Game 1: The Rays jumped out to a 6-1 lead, watched the Twins crawl back to 6-4, and then put the game away late to triumph 9-4. They blasted 5 homers, including one to lead off the game from Jaiden Hardaway (#6), the first of his four hits on the night. Daniel Vasquez (a 2-run shot, #10), Jeff Baez (solo, #2) and Jim Gebers (solo, #12) extended the lead to 6-1, and later on Mike McGee hit #6 with the bases empty. Tim Gates started against his old team and picked up the win going 5.2 5 3 2 2 7 to up his record to 6-2, 3.68, and after Jeff Reece coughed up a 2-run homer to bring the Twins within 2, Chris Toombs calmed the waters with 2 perfect innings.
Some amusing MLB news:
Teammates last year with the Rays, hand-to-hand combatants this year with Houston and Arizona. Both are having great seasons with their new clubs, and Danny Medina, who also went over in that trade with the Astros, has been installed in the rotation and has pitched very well as Houston actually has a better record than we do (39-16) despite losing tonight.
Game 2: Jeremy Curtis took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and the Rays took care of Minnesota 6-3 at Target Field. Curtis wasn't working on a shutout as a Jeff Baez error in the 2nd led to a Twins run but it wasn't until Nestor Ramirez led off the 7th with a homer that he allowed a hit. He gave up another run in the inning and finished 6.2 3 3 2 1 5 to improve to 4-1, 3.38 and Kikuo Kawase picked a rare save (#13) in which he didn't whiff anyone, getting the Twins 1-2-3 on balls in play. Nobody homered for Tampa Bay tonight with the biggest hit being a 2-run Mike McKee single in the 6th which sparked a 3-run rally that made a 2-1 game into a 5-1 game. Daniel Vasquez was 2-4 with an RBI and Baez was 1-1 with 2 walks and a sac fly.
Game 3: The Twins were 14-41 coming into this game but came out of it 15-41 as they topped the Rays 5-3. Homers from Jon Jimenez (#5) and Kevin Morley (#6) helped give the Rays a 3-1 lead, but Ron Adams couldn't hold it, giving up a pair of homers including a 2-run shot in the 6th which put Minnesota ahead to stay. He finished 6 5 4 4 2 8 and suffered his first loss of the year, dropping to 8-1, 3.84. Jeff Reece was terrible again out of the pen, giving up a run and 3 hits on only 6 pitches before being yanked.
MLB News: 32-year-old journeyman lefty Chris Barnes tossed a no-hitter for San Diego tonight against Colorado, walking one and whiffing six on a tidy 94 pitches. He's actually having a good year at 5-2, 2.10.
Game 4: The Rays did not want to settle for a split with the lowly Twins, and avoided that fate as they broke open a close game with 5 runs over the final 3 innings to take a 9-3 win and 3 out of 4 in the series. Omar Rodriguez's 3-run 1st-inning homer (#11) stood up through 6 as Tampa Bay clung to a 3-2 lead. But Daniel Vasquez led off the 7th with HR #11 and Jon Jimenez chipped in a 2-run triple to give the Rays some breathing room, and Jaiden Hardaway capped a 3-4 day with a 2-run double in the 9th. Josh Carsello started and pitched well outside of a couple of solo homers to go 6 5 2 2 1 8 and improve to 5-4, 4.33 while Damani Cotton picked up his first save of the year with a 3-inning job, and he too allowed a solo homer.
Team record: 39-17. Next up: We head to the desert to play 3 in Arizona where we should be reuniting at some point with Eric Titcombe when he comes off his suspension. I'm predicting at least one homer from him in the series.