June 8-10, 2026: at Arizona (3)
 

Game 1: Rays hitters took a quick liking to Chase Field as they belted 5 homers on the way to an 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks. Wander Franco hit 2 more today to up his season total to 19, putting the Rays on the board in the 1st and tying the game in the 5th with a pair of solo shots. And Keibert Ruiz went deep for the first two times this season, involved in two back-to-back jobs. His first came after Wander's in the 5th and gave the Rays the lead to stay, and he hit his 2nd in the 7th with Wander on to make it 6-2, which was followed by Judson Fabian's 16th as the Rays RF tried to snap out of his mini-slump. Brandon Marsh and Vidal Brujan had RBI singles for the other 2 Rays runs. Matt Manning had another fine start, giving up his 2 runs in the 3rd but little outside of that, going 7 8 2 2 1 7 to improve to 5-3. Liam Hendriks gave up an unearned run in the 8th and proceeded to load the bases, but Evan Godwin got him out of it, pitching the final 1 1/3 with 3 whiffs. Baltimore won't go away, winning again to stay 5 back.

Game 2: The AI told me that Wander Franco, Keibert Ruiz, Keston Hiura and Brandon Marsh were all tired, so it was time for Nick Gonzales, Patrick Bailey, Triston Casas and Jhon Diaz to play. The makeshift lineup didn't miss a beat as the Rays downed the D-backs 7-2. Like yesterday the Rays trailed 2-1 going into the 5th, but rallied to take the lead for good in that inning. They were assisted by a bout of wildness from Arizona starter J.B. Bukauskas, who walked the bases loaded and then gave up an RBI single to Hunter Bishop and wild-pitched the go-ahead run home. After walking Jhon Diaz to re-load the bases, Bailey stepped up and drilled a grand slam to RCF, his 4th HR of the season to give us our final score of 7-2. Tyler Glasnow was in cruise control from there, going 7 6 2 2 0 9 to improve to 7-2, 2.91 with a league-leading 92 whiffs in 77 innings. Asa Lacy, whose turn in the rotation was skipped due to an off-day, pitched the final 2 innings without incident. Vidal Brujan was on base 4 of 5 times today with 2 hits and 2 walks and is now 322/415/452, quite a contrast to last year's first-half struggles. And I almost don't need to mention that Baltimore won again.

Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep of Arizona with a hard-fought 5-3 win. All the Rays' scoring came in the first two innings when they jumped on Diamondback starter Corbin Martin for 5 runs and 9 hits. Lewin Diaz had an RBI single in the first, but for the third straight game in the series Arizona took a 2-1 lead only this time the Rays didn't wait until the 5th to erase it. Instead they tattooed Martin for hit after hit and it all started with Shane McClanahan, who helped his own cause with an RBI single to tie it, followed by a Wander Franco RBI groundout, and RBI singles from Keibert Ruiz and Judson Fabian. Mac did it with his arm as well as his bat, and although he allowed a run in the 6th to get Arizona within 2, he ended up a very solid 7 5 3 3 1 8 to go to 6-2, 3.55. Jose Alvarado was sharp whiffing a pair in a perfect 8th, but Jasseel De La Cruz made it interesting in the 9th, allowing singles to the first two hitters, getting a pop-up from former Ray Yusniel Diaz, then a groundout to 1st to allow both runners to move into scoring position. But he got pinch-hitter Steven Kwan (hitting .442) to fly to shallow left to end the game and pick up save #10. All in all, an impressive road trip that followed a hideous 7-game losing streak which included the last 5 at home. They went to KC, Minnesota and Arizona, all with solid winning records, and came out 8-2. And they needed to as Baltimore no longer seems to lose, winning again tonight to stay 5 back.

Team record: 41-18. Next up: Their first off-day in about 3 weeks, followed by 3 games at home against Houston and Yordan Alvarez, who already has 31 HR (!). Maybe we'll just walk him every time up.

June 12-14, 2026: vs Houston (3)
 

Game 1: Well we picked up where we left off when we last left the Trop - the Rays losing because they can hardly score runs. Today they fell 3-2 to the Astros in 10 innings, mustering only 4 hits for the game and wasting Mack Anglin's best MLB effort to date. Anglin and Cristian Javier were hooked up in a 0-0 duel going to the bottom of the 6th when the Rays finally generated some offense. Vidal Brujan walked, scored on a Wander Franco triple, and then Keibert Ruiz singled in Wander to make it 2-0. Anglin went back out for the 7th at 93 pitches, and it was probably a mistake as Alex Bregman took him deep to lead off the inning. Anglin then left with a 6 3 1 1 1 6 line against a high-powered offense in an impressive performance. With 2 of the next 3 hitters lefties, Evan Godwin came in and got the first two on easy groundballs, but then served up a HR of his own to lefty-hitting Andy Yerzy to tie the game. Jose Alvarado had a perfect 8th and then Nick Anderson got 3 quick outs on 6 pitches so he came back for the 10th and walked the leadoff man. He got an out but with more lefties due up Ben Bowden made his home debut as a Ray and it did not go well as he allowed a couple of hits to let Houston score. To add insult to injury, former Ray (twice over) Ryne Stanek came on and got the Rays 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th. And to make matters worse, not only did Baltimore win tonight but they won as well last night while the Rays were off so the lead has been trimmed to 3 1/2.

Game 2: The Rays broke out of their Tropicana Field slump in a big way, scoring 5 times in the 1st inning on their way to a 15-0 destruction of Houston. Amazingly it was their first home win since May 6 against the Dodgers as they had dropped 9 straight under the dome. Judson Fabian had a 2-run single and Hunter Bishop a 2-run double to pace that big first inning, and Vidal Brujan had a 5-hit game as he continues to be nearly impossible to retire. Brujan scored 3 times and drove in a run, Keibert Ruiz was 2-3 with his 3rd homer of the week (and the season) and 3 RBI, Bishop had a 3-hit game, and Wander Franco drove in 4 runs as they piled up a season-high 21 hits. Matt Manning was the proud beneficiary of all the run support and he threw as well as his teammates hit, going 6.2 3 0 0 3 8 to improve to 6-3, 4.25 as he may finally be on the way to get that ERA below 4. Ben Bowden pitched the final 2 1/3 with 3 whiffs to complete the combined shutout. Elsewhere, you don't really think Baltimore lost, did you? They beat Toronto 1-0 at Rogers Centre in perhaps the most unlikeliest scoreline of the year given both teams' bats and the ballpark. The Orioles are now 27-5 in their last 32, Jesus Christ.

Game 3: It was a nail-biter at the Trop but the Rays prevailed 3-2 behind 7 strong innings from Asa Lacy, some clutch bullpen work, and a game-winning HR from their supersub. Lacy was an efficient 7 5 2 2 1 2 on 87 pitches, with the two runs allowed homers including one from Yordan Alvarez, his 32nd of the season. You didn't think we'd get through a 3-game series against Houston without him hitting one? Alvarez's homer came in the 4th to put Houston up 2-1, but Wander Franco, who had 3 hits on the day and drove in their first run in the 1st inning, singled home Brandon Marsh to tie the game. And then in the 6th Bramdon Perez greeted Nick Wittgren with a HR into the RF stands to make it 3-2. Perez, filling in against righties at DH with Spencer Torkelson out, had his own 3-hit game and is now slashing 360/438/551 in 89 at-bats with 4 HR and 12 RBI. But the lead was a precarious one and this year's troika held on. Nick Anderson got two outs in the 8th with a whiff and a walk, and Jose Alvarado got the final out of the inning. Alvarado stayed on for the 9th with Alvarez due, but gave up a leadoff double to Eloy Jimenez. He got Alvarez on a shallow fly ball, and then gave way to Jasseel De La Cruz, who then hit Alex Bregman to put men on 1st and 2nd before getting Will Benson to roll into a 4-6-3 double play, and the game was over. Lacy went to 4-1, 2.72 and De La Cruz grabbed save #11. Baltimore won again, because of course they did.

Team record: 43-19. Next up: A rare off-day at home and then the homestand continues with 3 against Seattle.

June 16-18, 2026: vs Seattle (3)
 

First some news from the league office:

https://i.imgur.com/TCweEYg.png

Game 1: It was looking like another game in which the Rays couldn't score at home as they trailed Seattle going into the bottom of the 6th 3-0, but a 5-run explosion in that inning led to a 7-4 win. Shane McClanahan got the start and pitched OK except when it came to Julio Rodriguez as the Mariner OF had an RBI double and solo HR off him for 2 of the 3 Seattle runs, and he ended 6 8 3 3 1 5. But thanks to the offense in the bottom of the inning he improved to 7-2 as Keibert Ruiz continued his recent HR binge with #4 with 1 out in the 6th against Roaldo Carvajal, and Judson Fabian walked and Lewin Diaz singled. Keston Hiura whiffed for the second out, but Hunter Bishop delivered a triple to the RF corner to tie the game, and the red-hot Bramdon Perez blasted a HR to dead center to make it 5-3 Rays. Seattle got one back in the 7th off Evan Godwin and Liam Hendriks in large part due to a Wander Franco error, but the Rays answered back in the bottom of the inning with a 2-out single from Lewin Diaz, who had a 3-hit night. Hendriks got them through the 8th and they added one more in the bottom on a Brandon Marsh RBI groundout. With two lefties including the tough Jarred Kelenic leading off the 9th, Jose Alvarado got the call and went 1-2-3 for his 2nd save of the season. And this may be hard to believe, but Baltimore actually lost at Boston so the lead is up to 4 1/2.

Game 2: The Rays scored 3 in the 2nd and Tyler Glasnow was in a groove, making for an easy 7-1 win over Seattle. Glasnow gave the Mariners next to nothing, going 7 5 1 1 2 9 and upping his record to 8-2, 2.77 as he bids for his second Cy Young. Aaron Ashby and Mitchell White pitched perfect innings to finish out the game. Judson Fabian got the offense going with a double to lead off the 2nd and came home along with Nick Gonzales on a 2-run triple from Hunter Bishop, who has become an extra-base machine. Brandon Marsh doubled home Bishop to make it 3-0, and then they tacked on 3 more in the 5th when Wander Franco singled in Bishop, who had doubled to start the inning, Wander and Vidal Brujan pulled off a double steal, Keibert Ruiz singled in Brujan and Wander scored on Fabian's sac fly. And Keston Hiura's sac fly scored Fabian after his 2nd double of the game in the 8th. Bishop remains red hot, now slashing 333/381/643 in 129 AB with 17 doubles, 4 triples and 5 homers and the most impressive thing about him is how well he hits lefties (like Nick Margevicius tonight) despite being a lefty hitter: 283/341/540 career in 123 plate appearances. Elsewhere it was too much to ask for Baltimore to lose consecutive games, which they didn't. Also Houston's Adrian Morejon threw a no-hitter tonight against St. Louis, walking 4 and whiffing 11 on 130 pitches.

