The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Danny Ayala broke up a pitchers' duel in the 8th and Josh Carsello went the distance in a 4-1 win in Seattle. With the score 1-1 and two out in the top of the 8th, Ayala went deep with a man on (#10) to make it 3-1, and Mike McKee added a solo shot in the 9th off ex-Ray Tony Rey, his 3rd. Carsello meanwhile snapped out of his recent slump by going 9 7 1 1 1 5 on 115 pitches in a rare complete game (he had one in each of his previous two seasons) and is now 2-3, 4.42.

Game 2: The Rays had to win tonight's game twice as they prevailed 8-4 thanks to 4 runs in the 9th. They had built a 4-2 lead for Danny Romero on a couple of Danny Ayala RBI singles, but after Romero left with a solid 6 5 2 2 3 9 performance Mike Wherry served up a game-tying 2-run homer to former Ray Michael Valdez in the 7th. But the Rays loaded the bases in the 9th and Omar Rodriguez's sac fly brought home the winning run and for good measure Ayala blasted a 3-run homer (#11) to cap a 5-RBI day and give him a ridiculous 6 HR and 17 RBI in his last 5 games. Damani Cotton went the final two innings for his 2nd win of the season. It wasn't all roses and sunshine though as Bo Angeac separated his shoulder diving into third base and will be out a month.

May 12: Placed 3B Bo Angeac on the 10-day IL with a separated shoulder, purchased the contract of IF Quincy Siegle from AAA Durham.

Sigele was acquired in a minor league deal a couple of winters ago and is an interesting guy. He has prodigious power (75 rated for MLB), iffy contact (45), and while he can play all the infield positions, he's 40-45 at them. He had 28 HR last year (mostly at Montgomery) and had 7 in 89 AB with Durham this year. Nominally he's a switch-hitter but his ratings are significantly poorer against LHP.

Game 3: We continue our trend of losing series finales, and also the trend of improbably coming back to tie them only to lose in the bottom of the inning as Mike Wherry served up a homer in the 9th to allow Seattle a 5-4 walk-off win. The bats were held in check going into the top of the 9th and the Rays trailed 4-1. Enter good ol' Tony Rey, who struggled for us last season but now is Seattle's closer (with 12 saves already, go figure). Rey allowed one man to reach but got 2 out before Jaiden Hardaway singled to bring the tying run to the plate in Daniel Malone and that's exactly what Malone did with a 3-run shot (#2), confirming it's still the Tony Rey we remember. But Wherry made him a winner when he gave up a one-out homer to Mike Hurst. Tim Gates started and pitched well for the most part, except for one very unfortunate sequence where he allowed a pair of 2-run homers in the 4th, finishing 7 4 4 4 1 10.

Team record: 23-10. Next up: An off-day then we return home to face Oakland for 3.

[Art Deco]

May 14: Activated P Ken Burgess from the 10-day IL, optioned P Steve Beaver to AAA Durham.

Game 1: What started out like a comfortable Rays win with a 5-1 lead going into the 7th turned into a nailbiter as some shaky bullpenning meant Tampa Bay had to hang on for a 7-6 win. The Rays jumped on Oakland ace Alex Santamaria for 4 runs in the 1st, and Omar Rodriguez took him deep in the 4th (#6) to end his day. Ron Adams was rolling and all looked well. But Adams started to run out of gas in the 7th and left with two on and one in. Chris Toombs took over, and gave up a pair of RBI singles to allow the A's within 5-4. Devin Boatman delivered a 2-run double in the bottom of the inning to give the Rays some breathing room, but Mike Wherry gave those runs back in the 8th, necessitating Kikuo Kawase to come in and get a 5-out save, which he did for #8 on a relatively efficient 24 pitches. Thanks to the inherited runners scoring, Adams finished 6.1 7 4 4 1 10 but still improved to 5-0.

