[Art Deco]

The Rays saw their 12-game winning streak snapped by the Alamos but still took 2 out of 3 and expanded their lead in the AL East.

Tampa Bay was dominated in the opener by San Antonio's Joey Lucchesi as the lefty held them to 1 run and 4 hits in 6 1/3 as the Alamos took a 3-1 win to end the Rays' win streak. Meanwhile a couple of former Rays gave Griffin Canning some trouble as Joey Gallo homered in the 2nd inning and Ji-Man Choi singled in a run in the 3rd as Canning finished 5 6 3 3 2 6 and took the loss to drop to 1-2, 4.13.

Austin Meadows had a career game in the middle tilt as the Rays walloped San Antonio 9-1. He had a 2-run homer in the 1st, a bases-clearing triple in the 2nd, a double in the 4th and he came to bat in the 5th needing a single for the cycle but decided to homer again instead, his 6th. Meadows finished the night 4-5 with 2 HR, 6 RBI and 13 total bases. The 6 ribbies gave him 28 and put him in the AL lead (the MLB lead is a ridiculous 40 from Pete Alonso in 25 games). Wander Franco homered as well, his 3rd, and Tyler Glasnow was as dominant on the mound as his fellow Pirates refugee was at the plate. The righty went 6 2 1 1 1 12 and improved to 4-1, 1.70 and had he done this a day earlier he probably would have been AL Pitcher of the Month for April. Matt Peacock went the final 3 scoreless and struck out 5 himself to pick up his first save as a Ray.

MLB note: Although Meadows fell short of the cycle (of course he bettered the cycle by homering again rather than singling), San Diego's Fernando Tatis Jr. did in fact hit for the cycle tonight. In other notable developments, Austin Hays' 26-game hitting streak was snapped by the Yankees in the same game which saw Aaron Judge hit 3 taters.

All winter long Rays fans eagerly awaited their big offseason acquistion, Dustin May, but "Gingergaard" was a disappointment after a rough April despite the team's excellent start. That changed tonight in the rubber game of the series when May excelled in what was far and away his best game in Tampa Bay colors, hurling 8 shutout innings in a 3-0 win. May allowed only 3 hits, walked none and fanned 7 as he went to 4-2 and lowered his ERA to 4.88. Nick Anderson completed the shutout and earned save #7 with a 1-2-3 9th. Meanwhile Devin Smeltzer was dominating the Rays much as Joey Lucchesi did two nights before, striking out 10 in total but they got to him in the 6th, loading the bases before Joey Bart drew a walk to force in the go-ahead run and Heliot Ramos delivered a 2-run single to triple the lead.

Team record: 20-7, 4 games up on Boston. Next up: The homestand continues with 3 games against Detroit.