June 8: Activated P Blake Money from the 15-day IL, optioned P Cole Patten to AAA Durham.
Game 1: Tyler Glasnow returned to the Trop for the first time since moving to the Red Sox in free agency and he was given a tribute on the video board and received his 2026 World Series ring in a pre-game ceremony. And then Glasnow returned to his old office on the Tropicana Field mound and did what he did so many times there, shutting down the opposition in a 1-0 win. The Rays didn't get their first hit until a Wander Franco single in the 4th, and Glasnow shut them out on 3 hits through the first 7 innings before allowing singles to Keibert Ruiz and Jhon Diaz to start the 8th, whereupon he left to a warm ovation from the crowd. This presented the Rays with their best chance to score tonight, but after Brandon Marsh and Vidal Brujan made outs and Wander walked to load the bases, Yordan Alvarez grounded out to short to end that rally. Judson Fabian did draw a leadoff walk in the 9th against Kyle Crick, but the next 3 batters could do nothing. Mack Anglin got the start and after whiffing two Boston hitters in the 1st, had to leave the game with strained triceps and will miss 3 weeks. It'll end up more like a month since he'll need at least one rehab start after that. More on his potential replacement(s) in a moment. With length needed from the pen, Blake Money came in and looked great, going 5 5 1 1 2 8 and looking downright Glasnow-esque at times. Unfortunately he did allow the one run in the 5th which turned out to be the game-winner, but he was impressive nonetheless in a role he may be ticketed for before long. Evan Godwin got a quick 7th, and Liam Hendriks pitched so efficiently in the 8th he got to pitch the 9th, getting through both perfect innings on a grand total of 18 pitches. The Yankees won so the lead is back down to 7 1/2.
As far as replacing Anglin in the rotation, Money will take his spot in 5 days' time and will stay in the rotation for at least a couple of more turns after that, however we will need a starter on Saturday. I'm considering giving Hayden Johns a start and seeing how that goes. The medium-term plan is to bring Jack Leiter up in two weeks (the 22nd or a couple of days after) which should give us Super 2 safety. Ultimately, Leiter should be in the rotation and when Anglin is back, Money will be used as a multi-inning guy/long reliever. In the short term, Cole Patten probably comes back up to give us an extra reliever.
June 9: Signed OF Spencer Torkelson to a 4-year, $53.5M contract extension.
Tork may be out until almost the end of the season, but he'll be a Ray through 2031. Guys who hit .290 or so with 40+ HRs and walk at a decent clip don't grow on trees, so I got him for what he'd get in arbitration the next two years plus 2 free agency years. Here are the details:
Game 2: The Rays got off to a rough start when Pierson Gibis took Christian Little deep for a 3-run HR in the 1st inning but it was all Rays from there as they beat Boston 8-3. They responded quickly with a 5-run 2nd inning which started with Judson Fabian leading off with his 4th HR of the season and then they went single, double, 2-run double from Keibert Ruiz, Brandon Marsh RBI fielder's choice and a Vidal Brujan RBI double. They later added 2 runs in the 5th on a wild pitch and a Hunter Bishop RBI double and Brandon Marsh hit HR #3 in the 6th. And Little gave Boston nothing after the first inning, ending up 7 5 3 3 2 9 to improve to 7-4, 3.00. Mike Bayley pitched the final 2 innings, giving up only 1 hit and whiffing 4. The Yankees fell to Kansas City so the lead is back up to 8 1/2.
Game 3: For two-thirds of its length, this was a tense, back-and-forth game between the Rays and Red Sox. But after the Red Sox broke through in the 7th to take a 4-2 lead with 2 outs, the Rays responded with a 5-run bottom of the frame to take an 8-4 win and 2 out of 3 in the series. Lefties Shane McClanahan and Justus Sheffield were in a tight battle through 6, with Mac getting dinged for a 1st inning run and then watching as two Rays errors behind him gifted Boston a 5th inning run, offsetting RBI singles from Brandon Marsh and Hunter Bishop. And in the top of the 7th McClanahan put runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out, got a grounder with the infield in to put men on 2nd and 3rd, and departed for Liam Hendriks. Unfortunately Hendriks served up a 2-run single to Yoan Moncada and the Sox broke the stalemate. But the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the frame. After Sheffield got Keibert Ruiz to ground out to start the inning, Boston brought in Sam Tuivailala and the Rays took advantage. He walked Nick Gonzales, gave up an RBI double to Marsh, a single to Vidal Brujan, and then a single to Wander Franco to tie it up. After Yordan Alvarez reached on an error to load the bases, Tuivailala walked Judson Fabian to force in the go-ahead run, and Bishop ripped a 2-run double to make it 7-4. They added another run in the 8th when Alvarez singled in Gonzales, who had doubled (and had a great night, tripling earlier and ending up 2-3 with a walk and 3 runs scored). Jose Alvarado pitched a perfect 2K 8th, and after the Rays made it 8-4 JDLC sat back down and Steven Casey finished with a 1-2-3 9th. The Yankees and Baltimore both lost, so they're starting to run away with the division now at 9 1/2 games up.
Team record: 46-24. Next up: 3 at home vs Baltimore.
Two disgruntled Rays from 2025 traded for each other:
