[Art Deco]

May 12: Traded 26-year-old minor league starting pitcher Jacob Nix to the Chicago Cubs, getting 23-year-old minor league center fielder Zach DeLoach, 24-year-old minor league center fielder Brandon Marsh and 23-year-old minor league starting pitcher Austin Vernon in return. Added Marsh to the active roster, optioned OF Josh Lowe to AAA Durham.

Two losses in a row? Heads are going to roll. After the Kiermaier injury, I realized how little cover I had for the CF position with all of my eggs in Josh Lowe's basket. Hence the deal for Marsh, who the Cubs inexplicably had in AAA this season despite a great rookie year that saw him accumulate 2.8 WAR in only 88 MLB games. He was 286/370/510 with 15 HR, 42 RBI and 10 SB. He's a 55 defender in CF (65 in RF) and a 75 base stealer. All DeLoach does is hit, the 2020 draft pick hit .320 and .360 at two levels last year and was hitting .440 in the Midwest League. He's more of a gap hitter, but the bat will play. Vernon is a power arm that needs to work on his control but could pan out. All of this for the low price of Jacob Nix, who has great potential but has had inconsistent results since joining the Rays. He could turn out to be a stud, but Marsh was too good to pass up with the CF need. Lowe goes to Durham to make room for Marsh on the active roster.

May 12: Claimed P Zack Britton on waivers from Los Angeles Dodgers, designated P Ryne Stanek for assignment.

I wanted another lefty in the pen and almost tried signing Britton in the offseason. He remains an effective pitcher if not the elite closer he was 5-6 years earlier. Stanek did OK, but wasn't overpowering and his numbers might have more of a product of the NL than the AL. Still hoping he clears so I can send him to Durham.

May 13: Activated SS Wander Franco from the 10-day IL, optioned IF Nolan Gorman to AAA Durham.

Yay, Wander is back! I'm thinking it's no coincidence that we lost more games during his absence than we have the rest of the season.

Game 1: Friday the 13th saw the Rays' recent luck turn around as they easily handled the Orioles 7-1 to snap the 2-game losing streak. Max Fried was brilliant in this one. After giving up a solo HR to Austin Hays in the 1st, he locked it down the rest of the way to put up a 7 3 1 1 3 9 line and go to 4-2. Dany Jimenez followed with two perfect innings to finish. It took a while for the bats to get going against Michael Baumann who came in 0-5 with an ERA near 7, but they finally broke through in the 5th when Whit Merrifield doubled in Nelson Cruz to tie it up, and Brandon Marsh in his Rays debut followed with an RBI groundout to score Abe Toro. They broke it open in the 6th when Meadows led off with his 13th HR, and then after two quick outs six consecutive Rays reached base highlighted by a 2-run double by Marsh in what turned out to be a 5-run inning. Marsh ended up 2-3 with a walk and 3 RBI, although he was caught stealing. Meanwhile the Jays never seem to lose as they had won yesterday while the Rays were off and won again tonight, so they're 2.5 back.

Game 2: This game did not start out at all well for the Rays, although they did take a brief 1-0 lead on a Merrifield RBI single in the 2nd. Zack Greinke did not have it tonight and he allowed 3 solo HRs and a 4th run among his 6 hits and 2 walks through 3 2/3 and gave way to Shane McClanahan. Then McClanahan served up a solo HR to Chance Sisco and the Rays were down 5-1 in the 5th. But Max Kepler got the Rays back in it with a 2-run shot in the 6th to halve Baltimore's lead, and McClanahan held the O's at bay with 4 Ks in his 2 1/3 innings. And then the Rays offense took over in the 7th. With one out Merrifield singled, Brandon Marsh doubled to put runners at 2nd and 3rd, Wander managed an infield single to score Merrifield, Keibert Ruiz walked to load the bases and then Andrew Vazquez walked Meadows to force in the tying run. After Ji-Man whiffed, Kepler lined a 2-run double to give the Rays a 7-5 lead. From there the Terrific Trio of Alvarado, Anderson and Hand took over and Keibert homered in the top of the 9th to give the Rays a bit more room and they won 8-5. McClanahan got his third win in the role of "middle reliever holding down the fort until the offense can come back", and Hand is at 12 appearances, 12 saves. Meadows could not be retired tonight, going 2-2 with 3 walks and Kepler's 4 RBI give him 37 in 37 games despite still only hitting .229. I almost don't need to mention that the Jays won, these days it can just be assumed.

Final Tyler Glasnow Rehab Update: 6.1 4 1 1 0 11 vs Norfolk. I'd say he's ready and he should start next weekend in Los Angeles against the Angels. The Bulls won 4-1 and Josh Lowe homered for the second time in three games since being sent down. Khris Davis and Chris Betts also had longballs for Durham.

Game 3: Never. Count. This. Team. Out. It looked like another empty day against a lefty starter as Caleb Smith, who gave them trouble last year, had shut them down into the 7th with a 5-1 lead. Joe Ryan was off today, and his error plus two walks loaded the bases for dark horse MVP candidate Adley Rustchman who of course hit a grand slam. But never underestimate this Rays offense or the ineptitude of the Orioles bullpen, and in the 8th with Meadows on board and two out, this sequence occurred: walk, walk, bases loaded walk, bases loaded walk, 2-run single by Ronaldo Hernandez and we were tied at 5. Nick Anderson got the O's in the 8th and when the Rays didn't score in the 9th, Jose Alvarado did his thing in the bottom of the inning. So in the top of the 10th we started walk, walk, fly out, strike out, Wander RBI single to give them the lead, Merrifield single to load the bases, and then - who else? - an Austin Meadows grand slam. The Rays went on to win 10-5 in 10 with Zack Britton pitching a scoreless 10th in his Rays debut. They ended up with more walks (11) than hits (9). Aaron Nola pitched a 2-hit shutout for Toronto so they're not going anywhere. Incidentally they swept the Red Sox, who while they have had some bad seasons sprinkled in with the good, are now 13-28.

Team record: 30-8.