Game 2: Things did not look great early for the Rays today, as Jeremy Curtis had to leave in the 1st inning with a minor hamstring tweak and Kevin Kerstetter put them in a 3-0 hole. But Omar Rodriguez got them even with a 3-run homer in the 5th (#7) and they went on to beat the A's 9-3. Oakland started tough righty Mitch Pritchett (not the Modern Family guy) and he held them in check through 4 but Rays hitters were patient, forcing him to throw 91 pitches and leading to his removal one batter into the 5th. This enabled them to feast on the Oakland pen, and after O-Rod's homer the Rays got 3 more in the 6th including another big 2-run double from Devin Boatman who's hitting much better this time around than he did last year (.423 in 26 AB better). Jaiden Hardaway added a 2-run triple in the 8th, and pitching 2 innings in middle relief for Oakland was none other than former Rays slugger Rodolfo Rivas, who still has pitching skills and whom we used a few times in relief. He only allowed one run and that was a man he left on base. Meanwhile after Kerstetter went 4 2/3 allowing the 3 runs, Vinny Willard came in and went the rest of the way going 4 1 0 0 0 5 and earning his 2nd win of the season.

Game 3: Tampa Bay broke their pattern of losing series finales and completed the sweep with a 4-2 win over Oakland with Kevin Morley delivering the game's biggest hit, a 4th-inning RBI double that put the Rays ahead to stay and some solid pitching did the rest. Josh Carsello started and was effective if inefficient, going 5 4 2 1 2 8 on 106 pitches but improving to 3-3, 4.12 as he tries to put a rough patch behind him. The pen turned in 4 1-hit innings with Damani Cotton going 2, Mike Wherry bouncing back with a solid 8th, and Kikuo Kawase getting the A's in order for save #9. Jim Gebers hit his 10th HR in the 2nd, a solo shot, and Omar Rodriguez went 4-for-4.

Team record: 26-10. Next up: Our homestand was only a 3-game series so it's back on the road to Toronto where we'll play 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The bats couldn't generate much and the pitching held out until the 9th when Toronto walked it off in a 3-2 loss at Rogers Centre. Mike McKee and Jon Jimenez had RBI singles and Danny Romero pitched well against the all-righty Toronto lineup (6 4 2 2 3 4), as did Ken Burgess (2 perfect innings). But Mike Wherry didn't, and he gave up a 2-out single in the 9th for the Jays to win it.

Game 2: Another uninspiring performance as the Rays drop their second straight to Toronto 6-2. Tim Gates, who as a righty normally matches up better against the Jays lineup, was tattooed for 6 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings, but at least we got to witness a dominant long relief performance from rookie Jose Mendoza, who went 4 1 0 0 0 7 the rest of the way. Jim Gebers and Daniel Vasquez had RBI doubles but 2 runs/game isn't going to cut it.

Game 3: The Rays hit back with a vengeance today after dropping the first two games of this series, clubbing 6 homers in a 12-5 rout of the Jays. Leading the homer parade was Daniel Vasquez, who hit 3 of 'em and drove in 5 runs on the day, tying the club single-game record and giving him 8 for the year. Jaiden Hardaway set the tone by leading off the game with a blast to center and he added one later in the game to double his season total to 4. And Jon Jimenez, who came in with an anemic 1 HR and 12 RBI, went deep as part of a 3-hit day. Jeremy Curtis had some early struggles and fell behind 3-2, but hung in there to go 6 9 4 3 0 7 and improve to 3-1, 2.84 while Billy Hoyte, who had 4 2/3 innings of work all year, went the final 3 for his first save.

Team record: 27-12. Next up: An off-day then 3 games in Detroit.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays destroyed Detroit tonight 12-2 behind a barrage of homers. Danny Ayala continued to add to his AL HR lead and MLB RBI lead by belting #12 and driving in runs 43 and 44 with a 2-run homer in the 5th to break a 2-2 tie, and Daniel Vasquez followed later in the inning with #9. Mike McKee broke the game open with a 3-run shot (#4) in the 7th and for good measure Jon Jimenez blasted a 3-run jack off former Rays closer Jordan Diaz in the 9th, his 3rd. Ron Adams did his usual thing, going 7 6 2 2 1 6 to improve to 6-0, 3.59, and Chris Toombs fanned 6 over the final 2 innings.

