Game 1: It was the quintessential Rays game at the Trop, a 4-2 win over Oakland with good pitching and just enough offense. Tyler Glasnow got the start after missing a week with back spasms, and unfortunately nagging injuries got the better of him again as he had to leave in the 3rd with a torn fingernail which probably won't cause him to miss his first start but I'm starting to get a Charlie Morton/Garrett Richards whiff about him these days. He went 2.2 2 0 0 1 5 before he had to leave, and Dustin May took over. May was his usual 2025 mediocre self, squandering a 2-0 lead and going 3.1 4 2 2 1 3 with the second run particularly galling when he gave up a single, wild-pitched the guy to 2nd who went to 3rd on a groundout, and then wild-pitched again to allow him to score. Still he picked up his 4th win of the season when Keston Hiura hit HR #9 into the LF seats to make it 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th. Jose Alvarado had a rough 7th, loading the bases on two walks and a hit, but getting a whiff to get out of it. He had to throw 31 pitches after pitching an inning yesterday so he'll probably be out of commission for at least a couple of days. Austin Meadows, who doubled in a run earlier, had an RBI triple in the bottom of the 7th to make it 4-2, and Nick Anderson and Jasseel De La Cruz breezed through the 8th and 9th respectively with the latter getting save #20. The other Rays run came in the 2nd when Renato Nunez (0-4 again today) whiffed on a pitch that Sean Murphy let get by him to the backstop on a passed ball, allowing Hiura to score from 3rd. Baltimore won but Boston lost, so the lead remains 3 but only over the Orioles.
Game 2*: Spencer Torkelson must have read my
midseason report card where I called for more HRs from him as he belted a 3-run shot to break a 6-6 tie in the 6th inning as the Rays outslugged the A's 10-7 after coming back from a 6-2 deficit. The Rays jumped out to an early lead when Hunter Bishop singled, stole second and went to 3rd on a throwing error, scoring on Patrick Bailey's sac fly, his first MLB RBI. Austin Meadows, from whom I also was looking for more power, hit #12 to make it 2-0 in the 3rd. But the wheels came off for Mitchell White as he was rocked for 6 runs in the 4th, including a 2-run HR and a 3-run HR. Mitch Keller got him out of it, and the Rays responded in the bottom of the inning to tie it up. Jesus Camargo loaded the bases with nobody out, and then walked Bailey to force in a run, wild pitched another one in, and Brandon Marsh followed with a 2-run double. That set the stage for Tork in the 6th, who launched his blast (#11) after Oakland's Tyler Nevin booted a grounder with 2 out. Oakland got within 9-7 off Luke Little (who picked up his first MLB win), but Nick Anderson got him out of the 8th. Wander added #18 in the 8th to make it 10-7, and Anderson finished for his 3rd save. Baltimore lost so the Rays lead in the division grows to a season-high 4 games.
*there was an earlier version of this game where Tork hit 2 HRs (and Bailey hit his first MLB HR) in a 10-2 win but the game crashed as I was trying to play the Durham game before I could save the day, so if you read about it, that's what happened to it.
July 2: Optioned P Luke Little to AAA Durham, recalled P Dean Christidis from AAA Durham.
As Nick Frasso and Mitchell Verburg are the only relievers 100% rested at the moment we needed a fresh arm. So Dean Christidis, come on down! (Or come on up, more accurately). Christidis had 3.06 ERA in 82 innings with 70 Ks, mostly as a stater, but he went back to the pen recently and has 75 stuff as a reliever. He's a lefty as well so he slots in nicely for Little.
Game 3: It looked like the Rays would win this one, up 7-3 after 6, but the Durham brigade crapped the bed in the 7th and Oakland scored 7 times to pull out a 10-8 win. Although Dean Christidis got Shane McClanahan out of a jam in the 6th, he couldn't get anyone out in the 7th as he allowed 4 runs and Nick Frasso gave up 3 more with the last one on an error. Spencer Torkelson drove in Wander Franco (who was 4-5) to cut it to 10-8 in the 8th, but Keston Hiura was gunned down at the plate on Hunter Bishop's single. Rather than try and recap the scoring I'll just note that Bishop was 3-4 with a HR (#5) and 3 RBI and Vidal Brujan (#6) and Renato Nunez (#3) had solo HRs, Nunez's first in ages. McClanahan continued his struggles despite only allowing 2 earned runs, going 5.2 9 3 2 2 3 and he's become a matter of concern. Baltimore won to cut the lead to 3.
Game 4: The Rays rode a 5-run first inning to an 8-4 win over Oakland to take 3 of 4 in the series. Vidal Brujan led off with a single and a steal and Wander Franco followed with a 2-run HR, his team-high 19th (he also retook the MLB RBI lead with 73), to instantly make it 2-0 and the hits kept coming. Spencer Torkelson drilled an RBI single to left and Triston Casas followed a 2-run double into the RCF gap and Daniel Lynch was well-supported. Lynch (4-1) was adequate today, not terrible but not dominant either, going 6.1 6 3 3 3 4 against the team he one-hit in his Rays debut a couple of years ago. Mitch Keller finished up the final 2 2/3, allowing a run. They added runs later in the game on RBI groundouts from Keibert Ruiz and Casas, along with another RBI single from Tork. Old friend Chris Betts started today for Oakland and was 2-4 with one of the hits on a misplayed popup, and threw out one of three baserunners on attempted steals 9 (Brandon Marsh going for 3rd). Baltimore was idle so the lead is 3 1/2.
Team record: 51-32. Next up: The homestand continues with 3 over the weekend against Texas.