The Opening Day box:
Some not-great pitching doomed the Rays to an Opening Day 6-5 loss in Baltimore as
Joe Marlette was not his ace-like self today, unable to hold a 4-2 lead handed to him in the 6th. Despite the loss it was an impressive debut day for rookies and new Rays with
Luis Berumen living up to his mega-prospect status by blasting a 463-foot homer in his first MLB game and
Claus Hoppenbrouwers singling in his first MLB at-bat and adding an RBI knock. Trade acquisitions
Willie Gutierrez and
Justin Blackwell each had hits with the latter driving in the team's first run of 2035.
Danny Charlton had a day to forget though with 4 whiffs including one to end the game with the tying run on.
In the second game
Danny Charlton atoned for his rough Opening Day and then some, homering three times to lead an eight(!)-homer attack in a 12-3 Rays rout of Baltimore. Charlton was 4-5 with the 3 homers and 4 RBI, including a 2-run shot in the 2nd to put them up 6-0.
Luis Berumen did it again with his 3-run homer (#2) in the first getting them on the board, and
Bobby Marin chipped in a pair of longballs as part of a 3-hit day. Also going deep were
Jake Westfall and
Justin Blackwell with just about all the homers today being solo shots.
Kevin DiCostanzo won his 2035 debut going 5.2 7 3 3 0 6 and another touted prospect,
Leo Gutierrez, made his MLB debut with a scoreless 9th featuring a walk and a whiff.
Team record: 1-1. The schedule is quirky with the Rays among 8 teams playing exclusively over the season's first two days and as a result they'll have two days off before resuming play in Boston for a pair.