Game 2: The ball was flying out of Comerica Park again and the Rays came away with a 12-9 win that wasn't really that close (Detroit scored 5 times in the 9th). Danny Ayala had a 2-run single to kick-start the offense in the 1st and Quincy Siegle's first MLB hit was a 2-run shot to dead center in the 3rd as the Rays built an early 6-2 lead. They kept tacking on, with Jim Gebers (#11), Kevin Morley (#5, a 3-run shot) and Omar Rodriguez (#8) going yard. Josh Carsello (4-3) started and was credited with the win, although his 5 3 4 4 6 5 line with 2 homers allowed was the full Carsello Experience. Vinny Willard threw 3 scoreless but probably shouldn't have come out for a fourth; he loaded the bases and Jose Mendoza came in and promptly walked in a run then yielded a grand slam to make the scoreline respectable for the Tigers.

Game 3: The Rays suffered through their all-too-typical Game 3 blues on the road and lost 6-5 to Detroit, falling behind 6-0 into the 8th before making a late comeback attempt which just fell short. Danny Romero was hit for a surprising 4 runs in the 2nd, and although he was OK from there he ended 5 6 4 4 3 5. Kevin Kerstetter wasn't sharp again in middle relief, giving up two more runs including the 2nd homer of the day from former Ray Luis Berdin, which turned out to be the difference later. Mike McKee had a 2-run double in a 3-run 8th, and they scored twice more in the 9th with Jon Jimenez's second straight RBI single cutting the deficit to one. But pinch-hitter Jimmy Leonard grounded out, and Tampa Bay would have to settle for 2 out of 3.

Team record: 29-13. Next up: 2 games in Columbus as part of our annual home-and-away with them, a relic of when they were once the Marlins.

[Art Deco]

May 24: Activated SS Jeff Baez from the 10-day IL and P Jeff Reece from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham; optioned IF Quincy Siegle and P Jose Mendoza to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays were reunited with their long-time catcher Will Quintana, and he used his knowledge of Tim Gates' repertoire to blast a 2-run homer to help Columbus beat the Rays 5-4. Gates surrendered a total of 3 longballs and the final one broke a 4-4 tie in the 6th as he finished 5.2 9 5 5 1 4 and dropped his second straight start, tripling the number of losses he's suffered as a Ray. Offensively they did a good job of fighting back against 2-time reigning NL Cy Young winner Josh Doyle, with Jon Jimenez, Omar Rodriguez and Danny Ayala each getting 2 hits and an RBI.

Game 2: The Rays came back late to salvage a split of the 2-game mini-series win a 3-2 win over the Lightning. Jeff Baez singled in the winning run in the top of the 8th after Omar Rodriguez delivered a 2-run double in the 7th to tie the game. Tampa Bay got a strong start from Jeremy Curtis, who overcame allowing a 2-run homer in the 1st to finish 6 4 2 2 1 5 and keep his ERA at 2.86, while Ken Burgess picked up win #2 in relief and Kikuo Kawase struck out the side around a single for save #10.

Team record: 30-14. Next up: The Lightning accompany us back to Publix Park for 2 games there.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays took a comprehensive 11-3 win over Columbus at Publix Park today. Daniel Malone had the game's big hit, a grand slam in the 6th after the Lightning had crept back within 5-3. It was his 3rd homer of the year and he's off to a great start, among the AL batting leaders at 352/430/544 to go with 9 steals, on pace for 6 WAR despite playing about 2/3 of the time as he's in a semi job-share with Jimmy Leonard. Daniel Vasquez doubled and drove in a pair, and Mike McKee (#5) went back-to-back Malone and drove in another run. Ron Adams was dealing today until he fell apart in the 6th when he allowed all 3 runs in a 5.2 5 3 3 4 8 outing to go to 7-0, 3.70. Vinny Willard remains the king of long relief with another 3 1/3 1-hit scoreless innings for save #4.

