[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays scored 7 times in the 6th through 8th to overcome another poor Danny Medina start and beat Oakland 10-5. Jon Jimenez erased a 5-3 deficit with a 2-run homer in the 6th, and Danny Ayala did likewise in the 7th for his 30th of the year to put them ahead to stay, and Jimenez then hit his 2nd of the game (#25) to make it 8-5. Earlier Dayle Jenkins launched #6 and Jaiden Hardaway #16 as Tampa Bay went deep five times. Medina went 4.2 5 5 5 3 2 in his second straight lousy start filling in for Leo Ortega but we'll probably stick with him. Eric Riley took over for an inning and Bob Sirna was brilliant again with 2 1/3 scoreless innings and five strikeouts to pick up his 2nd win. He now has an 11/51 BB/K ratio in 31 innings this year with a 1.48 ERA, and is no longer just a mop-up guy.

Game 2: A 5-run 9th broke open a close game and the Rays took a 9-2 win over Oakland to make it 6 straight victories. They jumped out to a 4-2 lead off Oakland ace Alex Santamaria thanks to a Victor de Jesus RBI double and sac fly and a Danny Ayala solo homer (#31), and then tacked on 5 more in the 9th featuring 2-run singles from Bo Angeac and Eric Titcombe. Kevin Kerstetter continues to thrive in the rotation (unlike his teammate Danny Medina), going 6.1 5 2 2 0 3 to improve to 8-0, 2.55, Willie Bertone got a couple of key outs in the 7th when it was close and Mike Wherry pitched 2 perfect innings with 3 whiffs to nab his 2nd save of the year.

Game 3: The Rays came up with another big win after a shaky start, taking their third straight from Oakland 10-3. Nate Thompson had a nightmarish first inning, walking four men and allowing 3 runs, but settled down after that and made it through 5 to pick up the win, finishing 5 4 3 3 5 6 to go to 9-2. Victor de Jesus was the hitting star today, 4-5 with a homer (#18) and 4 RBI while Dayle Jenkins and Bo Angeac each drove in a pair. Billy Hoyte had 2 innings with 5 whiffs in relief and Edgar Rios also had a pair of scoreless frames.

Game 4: Rinse and repeat: the Rays overcame yet another lousy start, the third in four games this series, to hang on and beat Oakland 9-7 to take a 4-game series sweep and make it 8 straight wins overall. They took leads of 6-0 and 8-4 but Nate Schultz didn't have it today, and 3 errors behind him didn't help either. I tried to get him the win but finally had to pull him with two out in the 5th when a Jhon Diaz double cut the lead to 8-7. Schultz finished 4.2 9 7 3 4 5 in a rough game for him before Bob Sirna came to the rescue again, going 2 1/3 perfect with three whiffs to earn his 3rd win of the year. Tim Siqueiros took care of the 8th and Kikuo Kawase the 9th for save #20. Jon Jimenez had a big day going 2-4 with a HR (#26) and 4 RBI, Victor de Jesus stayed scorching hot with a 3-5, 2 RBI day including HR #19, and Omar Rodriguez delivered 4 hits in 6 trips with one of them his 15th homer. Danny Ayala chipped in an RBI double as the bats continued to feast.

Team record: 61-17. Next up: Finally an off-day, then we make a 3-game stop in Minnesota.

MLB News: Houston's Ricardo Jackson, who pitched a great game against the Rays on Opening Day before missing time with an elbow strain suffered in his second start, is back in action and no-hit the Yankees today, walking 3, whiffing 6 and pitching a Maddux to boot with a count of 96 pitches. He's 4-1, 2.21 in 8 starts and Houston has a firm grip on the first wild card as they look to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2024.