[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays finally seem to be on a roll now, winning their 5th straight in convincing 7-1 fashion over Seattle at Publix Park. Christian Little is having another Cy Young-caliber season in his contract year as today he went 7.1 6 1 1 1 12 to improve to 7-2, 3.12 to shackle the Mariners. Alexander Beltre got a couple of outs in the 8th after Little put two men on and left, while David Sanchez looked impressive in relief whiffing a pair in a 1-2-3 9th. The offense took a while to get going, not getting a baserunner until the 4th, but once it did it didn't stop. Dayle Jenkins broke the ice with a double and scored on Nate Clark's single to tie the game at 1. Then in the 6th Rodolfo Rivas doubled home Dane Ayers to give them the lead for good and the game was broken open in the 7th on a 2-run Francisco Alvarez single and a 3-run blast from Jenkins (#6) to cap a 3-hit day for him. The Yankees continue to struggle, losing in Coors Field which means the division lead has grown to 3.

Game 2: Make it 6 straight with another win today over Seattle 7-2. The Rays blasted four homers in the victory, none bigger than Victor de Jesus's 3-run shot (#17) in the 2nd inning. After they got another run in the inning on a wild pitch Jasson Dominguez (#13) homered in the 3rd, and after Seattle got within 5-2 and started threatening, Dane Ayers (#3) and Dayle Jenkins (#7) went back-to-back in the 7th. Alec Sachais started and was in command through 5 before giving up a run in the 6th and then a hard-hit triple to lead off the 7th with the game at 5-2. But Tim Siqueiros snuffed out that threat with three consecutive strikeouts, and after they made it 7-2 in the bottom of the inning, Bob Sirna came on and did his thing again, 2 perfect innings with 4 whiffs to end the game. Sirna now has 11 whiffs in 7 1/3 innings as a Ray and is looking to be a real weapon. Sachais goes to 7-1, 3.67 as he joins Christian Little and Andy Aparicio for the team and AL lead in wins (with others as well). The Yankees lost yet again and the lead is up to 4 games.

June 17: Optioned P David Sanchez to AAA Durham, activated P Jon Soranno from the 15-day IL.

Game 3: It's sad to see Jose Alvarado as not the dominant reliever he's been since this save started in 2020, the constant throughout all these years. But that's the nature of sports and aging and while the lefty is still a useful arm, he's probably not the best option in high-leverage situations any longer and today he gave up a 2-run homer in the 10th to allow Seattle to take a 2-0 win over the Rays, snapping their 6-game winning streak. It was a great duel between Jon Soranno, just off the IL, and Seattle's Kannon Handy and neither blinked before being relieved. Soranno might have pitched his best game of the year even if it was in vain, going 7.2 3 0 0 1 8. Alex Beltre got him out of the 8th and Jordan Diaz pitched around a leadoff single in the 9th. With a string of lefties due, Alvarado came on for the 10th, gave up a leadoff single then a homer to lefty-hitting Michael Siani. He also allowed another hit before erasing the runner on a strike 'em out-throw 'em out double play to end the inning. Meanwhile the offense, which had scored 45 runs in the 6-game win streak, drew a complete blank today and only managed 6 hits through 10 innings. Half of them came from Jaiden Hardaway and two of the other three from Nate Clark. The Yankees won in Minnesota so the lead is down to 3.

Team record: 38-26. Next up: The San Francisco Giants come to town with old friend Spencer Torkelson and one-time Rays phenom SS Jose Gonzales, part of the deal which brought Jaiden Hardaway here.