Game 2: Josh Carsello had a horrible first inning, allowing 8 runs (2 earned) and although the Rays tried valiantly to come back it was too big a hole and they fell 11-7 to the Lightning. The reigning AL Cy Young winner just didn't have it today, although he would have been out of the inning with only 2 runs allowed if not for a 2-out Jeff Baez error. But it was mostly on Carsello, who couldn't get anyone out afterward and allowed 6 hits and 3 walks in his 2/3 of an inning outing. Jeff Reece went 3 1/3 hitless innings in relief, but Damani Cotton and Billy Hoyte combined to allow 4 more runs. Offensively Daniel Malone stayed hot with a 2-run homer (#4), Danny Ayala went yard (#13), and Baez tried his best to atone for the error by driving in 3 on a pair of hits.

Team record: 31-15. Next up: the Yankees visit for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: For 6 1/2 innings it was looking like one of those games as the Rays were being frustrated on offense with opportunities squandered while the Yankees held a 2-1 lead. But the bats erupted for 5 runs in the 7th before making an out and they went to a 7-2 win in the series opener. The spark came from the bottom third of the lineup where Jeff Hayes, Jeff Baez and Mike McKee combined to go 7-11 with 4 RBI, including Baez's first homer of the year. Jon Jimenez also had a big 2-run single in the 7th. Danny Romero started and pitched well after a rough first inning which saw both Yankee runs score, he finished 6 4 2 2 3 5 but missed a win by an inning. Instead it went to Chris Toombs, who stayed on to finish the game with 3 innings of 1-hit ball for his first win of the year.

Game 2: The Rays eked out a 3-2 win over the Yankees today at Publix Park, behind a strong start from Tim Gates and big homer from Omar Rodriguez. The reigning AL MVP blasted a 2-run shot in the 3rd to make it 3-2 Rays, his 9th, and that scoreline stood up for the final six innings. That was mainly thanks to Gates, who went 7 8 2 2 2 6 and improved to 5-2, 3.73 in a bounceback from his previous 3 starts which saw him allow 15 runs. Mike Wherry in the 8th and Kikuo Kawase in the 9th (for save #11) each had a perfect 2-whiff inning to close it out.

Game 3: A miracle finish at Publix Park as down to their last out of the game the Rays got a 2-run homer from Omar Rodriguez (#10) to take a 6-5 win over New York. The Rays came into the inning down 5-3 and Jeff Baez led off with a triple. Pinch-hitter Jimmy Leonard followed with a sac fly before Jaiden Hardaway walked and stole second. But Daniel Malone whiffed so O-Rod, who had earlier tripled in a run, was the last hope and for the second straight day he came through with the game-winning homer, this one substantially more dramatic. The rally papered over what was looking like another poor series finale as Jeremy got the short end of the Curtis vs Curtis matchup (the Yankees started Jimmy), getting hit to the tune of 4.1 8 5 5 3 3. The bullpen was excellent to keep them in it, with Jeff Reece going 2 2/3 scoreless and Vinny Willard pitching the final two innings for his third win.

Team record: 34-15. Next up: A midwest road trip starts with 3 games in Kansas City.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: A close game became a not-so-close game in the end as the Rays handled the Royals 9-2 at Kauffman Stadium. It was 2-2 in the 6th when Danny Ayala singled in a run and Daniel Malone singled in two more, and then Ayala had a 3-run homer (#14) in a 4-run 9th. Omar Rodriguez stayed hot with a 4-5, RBI night. Ron Adams started and went to 8-0, 3.64 behind a 6 5 2 2 4 10 performance as he leads the AL with 2.4 pitcher WAR with 2nd place at 1.7.





