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Art Deco · 04-23-2025, 10:04 PM

Yet another series the Rays could have swept if not for their late-inning bullpen problems; instead they settle for two of three.

Transactions: Tony Fisher and Leo Gutierrez went on the 10 and 15-day ILs respectively with Fisher due back once his time is up while Gutierrez will miss 6 weeks. Ines Monts, up last September, takes Fisher's spot while Moises Baca will move into the rotation and Danny Mauricio, part of pen the last few years, is up from Durham.

Speaking of their bullpen they had to keep outscoring it in the opener, eventually prevailing 11-7 in a wild one at Minnesota. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead only to see the Twins pull within 5-4 when Chris Ericson (1-2) ran out of gas and Ken Battle threw some on the fire, although he still got his first win after going 5.1 3 3 3 1 2. Then after scoring 3 and going up 8-4 Jon Coggin gave up 3 runs in the 8th to make it 8-7 before they finally tacked on 3 in the 9th to put it away. The offense was buoyed by five homers, including a pair from Danny Perez (#9 & 10) who drove in 4 with Frank Duron (#5), Jeremy Begley (#8) and John Lopez (#2) also going yard. Lopez also doubled and drove in 3 on the night.

Danny Arroyave was the hero for the Rays in the second game as his 2-run 8th-inning homer (#9) broke a 2-2 tie and gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 win over the Twins. Danny Morales started and pitched well but probably shouldn't have come out for the 7th as he gave up a leadoff homer that let Minnesota equalize. As a result he finished 6 3 2 2 1 10. Instead the win went to Walt Kelly (3-1) and Eric Lewis pitched around a walk for save #7. John Lopez was 2-4 with a 2-run double for the other Rays runs.

The Rays offense went largely AWOL in the finale but if not for another blown Eric Lewis save they could have won 2-1. Instead Lewis gave up his 7th(!) homer in 11 IP this year to let the Twins tie it in the 9th and we slogged on for 8 more innings before Chad Montgomery (0-1) gave up a 3-run homer in his 4th inning of work to let Minnesota win 5-2 in 17. Lewis was only attempting to close things out because Walt Kelly had pitched the previous two nights but Kelly is now officially the closer after Lewis blew his 4th save of the young season. Of course had the bats done more it might not have been an issue tonight but as it was they wasted another outstanding Ruben Cerrillo start (8 6 1 1 1 6 - probably should have brought him out for the 9th but he was at 101 pitches). The Rays' two runs came on solo homers from Ines Monts (#1) and Danny Arroyave (#10).

Team record: 24-9, 6 games up on the Yankees. Next up: Back home finally for 3 against KC after playing 22 of the last 26 on the road. Believe it or not after that series were on the road again, but this time for only 3 games before starting a proper homestand.

Rays News: We sent reigning AL Rookie of the Year Danny Rodriguez on a rehab assignment after he broke his collarbone two games into the season and he should only need a couple of games at Durham.

04-23-2025, 10:04 PM	#1528
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,126	May 6-8, 2039: at Minnesota (3) Yet another series the Rays could have swept if not for their late-inning bullpen problems; instead they settle for two of three. Transactions: Tony Fisher and Leo Gutierrez went on the 10 and 15-day ILs respectively with Fisher due back once his time is up while Gutierrez will miss 6 weeks. Ines Monts, up last September, takes Fisher's spot while Moises Baca will move into the rotation and Danny Mauricio, part of pen the last few years, is up from Durham. Speaking of their bullpen they had to keep outscoring it in the opener, eventually prevailing 11-7 in a wild one at Minnesota. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead only to see the Twins pull within 5-4 when Chris Ericson (1-2) ran out of gas and Ken Battle threw some on the fire, although he still got his first win after going 5.1 3 3 3 1 2. Then after scoring 3 and going up 8-4 Jon Coggin gave up 3 runs in the 8th to make it 8-7 before they finally tacked on 3 in the 9th to put it away. The offense was buoyed by five homers, including a pair from Danny Perez (#9 & 10) who drove in 4 with Frank Duron (#5), Jeremy Begley (#8) and John Lopez (#2) also going yard. Lopez also doubled and drove in 3 on the night. Danny Arroyave was the hero for the Rays in the second game as his 2-run 8th-inning homer (#9) broke a 2-2 tie and gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 win over the Twins. Danny Morales started and pitched well but probably shouldn't have come out for the 7th as he gave up a leadoff homer that let Minnesota equalize. As a result he finished 6 3 2 2 1 10. Instead the win went to Walt Kelly (3-1) and Eric Lewis pitched around a walk for save #7. John Lopez was 2-4 with a 2-run double for the other Rays runs. The Rays offense went largely AWOL in the finale but if not for another blown Eric Lewis save they could have won 2-1. Instead Lewis gave up his 7th(!) homer in 11 IP this year to let the Twins tie it in the 9th and we slogged on for 8 more innings before Chad Montgomery (0-1) gave up a 3-run homer in his 4th inning of work to let Minnesota win 5-2 in 17. Lewis was only attempting to close things out because Walt Kelly had pitched the previous two nights but Kelly is now officially the closer after Lewis blew his 4th save of the young season. Of course had the bats done more it might not have been an issue tonight but as it was they wasted another outstanding Ruben Cerrillo start (8 6 1 1 1 6 - probably should have brought him out for the 9th but he was at 101 pitches). The Rays' two runs came on solo homers from Ines Monts (#1) and Danny Arroyave (#10). Team record: 24-9, 6 games up on the Yankees. Next up: Back home finally for 3 against KC after playing 22 of the last 26 on the road. Believe it or not after that series were on the road again, but this time for only 3 games before starting a proper homestand. Rays News: We sent reigning AL Rookie of the Year Danny Rodriguez on a rehab assignment after he broke his collarbone two games into the season and he should only need a couple of games at Durham.