[Art Deco]

That should say April 3-5, 2028 above. It's like writing the old year on checks.

Game 1: Another anemic display from the offense led to a 6-3 loss in 14 innings to the White Sox tonight as the Rays have now started the season 1-4. They only managed 7 hits in those 14 innings against a White Sox team that lost its starter Dayveon Whittle after 2 innings. The lack of offense also spoiled the MLB debut of Andy Aparicio, who pitched well but ended up making one bad pitch that cost him. The Rays took a 2-0 lead into the 6th on an RBI single and an RBI double from Nate Clark, one of the few guys hitting, but Aparicio put 2 on with 2 out ahead of last year's AL HR champ Collin Montez and Montez did what he does, taking an Aparicio offering into the RF seats to make it 3-2 Chicago. It stayed that way until the bottom of the 9th when the Rays got lucky (or unlucky considering how they burned the bullpen and still lost the game) and Julio Cedillo's grounder with 2 out was thrown away, scoring pinch-runner Jhon Diaz (for Keibert Ruiz who had 2 hits tonight). After Aparicio went 6.2 6 3 3 2 5 on 85 pitches, the bullpen was great for the next 6 1/3, but Hayden Johns was terrible, giving up a leadoff double, loading the bases, and then giving up a 2-run double and a sac fly to give Chicago the win. Speaking of terrible, big new acquisition Gavin Lux was 0-7 with 5(!) whiffs, tying a team record. Spencer Torkelson was 0-6 and is hitting .136 with 0 RBI, Cedillo was 0-4 and is now 1-17, Yordan Alvarez was 1-6 and is hitting .143, etc etc. If it makes anybody feel better, Wander is hitting .190 with 0 RBI for Texas so far and Brandon Marsh is hitting .118 for St. Louis.

Note from MLB: Kansas City's Martin Santana pitched a no-hitter tonight, walking 1 and whiffing 6 and throwing 100 pitches in a 7-0 win over Cleveland. And by the way, Triston Casas is hitting .071 while Hunter Bishop is 4-15 (.267) so far for the Royals, so it's not like anybody we traded or lost is hitting either.

Game 2: The losing goes on as the Rays dropped their fifth straight in what is by far the worst start I've had to a season with this save. Tonight it was 8-6 but it was only that close thanks to a 2-out rally in the bottom of the 9th when the Rays scored 4 times. Shane McClanahan was terrible in his second start of the season, giving up 2 runs in the 1st, and then after the Rays tied it up on a Ricky Widmar sac fly and Gavin Lux's first HR with the team, he gave up 3 more runs in the 4th and put men on 2nd and 3rd with 0 out in the 5th before being pulled for Blake Money. Money was great, pitching 3 hitless innings with a walk and 7 Ks, but Keibert Ruiz's passed ball allowed another Chicago run and it was 6-2. Aaron Ashby gave up a couple of runs in the 8th to make it 8-2 and the 9th inning rally was too little, too late. Yordan Alvarez had an RBI single, Judson Fabian a 2-run double and Spencer Torkelson an RBI single, and Bobby Witt Jr (who had 2 hits tonight) walked to load the bases. But Ruiz, who had led off the inning with a double, had his sinking liner to center caught by a diving Omar Rivas to end the game. Mac was 4 9 6 5 2 3 on a night we could have used an ace-like performance. Nothing to do but keep plugging, BNN says this is a 109-win team. Wander Franco hit his first Texas HR in a 2-1 win over Seattle, and Petey Halpin had a 4-4 game for the Dodgers, good for him.

Game 3: The Rays win! The Rays win! Never thought I'd be so excited about a nondescript early season game as such has been their start to 2028 that tonight's 6-3 win was cause for celebration. They got off to a great early start thanks to Yordan Alvarez's 3-run HR in the first inning staking Mack Anglin to an early lead, and he pitched pretty well until running out of gas in the 7th. By then, though, Spencer Torkelson had hit his first HR of season as well, a 2-run shot in the 6th to make it 5-1, and in the 7th Gavin Lux and Nate Clark hit doubles to get the 6th run. Anglin ended up 6.2 7 2 2 0 5 and picked up his 1st win of the season, Jack Filby got a big out to end the 7th when the Sox had a couple on and one in, Evan Godwin pitched the 8th and gave up a run thanks to a throwing error from Julio Cedillo trying to get a runner at 3rd, and Jose Alvarado notched his first save of the year with a 1-2-3 9th as the Chicago lineup was loaded with lefties. Tork's HR was part of a 3-hit night, and Lux had two hits. Cedillo continues his rough start, though, now 2-24 on the season.

MLB News: Our old friend Tyler Glasnow will be out 3+ months with ulnar nerve entrapment after leaving today's game with Oakland, and Brandon Marsh hit a 3-run HR in the bottom of the 10th to give the Cardinals a 3-0 win over the Twins. Also, Matt Manning went 7 3 1 1 2 10 at Coors Field for Arizona but ended up with a no-decision.

Team record: 2-5. Next up: An off-day, followed by a trip to Texas to see Wander Franco and the Rangers. He went 0-6 today and is hitting .161 with 1 HR so hopefully he's not too due. We won't see Keston Hiura as he's still out with a fractured thumb suffered in spring training.