Game 3: Walk-off drama at the Trop as Bramdon Perez continues his red-hot ways with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to give the Rays a 7-5 win and series sweep (and season sweep) of the Mariners. Trailing 5-4 going to the bottom of the 9th thanks to some shoddy defense and bullpen work, Keston Hiura led off with a single, stole second, Hunter Bishop walked and then Perez stepped up and drilled one the opposite way into the LF seats off Seattle closer Will Kincanon for his 6th HR of the year. Mack Anglin got the start and once again his teammates let him down and was also the victim of some bad BABIP luck as Seattle had 3 infield singles off him, two of which were sandwiched around an error by Wander Franco in the 4th. He finished 5.2 6 3 1 2 10 but left with a 4-3 lead. Liam Hendriks got Anglin out of trouble in the 6th and Evan Godwin took the mound for the 7th. Godwin retired Jarred Kelenic but had to suddenly leave with back issues (turns out he'll miss a day or two) and Aaron Ashby was apparently unprepared to come in on short notice as he walked 3 batters and gave up a 2-run double to Julio Rodriguez to put Seattle in front 5-4. Nick Anderson, less dominant these days but still getting outs, pitched 1 1/3 scoreless and Ben Bowden had a quick ninth to pick up his first Rays win. The Rays managed to score 7 runs for the third straight game today despite getting only 4 hits, which they made count with the help of 8 walks from Mariner pitchers. After Keibert Ruiz walked in the 3rd Judson Fabian went deep for #17, his first HR in 10 days and 2nd since May 24, to make it 2-0 Rays and in the 4th a Hiura walk and another Bishop double led to 2 runs on Perez's ground out and Brandon Marsh's sac fly. And the good news continued with word that Baltimore may be coming back to Earth, losing its 2nd in 3 games at Boston and meaning the lead has grown to 5 1/2 games.

Team record: 46-19. Next up: 3 games at home vs San Francisco.

June 19-21, 2026: vs San Francisco (3)
 

June 19: Optioned OF Jhon Diaz to AAA Durham, activated Spencer Torkelson from the 15-day IL.

Good to have Tork back, and there's a good chance Diaz is a part of the 2027 squad as Tork is the leading internal candidate to play 1B next season with Lewin Diaz a free agent and Alec Bohm, well, Alec Bohm, opening up a DH/OF role.

Game 1: The Rays rode a 6-run 4th inning and another fine effort from Matt Manning to a 6-2 win over the Giants, extending their winning streak to 6 and improving to 14-3 after the 7-game losing streak in May. Keston Hiura (#11) and Keibert Ruiz (#5, on a power surge) bookended a 6-run 4th with 2-run HRs while Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco drove in the other two on a single and a sac fly. That would be all they needed with Manning at the wheel as he continued his mid-season renaissance going 7 4 0 0 3 9 to improve to 7-4, 3.90. Manning's ERA was in the mid-5s not that long ago but he's allowed only 2 runs in his last 27 2/3 innings since an 8-run shellacking against Miami on May 28. Mitchell White pitched a clean 8th but ran into trouble in the 9th, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, a walk, and a Hiura error. In fact with 2 out the bases were loaded with the tying run at the plate in the person of Brennan Davis, San Francisco's HR leader with 12, so Jasseel De La Cruz had to come in and strike him out on 3 pitches to end the game and get a quick save #12. Tork was 0-3 with a walk in his return, although he didn't strike out. Baltimore got back in the win column so the lead stays 5 1/2.

June 20: Well, this is a disturbing piece of news:

https://i.imgur.com/KKxBsGy.png

First off, big deals like this involving the AI are usually rare, especially not long after a team has signed of the prized free agents of the previous winter's class. But yeah, I really don't like Austin Meadows going to the Orioles, even it is at the expense of Kremer, maybe their 2nd best starter. Not looking forward to going against him 18-19 times a season especially with the Orioles our chief competition these days in the AL East.

Game 2: The Rays put 10 runs on the board in the 6th inning to break a 1-1 tie as they routed the Giants 12-1. It was a weird game with Asa Lacy getting the start and allowing all kinds of baserunners but constantly pitching out of it to the tune of 5 7 1 1 1 7 with ironically the only run scored against him (and by the Giants all night, who had 13 hits) a solo HR by Aristides Aquino. And the Rays' bats were pretty quiet too with only Nick Gonzales's triple in the 4th getting them on the board. But that all changed in the 6th, and it started with Judson Fabian flying out. Spencer Torkelson singled, Keston Hiura doubled, Hunter Bishop was intentionally walked to load the bases and then Gonzales drove in 2 with a single. Patrick Bailey walked to re-load the bases, and Brandon Marsh hit a sac fly to make it 4-1. Then Vidal Brujan doubled in a pair to make it 6-1, Wander walked, and then 5 straight hits came with Fabian singling in a run, and then Tork, Hiura, Bishop and Gonzales all had RBI singles. Torkelson added his first HR back from the IL for good measure in the 8th, a solo shot for #16. Ben Bowden ended up getting another win for pitching a scoreless 6th, Liam Hendriks allowed 4 hits in 2 innings but no runs, and Mitchell White mopped up again with a scoreless 9th. Gonzales and Tork each ended up with 3 hits, with Nick driving in 4 and now slashing 328/396/462. With Lewin Diaz continuing to hit below the Mendoza Line as a Ray, we may see Nick (and/or Bramdon Perez) at DH more often with Tork at 1B (where he isn't that great admittedly). Baltimore won again so the lead remains the same.

Game 3: The Rays' apparent inability to hit at the Trop during their 9-game home losing streak is a distant memory now as they banged out 20 hits in a 14-5 thumping of the Giants to extend their winning streak to 8 games. They scored in every inning but the 8th, and scored at least 2 in every inning except the 4th (and the 8th of course). Not going to recap the scoring, just the damage done; Hunter Bishop was big again with HR #6 and double #20 to lead the team with 3 hits & 3 RBI, Spencer Torkelson hit #17 and drove in 2 as part of his 3 hits, Keston Hiura hit #12 as part of a 3-5, 2 RBI day, and Vidal Brujan and Brandon Marsh each had 3 hits and an RBI. Even Lewin Diaz was 2-4 with an RBI with Judson Fabian the only hitless Ray (he did have a sac fly though). Shane McClanahan started and wasn't his best, allowing 3 HR including a pair to Ray-for-a-couple-of-months-in-2021 Javy Baez and went 6 7 4 4 1 9 and is now 8-2, 3.78. Aaron Ashby, Nick Anderson and Evan Godwin each pitched an inning with Nick allowing a solo HR as the Giants hit 4 on the day yet still lost by 9. Baltimore keeps winning, too, as Austin Meadows was 1-2 with 3 walks in his Orioles debut as they won 8-2.

Team record: 49-19. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland.

June 22-24, 2026: at Cleveland (3)
 

Another player of the week:

https://i.imgur.com/Tlwk5b9.png

Game 1: The Rays lost a tough one in Cleveland 3-2 after taking a 2-0 lead in the 7th, snapping their 8-game winning streak. Tyler Glasnow and Kantaro Yokoyama hooked up in quite a duel through 6, but the Rays broke through in the 7th when Spencer Torkelson led off with a triple, Keston Hiura was intentionally walked, and then they both scored on RBI singles from Hunter Bishop and Brandon Marsh. But Glasnow ran out of gas in the seventh, giving up 4 hits and a run, and Jose Alvarado had to get him out of the inning. Alvarado stayed on for the 8th, and made the cardinal sin of walking two lefties he should have gotten out, and both of them came around to score on a 2-out, 2-run double by Jonah Heim (I probably should have brought in a righty to face Heim, but Alavardo had retired the righties before him and I've lost confidence in Nick Anderson's diminished stuff). Glasnow went 6.2 8 1 1 1 7 in another impressive performance to lower his AL-leading ERA to 2.67, but the bats and bullpen couldn't do enough for him. Baltimore was idle today so they creep within 5 games.

Game 2: The Rays jumped out to an 11-0 lead by the top of the 3rd, and then held on to win 13-7 in a Progressive Field slugfest. Mack Anglin, who had pitched well in several starts only to be denied the win due to the bullpen or poor run support, got picked up by his team for a change as he had perhaps his worst outing at 5.1 6 7 7 4 5 but still got the win to go 3-1. Spencer Torkelson put them on the board in the 1st with a 2-run opposite-field HR and singled in a run in a 7-run 2nd which was capped by a 3-run Hunter Bishop blast (#7). Wander Franco had a 2-run double in the inning as well. Bishop ended up with a 4-RBI day, Tork was 2-4 with 4 runs scored to go with his 3 RBI, Keston Hiura was on base all 5 times with 3 hits and 2 walks and Vidal Brujan was 2-5 with an RBI and a walk. Only Judson Fabian (0-6) and Lewin Diaz (0-4 with a sac fly) went hitless. Ben Bowden, Liam Hendriks and Mitchell White finished up on the mound, none of them allowing any runs. Austin Meadows hit 2 HRs for Baltimore because of course he did, as they won 8-3 over San Diego to stay 5 back.

Game 3: Like the first game in this series, the Rays couldn't hold a 2-0 lead and lost 4-2. Lewin Diaz's 2-run HR in the 2nd off Luis Castillo, his 7th of the year and 13th overall, was the only offense they could muster but Matt Manning was making it hold up until he was victimized by back-to-back HRs by Eric Herman and Nolan Jones in the 6th. Manning got through the inning and was a still-impressive 6 8 2 2 0 10, but the bullpen couldn't get it done. Nick Anderson gave up a single and a double and left with 1 out in the 7th, and Evan Godwin came in and wild-pitched the runner from third home but whiffed the next two. He started the 8th and then gave up a HR to the lone righty he faced, Tyreque Reed, and that was it. The offense only managed 6 hits on the night after scoring at will yesterday, giving credence to the Earl Weaver quote that momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher. Fortunately San Diego beat Baltimore 6-5 to keep the Orioles 5 back.

