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June 26-July 2, 2028
June 26: Off-Day.
June 27: at Philadelphia 2-4 L. LP-Maldonado (2-4). Starter-H.Smith (1.1 1 0 0 0 1). HR-Caminero (21). A tough loss as Caminero's 2-run homer in the 8th to tie was answered by Philly in the bottom of the 9th when Mickey Moniak hit a 2-run walk-off shot off Maldonado. Smith strained his back in the 2nd inning and will miss 3 weeks.
Transaction: Hagen Smith goes on the IL and Jacob Misiorowski is recalled from Durham, we're looking at promoting Jessie McGee when we need a starter on Sunday when Smith's turn comes up.
June 28: at Philadelphia 2-0 W. WP-McMillon (2-1). S-Bautista (13). Starter-Bradley (6.1 5 0 0 1 5). Rays turned the tables on Philly by scoring twice in the 9th to win. Morel walked with the sacks full and the red-hot Westburg added an RBI single to ensure a great start from Taj didn't go for naught.
June 29: at NY Yankees 7-0 W. WP-Pepiot (9-4, 5 1 0 0 5 7). S-Baumeister (1). HR-Westburg (9), Isaac (23), P.Meadows (4). Rays got their second straight shutout as Pepiot and Baumeister (4 3 0 0 0 5) combined on a 4-hitter. Westburg remained blazing, going 3-5 with a homer and 2 RBI.
June 30: at NY Yankees 8-1 W. WP-Horton (6-4, 6 3 1 1 3 5). S-Misiorowski (1). Another romp over the hapless Yankees, now 33-50 and the subject of back-page laments by the New York press. Cermak led the way, going 3-4 with 3 RBI while Horton was excellent and Misiorowski got the team's second straight 3+ inning save.
July 1: at NY Yankees 4-3 W (11). WP-Bautista (4-2). S-McMillon (1). Starter-Gasser (4.2 6 2 2 3 5). HR-Westburg (10). Westburg's solo homer with two out in the 9th tied it and Mead's 4th hit of the game, an RBI single in the 11th, won it. Westburg was on all six times today with a single, homer, HBP and 3 walks.
Transaction: Last year's 1st-round pick Jessie McGee completes his rapid ascension to the bigs as he gets the call to start the series finale at Yankee Stadium. Misiorowski is optioned back to Durham.
July 2: at NY Yankees 4-3 W (10). WP-Maldonado (3-4). S-Bautista (14). Starter-McGee (5 7 3 3 1 5). HR-Mead (4), Heim (6). In the previous post I noted the Rays' horrendous road record and stated they'd need to improve on it to get back into playoff contention, and sure enough they went 5-1 this week on their travels culminating in a 4-game sweep at Yankee Stadium. McGee had a mixed bag in his MLB debut, fanning the first two men he faced before getting a dose of reality when Aaron Judge took him deep. He gave up a couple more in the 4th but acquitted himself decently. As for the rest of the game, solo homers by Mead and Heim in the 7th tied the game up and then Heim drove home the ghost runner in the 10th to win it.
Team record: 47-39. Seemingly yesterday they were stuck at .500 and now after a couple of good weeks they're now 8 above and in the third wild card, 1/2 game up on Oakland. Next week: A day off then a return home to play 3 against the Cubs and 3 vs Baltimore.
Players of the Week:
AL: Tyrone Taylor (TEX), 10-22, 2 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Mookie Betts (LA), 11-22, 2 HR, 6 RBI
Players of the Month (June):
AL Batter: Colton Cowser (BAL), .379-6-18
NL Batter: Josh Naylor (SF), .321-10-21
AL Pitcher: Matt Brash (SEA), 5-0, 0.83, 45 K in 32.2 IP
NL Pitcher: Xzavion Curry (ARI), 4-0, 3.31, 34 K in 32.2 IP
AL Rookie: Kisuke Sugiyama (HOU), .298-7-12 (.474 OBP)
NL Rookie: Jansel Luis (ARI), .307-4-17
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