May 1: at Toronto 9-10 L. LP-Bautista (2-1). Starter-Gasser (4 9 4 4 2 1). HR-Westburg (3), Cermak (5). A back-and-forth game was undone by bad Rays pitching. A 2-run double by Campusano in the 9th tied it up but Bautista, who had given up Vlad Jr's 2nd homer of the game in the 8th, gave up one to Alex Canario to lose it, Toronto's 5th of the day.
May 2: at Toronto 6-8 L. LP-H.Smith (3-2, 3 5 6 6 4 4, 2 HR). HR-Westburg (4). More of the same only without the late-inning heartbreak. Smith has had a real problem with the longball this year, allowing 11 in only 41 IP. Kjerstad had 4 RBI in the losing cause.
Transaction: P
Luis Contreras was DFA'd and P
Jacob Misiorowski is called up from Durham where he had 7 saves and 13K in 8IP. He has 80 stuff but 35 control so no guarantee he's better than Contreras, who had a 7.62 ERA in 13 IP.
May 3: at Toronto 2-6 L. LP-Bradley (5-1, 4.2 8 4 4 1 6). HR-Caminero (12). More misery in Toronto as the Rays dropped their fifth straight game.
May 4: at Toronto 2-0 W. WP-Pepiot (4-2, 9 2 0 0 0 7). HR-Isaac (10). The Rays ended their losing streak in grand fashion as Pepiot pitched a complete-game shutout and it wasn't just any shutout:
And he had to do it with the most slender of leads - Campusano's RBI single in the 2nd was the only run until Isaac's 3rd hit of the day, a solo homer in the 9th.
May 5: vs Kansas City 10-6 W. WP-Horton (2-1, 6.1 6 4 4 1 4). HR-Isaac (11), P.Meadows (2), J.Lowe (4). Rays scored 5 in the 6th (including Lowe's 3-run homer) to go up 10-2 and despite KC getting 4 in the 7th they took the win. All 9 batters in the lineup had at least one hit and 8 scored a run.
May 6: vs Kansas City 7-6 W (10). WP-Bautista (3-1). Starter-Gasser (5 3 4 4 1 4). HR-Cermak (6). A thrilling win as the Rays trailed 5-3 going to the bottom of the 9th before scoring twice to tie, and after KC got the ghost runner home in the 10th, Isaac doubled in the one for the Rays and Morel singled him home for the winner. Cermak was 3-5 with a homer and 2 RBI.
May 7: vs Kansas City 4-1 W. WP-M.Rodriguez (1-0). S-Bautista (6). Starter-H.Smith (5.2 6 1 1 0 9). HR-Kjerstad (1), Morel (8). Rays completed the sweep thanks to a great outing from Smith and Cermak's RBI single in the 6th which put them ahead to stay.
Team record: 22-14, tied with Boston atop the AL East. Next week: Off Monday then Seattle visits for 3 before we play those Red Sox at Fenway for 3 more.
Players of the Week:
AL: Charlie Condon (CLE), 8-22, 3 HR, 9 RBI
NL: Jordan Walker (STL), 14-26, 5 HR, 11 RBI
MLB News: Mets superstar Juan Soto hit career homer #300.