It was an eventful series at the Trop but unfortunately a losing one for the Rays as they dropped 2 of 3 to the Yankees in blowout fashion while we swung a big deal for a starting pitcher.
The Rays did win the opener 3-2 behind another impressive outing from rookie
Shane Panzini. The righty no-hit the Yankees through 5, and then when he ran into trouble loading the bases in the 6th with one out, he got out of it by striking out Gleyber Torres and Raimfer Salinas who only combined for 84 homers last season. Panzini (2-0) finished 6.1 2 1 1 3 8 and
Yasunari Uehara converted save #2 despite allowing a run and making things way too interesting in the 9th.
Ed Howard was the hitting star, going 3-3 with a pair of RBI.
After the game we made this trade for a starting pitcher:
The details on Lopez:
As you can see he's solid all around, doesn't walk anyone and keeps the ball in the park with stuff a tick above average. He's been fine for Philly the last couple of years and was off to a good start this season. Lopez is a rental since his deal is up at the end of the year and we can always flip him if we don't get things turned around. (Not sure why's he angry though - perhaps it's because I haven't activated him yet as he won't be ready to pitch until Saturday.) Of the prospects we sent Baggett was the best, our second round pick in 26 who projects to be a decent all-around hitter but will probably need to really hit since his best position is DH. Lesko was a prized high school arm and our first round pick in 2022 but has never lived up to billing; while he still has good stuff, he projects to be a reliever since his control is poor. Mendoza's a future mop-up guy and Mullen recently underwent TJS.
We also had another transaction as
Alex Kirilloff came off the IL and
Brayden "Mr. 2 for 4" Jobert was optioned to Durham. Jobert did finally break his streak of 2-4 games by going 0-4 in the opener but still concluded his initial MLB stint by hitting .441.
While
Shane Panzini dominated the Yankees in the opener, our other rookie in the rotation
Dave Cedeno was hit hard in the second game in a 5-0 loss and had to leave in the 4th with shoulder inflammation. It's not serious as it will only shelve him a week but it gives us a rotation opening for
Pablo Lopez and Cedeno probably could use a few starts back in Durham after beginning his big league career 0-3, 8.31 after going 3.1 4 4 4 2 4 with 2 homers allowed.
Transaction: Lopez will take his spot over the weekend, but for now we put Cedeno on the DL and recalled P
Shane Baz from Durham to give us a long reliever.
Things got really weird in the finale as a couple of streaks ended in a 12-2 Yankees rout of the Rays.
James Hays' 22-game win streak came to a shocking end in a strange outing which saw Yankee hitters who put the ball in play go 10 for 11 in an abbreviated outing of 2 2/3 innings. With a Luke Voit homer included, Hays ended up 2.2 11 8 8 2 7, a pitching line I'm not sure has ever been duplicated and one which saw him lose for the first time in nearly a year. I'm not sure if it's regression or what as all his ratings look great and he does have 34 whiffs in 21 2/3 IP this year. But all the hits were shocking to see and we have to hope he gets it back together or it's going to be a long season. The other streak that ended was
Wander Franco's 23-game hit streak as he was denied on a diving catch in LF by Brandon Lockridge in his final at-bat in the 9th.
Alex Kirilloff, who had 3 hits including a double, was the only Ray who could hold his head high after the game.
Team record: 7-9, now 5 games back of Boston which is off to a ridiculous 12-4 start. Next up: Those same Red Sox visit for 4 games over the weekend, and we really don't want to be 9 back come Monday.