May 31: Optioned P Raymher Costa to AAA Durham, activated P Eric Riley off the 10-day IL.
The revolving door that is our 14th pitcher spot continues to spin. I'm souring on Costa as the 65 stuff and 80 control can't offset the 25 movement in the big leagues, with 4 homers allowed in 14 1/3 innings. Riley wasn't any great shakes this year either, but he has more upside.
Game 1: Another Publix Park pummeling as the Rays crushed Minnesota 15-4. It was 12-1 by the 4th inning, so one of those days again. Today's hitting heavies were Victor de Jesus, 4-4 with a homer (#10), double and 4 RBI as he continues to rebound from a slow start by his standards, and Jon Jimenez 4-5 with a HR (#15), doubles in his first 3 plate appearances and 3 RBI. Jeff Baez was 2-4 with 3 RBI and Chris Peters gave Bo Angeac a rest by going 3-4 with 2 RBI. Kevin Kerstetter keeps impressing as a starter, going 6 7 2 1 2 7 and is 5-0, 1.69 while just-activated Eric Riley went the final 3, allowing one earned run but fanning 5 for his 2nd 3-inning save of the year.
I left star #3 up as it's our friend Luis Corpus, who got off to a very slow start with his new team but has picked it up as of late.
Also as we conclude the month of May, here's a look at the standings and leaderboards. Danny Ayala and Jon Jimenez, gettin' it done:
Ricky Widmar having a big year for the Cubs, and that includes a 10-day IL stint. Here's hoping for their sake there aren't any more in the offing, but I'm sure there will be. Those other two NL batting WAR leaders look kind of familiar as well.
Some monthly awards:
Folks, Ricky Loya can flat-out rake. What you're seeing here is what happens when a guy with 80-level contact (MLB-rated) plays in AAA. Loya could hit .320 in the majors and while he's not a slugger he has enough power to hit 40 doubles and 20 homers. What are we going to do with him? (insert shrug emoji here).
Game 2: The Rays kept on rolling as the pitching outshone the hitting tonight in a 5-0 win. Leo Ortega and Danny Medina combined on a 4-hit, 0-walk shutout of the Twins with Ortega going 7 3 0 0 0 6 to improve to 5-4, 3.33. All five runs came in the first three innings with Danny Ayala launching a 2-run shot (#23) in the first, Jeff Baez had a sac fly and Mike McKee doubled in a run in the 2nd, and Jon Jimenez hit a solo shot in the third (#16).
Game 3: Another day, another rout as the Rays trounced the Twins 13-0 and have outscored Minnesota 33-4 in the first 3 games of the series. Jon Jimenez was the hitting star today, blasting a grand slam in a 5-run 1st which saw the team bat around, and then he added a 2-run shot in the 5th to give him 18 on the season along with a 364/422/758 slash line which leads MLB. Later on they got homers from Eric Titcombe (#13), Danny Ayala (#24) and a slam from Victor de Jesus (#11). But maybe the big story of the day was Nate Thompson, finally pitching effectively with a 7 3 0 0 3 3 line and lowering his ERA to 5.88 to go with his 5-2 record. Edgar Rios struck out the side in the 8th (he now has an 11 4 0 0 0 16 line in total since coming up) and Mike Wherry walked a pair but whiffed a pair in his scoreless inning.
Game 4: The Rays completed the sweep of Minnesota and notched their third straight shutout in the process in a 3-0 win. Josh Hanna, Tim Siqueiros and Kikuo Kawase combined on a 1-hitter as Hanna went 7.1 1 0 0 2 9 in his best outing as a Ray to improve to 7-1, 2.29. Moussa Gilmore's 2-out double in the 5th was the only Minnesota hit today. Siqueiros got the final 2 outs of the 8th and after walking the first two men in the 9th, Kawase fanned the next three to get his 14th save. Minnesota's Jim Robinson was excellent today in a losing cause, holding the mighty Rays lineup to 7 5 2 2 1 9 but the "2" was courtesy of Omar Rodriguez's 9th HR of the year in the 5th. Jaiden Hardaway singled in an insurance run in the 8th.
Team record: 43-14. Next up: An off-day featuring the Amateur Draft, then 3 games in Detroit which is back upon their accustomed perch atop the AL Central.