[Art Deco]

Game 1: Regression to the mean is usually used in a negative context, but today for the Rays it was a good thing as 2025 slumpers Vidal Brujan and Triston Casas broke out with a pair of homers each as the Rays crushed the Angels 9-1. Brujan set the tone by leading off the game with a HR (#2) off Ryan Helsley and then in the 2nd the Rays picked up a pair on a wild pitch and an infield RBI single from Wander Franco. After LA picked up a run in the 3rd, the Rays answered back in the 4th on solo shots from Casas (#4) and Brujan (#3) to make it 5-1 and then in the 5th Casas hit a 3-run blast (#5). Wander added #10 in the 6th to cap off the Rays' HR derby. Dustin May was the beneficiary of the bombs and he made it through 6 despite not pitching that well as he walked an equivalent # of batters to end with a 6 3 1 1 6 4 line. Daniel Lynch, the forgotten man of the staff who's finally over his nagging back injury, looked good over the final 3, allowing 1 hit and whiffing 3 to pick up his first save.

Game 2: Another comfortable win in Anaheim as the Rays took care of the Angels 10-4. Alec Bohm continued his power surge with his MLB-leading 14th HR of the season in the 4th, a 2-run shot to give the Rays a 3-2 lead, and then followed with an RBI double in the 5th while Keibert Ruiz rapped a pair of RBI doubles in the 1st and the 5th. Wander Franco and Spencer Torkelson each drove in a run, and Vidal Brujan turned it into a blowout with a bases-clearing triple in the 8th. Shane McClanahan got the start and wasn't particularly sharp, allowing 2 runs in the 1st and lucky not to have allowed a 3rd as Austin Meadows threw out Anthony Rendon at home. And then Mac had to leave in the 3rd with a mild calf strain which won't cause him to miss his next start, so Asa Lacy came on and was very good, going 3.1 2 0 0 0 3 to get his first win of the season. Aaron Ashby had a nice 1-2-3 2K inning when it was 6-2 in the 7th, and then Mitchell Verburg got through the 8th before having a hard time getting the final out in the 9th, allowing a couple of runs and necessitating Sandy Gaston to come in and get a game-ending popup. Meanwhile Boston won't go away as they improve to 21-11 after scoring 2 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to beat Toronto 4-3 and stay 2 1/2 up on the Rays.

Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep with a 6-4 win over the Angels behind the bat of Wander Franco. He blasted HR #11 off Shohei Ohtani in the first with Vidal Brujan aboard in the 1st to give the Rays a quick 2-0 lead, and added an RBI single in the 8th for some insurance as part of a 3-5 day. Brujan looked like his usual self today going 2-4 with a walk and scoring twice, Alec Bohm added an RBI double and Triston Casas had a sac fly. Also having a big day in his first action in weeks was Hunter Bishop, who gave Nick Schnell a day off and was 3-5 with an RBI triple. Mitchell White got the start and while he wasn't as sharp as his previous 4 outings, he was still good enough to go 7 7 3 3 2 5 and pick up win #4 with his only rough patch in the 6th putting 2 men on in front of Mike Trout, who hit a 3-run shot to dead center. Nick Anderson had a scoreless 8th in his first outing in a while and Jasseel De La Cruz had an adventurous ninth, allowing a couple of hits and suffering an error behind him which led to an Angel unearned run but nothing else as he grabbed save #10. Those damn Red Sox walked it off again today against Toronto after trailing nearly the entire game so no ground was gained, although the Rays are holding down the top wild card at the moment.

Team record: 21-15. Next up: An off-day and then back home for 3 vs Detroit.