[Art Deco]

June 26: Traded 29-year-old center fielder Albert Almora Jr. and 24-year-old minor league catcher Adam Kerner to the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting 25-year-old minor league starting pitcher Dustin May and 23-year-old minor league catcher Kameron Guangorena in return. Activated OF Austin Meadows from the 10-day IL.

It was time for Meadows to come off the DL, so an outfielder had to go, and the choice was Almora since he was on a one-year minor league deal instead of Yusniel Diaz, who still has team control. I'll always be grateful for the great 10 days of performance from Almora, which helped us win a game or two, but I couldn't pass up turning a guy I signed as a free agent 6 weeks ago to a minor league deal and a C+ catching prospect into Dustin May. The Dodgers buried May at AAA this year after being a part of their rotation last year, a year in which they won the World Series. His AAA numbers weren't great but I'll take his MLB numbers from last year which were worth 2 WAR as my fifth starter next year. He's not the dominant guy that he's being projected to be IRL circa July 2020 but he's still pretty good and the scouting reports still like him. For now he goes to Durham because there's no room in the rotation. And I'm not sure the Kerner for Guangorena part of this is a net loss even though Kerner got the deal done. Kerner is a better defensive catcher, but Guangorena, a 2021 2nd round pick, looks the better hitter.

Game 1: Noah Syndergaard was far from his sharpest but as the accomplished vet he is, he made the big pitches when he needed to. His 7.1 11 2 2 1 6 line won't be hung in the Louvre but it was good enough to help propel the Rays to a 5-2 win at Target Field over the Twins. The big hit in the game came in the 5th. After Greg Elizondo had frustrated the Rays through 4 innings allowing only one hit, they loaded the bases against him with nobody out. Max Kepler hit an infield pop, but Brandon Marsh said enough of this nonsense and blasted a long grand slam to RCF to make it 4-0. Keibert Ruiz made it 5-0 in the 6th with a solo shot as he's been on a bit of a HR binge himself lately, it seemed like he was stuck on 4 for quite awhile, but now he's up to 10. Syndergaard rolled along until he finally got into trouble in the 8th, giving up Luis Arraez's fourth hit of the game and then giving up a 2-run HR to Miguel Sano. After Matt Olson followed with a single, Jose Alvarado came on and after giving up a single of his own he got a double play to end the threat. Will Smith had a quick 1-2-3 9th for save #18 as Thor goes to 11-3, 3.88 and the team makes it 14 out of 15. And for a change they're winning on the road, taking 7 out of 8 on the current trip. Elsewhere in a battle of red-hot teams, the Padres knocked off the Orioles at Camden Yards so the lead is back up to 12 1/2 and the magic # is 70.

Game 2: Regression was always coming for Daniel Lynch; his 1.75 ERA in the NL and a similar number through his first 3 starts for the Rays was always unsustainable and it caught up to him tonight in Minnesota although his defense didn't help either in a 9-4 loss. The Rays were on the front foot early thanks to Wander Franco, who went triple-HR-HR in his first 3 ABs to give the Rays a 4-2 lead in the middle of the 5th. But then things went really bad for Lynch, who had given up a 2-run HR to Josh Donaldson in the 4th. After getting the leadoff man, he went single-triple-Bohm error-Sano 2-run HR-single before being relieved by Austin Franklin, who gave up another single and then Brujan booted a grounder. Franklin whiffed Mitch Garver, which should have been the third (fourth) out, but with the bases loaded former Ray Hunter Renfroe hit a bases-clearing double to make it 9-4 and that was it for the scoring as the Rays couldn't do anything with Lewis Thorpe who pitched 3 2/3 perfect innings to close out the game. Lynch was a not-good 4.1 6 7 5 3 2. San Diego took care of Baltimore so the division lead isn't dented.

Game 3: The back end of the bullpen has been so good this year (and in years past) that when the Rays took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 7th you had to figure the win was theirs. But Jose Alvarado gave up a leadoff triple that scored in the bottom of the 7th, and Nick Anderson surrendered a Miguel Sano HR in the bottom of the 8th to tie it at 5. Anderson made it through a second inning to get it to extras but Shane McClanahan and Scott Barlow conspired to allow the game-winner in the bottom of the 10th and the Rays dropped their second straight to Minnesota, 6-5. Tyler Glasnow got the start and was a decent 6 5 3 3 2 8 with Travis Swaggerty the thorn in his side as the Twins CF singled, stole second and scored on a sac fly in the 1st and then homered to center off him in the 5th. Yusniel Diaz had a 2-run HR, his 2nd of the year, to put the Rays ahead 2-1, and then Franco singled in Marsh in the 3rd to make it 3-2. After Swaggerty's HR tied it, Rafael Devers, who had 4 hits, blasted a 2-run HR to right to put the Rays ahead 5-3 in the top of the 7th before it all slipped away. Baltimore was off so the division lead is now 12.

Team record: 58-24.