Game 1: The Rays jumped to an 8-0 lead by the 3rd and went on to blast Baltimore 14-2 to open their series at Camden Yards. Jayden Woodard had a career game, going 3-4 with a double, homer (#6) and 5 RBI, backup C Alex Gonzalez was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI and Henry Dominguez went 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI to lead the attack. That made things easy for Elijah Whitaker (9-4), who cruised and 6 4 2 2 2 5 while Joe Rose went the final 3 for his first save.
Time for another big trade:
As alluded to in the midseason review above catcher was the one area earmarked for improvement given Dave Gonzalez's defensive issues (and relative lack of hitting) and we addressed that emphatically by acquiring Rivera, a very good all-around catcher. He's not a superstar but he's an excellent defensive catcher and one of the best framers in the league, and has a decent bat for the position, usually good for .250 with 15 HR and that's about where he was this mid-season (.253 & 8 HR). The pitching staff should get an upgrade with his receiving. Rivera's a rental, and we sent a grab-bag of prospects to Indy for him with Snorton the best of the lot, a 3rd round pick in 2054 who has borderline starter/4th OF potential while the 32-year-old Estudillo is the Cuban we signed in the offseason who was excelling with Durham but is a 4th/5th starter at best. The other two are relievers. To make room on the active roster Terry Jackson was sent back to Durham so we'll carry 3 catchers although Dave will serve primarily as a bench bat and occasional DH. Durham OF Ethan Windom was DFA'd to make room for Rivera on the 42-man roster.
Game 2: A much tighter game but the result was the same as Tampa Bay topped the Orioles 4-2. Ryan Rivera made his Rays debut behind the plate (0-3 with a walk at it) and Jorge Barraza (7-8) must have liked working with him as Barraza went 6 3 1 1 2 4 for the win while Jake Cid got the final four outs for his 5th save. Jesus Avalos and Joel Bland each had 3 hits and an RBI to lead the bats with Bland doubling twice.
Game 3: Over the years the Rays have relied on Dave Rose to pick them up whenever they needed a win so it was only right that the offense picked up Rose when he had a bad day as Tampa Bay completed the sweep of Baltimore and made it 10 wins in their last 11, coming out on top in a 12-7 slugfest. A 6-run 4th turned things around for the Rays as they turned a 3-1 deficit into a 7-3 lead they never relinquished. Alex Brown's RBI double and Joel Bland's 3-run homer (#10) were the big blows in the frame and Jesus Avalos capped it with a solo shot (#24). New catcher Ryan Rivera got into the act with a 5th-inning bases-empty blast (#1/9) and Rodrigo Aponte capped a 3-RBI with a 2-run swat (#6). Rose (12-2) meanwhile had far from his best stuff and finished with an ugly 5 10 5 5 0 6, 2HR line but still earned the win thanks to his teammates.
Team record: 56-29. The lead is up to 5 1/2 on the Yankees. Next up: The road takes us to Oakland for 3.