Interesting to see Adams get it despite a 4.03 ERA for the month. Also one of our best hitting prospects continues to rake:



Game 2: The Rays dropped a 4-2 decision to the Royals today as the offense was held in check and Royals scored twice off Ken Burgess in the 8th to break a 2-2 tie. Josh Carsello started and struggled early but settled in to finish 7 5 2 2 4 5 but Burgess was no relief in relief and got knocked around. Jaiden Hardaway was 2-4 with a steal and HR #5 but his teammates provided little else.

Game 3: The offense was largely stifled again today, but Jon Jimenez came through with a 2-run HR (#4) in the 8th to give the Rays a 3-2 win over the Royals. They only had 1 hit going into the 6th inning before Jaiden Hardaway doubled and scored on a Jimenez sac fly. That gave Danny Romero a 1-0 lead but he immediately surrendered a 2-run homer in the bottom of the frame and it looked like the Rays would drop another one. But Daniel Malone drew a two-out walk and stole second in the 8th and Jimenez came through with an opposite-field shot to left. Romero went 7 5 2 2 1 6 to improve to 5-2, 3.19, Vinny Willard took care of the 8th and Kikuo Kawase struck out the side in the 9th for save #12.

Team record: 36-16. Next up: 4 games in Minnesota and the Amateur Draft. The Twins are off to a horrid 14-39 start, and that's after they went on a decent run.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays jumped out to a 6-1 lead, watched the Twins crawl back to 6-4, and then put the game away late to triumph 9-4. They blasted 5 homers, including one to lead off the game from Jaiden Hardaway (#6), the first of his four hits on the night. Daniel Vasquez (a 2-run shot, #10), Jeff Baez (solo, #2) and Jim Gebers (solo, #12) extended the lead to 6-1, and later on Mike McGee hit #6 with the bases empty. Tim Gates started against his old team and picked up the win going 5.2 5 3 2 2 7 to up his record to 6-2, 3.68, and after Jeff Reece coughed up a 2-run homer to bring the Twins within 2, Chris Toombs calmed the waters with 2 perfect innings.

Some amusing MLB news:



Teammates last year with the Rays, hand-to-hand combatants this year with Houston and Arizona. Both are having great seasons with their new clubs, and Danny Medina, who also went over in that trade with the Astros, has been installed in the rotation and has pitched very well as Houston actually has a better record than we do (39-16) despite losing tonight.

Game 2: Jeremy Curtis took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and the Rays took care of Minnesota 6-3 at Target Field. Curtis wasn't working on a shutout as a Jeff Baez error in the 2nd led to a Twins run but it wasn't until Nestor Ramirez led off the 7th with a homer that he allowed a hit. He gave up another run in the inning and finished 6.2 3 3 2 1 5 to improve to 4-1, 3.38 and Kikuo Kawase picked a rare save (#13) in which he didn't whiff anyone, getting the Twins 1-2-3 on balls in play. Nobody homered for Tampa Bay tonight with the biggest hit being a 2-run Mike McKee single in the 6th which sparked a 3-run rally that made a 2-1 game into a 5-1 game. Daniel Vasquez was 2-4 with an RBI and Baez was 1-1 with 2 walks and a sac fly.

Game 3: The Twins were 14-41 coming into this game but came out of it 15-41 as they topped the Rays 5-3. Homers from Jon Jimenez (#5) and Kevin Morley (#6) helped give the Rays a 3-1 lead, but Ron Adams couldn't hold it, giving up a pair of homers including a 2-run shot in the 6th which put Minnesota ahead to stay. He finished 6 5 4 4 2 8 and suffered his first loss of the year, dropping to 8-1, 3.84. Jeff Reece was terrible again out of the pen, giving up a run and 3 hits on only 6 pitches before being yanked.

MLB News: 32-year-old journeyman lefty Chris Barnes tossed a no-hitter for San Diego tonight against Colorado, walking one and whiffing six on a tidy 94 pitches. He's actually having a good year at 5-2, 2.10.