Team record: 50-21. Next up: an off-day followed by a huge early series at Camden Yards where we get to renew acquaintances with Austin Meadows.

June 26-28, 2026: at Baltimore (3)
 

Game 1: Whew. The first game of the big series in Baltimore was a nail-biter, and the Rays hung on to win 7-6 despite pounding out 20 hits. In fact, for all their hits it was the longball that won the game for them. After Austin Meadows (of course) hit a 3-run HR off Asa Lacy in the 5th to put the Orioles up 5-4, the Rays answered with back-to-back homers from Spencer Torkelson (#19) and Hunter Bishop (#8) to retake the lead in the 7th, and Wander added some insurance in the 8th with his 18th to make it 7-5. That insurance was needed as although Jose Alvarado (getting an inning-ending DP from Meadows with 2 men on) and Nick Anderson (getting a 1-2-3 inning with no whiffs) got through the 7th and 8th, Jasseel De La Cruz surrendered a Gunnar Henderson homer in the 9th, and had to watch with fingers crossed when Brandon Marsh caught an Adley Rutschman fly ball at the wall for the final out for save #13. Liam Hendriks picked up the win in relief of Lacy, who started strong but ended up a not-too-great 4.2 10 5 5 0 5. Earlier the Rays had scored on doubles from Bishop and Keston Hiura in the 2nd, with Hiura scoring on a Vidal Brujan sac fly and then 2 more in the 4th on a Lewin Diaz RBI triple and Brujan's infield single. Speaking of Brujan, he was hit with a pitch in the 6th and had to leave with a hand contusion, an 8-day injury. He'll probably go on the 10-day IL with Nick Gonzales sliding in. Diaz and Bishop had 4-hit games, with the former now above the Mendoza Line as a Ray, while Tork and Franco had 3-hit games. The win now moves the Rays 6 up on Baltimore and assures them of leaving town no worse than 4 up.

June 27: Placed 2B Vidal Brujan on the 10-day IL, purchased the contract of IF Nick Loftin from AAA Durham.

With Brujan on the IL, and the only one on the roster other than Wander who can play SS, Loftin gets his first MLB call-up. He's a good-bat, mediocre-field middle infielder, and was hitting 300/334/451 at Durham.

Game 2: The Orioles struck back against Shane McClanahan and the Rays offense couldn't get a whole heckuva lot going in a 4-2 loss to even the series back up and get Baltimore back within 5 games. The game was decided in the 3rd inning when Mac put a couple on, including hitting Bryson Stott with a pitch, and Austin Riley delivered a 2-run double. And then who else but Austin Meadows drilled a single to center to score Riley to make it 3-0. Keston Hiura hit #13 to make it 3-1 in the top of the 5th, but in the bottom of the inning McClanahan hit Stott again with a pitch, wild-pitched him to 2nd and allowed him to score on an Adley Rutschman single. Judson Fabian got that run back in the top of the 6th with HR #18, a solo shot, but that was the end of the Rays offense for the night. The only bright spot was Mitchell White's extremely impressive relief outing. Taking over for Mac in the 5th, he went 3.2 1 0 0 0 6 to keep the Rays in the game. Speaking of Mac, his 4.1 7 4 4 1 4 line brings his ERA up to 4.00 even and he's now allowed 19 runs in his last 29 2/3 innings, although he does have an excellent 5/36 BB/K ratio over that stretch, but 6 HRs haven't helped. He should still be OK. Not OK was the offense, which allowed Michael Baumann to hold them to 8 7 2 2 0 5 despite coming in with a 7.41 ERA which he nearly lowered a run to 6.43. It's been kind of feast or famine on this road trip which has them 2-3 right now. At least Hunter Bishop extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

Game 3: Unbelievable. The Rays took a 9-3 lead into the bottom of the 8th and managed to lose 10-9 on a - you guessed it - Austin Meadows walkoff RBI single. The problems started much earlier, though, when Tyler Glasnow had to leave after 4 innings with back spasms with the Rays up 5-3. This pressed the bullpen into action early but when the Rays scored 4 in the top of the 5th to make it 9-3, it looked like they had a bullpen-proof lead. Ben Bowden pitched two innings, and Liam Hendriks got them through the 7th, and stayed on to face the leadoff righty Will Banfield and gave up a single. With three lefties due, no problem, bring in Andy Ashby. He couldn't retire any of them, though, and suddenly it was 9-5. So with a string of righties now due up and a man on, here comes Nick Anderson. Well as we've chronicled here, this isn't the Nick Anderson of old, and he gave up a base hit to make it 9-6 then a 3-run HR to Austin Riley to tie the game. And in the 9th, Jose Alvarado gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Adley Rutschman, he moved up to 2nd and 3rd on ground balls, and with 2 out Meadows inevitably won it. The win moves the Orioles to within 4 (albeit 5 in the loss column). Earlier the Rays offense brought its boomsticks, with HRs from Lewin Diaz (a 3-run shot, #8/#14), Nick Gonzales (#3), and back-to-back jacks in the 5th from Spencer Torkelson (a 3-run HR, #20) and Hunter Bishop (#9, keeping his hitting streak alive at 18). A first-inning Keibert Ruiz RBI double was the only run they didn't score on a longball. Anderson's loss of stuff is suddenly making finding a RH power reliever a priority, as the only righties in the pen right now (aside from longman Mitchell White) are Hendriks and closer Jasseel De La Cruz.

Team record: 51-23. Next up: Back home for 3 games vs Boston.

June 29-July 1, 2026: vs Boston (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays bounced back from their debacle in Baltimore by scoring 9 runs in the first 2 innings on the way to an 11-1 drubbing of the Red Sox. Spencer Torkelson homered twice to give him 22, the first a 3-run shot in the first and the second a 2-run shot in the second. Lewin Diaz also blasted a 3-run HR in the first (#9/#15) and Judson Fabian drove in 2 runs and Hunter Bishop (2-4, hitting streak now at 19) drove in one. The stars finally aligned where Mack Anglin pitched a great game and the team supported him or didn't blow the lead as he went 7 5 1 1 3 7 to go to 4-1, 4.17. Aaron Ashby pitched the final 2 innings. Baltimore was idle (the Rays still have a game in hand on them) so the lead is 4 1/2.

Game 2: Matt Manning didn't have it today, giving up a pair of 2-run HRs and wild-pitching 2 more runs home as the Rays fell to the Red Sox 6-4. Manning, who went 5 8 6 6 2 4 in his first poor start in about a month, put the Rays in a 5-0 hole in the 3rd inning, but they answered quickly with 4 in the bottom of the 3rd on a 2-run blast to dead center from Wander Franco (#19), and a 2-run double from Hunter Bishop (hitting streak at 20) to cut it to 1. Manning, though, gave up another run in the 5th and the offense could never generate anything substantial the rest of the way, even after Keston Hiura singled with one out in the 9th. Liam Hendriks and Nick Anderson had scoreless innings (Nick again without a K) and Ben Bowden had 2 scoreless innings as he hasn't allowed a run in the 13 innings he's pitched so far with the Rays. Baltimore won in 10 innings 2-1 in San Diego to move within 3 1/2.

A couple of monthly awards go the Rays way:

https://i.imgur.com/epnKWPJ.png https://i.imgur.com/LYsObdI.png

Game 3: Asa Lacy had his best start of the season and he got help from a couple of early 2-run HRs as the Rays coasted past Boston 7-1 today. Lacy went 8 7 1 1 0 5 and pitched into the 9th, allowing a leadoff single before giving way to Evan Godwin who struck out the 3 batters he faced. Lacy is now 5-1, 2.98 and has been great filling in for the injured Christian Little. Keibert Ruiz hit #6 with a man on in the 1st to make it 2-0 Rays, Brandon Marsh had an RBI double and Wander Franco an RBI single in the 2nd to make it 4-1, and Lewin Diaz stayed hot, hitting #10 as a Ray and #16 overall, a 2-run blast in the 3rd to make it 6-1. Spencer Torkelson hit #23 off the LF foul pole in the 7th to round out the scoring, and Hunter Bishop singled to extend his hitting streak to 21 games. It was all good except for the fact that Baltimore won again to stay 3 1/2 back.

Team record: 53-24. Next up: 4 games at home vs Detroit.

July 2-5, 2026: vs Detroit (4)
 

Game 1: On a night the offense couldn't get much going against Detroit's Kumar Rocker, Shane McClanahan took charge and threw a 2-hit shutout to lead the Rays to a 2-0 win. Mac was in some early trouble, putting 4 baserunners on in the first 2 innings, but got out of it and rolled from there, going 9 2 0 0 4 7 on 119 pitches. From the 7th on, he was basically one batter away from coming out for a reliever, but he retired the last 10 batters of the game to stay in there. He's now 9-3, 3.64 for the season. All the offense the Rays would get (and need) came via a 3-batter sequence with two out in the 4th. Spencer Torkelson singled, Hunter Bishop doubled him home to extend his hitting streak to 22 games, and Keston Hiura singled home Bishop. The Rays got no break from Baltimore, which is now on a 38-9 run and still 3 1/2 back.

Game 2: The Rays received another dominant pitching performance, this time from Tyler Glasnow as they shut the Tigers out once again, this time by the score of 4-0. Glasnow took a 1-hitter into the 8th with a 3-0 lead, gave up a couple of singles with two out but whiffed Austin Martin on pitch #119 to get out of the inning and leave at 8 3 0 0 1 9 to improve to 9-2, 2.62 and take pole position in the AL Cy Young race. Jose Alvarado gave up a couple of singles to start the 9th but got a double play and a whiff to end the game. Facing the Rays on the mound for Detroit was old friend Shane Baz, and he pitched fairly well in defeat. Spencer Torkelson and Keston Hiura hit doubles in the 2nd for a run, Keibert Ruiz's sac fly scored run #2 in the 3rd with help from a Detroit error, and Hunter Bishop made it 23 straight games with a hit by launching HR #10 to RF in the 4th, a solo shot. Lewin Diaz had an RBI single in the 8th to round out the scoring. The win was important because Baltimore may never lose, as they won in 10 tonight in Seattle 4-3.

