[Art Deco]

Game 1: The way our pitching and bullpen has been going lately, we're just going to have to outscore the other team (you know what I mean). And that was the case tonight as the Rays kept taking sizable leads and kept giving them back, but held on for a 9-8 win over the Twins. They had their way with Zach Gallen to start the game, putting up 5 in the first inning as they kept the carousel spinning with consecutive RBI doubles from Keibert Ruiz, Judson Fabian and Lewin Diaz. But Tyler Glasnow almost gave it all right back, allowing a Nick Gordon HR in the bottom of the inning and then a 2-run shot to Niko Hulsizer in the 2nd. Hulsizer was a Rays farmhand who got as far as Durham in 2024 whom I wrote off as a good-power, no-hit tool guy and became a MiLB free agent who signed with the Twins last year. He spent 2025 at AAA hitting .239 and 26 HR but Minnesota made him their starting RF and he now has 12 HR to go with a 276/327/524. Who knew? Anyway it was 5-4 and Glasnow went on to settle down but had to come out at 109 pitches going 6 8 4 4 2 7. The Rays tacked on a run in the 6th and then in the 7th Keston Hiura hit a 3-run shot (#10) to make it 9-4. Nick Frasso pitched the 7th, struggled, but got out of it allowing only a run, and then Evan Godwin in the 8th walked two guys getting only one out, and Liam Hendriks came in and immediately surrendered a 3-run HR to Royce Lewis to make it 9-8. Hendriks limped through the 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a hit to Hulsizer but made it through the 9th for save #9 as they hung on for the win. Glasnow did get the win, improving to 6-2, 2.94. Baltimore won again, 9 in a row and on a 20-3 run to stay 4 back.

Injury update: Spencer Torkelson's thumb will keep him out another 2 weeks.

Game 2: The only thing worse than playing a 14-inning game and burning out the bullpen is losing said 14-inning game. Thankfully that did not happen today thanks to Hunter Bishop's 2-run HR (#4) in the top of the 14th off Devin Smeltzer to give the Rays a hard-fought 7-5 win. It was an odd game in that the Rays took an early 4-0 lead off Twins rookie phenom Jon Hayes (with some help from a key Twins error) on an RBI groundout from Nick Gonzales (that was booted), a fielder's choice from Bishop, an RBI single from Brandon Marsh and a Vidal Brujan sac fly. Shane McClanahan was cruising along with a 3-hit shutout through 5, with 7 whiffs but things went bad in the 6th. A couple of normal singles, an infield single, a walk and then a Mitch Garver grand slam and suddenly he was down 5-4. Mac ended up 6.1 8 5 5 1 10 before Steve Casey and Aaron Ashby got the Rays through the 7th and then in the 8th Keston Hiura doubled, and just when it looked like he'd be stranded Gonzales delivered a clutch 2-out RBI single to tie the game. So on and on we went. Nick Anderson and Jose Alvarado both bounced back from recent debacles with 2 scoreless innings each, and Jasseel De La Cruz pitched a scoreless 13th and stayed on to save his own win in the 14th, his 2nd win of the season. Gonzales was "man of the match", as he had also singled in front of Bishop's game-winning HR, and had 3 hits and a steal to go with the clutch game-tying RBI. And lo and behold, the Orioles finally lost and boy did they ever lose. They were waxed 18-2 by the Yankees in a game that saw Gleyber Torres hit 3 more HRs and drive in 8 as part of a 4-4 game. The Rays finally add to their lead, back up to 5.

June 6: Optioned Ps Steve Casey and Nick Frasso to AAA Durham, recalled Ps Mack Anglin and Jack Perkins from AAA Durham.

Anglin is back in that doubleheader workaround to start today, and making his MLB debut (at least on a roster) is Jack Perkins, an excellent prospect whom we acquired from the Dodgers back in 2024. Perkins has been great as a swingman in Durham the last 2 seasons, appearing in 32 games (13 starts) with 110 IP, 82 HA, 38 BB and 126 Ks with a sub-2 ERA in each season. He's up today because the bullpen is burned from yesterday's game and we needed with a righty with only lefties Bowden and Godwin (both with nagging injuries) and Ashby are not showing as tired.

Game 3: The best remedy for a burned-out bullpen (aside from a starter going very deep) is to build up a big enough lead that you don't have to worry about who's coming in to pitch. That's what the Rays did today, although they did get an excellent start (with length) from Mack Anglin today in a 13-3 thumping of the Twins. The Rays jumped on Griffin Jax for 6 runs in the first 2 innings, added 3 more in the 3rd, and never looked back. The big early blow was a 3-run HR from Lewin Diaz to put the Rays on the board, his 6th with the club and 12th overall. Bramdon Perez, who went 3-4 with 3 RBI, drove in another run in the 1st, and then Wander Franco hit the first of his 2 HRs in the 2nd, a 2-run shot as he's now up to 15 for the season. Perhaps having the biggest game of all was Hunter Bishop, was 4-5 with a better-than-the-cyle outing of 2 doubles, a triple and a HR (#5), scoring a team-season-high 5 runs. Vidal Brujan also had his 3rd 3-hit game in his last 4. Meanwhile Anglin pitched into the 7th, and was twirling a 2-hit, 1-run game through 6 before he ran into some trouble in the 7th with a walk, a double and an infield single leading to 2 runs. He ended 6.2 4 3 3 2 7 and picked up his 2nd win. Ben Bowden pitched a scoreless inning and Jack Perkins was impressive in MLB debut, retiring all 4 hitters he faced and whiffing 2 of them. Baltimore returned to the win column so the lead remains 5.

June 7: Optioned P Jack Perkins to AAA Durham, activated P Mitchell White from the 15-day IL.

Need White to start today due to the doubleheader 5 days ago, even though he hasn't pitched in a couple of weeks and had a setback on his rehab, so this is a real dice roll. Perkins was impressive in his debut and could be back at some point.

Game 4: It was always going to be tough to sweep a good team like Minnesota in a 4-game series at their own park, especially with a pitcher who's been hurt on and off the first two months before finally making his season debut. And so the Twins beat Mitchell White and the Rays 6-1, and you can blame the offense some too. White looked really good the first two innings, gave up a couple of runs with 2 out in the 3rd, and then got a 1-2-3 4th as Wander Franco singled in Brandon Marsh in the top of the 5th to make it 2-1 and maybe we'd have a game. But White ran out of gas in the 5th, allowing 3 runs and that was that as he went 5 4 5 5 3 5. The offense only managed 7 hits for the day, having a hard time with Franklyn Kilome and never really mounted a serious threat after scoring in the 5th. Ben Bowden had a scoreless inning in relief and Aaron Ashby went 2, allowing a run in the 8th. Fortunately Baltimore lost in extra innings to the Yankees so the lead remains 5.

Team record: 38-18. Next up: 3 games in Arizona against the 37-22 Diamondbacks, so that won't be easy. This will be the first time we've played in Arizona in this save.