Game 4: The Rays did not want to settle for a split with the lowly Twins, and avoided that fate as they broke open a close game with 5 runs over the final 3 innings to take a 9-3 win and 3 out of 4 in the series. Omar Rodriguez's 3-run 1st-inning homer (#11) stood up through 6 as Tampa Bay clung to a 3-2 lead. But Daniel Vasquez led off the 7th with HR #11 and Jon Jimenez chipped in a 2-run triple to give the Rays some breathing room, and Jaiden Hardaway capped a 3-4 day with a 2-run double in the 9th. Josh Carsello started and pitched well outside of a couple of solo homers to go 6 5 2 2 1 8 and improve to 5-4, 4.33 while Damani Cotton picked up his first save of the year with a 3-inning job, and he too allowed a solo homer.

Team record: 39-17. Next up: We head to the desert to play 3 in Arizona where we should be reuniting at some point with Eric Titcombe when he comes off his suspension. I'm predicting at least one homer from him in the series.

[Art Deco]

This year's class didn't seem as exciting as recent ones, and it was pitching-heavy as 15 of first 17 players off the board were starting pitchers. Here's who we got with our early picks:



Bookhart: A high-school lefty with potential 60 stuff per Metzler or 70 per OSA, a long-term project of course.

Adkins: Another high-schooler, from South Florida, who has the potential to be a pretty well-rounded hitter (per Metzler) or a low-average slugger (per OSA) in a rare case where the evaluations were significantly different.

Cobos: An Ohio prep SS who has potential to be at least average or better in all the hitting ratings with a good hit tool.

Sampson: A bat-first C out of high school who again doesn't project to have a real hitting weakness but needs to work on his receiving.

Chapman: Our first college pick, a starter from Ole Miss who is more of a groundballer than a flamethrower who should keep the ball in the park but how many bats he misses is the big question.

Ocasio: A high-school starter from California who doesn't throw that hard but has some command, a long-shot to help.

Jackson: An Indiana HS OF who has some power/gap potential but might not make enough contact.

[Art Deco]

June 7: Sent 3B Bo Angeac to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

Game 1: Arizona's flame-throwing righty Manny Garza fanned 9 Rays in 5 innings (and the Rays struck out 15 times in total) but Tampa Bay slugged 3 homers off him in a 4-2 win at Chase Field. Daniel Vasquez (#12) and Jon Jimenez (#6) had solo shots in the 2nd and 3rd before Omar Rodriguez took Garza deep with a man on for his 12th of the season in the 5th. Those were enough runs for Danny Romero, who was excellent today at 7 4 2 2 1 8 to improve to 6-2, 3.13. Kikuo Kawase made things interesting in the 9th by putting a couple of men on but recovered to strike out 3 for save #14.

Game 2: The Rays picked up another win behind strong pitching and timely hitting as they downed the Diamondbacks 5-0. Tim Gates tossed 6 shutout innings and improved to 7-2, 3.38, Mike Wherry got him out of a jam in the 7th and the recently-struggling Jeff Reece turned in two scoreless innings to complete the shutout. On offense the bats were beneficiaries of 9 walks to go with 8 hits but it wasn't until the 5th on Jaiden Hardaway's 2-out RBI single that they got on the board, and Daniel Vasquez gave them some separation with a 2-run 6th-inning double. Danny Ayala added HR #15 for good measure in the 7th.

Game 3: It's become a bit of a thing with the Rays dropping the final game of a series once again as they were bested in a wild one 8-7 by Arizona. It looked like a sweep was in offing when they put 4 up in the top of the first off Arizona ace Mario Rojo with a 2-run Omar Rodriguez triple the big hit. But Jeremy Curtis didn't have it, allowing the Diamondbacks to tie it in the bottom of the inning and needing 59 pitches just to record four outs before he gave way to Kevin Kerstetter. KK wasn't much better, allowing a pair of homers for Arizona to go up 7-4 but Jon Jimenez hit a 2-run shot (#7) to cut the lead to 7-6. Another run off Kerstetter made it 8-6 and Daniel Vasquez homered again (#13) to cut it back to one but they couldn't get any closer. Also my prediction of Eric Titcombe homering against us did not come to fruition.