Game 3: Mack Anglin pitched well again as the Rays took care of the Tigers for the 7th time in 7 tries this season 7-3. Judson Fabian drove in Wander Franco with a single in the 1st, and Brandon Marsh had an RBI double in the 2nd, and the game stayed 2-0 as Anglin was dealing against Detroit. He left after giving up a 2-out double in the 7th, and Mitchell White took over and allowed a double of his own to get Detroit within 2-1. Anglin ended 6.2 3 1 1 3 9 and improved to 5-1, 3.86. The Rays got that run back in the bottom of the 7th when Marsh doubled in Bishop, who kept his hitting streak alive at 24 in his last at-bat. Jose Alvarado came on for the final out in the 8th, and then they blew it open with 4 in bottom of the inning on 2-run HRs from Keibert Ruiz (#7) and Spencer Torkelson (#24). Alvarado stayed on to pitch the ninth and gave up a couple of runs, with only one earned thanks to a Keston Hiura error but picked up save #3. The Orioles won of course as they're now 53-28 with the second best record in baseball behind our 56-24. Still miffed about that third game in Baltimore being blown.

Game 4: A long holiday weekend of quality pitching performances culminated in a 1-0 win over Detroit at the Trop to sweep the series and the season series from the Tigers. Former Tiger Matt Manning had the mound today, and although it was far from his best outing it still was effective. Manning went 6.1 4 0 0 6 5 with the 6 walks of course being the issue. They mostly came late and 3 of them came consecutively in the 5th to load the bases. But he got Danny Jansen to hit into a 4-2-3 double play to get out of it. Ben Bowden had perhaps his most impressive outing as a Ray in a string of them as he went 1 2/3 perfect innings with 3 whiffs to get through the 8th. Bowden has now pitched 14 scoreless innings since joining the team with 0 walks and 14 Ks. Jasseel De La Cruz got save #14, allowing only a 2-out single, while Manning goes to 8-4, 3.94. The offense? All of it came on the 2nd at-bat of the game when Wander Franco deposited HR #20 into the RF seats off Chris McMahon, who deserved a better fate holding the Rays to 7.2 6 1 1 2 7. A few regulars did sit, however, with Keibert Ruiz, Judson Fabian and Lewin Diaz all getting the day off. The only down note was that Hunter Bishop went 0-3 with a walk to see his MLB-season-high 24-game hitting streak come to an end as he struck out with 2 out in the bottom of the 8th. And believe it or not, Baltimore finally lost although it took a 2-run HR by Marwin Gonzalez in the 8th for Seattle to win it 4-2, so the lead improves to 4 1/2 games.

Team record: 57-24. Next up: 4 games at home vs the Angels.

2026 Midseason Report Card.
 

We've reached the midway point of the 2026 season, and the first half was a roaring success at 57-24. There are some concerns, but overall "just keep doing what you're doing" should work. In a normal year we'd be running away with the division but the Orioles are 53-29 and don't look like they're going away so despite being on a 114-win pace the division is not assured. I'm half-convinced the AI traded Austin Meadows to Baltimore specifically to give me a run for my money this year.

A quick position-by-position report card:

C: (B-). Keibert Ruiz was hurt for about half of the first half and is just now rounding into form, on a recent HR binge even though his OBP is still below .300. Patrick Bailey isn't hitting a lot but he also isn't playing a lot.

1B: (C+) it's a C+ instead of a C as Lewin Diaz has been heating up of late, but still somewhat of a disappointment. Alec Bohm is finally hitting at Durham after being in a funk after his surprise demotion but I don't see him coming back without an injury. Triston Casas still remains a low-average power guy.

2B: (A) Vidal Brujan has been great this first half after last season's bad one, and is doing Vidal Brujan things getting on base at a .420 clip.

SS: (A) Ditto for Wander, already with 20 HR even with the juiced ball this year.

3B: (B) Keston Hiura will never be mistaken for Brooks Robinson but he's played decently enough at the position and his bat has been productive even if it's a bit down by his standards.

LF: (A+) What can I say about Hunter Bishop? He missed the equivalent of 2-3 weeks with nagging injuries early in the season but has been ridiculous once he got entrenched in the lineup (358/412/674) and he's a great defensive left fielder.

CF: (B+) Brandon Marsh is Mr. Reliable, doing his usual 290/350/440 thing playing a quality CF.

RF: (B+) Judson Fabian carried this team in April and early May, but has been very quiet during the season's second quarter. He'll be fine, and he's still at 297/370/524, so I'll take another half of that however it's distributed.

DH: (A) Spencer Torkelson missed about two weeks, so he's probably on pace to hit between 50-55 HR right now, and is 308/374/642.

SP: (A-). Tyler Glasnow is having a Cy Young-caliber season, Shane McClanahan isn't far behind, and Matt Manning is doing OK but has been much less consistent. The kids are alright, too: Mack Anglin looks like he's here to stay, and Christian Little was going great until the herniated disc and should be back in little over a month. Asa Lacy has saved the staff to a large extent as well, going 5-1, 2.98.

RP: (B-). The bullpen seems like the team's weak link even though it hasn't been that bad, just not up to its recent standards. Still, Nick Anderson's loss of stuff is problematic, Jose Alvarado and Evan Godwin have been pretty inconsistent, and Jasseel De La Cruz's numbers are good but his outings always seem to be nerve-wracking. The most reliable lately have been Liam Hendriks and new pickup Ben Bowden. I still feel like I could add a power arm, either through trade or from within (Steven Casey deserves another crack, his #s at Durham are sick: 23.2 12 0 0 2 35) but nobody's been that bad to dump. In fact when Little comes back we're going to have a roster crunch as it is.

Bench (A). Bramdon Perez's #s in limited action are insane, and Nick Gonzales has shown his 2 months filling in for Wander last year were no fluke.

Here are the team numbers:

https://i.imgur.com/3GXyRk4.png

Nothing not to like here, #1s all over the place, and in a rare occurrence our actual record is the same as our Pythagorean. The defense remains the weakest link but middle of the pack is just fine considering how bad we were last year.

July 6-9, 2026: vs LA Angels (4)
 

Before we get into the games, some big July 2 international signing news. Omar comin':

https://i.imgur.com/SQkutn2.png

These are some almost Wander Franco-like tools if he lives up to them. BNN already has him ranked as the #25 prospect in the game.

Game 1: A slew of regulars were tired today, so it was a makeshift lineup today with Wander, Hunter Bishop and Keston Hiura all having to sit. This meant Nick Loftin made his MLB debut and Bramdon Perez and Triston Casas got into the lineup. Well through 5 innings it looked like this might hurt the Rays as they trailed 1-0. Then all hell broke loose in the bottom of the 6th. Lewin Diaz led off with a homer (#11/#17), Casas, Loftin and Brandon Marsh singled, Nick Gonzales walked to force in a run, Keibert Ruiz had a 2-run single, Judson Fabian an RBI double, and Spencer Torkelson hit a 3-run HR (#25). By the time they were done, Loftin singled in a run and Gonzales singled in 2 more and the Rays had an 11-run inning and beat the Angels 11-3. Before the deluge, they had 7 hits in 5 innings off Griffin Canning but couldn't get the key hit. Loftin in particular had a memorable MLB debut, good and bad. The good: he had 4 hits in 5 trips for a career MLB BA of .800 right now. The bad: he's a 40 SS and showed it by making two errors, including one on the first ball hit to him in the 1st inning. His shaky defense didn't slow Asa Lacy down, though. He went from apparent hard-luck loser to well-supported winner in the blink of an eye and ended up 7 5 1 1 3 4 to go 6-1, 2.80. Aaron Ashby tried to get through the final two innings but was bombarded for 2 runs and 4 hits in the 9th so Nick Anderson had to get the final out. And Baltimore was waxed 9-0 by the Dodgers, so the lead is now back up to 5 1/2.

July 7: Activated 2B Vidal Brujan from the 10-day IL, optioned IF Nick Loftin to AAA Durham.

Loftin can always say he was a .800 career hitter in MLB if he doesn't came back up again.

Game 2: Like yesterday the Rays trailed 1-0 in the 6th inning, and in fact they trailed 1-0 in the 7th inning, but there was no 11-run outburst to win the game. Instead, they got single runs in the 7th and 8th and the bullpen got the job done in a 2-1 win. Shane McClanahan got the start and he was great as usual, with the only run scoring against him thanks to an error from the just-activated Vidal Brujan (he must have grabbed Nick Loftin's glove on the way in). Mac went 7 4 1 0 3 9 and the Rays made sure he wouldn't be a tough-luck loser by scoring in the bottom of the 7th. Keston Hiura walked, went to second on a ground ball, and scored on Bramdon Perez's 2-out single to tie the game. And in the 8th, Brujan and Wander drew walks to lead off the inning but Judson Fabian grounded into a double play and it looked like the rally might be cut short. Spencer Torkelson had other ideas, though, and singled up the middle to put the Rays in front. The Angels had a mini-threat in the top of the 8th when Liam Hendriks walked Shohei Ohtani but Jose Alvarado got the final out and ending up getting win #3. Jasseel De La Cruz for once had a 1-2-3 9th for save #15 and the Rays find themselves on another winning streak at 7. And the Dodgers beat the Orioles again so the lead is up to 6 1/2, giving the Rays some breathing room for a change.

Game 3: The run of quality pitching continues as the Rays rode yet another great start from Tyler Glasnow to a 4-2 win to make it 8 straight. The strikeouts weren't there as usual but the outs were as Mini-Horse went 8 7 2 2 1 4 on 114 pitches to go to 10-2, 2.59. They've allowed only 10 runs total in these 8 games as all 5 starters have been getting it done. Glasnow was actually behind 2-0, though, when Yasmani Grandal took him deep in the 6th inning for a 2-run shot. To that point the Rays were befuddled by Jordan Romano, a nightmare name from the past who beat them in Games 1 and 5 of the 2022 ALDS with the Blue Jays. But they chipped away, getting one back in the 6th when Vidal Brujan tripled in Brandon Marsh, and although Brujan was left stranded, Judson Fabian launched HR #19 to lead off the 7th and tie the game. Then in the 8th Marsh and Brujan were at it again with Brujan's second triple of the game giving them the lead and Fabian's sac fly brought Brujan home for the final score. With lefties due up in the 9th, Evan Godwin got the call but made a bit of a mess, putting 2 men on with 1 out. Enter Jasseel De La Cruz, who got a shallow fly to left and Kyren Paris to ground to 3rd to end the game and give him save #16. And the good news kept coming when Baltimore was swept by the Dodgers, losing their 4th straight and in those 4 days the lead has gone from a precarious 3 1/2 to a comfortable 7 1/2.

