[Art Deco]

Game 1: It's probably been four years since the Rays have played what seems to be a high-stakes regular season game after their hot starts to the last 3 seasons combined with mediocrity from the rest of the division put them way out in front of the AL East to stay during that time. But the Rays' sluggish April combined with Boston's hot start means we have a legitimate division race at the moment so with the Red Sox in town the excitement level was turned up a notch. And excitement was the watchword tonight as the Rays pulled out an inspiring, come-from-behind 5-4 walk-off win over the Sox in 10 innings after trailing most of the game to extend the win streak to 7. Boston jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the 7th after getting 3 off the decent-but-hittable Shane McClanahan (5.2 8 3 3 0 8) and one more off Mitchell Verburg. Meanwhile Justin Dunn was shutting down the Rays offense but that changed in the 7th when they sent 8 men to the plate and picked up 3 runs to get back in it. RBI singles from Spencer Torkelson and Brandon Marsh along with a sac fly from Vidal Brujan got them close, and in the 8th Austin Meadows singled and with two out LHB Nick Schnell was due but the Sox brought in a lefty. In yours truly's best managerial move of the year, I brought in Keston Hiura to pinch-hit and Hiura ripped a double into the gap to score Meadows and tie the game. Nick Anderson struck out the side in a perfect 8th and Aaron Ashby had a scoreless ninth. Sox closer Robinson Pina struck out all 3 Rays in the 9th, and Jasseel De La Cruz whiffed a pair in the 10th, bringing us to the bottom of the inning when Pina didn't quite have it for the next inning. Brujan led off with a single and Wander Franco doubled into the RCF gap, scoring Brujan with the winner and setting off a wild scene at the Trop. The win brings the teams tied in the standings although Boston is ahead on percentage points at 23-13 to the Rays' 25-15.

Game 2: The Rays continue to not hit very much but keep getting excellent pitching and that combo was enough for a 3-1 win over Boston - their 8th straight - to move into sole possession of first place. Unfortunately the win came at a high price as Nick Schnell tore his posterior cruciate ligament beating out an infield single in the 4th inning and is done for the year. But in something out of a storybook his replacement Hunter Bishop delivered the big blow of the game, a 2-run double in the 6th to break a 1-1 tie. Bishop should get the bulk of the time in left, with Spencer Torkelson playing some more outfield and Keston Hiura getting some more DH at-bats. Before that it was a duel between Mitchell White and Boston's Rick Porcello, who has given the Rays problems in the past. The Sox scored in the top of the 1st off White on a double and two groundouts, and the Rays equalized in the bottom of the inning when Wander Franco executed a hit-and-run with Vidal Brujan by doubling down the RF line and driving Brujan home. It stayed that way but Boston had a few big threats that the Rays had to extinguish. First White ran out of gas in the 6th, putting two on with one out (and leaving with a 5.1 2 1 1 4 7 line) and Mitch Keller got the final two outs to snuff out that rally, and thanks to Bishop's double, picked up his second win of the week. Then Keller got himself into some trouble in the 7th putting two of his own on and Jose Alvarado came in and got two whiffs with men on 2nd and 3rd after a double steal. He stayed in for the 8th and whiffed two more, only throwing 20 pitches in his 1 2/3 innings. Nick Anderson grabbed save #2 with a couple of strikeouts in the 9th. The Rays only totaled 6 hits but made them count, with a good sign that the top of the order (Brujan/Wander) each had a pair.

May 18: Placed OF Nick Schnell on the 60-day IL with a torn PCL, recalled OF Bramdon Perez from AAA Durham.

It was either Perez or Heston Kjerstad and I chose Perez's more powerful bat over Kjerstad's better glove, not that either were going to play very much as seen from how much Hunter Bishop had played prior to the Schnell injury. This also opens up a 40-man spot in case we want to add someone in trade, sign a free agent or promote someone not on the 40-man.

Game 3: The continued lack of scoring finally came back to bite them as the 8-game winning streak was snapped by Boston 3-2 today. Tyler Glasnow got the start and was great through 6 and with the Rays up 2-1 it looked like another of their low-scoring triumphs. But as he did when Boston was in town last month, their catching prospect Pierson Gibis came off the bench and delivered a big 2-run HR with today's coming in the 7th inning to put Boston on top for good. Glasnow ended 7 5 3 3 1 10 with one pitch he'd like to have back and Aaron Ashby finished the game with 2 perfect innings. The Rays' offense came in the 4th today when Austin Meadows and Alec Bohm led the inning off with doubles and Keibert Ruiz singled home Bohm. They had some chances here and there (10 hits on the day for a change) but couldn't get it done when it counted. The loss drops them back into a tie with Boston although they're 2nd on percentage points.

Team record: 26-16. Next up: An off-day followed by a 2-game set at home with the Miami Roughnecks.