April 26: vs Detroit 3-12 L. LP-Pepiot (2-3, 3.1 6 8 6 5 2). HR-Kjerstad (3). Rays returned home with a hangover from the road as they were trounced by the Tigers with Pepiot particularly ugly today.
April 27: vs Detroit 9-10 L. LP-Contreras (0-1). Starter-H.Smith (3.2 8 7 7 0 7, 2 HR). HR-Morel 2 (9), Isaac (7). Smith was due for a correction after putting up an 0.72 ERA through his first 4 starts but this was a bit much. He actually was up 5-0 after 3 before imploding in the 4th and although the Rays came back to tie it a 9 on a 3-run Isaac homer in the 6th they gave up the losing run in the 7th. Morel homered in the 2nd and 3rd, driving in 3.
April 28: at Detroit 2-3 L. LP-Robertson (2-1). Starter-McClanahan (5.1 3 1 1 3 8). The good news is that they pitched well (except for Robertson) for a change but the bad news is that they were swept by Detroit and have now lost 4 in a row after a 17-5 start. Robertson gave up Jace Jung's 2nd homer of the game, a 2-run shot in the 8th, to lose it while the bats only managed four hits.
April 29: Off-Day.
The lack of a quality setup man in front of
Felix Bautista has been an ongoing problem as seen the night before, so we made a deal to hopefully remedy that:
We got a pretty good one in "The Airbender" as Williams still boasts 80 stuff and was closing for Houston with 5 saves so far. Houston was desperate to deal him, paying 60% of his salary and only getting a mid-level (2.5 star) prospect in Moreno.
Jacob Lopez was optioned to Durham to make room.
April 30: at Chicago White Sox 4-5 L. LP-Bradley (3-1, 7 5 5 5 1 6). Once again a lead was lost, they came back to tie, and then gave up the go-ahead run to lose as Bradley gave up his 2nd homer of the game in the 7th to Ivan Herrera which was the difference as the losing streak hits 5 games.
May 1: at Chicago White Sox 1-3 L. LP-Gasser (2-2, 5 4 3 3 5 6). That's 6 straight defeats now and today's was extremely frustrating as they continually put men on base only to strand them, 11 LOB in total.
May 2: at Chicago White Sox 5-2 W. WP-Pepiot (3-3, 5 3 2 2 3 6). S-Bautista (3). HR-Isaac (8). Isaac's 3-run homer in the 6th off former Ray Zac Eflin turned around a 2-1 deficit and mercifully ended the Rays' losing streak.
Team record: 18-11. Now tied for first with the Yankees. Next week: Interleague play with 3 in Milwaukee followed by 3 at home against the Mets following an off-day.
Players of the Month (April):
AL Batter: Wyatt Langford (TEX), .350-7-27
NL Batter: Michael Harris II (ATL), .427-13-32 (yowza)
AL Pitcher: Ben Joyce (DET), 3-0, 1.26, 8 saves
NL Pitcher: Sem Robberse (WAS), 4-1, 1.36
AL Rookie: Luis Orta (BAL), 4-2, 2.97, 41K in 39IP
NL Rookie: Mason Adams (COL), 2-1, 0.61 ERA, 1 SV
Players of the Week:
AL: Willy Adames (SEA), 10-23, 3 HR, 10 RBI
NL: Elly De La Cruz (CIN), 14-26, 5 HR, 11 RBI
MLB News: Arizona's Eugenio Suarez hit career homer #300.
Rays News:
Nick Bitsko, our #1 pick all the way back in 2020 who's battled arm problems, pitched a 12-K no-hitter for AA Montgomery. He's rated 50/50/40
potential, so his MLB prospects aren't that rosy. Also his teammate C
Dominic Keegan, who was taken in the Rule 5 Draft and returned to us, was the SL Player of the Week, going 7-12 with 3 HR and 6 RBI before hitting the IL with a bruised thigh.