Game 4: The Rays got another excellent start, but this time the offense never did wake from its early-game slumber and the 8-game winning streak is over with a 3-1 loss to the Angels. Mack Anglin pitched well, but was hurt at the beginning and at the end. He walked Kyren Paris to lead off the game, gave up a Luis Renfigo triple for one run, and then wild-pitched Renfigo home to put LA up 2-0 before the Rays came to the plate. Vidal Brujan immediately responded by leading off with a HR (#6) to left off Garrett Williams, but that would turn out to be the sum total of today's offensive output. The game stayed 2-1 until the 8th when Anglin walked old buddy Ji-Man Choi, got the next two out, but gave up an RBI double to Mike Trout. Anglin finished 7.2 4 3 3 3 11 and is now 5-2, 3.82 with 80 whiffs in 68.1 innings. Ben Bowden got the final out in the 8th, Nick Anderson put two on with two out in the 9th, and Evan Godwin whiffed Choi to end that threat, but the offense couldn't get it done. Outside of Brujan, who also singled and stole a base, the only Ray hitter to distinguish himself today was Keston Hiura, on base 3 times in 4 trips with a hit, two walks and a steal. Baltimore was idle so the lead is now 7 games.

Team record: 60-25. Next up: 3 games in Fenway against the Sox before we hit the All-Star break.

July 10-12, 2026: at Boston (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays' run of great starting pitching performances came to an abrupt end tonight as Matt Manning was tattooed for 12 runs in 3 1/3 innings in a 12-7 loss to Boston. Only a 5-run 7th inning made the score semi-respectable as Manning didn't have it tonight, and trying to get some length from him turned out to be a mistake. His final line was a hide-the-children 3.1 11 12 12 3 5, starting with a Didi Gregorius 3-run HR in the 1st and continuing with a 2-run HR from David Dahl, just acquired by Boston from Miami, for whom he killed the Rays during that 4-game sweep back in May. Mitchell White came on in long relief, and was great going 3.1 1 0 0 1 4 until he had to leave with elbow inflammation and will be out 7 weeks. Aaron Ashby finished up the final 1 1/3. There was some offense of course, and Vidal Brujan was 3-4 with a HBP to raise his numbers to 336/426/490, Wander Franco had a 2-run HR (#21), Patrick Bailey was 2-5 with 2 RBI, and Hunter Bishop had an RBI double. Baltimore got back in the win column so the lead has been reduced to 6.

July 11: Placed P Mitchell White on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation, recalled P Steven Casey from AAA Durham.

I mentioned Casey's #s in the midseason report card, and he was long overdue for a recall.

Game 2: Lousy pitching doomed the Rays again, as they lost their second straight to a team they're 26 games ahead of in the standings as both starter Asa Lacy and the back end of the bullpen combined for a 9-8 walk-off loss to Boston. Lacy looked good for 1 2/3 innings before Boston had 7 straight batters reach to score 4 times in the 2nd. But the offense came back, and they took a 6-5 lead before Lacy allowed back-to-back HRs to Josh Naylor and Gabriel Arias (more on him shortly) to put Boston back in front 7-6. But they tied it in the 7th, and took the lead in the 9th on a Keston Hiura sac fly. But after they got 2 more shutout innings from Ben Bowden and one from Evan Godwin, Jose Alvarado could not get it done in the 9th, putting two on with one out. And Jasseel De La Cruz was terrible as well, walking the bases loaded and giving up consecutive singles to David Dahl (who else?) and Arias to allow Boston to win. Alvarado continues his poor season with the 2 runs raising his ERA to 4.99, and while he's never been known as a control artist his BB/9 has more than doubled to 5.3 this season. Lacy continues a trend of Rays starters that just can't handle Fenway, as he went 5 9 7 7 3 5 and allowed 4 homers. Arias ended up 4-5 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI. No blaming the offense on this one, though. Judson Fabian's 20th HR of the year was a 3-run shot that got them back within 4-3, Vidal Brujan continues scorching hot going 3-5 with an RBI, and Keibert Ruiz drove in a pair, including a game-tying HR #8 in the 7th. And the Baltimore Austins won again today with 3 HRs from Hays and one from Meadows (to go with 30 on the season from Riley), so that lead which grew from 3 1/2 to 7 1/2 is suddenly back down to 5.

Game 3: The Rays avoided going into the All-Star break on a 4-game losing streak by getting past Boston today 6-4 to salvage the final game of the series. Shane McClanahan didn't pitch that great, but he looked like Walter Johnson compared to Matt Manning and Asa Lacy the last two games, going 5.2 10 4 4 2 8 and picking up his 10th win of the season. Unlike yesterday, the bullpen came through today with a scoreless inning from Ben Bowden (although he issued his first walk as a Ray in 18 innings), rookie Steven Casey (who got 4 crucial outs to end the 7th and get through the 8th) and a bounce-back outing from Jose Alvarado who retired the side in order with a whiff in the 9th to grab save #4. Most of the Rays offense came via the longball today. Keibert Ruiz (#9) and Judson Fabian (#21) went back-to-back to make it 2-0 in the 1st, each homering for the second straight day. And then Brandon Marsh hit a pair, a 2-run shot to put the Rays up 4-3 in the 5th (after which they scored a run on a GIDP) and then a big homer in the 7th to give them an insurance run, his 6th and 7th of the year. Vidal Brujan had 2 more hits and a steal and a shoutout to Tristan Casas, who was 2-4 today and finally climbed over the Mendoza Line. And the Angels beat the Orioles behind a pair of homers from Ji-Man Choi, so the lead is back up to 6 games.

Team record: 61-27. Next up: The All-Star break, followed by 3 big games at home vs Baltimore and the return of Austin Meadows to the Trop.

All-Star Break 2026
 

As usual, the Rays are well-represented in the ASG, especially among starters:

https://i.imgur.com/YNVCAxr.png
https://i.imgur.com/gcCuc9r.png

The NL All-Stars:
https://i.imgur.com/JjfqlzU.png
https://i.imgur.com/xyVf9y3.png

In the Futures Game, 4 Rays prospects started for the AL. Andy Aparicio, the #3 prospect in the game, pitched the 1st, gave up 2 hits, a run, and got a whiff. OF Luis Berdin was the MVP of the game, going 3-5 with a HR, double and 3 RBI. C Carlos Perez also homered, and 19-year-old SS Jose Gonzales, our big 7/2 signing in 2023, was 0-1 with a walk.

Yordan Alvarez beat Pete Alonso 21-16 in the finals of the HR Derby.

Here's the ASG:

https://i.imgur.com/GkcK6rg.png

Austin Hays had a 3-run HR and drove in 4 to be named MVP, Abraham Toro had a 3-run HR for the AL as well, and Josh Stowers hit a 3-run HR for the NL late. As for the Rays, Wander played the whole game and was 2-4 with a walk and CS, Brujan was 0-2, Bishop was 0-2 (whiffing both times, I don't think he's had a hit since his hitting streak was stopped), Tork was 1-2 with a double, Judson Fabian was 0-2 with a walk, and Tyler Glasnow started and threw an 8-pitch perfect 1st. McClanahan was not used, which is fine by me.

July 17-19, 2026: vs Baltimore (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays took a big step toward the division title today with a 6-3 win over the Orioles to expand their lead to 7 games. Matt Manning, who this year has been Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, was the good Manning today going 6 2 2 2 3 7 to pick up his 9th win with the only damage a 2-run HR by Rio Ruiz. Still he found himself down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 5th when Wander Franco drilled a 3-run HR, his 22nd of the season. They added insurance runs on a Judson Fabian RBI single in the 6th and a Brandon Marsh sac fly in the 7th after Keibert Ruiz's RBI single in the 3rd put them on the board. Marsh, who was hot before the break, stayed hot by going 2-2 with 3 runs scored and a walk to go with the ribbie and threw out a runner at the plate trying to score on a fly ball in the 8th. Vidal Brujan had 3 more hits to raise his average to .345. The bullpen did the job, with scoreless innings from Liam Hendriks and Ben Bowden, although Aaron Ashby gave up Austin Riley's 31st HR of the season in the 9th but nothing else.

Game 2: He's been a bedrock of the bullpen since 2019, but time has finally come for Nick Anderson. He's lost his stuff, and his movement was always subpar, leading to the occasional HR. But now he doesn't have the massive # of strikeouts to offset that possibility, and he's probably pitched in his last high-leverage situation at least by strategic choice. So yeah, this is all a prelude to say he blew the game today. Brought into a 0-0 game to start the 8th with a couple of righties due up, he was immediately greeted by a Druw Jones HR, and then walked Jo Adell who came around to score on a sac fly in a 2-0 loss. Steven Casey (his heir apparent) came in and whiffed 2 Orioles, allowing only a hit in 1 1/3 to finish up. But until Anderson's meltdown it was a brilliant pitchers' duel between Mack Anglin and Baltimore's Bryar Johnson, the best pitcher in the AL this year not wearing a Rays uniform. Anglin went 7 3 0 0 2 6 to lower his ERA to 3.46 but the star of the show today was Johnson, who went 8 2 0 0 2 8 against the best offense in baseball. Kozo Horii got the Rays 1-2-3 in the 9th to finish the game, and the Orioles move back within 6 with tomorrow's game pivotal.

Game 3: Things looked good for the Rays early when they raced out to a 4-1 lead after 3 with Shane McClanahan on the mound. But for the second straight start Mac was very hittable, and the Orioles chased him in the 5th after taking a 5-4 lead as he went 4.1 10 5 5 0 5, the second straight game he's allowed 10 hits in. However, the Rays responded in the bottom of the inning on a Hunter Bishop sac fly and a Keston Hiura RBI single to retake the lead 6-5. So now it was up to the same bullpen which blew a 9-3 lead on a Sunday three weeks ago in Baltimore to hold a lead for 4 innings. And hold it they did. It started with Liam Hendriks, who took over for Mac with a runner in scoring position, getting 4 outs with three whiffs. Evan Godwin got him out of the 6th, got two outs in the 7th and then Steven Casey took over, getting the final out and 2 more in the 8th before giving way to Jose Alvarado, who got the final out of the 8th. Alvarado stayed on and whiffed Austin Meadows to lead off the 9th, but gave up a single to Adley Rustchman. Enter Jasseel De La Cruz, to face Austins Hays and Riley and their combined 56 HR this season (including Hays' 25th earlier in the game). Jasseel whiffed them both to emphatically end the game, and pick up save #17 while Hendriks got win #4 in relief. The 4 runs they picked up early in the game all came in the 2nd. Hunter Bishop (out of his mini-slump after 2 hits yesterday) hit HR #11, Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez walked 3 straight Rays to force in a run with Wander Franco at bat, and Keibert Ruiz drilled a 2-run double. The series win puts them back up 7 games.

