May 30: Activated 1B Joe Barker from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned OF D'Andre Hodges to AAA Durham.
We welcome back Barker, who's been out since mid-April with a broken hand and bid adieu to Hodges, who played well in limited action but whose window for playing on the active roster is probably now closed with Victor de Jesus healthy and the emergence of Rodolfo Rivas.
Game 1: The bats were relentless tonight as the Rays outlasted Boston 10-6 to make it 7 straight wins, scoring in every inning but the first and third and overcoming a lousy start from Jack Leiter. Joe Barker returned to the lineup tonight and it was like he was never gone as he singled in his first trip up and stole second and later tripled and drove in a run. Nate Clark had the big hit of the night, his 18th HR of the year in the 6th which broke a 6-6 tie. Bobby Witt Jr also homered to tie the game (#6) and had a sac fly while Connor Kirkley also drove in a pair with a double. Everyone but Jasson Dominguez had an RBI and everyone except Ricky Widmar (in an 0-20 slump) had a hit. They kept giving Leiter the lead and he kept giving it up, culminating in a pair of homers allowed in the 5th which put Boston up 6-5. He was hit hard with a 5.1 9 6 6 1 4 line. Corbin Martin relieved him in the 6th and was in the right place at the right time to get win #3, Evan Godwin pitched the 7th, and Tim Siqueiros was tabbed to pitch the 8th and stayed in when the lead grew to 4 which enabled him to get his first save (and become the 8th Rays pitcher to get one this year) with two scoreless innings.
From the league office:
And our never-ending pipeline of first basemen continues, with honors for the guy who was the key acquisition in the Mack Anglin deal:
Game 2: The Rays were dealt a rare loss by Boston today 7-6, as Blake Money was terrible again. Twice the Rays staked Money to leads and twice he gave them back, capped by a 3-run Bob Kelly homer off him in the 5th that turned out to be the final scoring of the game. He went 4 8 7 7 3 2, his ERA is now 5.46 and depending on how Andy Aparicio continues to look as a starter, he might be out of the rotation when Christian Little comes back. His ineffectiveness wasted a big day from Nate Clark, who was 3-4 with a homer (#19), double and 3 RBI. Joe Barker also hit his first homer since coming off the IL (#6 in only 48 AB), a 2-run shot in the 3rd which gave them an early 4-2 lead. Ricky Widmar broke out of his mini-slump with a hit, two walks, and two steals. Steve Givens had a wild day in relief, and I mean that literally as he somehow managed to walk 4 and allow 3 hits in 2 innings but didn't allow a run. A pair of double plays, including one where Jasson Dominguez threw a man out at the plate on a fly ball, along with Mike Mooney getting him out of the trouble in the 7th were the reasons why. The loss snapped their 13-game road winning streak and the current 7-game overall streak they had.
Game 3: Baseball is a team game, but today it was more of a two-man game for the Rays as Isaac DeLeon and Andy Aparicio were probably about 90% responsible for today's 5-2 win over Boston. DeLeon drove in all 5 Rays runs with a pair of homers, including a 3-run shot in the 6th that put them in front to stay. He later added an RBI single in the 8th for some insurance and now has 9 homers. And on the mound Aparicio got past some early struggles to go 7 4 2 2 2 7 to make it two-for-two in winning starts. Jasseel De La Cruz pitched a 1-2-3 8th and Jose Alvarado nabbed save #8 with a scoreless 9th. Nate Clark stayed hot in June with two hits including a triple.
Team record: 44-13. Next up: 2 games in Columbus to play our "natural rival", the Lightning.