A couple of players of the month:
Hill is our #2 prospect, ranked #74 overall, and the kid can rake. He's not much of a defensive OF so his future is at DH, but he'll hit.
May 1: Activated Nate Thompson from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, optioned P Steve Abeles to AAA Durham.
Game 1: There's something about Camden Yards that brings out the worst in Kikuo Kawase at least once a year, and after last year's epic meltdown he did it again, blowing a 5-4 lead in the 9th by giving up 3 singles and a sac fly as the Rays fell 6-5 to the Orioles. Mike Harms haunted his old team by hitting the game-winning sac fly as well as a sac fly in the 7th which tied it at 4. Nate Thompson made his 2037 debut and it was a mixed bag, going 4.2 7 3 3 1 5 and allowing a couple of homers, Mike Wherry went 2 1/3 allowing a run and Jim Golunski struck out the side in the 8th. On offense they scored on a wild pitch in the top of the 9th to take the lead, and earlier Daniel Vasquez had a big pinch-hit 2 run HR (#6) and Danny Ayala had a pair of RBI singles. The loss marks a rare instance when the Rays don't have the best record in MLB after Kansas City won tonight to go 17-7.
Game 2: The Rays snapped their mini 2-game losing streak by outlasting the Orioles 9-6 in Baltimore. They blasted four homers, none bigger than Daniel Malone's 3-run shot (#2) in the 6th which turned a 5-4 Rays lead into an 8-4 one. Jaiden Hardaway led off the game with #4, Jeff Baez exceeded 2036's total with his 3rd, and Eric Titcombe had a pinch-solo shot (#6) in the 8th off former Rays mainstay Shane McClanahan. Baez was on base all four times up tonight, including a double and 2 walks to go with the homer, is hitting 372/443/570 and leads the AL in WAR at 1.6. Kevin Kerstetter started and went to 4-1 as he had a 5 4 4 4 1 9 outing which saw him yield a couple of homers. Jeremy Curtis went 3 strong innings in relief allowing one earned run, and Kikuo Kawase got redemption tonight with a scoreless 9th, striking out a pair for save #5. (Oh and with a KC loss tonight, they have the best record in MLB again).
MLB Note: Philly's Gleyber Torres, now 40, hit his 700th career homer tonight. He's 5th on the all-time list behind Bonds, Aaron, Trout and Ruth.
Game 3: The Rays took the rubber game of the series 7-3 over Baltimore behind a career game from Will Quintana. The Rays' backstop was 4-4 with a pair of homers (giving him 3) and 3 RBI to lead the attack, while Bo Angeac also lost a pair in the seats and drove in 3 to up his season total to 8 as he's hitting a cool 386/469/699. Ron Adams started and while his shutout streak ended at 18 innings he still got the win going 6.1 10 3 3 0 7 to improve to 3-0, 2.55. Jim Golunski went 1 2/3 and Danny Medina pitched the 9th. The Rays overcame a 5-hit performance from Baltimore's Jose Serrano, including a double and a triple.
Team record: 18-7. Meanwhile the pesky Blue Jays keep winning and are 17-9 themselves, only 1 1/2 back. Next up: Our run of 22 straight games against AL East teams finally reaches its conclusion with 3 games in Boston.