June 12: at Cleveland 3-4 L. LP-Robertson (1-3). Starter-Pepiot (5 5 2 2 2 3). Rays found yet another way to lose with Robertson giving up 2 runs in the 8th to turn a potential 3-2 win into an actual 4-3 loss.
June 13: at Cleveland 1-2 L. LP-McMillon (0-1). Starter-Horton (5.1 3 1 1 3 6). HR-Mead (3). The losing streak reached 7 with another game getting away from Tampa Bay in the 8th as Campusano's throwing error on an SB attempt led to the winner scoring, wasting perhaps Horton's best start of the season. Of course one run on five hits isn't exactly a recipe for winning either.
June 14: at Cleveland 8-5 W. WP-Gasser (5-5, 6 4 4 4 3 5, 3 HR). HR-Cermak (13), Morel (12), Caminero (20). A win? In this economy? A monster game from Junior, who had a 2-run double, an RBI double and a 2-run homer to lead the Rays to a rare victory these days. They even got a scoreless inning from Scott.
June 15: at Cleveland 3-5 L. LP-H.Smith (4-6, 4 6 3 3 4 3, 2 HR). HR-J.Lowe (9). Normal (losing) service resumed, as Smith's rookie season is starting to look like a fluke. Big game from J.Lowe (a double short of a cycle) went to waste. To make matters worse
Carson Williams broke an ankle and is done for the season.
With the Williams injury a serious blow to a season already teetering on the brink, we made a big trade to fill his shoes:
And it's a "big" trade as well for the 6'7" Cruz. He's a free agent at season's end (which is fine for us since we need a replacement for just the rest of the year) and was having a good walk year with St. Louis (299/393/500 with 10 HR). In return they get Jones, who hit 33 homers for us over the previous two seasons in part-time play (567 AB total) but who fell out of favor and was stuck at Durham this year. As our AGM noted, it should be a steal for us.
June 16: at Baltimore 3-4 L. LP-Bradley (8-4, 4.2 10 4 4 3 4). The Ls keep piling up as the Rays dropped their 9th in the last 10 games; at least most of them have been close but right now it's little consolation. O.Cruz had an RBI triple and scored in his Tampa Bay debut as the team sinks to .500.
June 17: at Baltimore 6-4 W. WP-Pepiot (7-4, 6 4 2 2 2 7). S-Bautista (11). HR-P.Meadows (3). A win for a change with a fine game from Pepiot and a big 2-run homer in the 8th from Meadows, who had been in a deep slump and was well below the Mendoza Line (up to .172 after the dinger). J.Lowe was 4-5 with 2 doubles, a steal and an RBI.
June 18: at Baltimore 4-7 L. LP-Horton (4-4, 5 7 4 4 0 7, 3 HR). HR-Cermak (14), Isaac (21), Kjerstad (5). Rays pitching gave up 4 more homers today - 3 from Horton and a key 3-run shot allowed by Robertson as they closed another miserable week with a loss and fell back to .500. The homers allowed have been the story of this nightmarish June as the team is now 13th in the AL in longballs yielded.
Team record: 37-37, now 2 out of the third wild card and in sixth place overall in that race. Next week: An off-day then a week at home with 3 against Toronto and Washington.
Players of the Week:
AL: Brooks Lee (MIN), 11-26, 3 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Manny Machado (SD), 12-20, 4 HR, 7 RBI
MLB News: Some milestones as Atlanta's Edwin Diaz recorded career save #300 and Houston's Joey Gallo, still active in this timeline, hit his 300th career homer.