Transaction: Heston Kjerstad struggled big-time as our
Xavier Isaac replacement (2-19, no XBH) so it's time to give
Brock Jones a shot. The 2022 2nd-round pick from Stanford you may remember is coming off a season in which he hit 56 homers between A+ and AA last year including the playoffs and had 16 more with a .936 OPS at Durham this year. Plus he plays 65 defense in LF and 60 in CF. The lefty-swinging Jones will play against most RHP.
June 16: at Cincinnati 8-1 W. WP-Pepiot (5-4, 5 3 0 0 3 4). HR-Rutschman 2 (16), Paredes (12), Caminero (11). The Rays blitzed the Reds, scoring in 6 of the 9 innings with Rutschman leading the way with 3 hits including a pair of solo homers.
Brock Jones was 1-4 in his MLB debut.
June 17: at Cincinnati 9-7 W. WP-J.Lopez (3-0). S-Bautista (17). Starter-Rock (4.2 5 5 5 4 5, 3 HR). HR-C.Williams (6), Mead (8), T.Hernandez (16). This was one of those games where the Rays kept taking decent-sized leads (4-0, 6-2, 9-5) and Cincinnati kept coming back. Williams and Teoscar each had 3-run homers, with the latter's the difference.
June 18: at Cincinnati 3-4 L. LP-McClanahan (4-7, 4.2 4 4 3 3 7). Rays could have used some of the offense of the previous two nights while Mac was off his game today.
June 19: Off-Day.
June 20: vs Minnesota 4-0 W. I'll let the box score tell the big story:
One of the rare Rays no-hitters in all my saves and of course the first one in this one. Springs had really been pitching well of late and today he put it all together.
Josh Lowe preserved the no-no with a sliding catch in right in the 9th after he entered as a defensive replacement. Springs' gem overshadowed a big night for
Brock Jones, who hit his first MLB homer as part of a 2-3 day at the plate.
June 21: vs Minnesota 3-2 W. WP-Adam (2-2). S-Bautista (18). Starter-Bradley (6 5 1 1 2 10). HR-Yandy Diaz (9), Paredes (13). Taj was dominant but the Rays didn't break through against Jordan Montgomery until after Bradley was out of the game with Paredes' solo shot breaking a 1-1 tie in the 7th.
June 22: vs Minnesota 5-2 W. WP-Pepiot (6-4, 7 2 1 1 1 11). S-Bautista (19). HR-Caminero (13). Pepiot pitched probably his best game as a Ray and Caminero's 3-run homer in a 4-run 3rd was the big blow.
Team record: 44-28. The Rays are now playing .611 ball, went 5-1 for the week and sport the 2nd best record in MLB. Of course all that gets them is second place in the AL East but at least they shaved a game and a half off Baltimore's lead and trail the birds by 3 games. Next week: Toronto visits for 3 games and after an off-day we have a return date for 3 with the Twins, this time in Minnesota.
Players of the Week:
AL: Jackson Holliday (BAL), 13-24, 3 HR, 7 RBI
NL: Yoan Moncada (PHI), 15-29, 2 HR, 6 RBI
MLB News: Angels 3B Anthony Rendon, whose career has been plagued by injuries since landing in Anaheim, announced his retirement effective at the end of the season. Also former Ray and current Pirate Aaron Civale tore his labrum and is done for the season.