The opening day box:
A tough one as we couldn't get any offense going and great pitching only carried us so far. It was not a good day for debutants as Arakawa and Rivera were a combined 0-8 with 7 strikeouts and Ryan Okuda was the pitcher who finally blinked, getting hit in the 12th for the loss.
Game 2: 4-2 W. WP-Acosta (1-0). S-Diaz (1). Starter-Eldridge (4.1 6 2 2 1 8, 92P). HR-Rivera (1). The story today was rookie catcher Angel Rivera, whose 3-run homer in the 4th was the key blow as the Rays got into the win column for 2029.
Game 3: 4-5 L (10). LP-Sears (0-1). Starter-Bradley (7 5 2 2 1 7). HR-E.Green (1), Santana (1). This one hurt. Leading 4-2 after 8 and with Edwin Diaz unavailable, Luis German gave up a leadoff homer to former Ray Diego Cartaya, Charlie Ruegger allowed the tying run and JP Sears gave up the winner in the 10th. Elijah Green homered in his Rays debut and Santana's was an inside-the-park job.
Team record: 1-2. Next up: An off-day then Minnesota visits for 3 games.
Rays news: We signed a slew of veteran pitchers to minor league deals, mainly to beef up Durham but you never know as Noah Syndergaard, Dane Dunning, Edward Cabrera and Michael Grove are all headed to North Carolina.
MLB News: Old friend Shane McClanahan is going to miss 4 months for the Giants with a torn triceps and another old friend Pete Fairbanks is out 3-4 months with a torn back muscle.