Game 1: 3-5 L. LP-Swanda (1-1, 3.1 5 5 5 5 5). HR-Franco (5). Never a good thing when you're a pitcher with a lot of 5s in your line and that was Swanda tonight.
Time for a big trade:
Welcome to Tampa Bay, Tork! Detroit seemed eager to get rid of him and his $11.3M salary won in arbitration so with money available and the need for a thumper in the lineup, we were glad to oblige. The cost wasn't particularly high with as Margot came in on a minor league deal and was playing at Durham, as was Bello who never lived up to his promise. Lorenzo is a 1/2-star "make it work" guy. Torkelson has hit 141 HR over the last 4 years with the Tigers and while he's not Juan Soto or Kyle Tucker, he will be a boost to the offense. He'll play LF for us as Curtis Mead has gotten red-hot and reclaimed the 1B job from Andrew Vaughn, who will lose the most at-bats as a result. To make room for Tork on the active roster, rookie James Wood who was 3-for-30 with 1 homer was optioned to Durham.
Game 2: 18-1 W. WP-Bradley (2-1, 6 5 1 1 2 6). HR-Ozuna (2), Franco (6), Albies (3), Vaughn (1). The Tork effect? Spencer Torkelson made his Rays debut and although he didn't drive in any of their 18 runs, he was 2-3 with 2 walks and scored 5 runs. His walk started a 4-run rally in the 2nd and they just keep hitting and scoring from there. Ozuna drove in 5 on the night including a 3-run homer, Vaughn had a 3-run shot off the bench and Wander was 3-6 with 2 RBI, homering for the third straight game.
Game 3: 5-1 W. WP-McClanahan (1-2, 5 5 0 0 2 8). HR-Mead 2 (3), Vaughn (2). Mac was excellent even if it took him 95 pitches to get through 5 and Curtis Mead remained toasty with 2 HR and is now hitting 439/477/805. Jeremiah Jackson gave Wander a breather and contributed a 2-run double.
Game 4: 2-3 L. LP-Castillo (2-2, 6 9 3 3 0 6). HR-Ozuna (3). A tough one as the Rays couldn't get much offense going after scoring 23 runs over the previous two nights. Ozuna had a solo homer and an RBI single for the lone Rays runs, with the latter coming in the 9th. Tork was 2-3 with a walk.
Team record: 9-8, 1/2 game up in first. Next up: After flying from Oakland to Boston we fly back across the country to LA to play 3 against the 14-3 Angels, which is nobody's idea of fun.