Team record: 63-28. A lengthy road trip out west which starts with the first ever series in this save at Coors Field, a venue I haven't even seen in this game which should be exciting (although not for our pitchers). If we had won the second game of the Baltimore series I would have started Asa Lacy in today's game, so now we get to see what happens in Coors. It'll be Glasnow, Lacy and Manning in the thin air.

July 20-22, 2026: at Colorado (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays' first game at Coors Field in a decade was just what you'd expect as it seems you can never have enough runs. An 8-4 lead in the 7th turned out to be a nail-biting 8-7 win that proved costly. The cost was Vidal Brujan, who led off the game with a homer (#7) but had to leave in the 5th legging out a triple. He strained his hamstring and will be out 4 weeks, so Nick Gonzales gets another late season starting role. Brujan was having his best season at 343/427/500 and was on pace for a 7.7 WAR season, which would eclipse the 6.7 he put up in 2024. So Gonzales needs to be as good as he was filling in for Wander last season to not have much of a drop-off. Anyway as for the game Tyler Glasnow started and pitched well, although with the altitude taking away his curveball he only had 3 whiffs, still going a respectable 7 8 4 4 1 3 which would have looked nicer had he not given up a leadoff HR in the 8th to former Ray property JJ Bleday. Aaron Ashby came on for Glasnow after that homer and gave up a 2-run shot to JT Realmuto and with Liam Hendriks unavailable, Nick Anderson actually came in and got the final out of the 8th after giving up a hit. Jose Alvarado and his 70 movement were no match for Coors, though, as he gave up a leadoff HR in the 9th, and then a double to Blake Rutherford to put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. But he recovered to whiff Bleday and Michael Toglia, and then Jasseel De La Cruz came in to face the vet Nolan Arenado and got him on strikes for save #18. Glasnow got the win and goes to 11-2, 2.78. As for the offense, Hunter Bishop took a liking to Coors (the field, not the beer) with a pair of HRs (#12 & 13) and 4 RBI, Brandon Marsh had a 2-run triple and Judson Fabian had an RBI double. Baltimore won so the lead remains 7.

July 21: Placed 2B Vidal Brujan on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain, recalled IF Nick Loftin from AAA Durham.

Loftin and his .800 batting average are back up.

Game 2: More fun and games at Coors Field as the Rays took a 10-1 lead, watched Colorado get within 10-6 and then pulled away for a 15-7 win. Spencer Torkelson paced the offense with a pair of HRs (#26 & 27), a double and 6 RBI, Wander Franco was 4-6 with 2 RBI, Judson Fabian was 3-6 with a double, triple and 2 RBI, Brandon Marsh was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI and Keibert Ruiz hit #10, a 2-run shot. But the star of the show was Asa Lacy, who went an excellent 6 8 1 0 1 7 on 91 pitches to improve to 7-1, 3.23. He probably should have been kept in for an extra inning as the bullpen had its struggles. With the score 10-1, it seemed safe to bring Nick Anderson in, but he gave up two hits and a walk, and then former Rockie Ben Bowden allowed Anderson's runners to score along with two of his own (his first runs allowed as a Ray) and it was 10-6. Liam Hendriks got them out of the inning but gave up a run of his own in the 8th, and Evan Godwin calmed things down by getting the final out of the 8th and a 1-2-3 9th. Baltimore won so the lead stays at 7.

Game 3: The Rays used some 9th inning comeback magic to sweep the series in Colorado and win 7-4, with the unlikeliest of heroes providing the decisive hit. Down 4-3 entering the 9th inning, the Rays were matched up against their 2021-2022 closer Brad Hand. Hand retired Spencer Torkelson on a line drive to center to start the inning but gave up a double to Hunter Bishop. Keston Hiura grounded out to send Bishop to third, but there were now two out. Hand hit Brandon Marsh with a pitch and then walked Patrick Bailey to load the bases with the pitcher's spot due. And it just so happened the only righty bat on the bench was Nick Loftin, he of the .800 batting average having gone 4-for-5 in his lone MLB appeareance. Well make that the .833-hitting Nick Loftin as he drilled a pinch-single to left, scoring Bishop and Marsh. And then Nick Gonzales stepped up and doubled to the gap to score Bailey and Loftin. Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a hit but got a pair of whiffs for save #19. We got to our situation in the 9th inning off a pretty good pitchers' duel for Coors Field between Matt Manning and Freddy Peralta, with each allowing 3 runs in 7 innings. Spencer Torkelson hit #28, a 2-run shot, in the first, but the only other offense the Rays could muster was Keston Hiura's 5th inning triple, scoring on a Marsh grounder. Manning was excellent, allowing 2 solo HRs but not much else going 7 7 3 3 0 7. With two lefties due to lead off in the 8th, Jose Alvarado got the call and struggled again, giving up a leadoff HR to Blake Rutherford, his 2nd of the game, and he allowed another hit after retiring only one batter as his ERA rises to 5.13. Enter Steven Casey, who struck out Nolan Arenado and Jonathan Vaughns to keep it at 4-3 and thanks to the comeback picked up his first MLB win. Austin Meadows clubbed 2 homers as the Orioles walloped the Yankees 12-1 so they don't pad the lead, but 7 remains plenty healthy.

Team record: 66-28 (now over .700). Next up: a 4-game set in Oakland.

July 23-26, 2026: at Oakland (4)
 

Game 1: Mack Anglin was in control as were the Tampa Bay bats as they crushed Oakland 10-2 to kick off this 4-game series. After the Rays scored the whopping total of 1 run for him in his last 2 starts - in which he pitched well enough to win - this time he coasted with the run support and went 7 4 1 1 2 8 and is now 6-2, 3.39 with 2.5 WAR, not too shabby for 13 starts. The offense took advantage of a wild Thomas Szapucki, who walked 6 in his 4 innings including Spencer Torkelson with the bases loaded in the 1st to start the scoring, and Hunter Bishop followed with an RBI infield single. They tacked on 2 more in the 3rd on Brandon Marsh's single, and 3 more in the 5th on a Marsh RBI double and Nick Gonzales's 2-run single. The final 3 runs came in the 7th on consecutive RBI singles from Wander Franco, Keibert Ruiz and Judson Fabian as everyone in the lineup had a hit except Lewin Diaz and everyone had an RBI except Diaz and Keston Hiura. Aaron Ashby pitched the final two innings, striking out 5, including 3 straight whiffs with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 8th. Elsewhere, the Yankees shut out Baltimore 2-0 so the lead grows to 8.

Game 2: The Rays were due for a stinker, and they had one today losing to Oakland 7-3. Shane McClanahan didn't have it - in fact he really hasn't had it in his last 3 starts as his ERA has ballooned from 3.41 on July 7 to 4.16 today after a 5 7 7 7 3 4 outing. He's now gone 15 27 16 16 5 17 in his last 3 starts. The longball was the problem for him today, falling behind 2-0 on a Daniel Johnson HR in the 2nd. He settled down after that for two innings and the Rays tied it in the top of the 5th on back-to-back HRs from Brandon Marsh (#8) and Nick Gonzales (#4). But the wheels came off in the bottom of the 5th, as McClanahan gave up a leadoff homer to Johnson again, allowed 3 straight hits for another run, and then surrendered a 3-run HR to Franklin Barreto and that was the ballgame. Marsh homered again later (#9) for the 3rd Rays run, and Ben Bowden (2 innings) and Nick Anderson (1) shut the A's out the rest of the way. Baltimore lost as well so the lead remains a robust 8.

Game 3: Tyler Glasnow - or should I call him Cyler Glasnow? - was dominant again as the Rays shut out Oakland 5-0. He went 7 5 0 0 3 8 to improve to 12-2, 2.59 and now leads the AL in wins, ERA and WAR and is tied for 2nd in strikeouts in a Cy Young-caliber season. Steven Casey and Evan Godwin threw scoreless innings to complete the team shutout, and the Rays hit 3 homers to supply the offense. Hunter Bishop hit #14 in the 2nd inning to make it 1-0 and in the 5th Keston Hiura (#14) had a 3-run shot and went back-to-back with Bramdon Perez (#7). Baltimore was destroyed by Cleveland 9-1 and now the lead is up to a quite comfortable 9 games.

Some trade news:

https://i.imgur.com/dRh4tU8.png

So long to Heston Kjerstad, who was a victim of our OF glut over the last few years. With the emergence of Jhon Diaz, and Luis Berdin right behind him, Kjerstad was expendable and is now 27. He'll be a great player for Texas, should hit 25-30 HR, hit .260-.270 and play 70 defense in LF (or 60 in CF). McQuatters was kind of a middling prospect, not garbage but not nowhere near being a stud. So what about the return? Well Widmar is the #7 prospect in baseball according to BNN, and he fills a glaring need in the system: a high-end SS prospect. Jose Gonzales was probably our best one, but he's 19 and several years away. I don't want to say Widmar is insurance for Wander Franco possibly leaving after 2027, but I'm not not saying it. I'm going to try to extend Franco again but that may require more money than we can spend. And we won a World Series without him, right? Anyway, here's what's to like about Widmar:

https://i.imgur.com/5MTuI0I.png

There's nothing not to like here, especially the 70D at SS. The scouting report says Widmar, who went 1-1 in the 2024 draft, is a potential .310 hitter, although he's yet to show that in the minors, hitting about .225 at high-A right now. Still I believe in the tools (and the editor, which says he's an MLB 278/332/438 hitter right now) and if we have to in 2028, we can sacrifice some offense for defense. And while Widmar was the key, Hayden Johns is almost as exciting a piece. He went 5th overall in the 2022 draft and reached the majors this year as a reliever with Texas, going 10 6 1 1 5 16 in a brief stint before going back down. His long-term future is as a starter still, and he has 65 stuff, 55 present/65 potential control, and 40/50 present/potential movement, so he can be a little homer-prone. Still he has 4.5-star potential and is projected to "fit comfortably in the middle of a big league rotation". I see him as perhaps a Chris Paddack-type, the 2020-2022 Paddack rather than today's version. He's currently ranked #119 overall. Benedetto is an interesting throw-in, a little old for his level at A+ but has 60 gap power and 55 HR power and is a 65 defender in LF. Widmar and Benedetto will go to Port Charlotte in the FSL, while Johns is going to Durham but could contribute to the pen down the stretch.

