[Art Deco]

May 29: Optioned P Steven Casey to AAA Durham, recalled P Christian Chamberlain from AAA Durham.

The bullpen is a bit burned out right now, so I'm sending down Casey for a fresh arm. The lefty Chamberlain has been very good at AA/AAA this year, with a 3/31 BB/K ratio in 21 innings, and he was already on the 40-man.

Game 1: I probably shouldn't have run over the old gypsy woman while driving in a Native American graveyard as not only did we lose our fifth straight game 14-4 to the Yankees and I had to use a position player to pitch again, but we suffered 3 injuries in the game, 2 of which were fairly serious. Let's start with the injuries. Christian Little was today's starter and his line was 5.2 7 7 7 4 7 with 2 HRs allowed and 3 runs scoring on wild pitches. Then he suffered a herniated disc in his back and will be out two months. So Christian Chamberlain came on to relieve him and make his MLB debut, and he promptly served up Gleyber Torres' 2nd HR of the game (21 for him already, the ball is juiced this year), and then proceeded to get injured, too and he'll be out 6 weeks with an elbow strain. And in the first inning Spencer Torkelson tripled in a run, spraining his thumb which is a minimal DtD injury for 2 weeks, so I may just put him on the IL too. What a mess. And so was the game obviously as Tommy Edman joined Torres with 2 HRs tonight. I had to use Nick Anderson and Jasseel De La Cruz for an inning apiece since they were the only rested relievers in the pen after Chamberlain had to leave. And poor Patrick Bailey is no Triston Casas when it comes to position player pitching as he was bombed for 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning in the 9th and loaded the bases after that, I finally had to bring in Evan Godwin to whiff Torres as Godwin has a minimal back stiffness injury and I was trying to avoid him. Aside from Torkelson's triple the only other offensive highlight was a 2-run HR from Lewin Diaz, well after the game was in hand for New York. Oh, and Baltimore has gone on a tear to improve to 27-22 and pull within 7 games. Ugh.

May 30: Placed OF Spencer Torkelson on the 10-day IL with a sprained thumb, placed P Christian Little on the 60-day DL with a herniated disc, placed P Christian Chamberlain on the 15-day DL with an elbow strain. Recalled OF Jhon Diaz and Ps Nick Frasso and Steven Casey from AAA Durham. Sent C Keibert Ruiz to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

So here's the roster shuffle resulting from Black Friday. Casey comes back up in an obvious move and Nick Frasso gets another shot although he hadn't been as dominating for Durham so far this year despite 15 saves. Diaz is the interesting name here as he gets the call over Alec Bohm and Heston Kjerstad. Diaz was hitting 308/385/547 at Durham with 8 HR, plays a 65 RF and is our best OF prospect. Bramdon Perez will probably get the bulk of Tork's at-bats but Diaz will get a some too, as will Nick Gonzales. Asa Lacy will take Little's place in the rotation. In the good news department, Keibert will go to rehab for 3-5 games. There will be probably be further moves/trades to come; Victor Caratini will probably be dealt once Keibert comes back, for one.

Game 2: The tailspin continues, although they weren't blown out for a change as the Rays came up short 4-3 to the Yankees. All 4 Yankee runs scored in a nightmarish 2nd inning, which saw Keston Hiura make 2 errors at 3B, the first opening the door for Wilmer Flores' 3-run HR and the second opening the door for a 4th run. Of course had Tyler Glasnow pitched around those errors it wouldn't have been such a disaster but he didn't and ended up throwing 111 pitches over 5 innings with a 5 7 4 0 2 6 line that saw his ERA drop to 2.66 somewhat undeservedly. It was a frustrating day for Rays hitters, who kept chipping away but couldn't quite get there with at least 4 line-drive infield outs, including one that turned into an inning-ending double play with men on 1st and 2nd. Brandon Marsh had an RBI single in the 3rd, Patrick Bailey an RBI double in the 6th (but was thrown out at 3rd on the play to end that inning) and Wander Franco had a 2-out RBI double in the 9th. After that Franco double, Judson Fabian walked, but with the winning run on base, Lewin Diaz grounded out to 2nd to cap an 0-5 day while in Durham Alec Bohm shakes his head. Hiura was 0-3 to go with his 2 costly errors as well. On the bright side, Nick Frasso, Liam Hendriks and Evan Godwin combined for 4 innings of shutout relief and I didn't have to use a position player to pitch. And Baltimore continues to mirror their winning streak with our losing streak and has cut the once seemingly-insurmountable division lead to 6.

Game 3: Well it's 7 straight losses now, which I think may be a record for my save going back to 2020. And the losing streak has come full circle as it started with the game Shane McClanahan nearly pitched a no-hitter in but which they lost in the bottom of the 9th. Mac was back on the mound and pitched very well and deep but they still lost 3-1. He went 7.2 6 3 3 1 10 and left after giving up a 2-out triple in the 8th to Tommy Edman down 2-0. Nick Anderson came on to face Gleyber Torres and that didn't go well as Torres singled up the middle to score the third run. Anderson finished out the 9th and the Rays had a great chance to tie or win in the bottom of the 9th, loading the bases with 2 out but Wander Franco grounded out to 2nd to end the game. That rally included Jhon Diaz's first MLB hit, one of the infield variety. The lone Rays run came in the 8th on Brandon Marsh's 4th HR of the year and they put two men on after that to no avail as well, as they left 10 on base for the game. Lewin Diaz took another collar today (0-3) and is now hitting .155 as a Ray as 1B seems to be a cursed position. And yes, Baltimore won so the lead dwindles to 5.

Team record: 33-16. Next up: 3 games in Kansas City, not a friendly place to visit for the Rays recently as they were swept their last season as they hit their low point of 2025.