[Art Deco]

Game 1: Noah Syndergaard was on the mound again looking to go 3-0 and he did with relative ease as the Rays pounded the White Sox 12-5. Thor was 7 5 3 3 0 6 with his only run of trouble coming in the 6th when he gave up an Adam Engel single, a Luis Gonzalez RBI double, and then a 2-run HR to Eloy Jimenez, outside of that sequence has largely untouchable. Drew Strotman made his MLB debut and pitched the final 2 innings. After striking out the first batter he faced he got through the eighth but hit a man in the 9th ahead of Jimenez who hit his 2nd 2-run HR of the game. The offense came alive in the 4th on solo HRs from Vidal Brujan and Austin Meadows (who had a double later for his first multi-hit game of the season, he'll be fine thanks for asking) and then they tacked on 4 more in the 5th capped by a 2-run double from Rafael Devers. The White Sox said "we'll make a game of this" when they got those runs in the sixth to halve the lead but then the Rays' Seth said "hold my Beer" as the rookie drilled a pinch-hit 2-run blast deep into the RF stands for his 2nd HR to make it 8-3, and then his teammates added 4 more in the 9th, including a Wander HR. Brujan, Alec Bohm and Yusniel Diaz all had 3 hits among the team's 17 as they improve to 9-2. The Yankees beat Houston, a team now off to a rough 3-8 start (including the 1-3 against us) so we're still up 2 1/2.

April 11: Optioned P Drew Strotman to AAA Durham, recalled P Clarke Schmidt from AAA Durham.

Today may be Schmidt's only start as there are a couple of off days sprinkled in over the next 7-10 days so by the time they need a 5th starter again Glasnow may be ready to come off the IL.

Game 2: Some days you kind of have everything going against you, having to start a rookie pitcher against one of the league's best. And it turned out just like predicted, with Clarke Schmidt struggling (4 7 4 3 2 2) and trailing 5-1 after 5 innings with lone run coming on an Austin Meadows RBI double in the 1st. But then the strength of the offense can change the game, and with one swing Rafael Devers did that, launching a 3-run HR off Giolito in the 6th to cut it to 5-4. With the game now close, Shane McClanahan came on for Austin Franklin (who came on for Schmidt and allowed a run in his 1.2 IP) and of course he did his middle relief thing (2.1 1 0 0 0 1) and then the Rays went to work in the 7th off the hapless Tyler Johnson who was left in to face 7 batters, none of whom he retired. Max Kepler led things off tying the game with his 1st HR of the year, Wander and Devers singled in runs, Meadows walked with the bases loaded and it was now 8-5 Rays. Devers drove in a run in the 9th with a fielder's choice and with the game 9-5, things were turned over to Aaron Ashby with a couple of lefties due up after Eloy Jimenez, who had an RBI double off Schmidt earlier and whom we couldn't seem to get out. Well Ashby got Jimenez to fly out but then he put two men on around the 2nd out, and up stepped Jose Peraza, normally a singles hitter. Well Peraza took Ashby deep to CF and like that it was 9-8. With a couple of righties due up Nick Anderson got the call, but the White Sox sent up lefty pinch-hitter Blake Rutherford and he doubled. The next pinch hitter was righty Domingo Santana, but Anderson whiffed him to mercifully end the game and the Rays held on to a 9-8 win. Devers had 5 RBI on the day to give him a team-leading 14, and Vidal Brujan was 1-3 with 2 walks, scoring 4 times. Wander had 2 hits as the team made the most of the 9 they got along with 5 walks. McClanahan got his second win and Anderson his first save as they go to 10-2. The Yankees were destroyed 16-0 by Houston (with Gerrit Cole starting!) and the division lead is now a season-high 3 1/2 games. Also on the same day Devers drove in 5, Abraham Toro had 2 HR and drove in 5 for Boston.

Game 3: Austin Meadows is finally heating up from his slow start and he made the White Sox pay today with a 2-run double in the 1st and a 3-run HR in the 7th to pace the Rays to an 8-2 win over the White Sox. I didn't call this an easy win, because after a first inning in which the Rays got 3 and the White Sox 2 (on HRs from Nick Madrigal and of course Eloy Jimenez), the game stayed that way through the sixth inning. But Vidal Brujan and Wander Franco hit consecutive doubles to start the top of the 7th to make it 4-2, and then after a walk to Rafael Devers, Meadows went yard to break it open and suddenly he's tied with Devers for the team RBI lead at 14 even though his average is still at .196. Chris Paddack did his best Joe Ryan impression in the 1st inning but was untouchable after that, going 8 4 2 2 0 9 on only 102 pitches. Scott Barlow had a 1-2-3 ninth as for once a reliever didn't give up a bunch of runs with a big lead. At 11-2 the Rays are up 4 1/2 on the Yankees (who lost) and the Orioles (who won) and are the only team above .500 in the division.

Team record: 11-2.