seems to tack on late as today KC relievers went 6 1/3 shutout innings allowing only two hits and a walk. And second of course is the failpen. Danny Medina pitched the 8th today and gave up a 2-run homer to make it 6-3, and then Jose Alvarado was a complete adventure in the 9th. He struck out the first man, then gave up a walk and two hits, including a double, to put the tying run at 2nd with one out and one in. He got a ground ball and a line drive at Clark to end the game but it was nerve-wracking all the same as he eked out his 5th save. The Yankees won today as they continue to alternate wins and losses too, mirroring us like the alien at the end of Annihilation, so we're still 1/2 game back.

Game 3: Will wonders never cease? Not only did the Rays break their streak of 11 straight alternating wins and losses by winning their second in a row today 5-2, but the game was saved by Jordan Diaz. Most of the heavy lifting was done by Andy Aparicio, who channeled 2031 again in one of his more dominant performances of the year, going 8 7 2 2 1 14 to go to 6-2, 4.44. After AA gave up a leadoff single in the 9th, Diaz came on and pitched around a single allowed of his own which brought the tying run to the plate, but struck out Cole Foster to end and get save #5. Victor de Jesus, having a great year and now leading in the AL in OPS, was the offensive hero early with HR #13 in the 2nd to tie the game and an RBI single in the 4th to give them the lead. They tacked on two more runs in the 7th when Nate Clark walked with the bases loaded right after KC looked like they'd get out of a nobody-out, bases-loaded situation and Rodolfo Rivas followed with an RBI single. Luis Corpus brought Jasson Dominguez home with a sac fly in the 8th. Again the Yankees mimic us by winning, so it's still 1/2 game back.

Team record: 30-21. Next up: 4 games in Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

June 3: Activated SS Ricky Widmar from the 10-day IL, waived SS Austin Martin and designated him for assignment.

Glad to have Widmar back, he was missed. Martin didn't want to go back to Durham so we had to waive him.

Game 1: Despite getting Ricky Widmar back we had to play shorthanded tonight with Victor de Jesus, Jasson Dominguez and Luis Corpus all fatigued. This meant Xavier Edwards got a start as did Dane Ayers and Jakob Runnels. So it was going to be tough sledding on offense but Jon Hayes didn't help, getting hit hard by his old team in an 8-6 loss that wasn't really that close (more on that in a second). Hayes gave up a 3-run homer to Julio Rodriguez in the 4th and single runs in the 5th and 6th to finish 5.2 7 5 5 2 6 and saw his ERA rise to 4.91. Jon Whiteleather and Chris Hicks weren't very good in relief either, allowing 3 runs in the final 2 1/3 between them. So going into the 9th it was an 8-1 Twins blowout with Edwards' RBI single the only Rays run but Minnesota reliever Jared Coulter couldn't get anyone out to start the inning as we got three walks and pair of hits off him along with a Minnesota error then a hit off former Ray Jeremy Bowers (part of deal in which we got Hayes) and suddenly it was 8-5, the bases were loaded, and still nobody out. But Minnesota's saving grace was the useless Runnels, working an another sub-Mendoza season, and he grounded into a double play that brought home a run but short-circuited the rally, and Ricky Widmar grounded out to end the game. Of course the Yankees did what we did yet again and that was lose, so status quo in the division race.

Time for a trade:



As you can tell from my recent game commentary, I've had it with Runnels. For a year and a half now, it's been like having a pitcher hit when he's in the lineup. Alvarez is a big upgrade but is a free agent at year's end, when Will Quintana will finally get his shot to be the backup. Duran was the key for the Mets here, he was our 2030 July 2 signing but he's a 1B projected to be a second-division starter and we're so deep at the position that he likely won't be missed.

Game 2: Back on top, baby. The Rays crushed Minnesota 12-1 behind Christian Little and Bo Angeac and the Yankees lost in extra innings in Baltimore, putting the Rays in first place for the first time in a couple of weeks. Little had his patented electric stuff, but was a bit wild and pitch-inefficient, going 5 3 1 1 4 11 and leaving with two on in the sixth and nobody out up 4-1. Nate Thompson came in and hit the first man he faced to load the bases, but he got two clutch strikeouts and a fly ball to get out of it, and pitched the 7th as well before Danny Medina went two perfect innings to close it out with a big lead. Angeac led the hitting attack, coming through while it was still a game. They went up 1-0 on Dayle Jenkins' 5th HR but Angeac went deep off a tough customer in Jordan Wicks with his 6th to make it 2-0 in the 3rd, and then he doubled in a run to make it 3-1 in the 5th. Ricky Widmar's grounder made it 4-1 and Luis Corpus's sac fly increased the lead to 5-1 in the 7th. Then they went to town in the final two innings, scoring 7 in total including a 2-run shot from Rodolfo Rivas (#10) and a 435-foot blast from Victor de Jesus (#14). Angeac, who is now an impressive 324/405/649 with 6 HR and 15 RBI in 21 games while playing with a nagging elbow injury, drove in another during the rallies and finished with 3 RBI, as did Corpus who added a 2-run single. Little improves to 5-2, 3.66 and leads MLB in pitcher WAR at 2.6.

