Game 1: Make it 18 straight wins for the Rays as they handled the Tigers 9-4 in the opener at Comerica Park. Tampa Bay trailed 3-2 going into the 4th before erupting for 6 runs highlighted by a 3-run Juan Davila homer (#11) and a 2-run Jon McGovern single. Luis Barela also contributed a 2-run homer (#8) and Ruben Ramirez went solo (#2). Dave Rose was very good, improving to 3-1 after a 7 5 4 1 2 7 outing.
Game 2: And it's 19 in a row thanks to a 5-3 victory over Detroit. Rex Bransington (3-1) was quite good at 5 3 1 1 2 4 and Steve Talbott picked up save #7 despite allowing a solo homer in the 9th. Juan Davila's insane start to the season continued with his 12th homer, Jon Morales hit his 4th and Dantel Chinchilla had a pair of RBI singles.
Game 3: Ruben Ramirez to the rescue as his 3-run pinch-homer (#3) in the 7th inning gave the Rays a 3-1 win and increased the winning streak to an amazing 20. Chad Winger pitched his best game as a Ray at 6 3 1 1 1 7 but had nothing to show for it until Ramirez came through and enabled him to improve to 2-1. Steve Kay finished for his second save.
Team record: 21-7. The Yankees did lose a game and are now 24-3, so their division lead is down to 4 games. And for once we finally get to do something about it as perhaps the biggest series ever in May gets underway tomorrow at Publix Park when New York comes to town. There's never been a matchup like this before at this point of the season:
