[Art Deco]

Game 1: Tyler Glasnow was dominant, but the defense and the bats weren't, and the Rays fell 2-1 in 11 innings with both Oakland runs unearned. Glasnow went 7 3 1 0 0 10, but in the 5th Vidal Brujan's throwing error put a runner on 2nd and Sean Murphy had one of those 3 hits off Glasnow for an RBI single. The Rays answered in the bottom of the inning when a Wander groundout scored Brandon Marsh, but once again they were befuddled by a lefty, this time Steven Brault. Nick Anderson pitched the 8th, Jasseel De La Cruz whiffed 4 over the 9th and 10th, but Sandy Gaston dropped a toss from Alec Bohm to allow the leadoff man to reach in the 11th and he ended up scoring on a 2-out Mark Payton single while the Rays went out meekly in the bottom of the inning and lost their third in four games on this homestand. Gaston will be sent down so Shane McClanahan can start the 2nd game of tomorrow's doubleheader.

June 15: Optioned P Ian Hamilton and P Sandy Gaston to AAA Durham, recalled P Shane McClanahan and P Scott Barlow from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

Hamilton's a paper move to get an extra arm up since OOTP doesn't allow an extra pitcher for doubleheaders like MLB and McClanahan of course is starting Game 2 of the doubleheader, so Gaston and Hamilton come back tomorrow.

June 15: Traded minor-league 1B Jose Abreu to the Cleveland Indians for 24-year-old minor-league OF Bramdon Perez.

Abreu is having a big season at Durham with 14 HR and 41 RBI in 54 games so I figured I would try to cash him in. And Perez seems like a pretty good return: 50 CT/55 potential, 60 POW, 55 EYE, 55 LF, 50 RF, so average to above-average across the board. He's been ranked as his as #93 in the overall prospect ratings although he's now #208 and becomes our #19 prospect. Cleveland thought enough of him to call him up for a couple of games earlier this season so he's on an MLB contract which was no problem since we had 2 40-man spots open. He'll go to AA Montgomery for now. Obviously we have a lot of OF prospects but if nothing else he'll make good trade bait down the line.

Game 2: It's been a week of close, tense, sometimes wild games at the Trop and the first game of today's rare scheduled doubleheader was another one of them. Alec Bohm, who has a knack for the clutch HR, did it again with a 3-run blast in the bottom of the 9th off A's closer Curtis Taylor to give the Rays an 8-7 walk-off win. It was a weird game, with the Rays jumping out to a 2-0 lead on an inside-the-park homer from Keibert Ruiz and they built a 5-1 lead through 6. Daniel Lynch, as he's been doing lately, was cruising going into the 7th with a pitch count in the 80s. With a lot of the bullpen burned out and a doubleheader to boot, Lynch was going to go as long as he could. But he gave up a solo HR to Sean Murphy to lead off the inning, then a single, double and a ground out to make it 5-3. On another day he might have come out here but he stayed in and Ramon Laureano hit a 2-run HR to tie it at 5 and then Matt Chapman went back-to-back to give the Oakland the lead. Finally Asa Lacy came in, gave up a single and a double to put men on 2nd and 3rd but got a grounder right to Wander with the infield drawn in and got Murphy, who had started the inning, to fly out. However Lacy struggled in the 8th giving up another run and 7-5 is where it stood when the bottom of the 9th started. Taylor walked Austin Meadows but got Rafael Devers to fly out before Keibert ripped his 4th hit of the game, a double to put men on 2nd and 3rd. And then up stepped Bohm, and his bomb gave the Rays an 8-7 win. Lacy picked up his 2nd win despite his struggles, while Lynch's ugly 7th gave him a 6.1 10 6 6 2 4 line. The two teams combined for 30 hits but the Rays at least got the win and got through it using only 2 pitchers. There was some bad news, though: Brandon Marsh re-injured his shoulder diving for a fly ball and now will miss another 6 weeks. Hunter Bishop will now get his second act (he was tearing the cover off the ball at Durham since going down: 384/430/576).

Game 3: Turnabout is fair play, and the nightcap found Oakland coming back in the 9th to get a shock win. Shane McClanahan was excellent in his spot start, going 7 3 1 1 3 4 and after Mitch Keller pitched a scoreless 8th, the Rays added what appeared to be an insurance run in the bottom of the inning to go to the 9th up 3-1 and looking for the doubleheader sweep. But with the usual suspects in the pen all tired it was either a 2nd inning from Keller or a save attempt for Scott Barlow, and I went with the former which of course in hindsight was a mistake. Keller walked the leadoff man, gave up a single, and then gave up a 2-run triple to Tyler Nevin, who had earlier accounted for the sole Oakland run off Mac with a 2nd inning HR. Nevin then scored on a sac fly from Daniel Johnson, and although the Rays got 2 on with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th against Miguel Romero, Rafael Devers fouled out to third to short-circuit hopes of a 2nd miracle on the day. The loss makes the Rays 2-4 on this homestand so far.

June 16: Optioned P Shane McClanahan to AAA Durham, recalled P Ian Hamilton from AAA Durham.

Game 4: Another tough, late loss for the Rays as they fall to Oakland 6-3 in 10 innings. The bullpen let them down again as they grabbed a 3-2 lead in the 7th. Jasseel De La Cruz came on in the 8th with the idea of going 2 innings since there's an off-day tomorrow but it was the second batter he faced in the eighth, Ramon Laureano, who did him in with a HR to very deep LCF. After the Rays missed a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th, Jose Alvarado started the 10th and how it played out was frustrating as he struck out the leadoff man but he reached on a wild pitch, and then the next batter got an infield single. Sheldon Neuse then singled to make it 4-3, and Mark Payton added a two-run double with two out, and although the Rays got the first two runners on in the bottom of the inning, Keibert Ruiz hit into a double play and that was that. Dustin May got the start and pitched pretty well, going 6 6 2 2 0 5 on 98 pitches but the offense was again beguiled by a soft-tossing lefty, today in the person of Jose Quintana. But they finally broke through for 3 in the 7th when Keston Hiura led off with a double, Spencer Torkelson singled him home, Nick Schnell then doubled sending Tork to 3rd, a wild pitch scored Tork and then Wander doubled home Schnell. But the lead was extremely short-lived and the Rays end up dropping 5 of 7 on this brief homestand. Also, Ian Hamilton had to come out after the first batter he faced in the 7th and he has a herniated disc which will keep him out 3 weeks, so hello again Sandy Gaston. Taking over for him was Scott Barlow, making his season debut and he actually looked good, whiffing 2 of the 3 batters he retired in order. Probably should have used him to close Game 2 yesterday. Baltimore, now in 2nd place, has crept to within 8 1/2 games.

Team record: 42-24. Next Up: An off-day, followed by 2 games in Toronto.