[Art Deco]

Game 1: Another day, another decisive win for the Rays as they took it to Seattle 8-1. But the win was costly as reigning AL MVP Dayle Jenkins suffered a fractured cheekbone in a collision at second base in the 1st inning and will be lost for 5-6 weeks. This will mean more playing time for Omar Rodriguez and Mike Harms, as Victor de Jesus can cover RF as well. They scored in that first inning on a Nate Clark fielder's choice and then broke it open in the 2nd on an RBI double from Luis Corpus, Erik Batchelder's first MLB RBI on a groundout, and then a 2-run HR from (who else?) Jaiden Hardaway, now with 12 on the year and 8 in his last 10 games. Rodolfo Rivas added a solo shot in the 5th (#15), Corpus drove in another with a single and Clark got his second RBI grounder of the game to round out the scoring. Alec Sachais started and while he wasn't as great as he was in Minnesota, he was good enough going 5 4 1 1 2 2 to improve to 4-2 and bring his ERA further down the long road to respectability at 6.34. Danny Medina took over and ended up pitching the final 4 innings for his 1st save as a Ray, allowing only 1 hit, walking 0 and striking out 4 as he lowered his ERA to 1.24 in 36.1 innings.

June 4: Placed OF Dayle Jenkins on the 10-day IL with a fractured cheekbone, recalled OF Nate Boesel from AAA Durham.

Boesel was once a shiny young prospect ranked as high as #30 by OSA and in the top 100 as late as last winter. But the shine has come off a bit and he's ranked #199 right now at age 26 despite a solid season at AA Montgomery last year (271/338/560 with 29 HR). He's been playing at Durham this year and is a pedestrian 237/272/439 with 8 HR and 32 RBI in 43 games and he gets the call if for no other reason he's the only other OF on the 40-man. He'll get a few starts but Mike Harms should be the main beneficiary of Jenkins' absence.

Game 2: The Rays looked like they were on their way to another easy win as they took a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th, but a bullpen meltdown aided by a key error allowed Seattle to come back and tie it up, and on to extra innings we went before Alex Buitrago ended the madness with a homer in the top of the 12th to lead the Rays to a 7-6 win. Early on it looked like more of the same as Bo Angeac drilled a 2-run homer in the 2nd (#15) to get them on the board, and Buitrago had a big 2-run double in the 5th to make it 6-2. Leo Ortega was solid if unspectacular at 6 7 2 2 0 5 and Tim Siqueiros took over for the 7th and had a rare bad outing. He walked a man, gave up two hits, and with a key Angeac error in the mix it was 6-4 with two out and two on and Mike Wherry came in to face the lefty Stan Collier, a one-time Rays 1st-round draft pick. Collier got revenge on his former team with a 2-run double to tie it up. Wherry got the leadoff man in the 8th and Jim Connors came in and finished the inning and pitched through the 9th. Kikuo Kawase then came in and went two innings, walking a pair (one intentionally) and whiffing a pair and getting a big double play ball in the 10th. Then Buitrago capped his 4-hit night with the solo homer in the 12th, making Kawase a winner for the 3rd time this year and Jordan Diaz bounced back from some recent struggles with a 1-2-3 12th to notch save #7, matching Kawase for the team lead.

Game 3: Among the starting 9 today the Rays had 5 guys who were regulars for Durham last year and one who was a regular for AA Montgomery, and still scored 10 runs today in a 10-4 thrashing of the Mariners. Nate Schultz actually put Tampa Bay in a 4-2 hole after 3 innings, surrendering a pair of homers. But he was lights-out over the next 3 innings and finished 6 5 4 4 2 9 and went to 7-0, 3.61 while the offense clawed its way back and took the lead. A pair of homers against a one-time Rays farmhand were the difference as Bo Angeac took Austin Vernon deep for #16 (his 4th in 4 games) to tie it at 4 in the 5th and then Victor de Jesus sent a Vernon offering into the LF seats with a man on in the 6th to make it 6-4. An Erik Batchelder RBI single in the 7th gave them some insurance at 7-4, and then you can't spell home run without Jaiden Hardaway or something like that as he continued his ridiculous binge with a 3-run shot in the 9th to blow it open. It was the 2B's 13th of the year and 9th in his last 12 games. He now is up to 3.7 WAR, far and away the MLB leader in that category and is on pace for a rare 10-WAR season. Meanwhile Nate Boesel made his MLB debut and drew 3 of the 12 walks Seattle pitchers issued in his 5 trips to the plate, flying out in one, and doubling in the other. On the mound, unlike yesterday the bullpen was untouchable as Tim Siqueiros, Mike Wherry and Chris Hicks each pitched a perfect inning and combined for 7 strikeouts with Wherry whiffing the side in his. Despite all the injuries (Widmar, Jenkins, Ayers) this might be our best team yet, which is really saying something. Of course none of this is a guarantee for a 5-game series in early October as we've learned the past two years.

Team record: 48-11. Next up: An off-day to travel across the country then Connor Kirkley returns to Publix Park with his new teammates the White Sox for 3 games.

MLB News: The Yankees' ace Eric Peterson threw a no-hitter against Toronto today. He went 9 0 0 0 3 5 on 103 pitches. He has a 3-4, 3.39 record which reflects the mediocre start the Yankees have gotten off to (25-29) and the lack of runs they've scored (still shaking my head at their trading off Vlad Jr). Also Mike Trout hit career HR #711 today as he pulls within 3 of Babe Ruth for 3rd on the all-time list.