[Art Deco]

Game 1: I'm beginning to think this team isn't very good as they were walloped by Texas tonight 7-2 and only managed 3 hits. Collin McHugh was victimized by a Rougned Odor grand slam in the first inning and finished 5 8 6 6 1 5. And the 2 runs came courtesy of the wildness of Texas starter Kyle Cody, who walked 6 by the 2nd inning including Mike Zunino with the bases loaded while the other run scored on a wild pitch in that inning. If this doesn't get better by the end of the month, we might see some callups like Shane McClanahan and Wander Franco.

Game 2: Power was the name of the game for the Rays tonight as they rode the power pitching of Tyler Glasnow and 3 home runs to defeat Texas 4-1, snapping the Rangers' 8-game win streak. Glasnow was brilliant once again, going 7.2 4 1 1 3 9 and notching his second win of the season, lowering his ERA to 1.31 in the process. The length of his outing was much-needed with a tired bullpen, but Diego Castillo got the final 4 outs including a whiff of Khris Davis as the tying run at the plate in the 8th for his first save. The offense wasn't generating rallies with only 7 hits tonight but three of them left the yard. Austin Meadows led off the game with his 1st of the year and the big blow came in the 7th with the game tied at 1 as Mike Zunino went deep for the 2nd time with a man aboard to make it 3-1. Brandon Lowe drilled his first homer of the year in the 8th to provide some insurance, against a lefty as well. Kevin Kiermaier had a nice game, going 2-3 with a run scored and his third outfield assist of the season, gunning down Sam Huff as he attempted to stretch a double into a triple.

Game 3: The Rays won a slugfest for a change, outlasting Texas 8-6 after falling behind 4-2 early. Willy Adames' 2-run double gave them a short-lived lead in the 2nd, Austin Meadows doubled in a run in the 4th to get them within 4-3, and Joey Wendle continued on his RBI binge with a 2-run single (he now has 12) to give them the lead to stay in the 5th. Then the power bats came out in the 6th in an important 3-run inning to put them up 8-4. Mike Zunino homered for the second straight day (#3) and then with a man on against a lefty again, Brandon Lowe went deep on consecutive nights as well with #2. Michael Wacha got the start and had a schizophrenic game, striking out the side in the 1st, then giving up a homer to former Ray Nate Lowe in the 2nd and getting hit hard in the 3rd including a David Dahl 2-run shot. But he recovered to pitch two more scoreless innings and ended up with his first Rays win going 5 6 4 4 1 6. Cody Reed had a 1-2-3 6th but probably shouldn't have been pushed into the 7th when he put a couple of men on who Peter Fairbanks allowed to score. Fairbanks stayed on and got through the 8th while Nick Anderson pitched around a walk in the 9th for his 3rd save as the Rays won consecutive games for the first time since the opening two games of the season.

Game 4: The Rays made it 3 straight wins and moved above .500 thanks to one of Ryan Yarbrough's best games of his career in a 4-1 win. The crafty lefty took a 1-hit shutout into the 9th inning before giving up a Nick Solak homer, with the only hit coming on a misplayed pop fly as he ended 8.1 2 1 1 1 5 on 110 pitches to pick up his first win of the year. Diego Castillo got the final two outs, whiffing Khris Davis and Joey Gallo to end the game. As great as Yarbrough pitched, Texas pitchers Kyle Gibson (who had to leave in the 3rd with elbow inflammation) and Jordan Lyles no-hit the Rays through the first 5 innings before Francisco Mejia broke the ice with a single to center. That hit jump-started a 2-run rally with a Brandon Lowe RBI single and Mike Brosseau pinch-hit sac fly. Then in the 8th Lowe and Randy Arozarena went deep back-to-back to provide insurance, with Lowe homering for the third straight game (and #3 overall) and Arozarena hitting his 2nd.

Team record: 7-6. Next up: We head to Yankee Stadium for the weekend.