Game 4: The offense scored 4 runs in the first 2 innings then took the rest of the game off, allowing the A's to creep back in the game and come back to win it 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th thanks to some terrible defense and terrible relief from Jose Alvarado. After Judson Fabian drove in a run in the 1st with an RBI groundout, Hunter Bishop led off the 2nd with his 15th HR of the year, and then Lewin Diaz hit a 2-run blast (#12/#18) to make it 4-0. Asa Lacy was rolling and finally ran into some trouble in the 6th, leaving 5.2 5 1 1 4 3 but Aaron Ashby got the final out of the 6th. Ashby then got the first two batters in the 7th, walked a man but got an easy fly ball to Fabian in right, who inexplicably dropped it to keep the inning alive and put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Liam Hendriks came in and got an easy ground ball to SS and then Wander Franco threw it away, allowing the 2 runs to score. Hendriks struck out the side in the 8th but the offense continued to go down meekly so it was 4-3 with two lefties coming up, so Jose Alvarado came on, gave up a walk and a single to put men on 1st and 3rd. Alvarado then threw a wild pitch to allow the tying run to score, leading to an intentional walk. With men on 1st and 2nd, he got Andrew Benintendi to ground to 1st but they couldn't turn the DP so with men on 1st and 3rd again, Jasseel De La Cruz came in to face Matt Chapman, who singled to left through the drawn-in infield to win the game for Oakland. You know you've done something wrong when the other team scores 5 runs and they only have 2 RBI. Alvarado's ERA is now up to 5.61 and while he hasn't apparently lost his stuff like Nick Anderson, he ain't right and the bullpen remains a source of concern. Baltimore scored 5 times in the 8th to beat Cleveland 9-7 and take advantage of our blown game to move back within 8.

Team record: 68-30. Next up: A day off, followed by 2 games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers.

July 28-29, 2026: at LA Dodgers (2)
 

Game 1: For the second straight game the Rays built an early lead, didn't add on to it, and watched the bullpen blow it as today they fell 6-5 to the Dodgers in 12 innings. Things started off well as Keibert Ruiz hit a 2-run shot (#12) to put them up 2-0 and after the Dodgers tied it off Matt Manning, Wander Franco hit #23 to put them ahead 3-2 in the 5th, and Wander came through with a 2-run single to make it 5-2 in the 6th. Manning had to leave with a sore shoulder after 4 innings (he'll miss a turn), but Ben Bowden was brilliant with 2 innings and 4 whiffs. But things started going south in the 7th as the bullpen kept giving up the long ball. Steven Casey gave up a HR to Kevin Smith to make it 5-3, Gavin Lux took Evan Godwin deep in the 8th to cut it to 5-4, and in the 9th Smith did it again, greeting Jasseel De La Cruz with 1 out to tie the game at 5. Jose Alvarado came in and pitched well, getting Liam Hendriks out of a jam in the 10th and pitching a strong 11th, but Aaron Ashby allowed the pen's 4th HR of the night to pinch-hitter Domingo Santana (making his Dodgers debut) to lead off the 12th and end the game. Side note: Nick Loftin pinch-hit in the top of the 12th and drilled a single, he's now 6-for-7 in MLB. The Orioles lost last night while we were off but won tonight, so they pull within 7 1/2 games.

Minor league note: Ricky Widmar had a great debut with Port Charlotte in the FSL, going 3-5 with a HR, 4 RBI and a steal.

Game 2: There was no need to worry about the bullpen today at Dodger Stadium as the Rays crushed the Dodgers 14-1, led by a 3-HR, 5-RBI game from Spencer Torkelson, who upped his season total to a career-high 31. Wander Franco hit #24 in the first inning as Nick Loftin got the start at 2B and led off with another hit. In fact Loftin singled his next two times up to get 9 hits in his first 10 MLB at-bats, which has to be some kind of record, before making outs his next 3 times up to lower his average to .692. His second hit was an infield single that made it 3-0 before Wander singled to make it 4-0 as Wander had a 4-hit, 4-RBI day of his own. Also homering were Keston Hiura (#15) as part of a 3-5, 3 RBI day, and Hunter Bishop (#16). Four of the HRs came off Max Fried in relief of starter Brusdar Graterol, and it's kind of sad to see how far the former Ray rotation mainstay has fallen these days, now pitching middle relief with a 6.03 ERA and allowing 21 HRs in 71.2 IP (oof). In happier pitching news, Mack Anglin continued his run of dominance going 6 2 1 1 2 6 to pick up win #7 and lower his ERA to 3.26, with 100 Ks in 88.1 innings. Nick Anderson threw 2 scoreless innings and Aaron Ashby 1 to finish off the game. Baltimore won to stay 7 1/2 back.

Team record: 69-31. Next up: Another off-day, followed by a long homestead which starts with 3 games against the Yankees.

July 31-August 2, 2025: vs NY Yankees (3)
 

Game 1: Shane McClanahan was in control, and the bats finally got to Gerrit Cole in the 6th inning in a 6-0 win over the Yankees. Mac, coming off a bad 3-start run, gave the Yankees next to nothing going 7 3 0 0 2 10 in one of his best efforts of the season to improve to 11-4, 3.94. However it looked like he might not get a win as Cole had a no-hitter through 5. But Lewin Diaz led off the 6th with a double, Brandon Marsh doubled him home, and Marsh came around to score on a Keibert Ruiz single. Ben Bowden took over in the 8th and got the Yanks 1-2-3 and then they broke the game open in the bottom of the inning. After Yankee reliever Antoine Kelly walked the bases loaded, Judson Fabian delivered a grand slam into the LF stands for #22 on the season. Bowden got the first out of the 9th and then Nick Anderson finished for the final two. Speaking of the pen, I mulled a deal or two to improve it but I decided to ride or die with the group we have after realizing a good deal of their apparent problems are the juiced ball/higher offensive environment of this season. Baltimore lost in Toronto so the lead is now 8 1/2.

From the league office:

https://i.imgur.com/NupwKps.png
https://i.imgur.com/GgWiLe0.png

Game 2: Tyler Glasnow pitched like he was looking to be AL Pitcher of the Month for August as well as July and Spencer Torkelson continued his HR binge in a 4-1 win over the Yankees. Glasnow went the distance in 124 pitches with a complete-game 3-hitter that saw him walk 3 and whiff 10. He's now 13-2, 2.49 and the runaway favorite for the Cy Young. He fell behind 1-0 early but a Nick Gonzales double in the 3rd tied it up. Then Tork took over. In the 4th he drilled a Jimmy Nelson pitch into the LF stands for HR #32, and followed it up with #33 in the 6th with Keibert Ruiz on board to make it 4-1. The 2 dingers give Torkelson 5 in his last 3 games after his 3-HR performance in LA three days ago. And the Orioles fell to Griffin Canning and the Blue Jays 1-0 so the lead is 9 1/2 games, meaning only a catastrophic collapse will cost them the division at this point.

August 2: Sent P Christian Little to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

No rush to bring Little back, given the division lead, how well Asa Lacy has pitched in his stead, and the fact I've got to open a 40-man roster spot for him (and a spot on the staff) since he was on the 60-day IL so I'll kick that can as far down the road as I can.

Game 3: The Rays completed the series sweep of the Yankees with a 6-3 win and the big blow came from the guy who just keeps hitting when we plug him into the lineup. That would be Nick Loftin, whose 3-run HR off Pablo Lopez in the 4th inning capped a 4-run rally that propelled the Rays from down 3-2. It was Loftin's first MLB homer and he's now hitting a cool .625 with 10 hits in 16 MLB at-bats. He started at SS, his weaker position, with Wander Franco getting a day off and of course he made another error there but who cares if he keeps hitting like this? Keston Hiura got the Rays on the board with a 2-run HR (#16) in the first but the Yankees scored 3 two-out runs off Asa Lacy in the 2nd. Bramdon Perez, another of the fill-ins getting to play on a Sunday, singled in the tying run ahead of Loftin's blast in the 4th. Lacy settled down nicely after that rough 2nd and gave the Yankees nothing the rest of the way, going 7 5 3 3 2 6 to go to 8-1, 3.17. Steven Casey pitched a scoreless 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th with a pair of whiffs for save #20. Baltimore won to stay 9 1/2 back, I may stop updating their status unless they get significantly closer.

Team record: 72-31. Next up: 4 games at home vs Kansas City.

By the way this came as no surprise:

https://i.imgur.com/PFfls4x.png

August 3-6, 2026: vs Kansas City (4)
 

Game 1: Runs were scarce at the Trop tonight but the Rays got two of 'em in the 8th to shut out the Royals 2-0. Until the bottom of the 8th the Rays were dominated by KC starter Freicer Perez, who held them to 2 hits through 7 2/3. But Brandon Marsh doubled into the RCF gap with 2 out, Nick Gonzales doubled down the RF line to score Marsh, and Wander Franco singled in Gonzales to break the stalemate. Matt Manning emphatically alleviated any worries off his sore shoulder scare last time out by going 7 7 0 0 1 10, and Jose Alvarado picked up his 4th win with a shutout 8th and getting the leadoff lefty in the 9th before Jasseel De La Cruz whiffed the final 2 Royals to nail down save #21. Baltimore was off so the lead is 10 with both teams playing the same # of games.

Game 2: Unlike last night when it took them until the 8th inning to get on the board, the Rays put up a touchdown in the first inning and rolled to an 11-1 win over Kansas City. Nick Gonzales set the cue for the team by homering to lead off the bottom of the 1st (#5), Keibert Ruiz hit #12 to make it 2-0, Lewin Diaz walked with the bases loaded for run #3, and then Brandon Marsh cleared them all with a grand slam (#10) as they treated Royals starter Janser Lara like a human piñata. They added 2 more in the 2nd on a Ruiz RBI single and a Keston Hiura RBI double, then Hunter Bishop hit #17 in the 4th and Marsh added #11, his second of the game, in the 7th. Getting double-digit run support for the third straight start, Mack Anglin coasted even though he wasn't as sharp as usual, going 6.1 7 1 1 2 5 and is now 8-2, 3.14. Aaron Ashby pitched the final 2 2/3 perfect with 5 strikeouts, including striking out the side in the 9th. Baltimore lost so the lead is now a very-large 11 games, and this will be the last I mention the division race until it gets to within 8 games or so.

