[Art Deco]

May 7: Activated OF Omar Rodriguez from the 10-day IL, optioned OF Jesus Castrellon to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays' offense was stymied tonight by Texas pitching, only managing 5 hits in a 3-1 loss to the Rangers at Publix Park. Joel LeFevre and 2 relievers did the job despite collectively walking 5 and whiffing only 2, but a key double play in the 9th and a man thrown out at the plate helped. Kevin Kerstetter started and had another game where he struck out a lot of guys but gave up runs, going 5 5 3 3 3 8. The bullpen held for a comeback that never came, with Tim Gates going 2, Tony Rey 1 1/3 and Chris Toombs retiring both men he faced, making him 7-for-7 since debuting. The Blue Jays were idle so the Rays dropped into a first-place tie with them.

Durham News: Vinny Willard, who really has no business being in the minors, pitched a 1-hit shutout tonight for Durham over Buffalo in a 5-0 win. Willard didn't walk anybody and faced one over the minimum, a leadoff double he allowed in the 6th as he fanned 9. He's now 4-1, 1.79 for the Bulls.

Game 2: It was deja vu all over again for the Rays as their offense remained AWOL in a 4-1 loss to Texas, and combined with a Toronto win over Boston, Tampa Bay finds itself in 2nd place in the AL East, uncharted territory in recent years for this team over a month into the season. Today it was veteran Edwin Harty who held them down, along with former Ray Eric Riley who went 2 1/3 scoreless. Danny Ayala's 4th HR of the year in the 2nd was the alpha and omega of their scoring. Ron Adams started and was fine until he hit the wall in the 6th, allowing 3 runs to snap a 1-1 tie. Danny Medina didn't help, walking two men to force in Adams' 4th run as Adams finished 5.1 7 4 4 2 7 to suffer his first loss of the season.

Game 3: The Rays' inability to beat Texas continued today in a 5-3 loss at Publix Park, their third straight in the series. Josh Carsello struggled throughout, going 4 4 4 2 3 6 but taking 106 pitches to do so, and Tony Rey wasn't much better in relief, allowing one of Carsello's men to score along with one of his own. Meanwhile the offense was largely non-existent again outside of Jaiden Hardaway, who was 3-4 with a pair of solo homers giving him 7. A couple of former Rays properties who played at Durham last year had a hand in their demise: Camren Nethercutt, taken in the Rule 5 draft, got the win going 5.1 5 2 2 1 4 with only Hardaway solving him, and Tim Carizosa, a 2030 supplemental 1st-round pick of ours who became a minor league free agent, had a 2-run single in the 1st. Fortunately Toronto saw their 10-game winning streak snapped so they only remain one game ahead of the Rays.

Game 4: Well this was one of the more extraordinary games I've played out. It started off anything but, and I'll pick it up where it was most dull - in the middle of the 9th. Texas had just scored another run to take a 5-1 lead and it looked like it would end up just like the previous 3 games, a Rays loss with little offense. And although Bo Angeac led off the 9th with his 9th homer, it seemed little more than a consolation run. But they put two more on with two out against Ranger closer Jeff Lavender, and of all people Will Quintana came through with a dramatic 3-run blast (#4) to miraculously even the score. The Rays had glorious chances to win it in the 10th and 11th, loading the bases and putting two men on respectively, but couldn't get the winner home. And that looked fatal when Jeremy Curtis gave up a 3-run homer in the top of the 12th to make it 8-5 Rangers. But somehow the Rays rallied in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with one out then getting runs on a passed ball and an infield groundout. So once again it was two out and Will Quintana at the plate, and he came through again with an RBI single to tie it one more time. We move to the top of the 14th when Texas takes the lead yet again thanks to a passed ball and an outfield error to go ahead 9-8. But Eric Titcombe leads off the bottom of the inning with HR #7 to tie it up at 9, and two outs later Jaiden Hardaway goes yard with #8, a walk-off winner which sent the Publix Park crowd into delirium, a game those fans will never forget. Billy Hoyte got win #2 after throwing one pitch to retire the final batter in the top of the 14th, because why not? The resilience of a champion was enough to keep them one game behind Toronto, which won again.

Team record: 21-11. Next up: After a 4-game break from the AL East on the heels of 22 straight against the division, we're back in it as the Yankees come to town for 4 games.