June 5: Optioned P Chris Hicks to AAA Durham, purchased the contract of P David Sanchez from AAA Durham.

From year after year with 4 lefties in the pen, which worked quite well, we dropped to two this year after Evan Godwin became a free agent, Brad Ballmann was, well Brad Ballmann, and we needed to keep Danny Medina as he was out of options. Then of course Mike Mooney went down for the year and while we replaced him with Alexander Beltre, he's someone I want to use in the late innings. Which is all a roundabout way of saying we've added a lefty in Sanchez, our 3rd round pick in 2029 who's put up decent numbers in AAA and has 70 stuff (against lefties and righties). He has 50 movement and 45 control or he would have been up long before. He had a 2/12 BB/K ratio in 8.2 innings at Durham this year although he allowed 3 homers (a little out of character) and had 145 whiffs in 106 innings (with only 6 HR allowed) in 2 seasons at AA Montgomery.

Game 3: The Rays made it 2 straight once again and 4 of their last 5 with a 5-2 win over Minnesota. Alec Sachais pitched 6 strong innings, the bullpen was great over the final 3, and a new acquisition made an impressive debut. The Rays got on the board first with a pair in the 2nd when D'Andre Hodges (filling in for a tired Nate Clark) doubled home Jasson Dominguez, and after Hodges made it to third with two out, Francisco Alvarez in his Rays debut hit a hard grounder that Twins SS Royce Lewis could only knock down, scoring Hodges. Sachais gave the lead right back in the bottom of the inning on a pair of solo homers, including one to a former catcher of his Ryan Jeffers. But Jaiden Hardaway had a big RBI double in the 5th to give the Rays the lead back to stay, and Sachais ended up 6 6 2 2 2 5 which was good enough for his 6th win of the year and lowered his ERA to 3.95. Tim Siqueiros got four big outs while the Rays tacked two more on in the 8th. Bo Angeac singled and Alvarez came through again, doubling him to 3rd before Ricky Widmar singled them both home to give the Rays some breathing room. Alexander Beltre retired both lefties he faced in the 8th, and Jordan Diaz got it done again in the 9th despite a walk for save #6. And with the Yankees losing again in Baltimore, they also have some breathing room at the top of the division, now up 1 1/2 games.

June 6: Placed P Jon Soranno on the 15-day IL with an abdominal strain retroactive to June 1, recalled P Eric Carter from AAA Durham.

So it turned out that Soranno's ab strain is a little more serious than though so he's not going to make his start today. Instead the just-recalled David Sanchez will make the start and go at least 3-4 innings hopefully. Soranno should be ready when he's eligible to come off the IL in 9 days so he'll miss one more turn and with an off-day coming up we can probably just skip it. The just-demoted Chris Hicks, who would have come back up, pitched last night in Durham so Carter is a fresh arm to get the call after pitching briefly for us last season.

Game 4: Well the David Sanchez spot start went about as poorly as expected, with the Twins scoring twice against him in the first, and then after a 1-2-3 2nd, jumping all over him in the 3rd as he ended 2.2 6 5 5 3 2 with fellow callup Eric Carter coming in with 2 on, 2 out and 2 in and walking two straight batters to force in the 5th run. But despite falling into a 5-0 hole the Rays nearly pulled off the comeback only to lose 5-4. It helped that the bullpen continued its renaissance, with Danny Medina going 2 1/3 scoreless in relief of Carter who had to leave in the 4th with wrist soreness, and scoreless innings from Tim Siqueiros and Jose Alvarado. Still it looked like a no-hoper with Arturo Roque shutting them out through 5, but Nate Clark (#17) and Rodolfo Rivas (#11) went back-to-back against him in the 6th to make it 5-2, and in the 7th two more reached with Luis Corpus drilling a 2-run double to make it 5-4. Corpus took third on the throw and was there with only one out, but he couldn't be brought home. And after putting the first two on in the 8th, the Rays couldn't advance them. Not helping today was Victor de Jesus, so hot until he took the collar yesterday and did again today, whiffing 3 times. And the Yankees won so they're back within 1/2 game of the lead.

Team record: 32-23. Next up: We head to the desert to take on Arizona for 3 games.