Game 1: Gabriel Moreno had his first big day as a Ray, and the heroic relief work of Andy Aparicio helped Tampa Bay to a 7-5 win over Texas today at Publix Park. After Texas took a 1-0 lead in the first off Blake Money, Moreno's 2-run single in the 2nd broke a 1-1 tie after Connor Kirkley had driven in a run. And after Texas tied it again at 3 in the 5th, Moreno led off the bottom of the inning with his first Rays homer, giving them a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Money had an up-and-down outing, going 5 4 3 3 5 6 and with JDLC and Aparicio showing tired and only one rested righty in the pen it was going to be a tough 4 innings against Texas's almost exclusive right-handed lineup. Mike Mooney got them through the 6th, and righty Jordan Diaz started the 7th but had to come out with one on and one out with a sore elbow. So I turned to lefty Daniel Morfin to see if he could get through the inning but he allowed 3 straight hits which brought Texas within 6-5 and with two men on. So the call was made to Aparicio who was only "slightly tired" and he came in and got a big strikeout and ended up getting 5 outs in a gutty effort. Jasson Dominguez added HR #3 for some insurance and Jose Alvarado made it through the 9th for his first save with Money getting the win. Bobby Witt Jr added his first HR of the year, a solo shot in the 6th, and Dayle Jenkins had a sac fly as the Rays improve to 4-1. Elsewhere, the Yankees were shut out by Toronto today as they've started 0-4 and scored only 4 runs total in those games.
April 6: Placed P Jordan Diaz on the 15-day IL with a sore elbow, recalled P Malachi Benford from AAA Durham.
Our lefty-heavy bullpen imbalance becomes even more pronounced with the loss of Diaz, even though we're replacing him with a righty in Benford. I will be re-intensifying my efforts to flip Daniel Morfin for a righty reliever.
....and done:
Corbin Martin's been a good starting pitcher over the last decade, even winning 21 games back in 2022. He's kind of become a middle-of-the-road 2 WAR starter over the last few years but the Phillies have been using him in relief this year. And that's what I intend to do as he plays well there with 65 stuff, 55 movement and 55 control. He's not going to be Daniel Espino 2.0 (I tried seeing if I could pry him from the Pirates but their asking price was too high) but he should be an improvement. And he can always start down the line if we need him to. So Morfin goes back to his old team as we make yet another deal with Philly, which is paying all but $4M of Martin's $16M salary (he's a free agent at year's end).
Game 2: It was over barely after it started as the Rays scored 7 in the first inning on their way to a 15-3 drubbing of the Rangers. In fact they scored all 15 runs in the first 4 innings and ended the game with 20 hits. Speaking of hits, Wander Franco went 5 for 5 in a losing effort and drove in all 3 Texas runs. The 7 runs in the first all came with two out, kicked off by Joe Barker's 2-run homer off Tyler Mahle, Bobby Witt Jr and Jhon Diaz added RBI singles, and Gabriel Moreno capped it with a 3-run homer, his 2nd of the season. Barker hit a 2nd HR to give him 3 and added a triple, Nate Clark hit his first, a 3-run shot, Dayle Jenkins and Connor Kirkley each had 3 hits, etc etc. Christian Little said "thank you" for all the run support and was a solid 6 5 2 2 1 7 to pick up his second win in as many starts. Malachi Benford made his season debut with 2 innings, allowing 1 run, and David Saldana pitched a scoreless 9th.
Game 3: The Rays fell behind early 3-0 but chipped away at the reigning AL Cy Young winner Wil Diaz and broke all the way through to another high-scoring win at Publix Park, 10-6. Keston Hiura's bases-clearing double off Alec Sachais with 2 out in the first gave the Rangers the lead, but Dayle Jenkins (#1) and Joe Barker (#4) homered in the bottom of the 1st to make it 3-2. After an Adrian Ramos homer made it 4-2 Texas, Jhon Diaz's solo HR (#2) made it 4-3 in the 5th and then the Rays took the lead for good in the 6th. Diaz hit Diaz for an RBI single to tie it and Nate Clark belted a 3-run HR (#2) to give the Rays a 7-4 lead they wouldn't relinquish. Sac flies from Dane Ayers and Diaz around a Carlos Perez RBI single added 3 more runs in the 7th. Sachais got the start and settled down nicely after the 1st, only allowing the Ramos homer and finishing 6 6 4 4 1 8 to pick up his 2nd win of the season. Corbin Martin made his Rays debut in the 7th and nearly gave the lead back, allowing a run and getting out of a 1-out, bases-loaded jam after he walked three. He allowed another run in the 8th thanks to Ricky Widmar's error and was relieved by Jose Alvarado, who got the final five outs to grab his 2nd save of the young season. The Rays ended up with 17 homers in the 7-game inaugural homestand at Publix Park, and one thing is for sure: it ain't the Trop.
Team record: 6-1. Next up: We hit the road starting tomorrow with 3 in Kansas City.