Game 3: After scoring early and often last night, the Rays couldn't generate much offense and lost a tight 2-1 decision to Daniel Tillo and the Royals. Tillo, one of the league's best pitchers, kept the Rays in check for 7 innings only allowing 1 run (on a Spencer Torkelson sac fly) and 5 hits. They got Nick Gonzales on via walk with 2 out in the 8th, but he was caught stealing for the second time in the game, and Tork couldn't follow up on Judson Fabian's 2-out single in the 9th. Shane McClanahan started for the Rays and gave up the 2 runs that KC needed to win the game in the 1st inning on a 2-run MJ Melendez single after he had loaded the bases on a HBP. Mac settled down from there and was overpowering at times, but a bit wild and pitch-inefficient as he went 5.1 5 2 2 4 9 on 110 pitches. Four relievers pitched the final 3 2/3 with Steven Casey the most impressive, retiring all 5 he faced with 3 strikeouts. Nick Loftin got a start at DH and went 1-3, lowering his BA to .579 and for a moment it looked like he might have tied it in the 8th but his deep drive was caught at the RF wall.

Game 4: This was looking a lot like Games 1 & 3 of this series, as Kansas City scored a run in the first off Tyler Glasnow and it held up into the 5th behind Logan Allen. But Patrick Bailey, catching in the afternoon game while Keibert Ruiz was the DH, hit a long and loud HR to CF off Allen to tie the game and that kind of broke the dam open as the Rays put a couple of more men on and Ruiz drilled a 2-run double to the LCF gap to make it 3-1. Hunter Bishop hit HR #18 in the 6th to increase the lead to 4-1, and in the 8th Spencer Torkelson tripled, scored on a Keston Hiura groundout, and after Bishop walked Bailey went deep again for #6 to give us our final score of 7-2. Glasnow recovered after the 1st and was his usual dominant self, going 7 7 1 1 1 7 to go to 14-2, 2.43 and continue to price himself out of my budget for next year*. With the score 4-1 in the top of the 8th, Liam Hendriks came on and was greeted by a Bobby Witt Jr. homer and then put the tying runs on base with nobody out. I left him in to face Thairo Estrada and he got a double play ball and a ground out to end that threat before the Rays made it comfortable. Nick Anderson pitched a perfect 9th in his new lower-leverage role.

*I was never to going to shell out big for Glasnow as any money I'd spend on an extension for him (at age 33 and beyond) will be better spent on a post-2027 Wander Franco extension.

Team record: 75-32. Next up: A 3-game weekend series at home vs Minnesota, currently 64-44 and 5 1/2 games up in the AL Central.

August 7-9, 2026: vs Minnesota (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays didn't waste any time jumping out to a lead and put away the Twins 8-3 in the opener of their 3-game set. Spencer Torkelson, Judson Fabian and Brandon Marsh had RBI singles in the 1st, 3rd and 4th and then the HRs started coming. Keibert Ruiz hit #13, a solo shot in the 5th, Nick Gonzales hit #6 with a man on in the 6th and Hunter Bishop hit #19 with a runner on board as well in the 7th. Asa Lacy got the start and was cruising at 4 3 0 0 1 4 but had to leave with a mild hamstring strain which won't cause him to miss his next start. Aaron Ashby took over and picked up win #2 with 2 scoreless, whiffing 3, but Nick Anderson ran into all kinds of trouble after striking out the first man he faced. Anderson loaded the bases twice, and ended up allowing 3 runs when Steven Casey hit Yairo Munoz with a pitch to force in a run. Casey was lights out from there, though, striking out the next 2 to end the inning and 2 more in the 8th. Evan Godwin had a 2K 9th to end it.

Christian Little update: In his 2nd rehab start at Durham tonight, he re-injured his herniated disc and is now out 7 weeks, which will keep him on the shelf until just before the end of the season. This will of course keep me from having to make a painful roster decision, which might have involved the release of Nick Anderson.

Game 2: The Rays seemed to have no business winning this game but win it they did, rallying for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Twins 9-7. Matt Manning started for the Rays and today he was more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll, although he's pitched worse. The Twins did get him for 3 runs on 4 hits in the top of the 1st, but with the help of a Minnesota error the Rays got the 3 back in the bottom of the inning on a Hunter Bishop RBI double, a Jud Fabian sac fly and a Spencer Torkelson groundout. The Twins retook the lead in the 5th and Manning pushed through 6 on 117 pitches, going 6 7 4 4 1 6. But the Rays took him off the hook for a loss by tying it in the 6th on a Lewin Diaz sac fly. Ben Bowden came on in the 7th and had his first really bad outing as a Ray, giving up a leadoff double to the lefty, getting the two righties out, but then giving up an RBI hit to another lefty, the opposite of what was expected and the Twins went on to score 2 more times against him to take a 7-4 lead. A tired Liam Hendriks got the last out of the inning and Evan Godwin came on in the 8th but had to leave after two batters with a strained forearm which will keep him out 5-6 weeks. So another tired pitcher had to come in and get the final out, which Steven Casey did. And Casey got the win when the Rays erupted for 5 on a 2-run single from Diaz and another moon shot to center from Patrick Bailey, a 3-run blast and his 7th, to give the Rays the lead. Jasseel De La Cruz nailed down save #22 with a pair of whiffs as the team continues to roll.

August 9: Placed P Evan Godwin on the 15-day IL with forearm stiffness, recalled P Jack Perkins from AAA Durham.

Godwin should be back right in time for the end of the season and the playoffs. Perkins was impressive in a cameo earlier this year and has been extremely effective in the Durham rotation with 116 Ks in 112 innings and a 2.40 ERA, and will provide long relief going forward although today with a tired pen he will likely be used whenever needed.

Game 3: The Rays completed a sweep of a very good Minnesota team and finished their homestead 9-1 thanks to another come-from-behind win, today by the score of 7-5. Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the 5th, they tied it up on a Nick Loftin RBI double (he had 2 more hits today, but his average dropped to .542) and an RBI infield single from Judson Fabian. And in the 6th Brandon Marsh gave them a 6-5 lead with an RBI double and repeated the feat in the 8th to make it 7-5. Mack Anglin got the start and was getting his whiffs but was homer-prone, allowing a pair in the first 3 innings and then hitting a man with the bases loaded in the 4th. He ended up 6 7 5 5 1 7 and stuck around long enough to get the win and improve to 9-2. The real pitching hero today was Jack Perkins, just up from Durham. He came on in the 7th, struck out the side, and stayed around for the 8th and whiffed 2 more in a dominant performance. Jasseel De La Cruz came on for the 9th and made things interesting by putting the first two men on but got a double play and a whiff for save #23. The Rays' first 3 runs came in the 3rd on a 3-run Keibert Ruiz HR, his 14th as he continues his power surge.

Team record: 78-32. Next up: 3 games in Toronto.

MLB Note: Baltimore's Bryar Johnson, the closest competition to Tyler Glasnow for the AL Cy Young, threw a no-hitter today against the White Sox, with 3 walks and 5 whiffs on 123 pitches. Johnson is now 13-6, 3.26 and leads the AL in strikeouts with 166. Baltimore is still 12 back in the standings, though.

August 10-12, 2026: at Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: The Rays dropped a 4-3 decision to Toronto in extra innings when Vlad Jr. homered off Jose Alvarado with 2 out in the 10th. The offense consisted of a 3-run Spencer Torkelson homer (#34) in the 3rd which put them up 3-0, but they did next to nothing after that, only managing 6 hits for the game with 3 of them coming from Nick Gonzales. Shane McClanahan started and pitched pretty well, going 6 4 3 2 3 7 with a Triston Casas error costing him the tying run in the 5th. On we went, and Liam Hendriks had 2 perfect innings before Alvarado came on in the 9th, which he got through pretty quickly. But after whiffing the first two Jays in the 10th, Vlad Jr. had other ideas. To add injury to insult, Brandon Marsh had to come out of the game with a dead arm, an injury which will last 4 more days. Right now I'm leaning toward letting it ride and not putting him on the DL; maybe he can DH in in the interim. Also Tork now leads MLB in RBI with 94.

Game 2: The Rays rode the bat of Judson Fabian and the arm of Tyler Glasnow in an 8-1 rout of the Blue Jays today. Glasnow continued his career season with a complete game 4-hitter, going 9 4 1 1 1 10 on only 108 pitches and his record is now 15-2, 2.34 and is already sitting at 4.6 WAR for the season. Fabian, who hasn't been bad since carrying the team in April and May, hasn't been that hot lately but tonight he was, getting an RBI double in the 1st and then the big hit of the game, a 3-run HR (#23) in the 3rd inning off Griffin Canning. Fabian later walked with the bases loaded to give him a 5-RBI night, and the Rays also got homers from Triston Casas (#4) and Keston Hiura (#17).

Game 3: It was a strange game in which the Rays trailed 4-0, came back to tie 4-4, but ending losing another walk-off game to the Jays 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th. Asa Lacy started and pitched a weird game. He allowed 3 HRs to account for the 4 Toronto runs in the first 3 innings but was untouchable after that. After giving a 2-run HR to Vlad Jr with two out in the 3rd, he retired the final 15 batters he faced and ended up with a 7.2 4 4 4 0 5 line on 93 pitches. His settling down allowed the Rays to come back and tie and they did so on 3 HRs as well. First was an odd inside-the-park HR in the 4th from Spencer Torkelson into the LCF gap that was his 35th of the year, then Triston Casas homered for the second straight game, a solo shot in the 7th to make it 4-2. And in the 8th after Nick Gonzales walked, Wander Franco hit #25 to tie the game. Steven Casey got the final out in the 8th and stayed on for the 9th but unfortunately gave up 2 hits while getting 2 out. Lefty Ben Bowden came in to face lefty Ryan Noda, and after Noda homered off the lefty Lacy earlier in the game he singled to right to score the winning run. With a makeshift lineup that was without Keibert Ruiz, Judson Fabian and Brandon Marsh, the Rays only managed 2 other hits aside from the 3 homers.

Team record: 79-34. Next up: An off-day then the road trip continues with a weekend series at Yankee Stadium.