Team record: 41-18. Next up: An off-day then we return home for the series of the season against the Houston Astros as it's a rare case in mid-June where someone has a better record than us but they do at 43-18 thanks to a couple of more games played. As for the guys we traded them, we won't be seeing Jim Golunski (out for the year), Danny Medina (out for a month) and Jon Soranno (suspended).

[Art Deco]

I'll start out by saying I was wrong about two things at the end of the previous post. The Astros lost Thursday night while the Rays were idle giving Tampa Bay the best record in MLB. And Jon Soranno's suspension ended in time for his start tonight against his former team.

June 11: Activated 3B Bo Angeac from his rehab assignment, optioned IF Devin Boatman to AAA Durham.

Game 1: Well the Astros do now have the best record in MLB again after beating the Rays in a bizarre 13-10 game. Ron Adams started for the Rays and Houston had his number, hitting 3 homers off him (after he had only allowed 6 all season) and after some terrible relief from Damani Cotton the Astros opened up an 11-1 lead in the 4th inning. But the Rays kept fighting back, knocking old friend Jon Soranno out of the game in the 4th after getting to him for 5 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks. Nevertheless they never got closer than three, as after they closed to within 11-8, Billy Hoyte gave up 2 in the 9th before the Rays answered with 2 in the bottom of the inning. Daniel Vasquez homered twice to give him 15 and knocked in 3, Daniel Malone was 2-4 with a 2-run homer (#5) and Mike McKee had a 2-run shot (#7) in the 9th. Adams finished with a horrific 2.1 8 8 8 2 3 line in losing his 2nd straight after starting 8-0 while Jeff Reece was at least a bright spot in relief, going 3 perfect innings with 6 whiffs.

Game 2: For the third straight game the Rays had to try and overcome a terrible start from their pitching staff, and for the first time in those three games they did so, coming away with an 8-7 win over the Astros in 14 innings. Coming in Josh Carsello looked like he'd gotten back in the groove with two excellent starts but that went out the window today when he gave up 4 in the 1st inning and 6 overall in a fill-up-the-box-score 5 4 6 6 5 9 outing. This left the Rays in a 6-2 hole going into the 6th, but a 3-run Jon Jimenez jack (#8) got Tampa Bay back in it, and after Vinny Willard gave up a run in the 7th on former Ray Gavin Lux's 3000th career hit, they tied it up on a Jimmy Leonard triple, a Mike McKee double (one of 4 hits on the day for him) and a Jaiden Hardaway single. And 7-7 is where we stood for 7 more innings with Kikuo Kawase and Chris Toombs each turning in 2 2/3 scoreless while the Rays had chance after chance in extras. Finally in the 14th Bo Angeac led off with his 2nd double and 4th hit of the day and Daniel Vasquez brought him home with a walk-off RBI single. Ken Burgess picked up the final out in the top of the 14th and was credited with win #3.

Game 3: After 3 straight bad starts which saw the bullpen pressed into early action on top of a 14-inning game yesterday it was almost a necessity that Danny Romero gave them a solid, lengthy outing today and that's exactly what he did with 7 strong innings in a 9-2 Rays romp. The lefty was a brilliant 7 4 2 1 1 8 on 110 pitches to improve to 7-2, 2.98 and Ken Burgess, the one reliever who wasn't showing in yellow as tired, went the final 2 innings and got all 6 outs via the K. Jaiden Hardaway led the offense with a 2-4, 3-RBI game as he's moved back into 1st in WAR in the AL and wants his customary MVP trophy back, Jeff Baez was 3-3 with a double and an RBI, and Jon Jimenez drove in a pair to lead the offense with Daniel Malone hitting the only Tampa Bay homer, a solo shot (#6).

Team record: 43-19, still the best in baseball. Next up: A much-welcomed off day to give the pen some more rest before Seattle visits for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Outside of Danny Romero starts, the Rays have had to constantly overcome shaky outings from their starters and today was no exception as Tim Gates gave up 3 in the first 3 innings. But overcome they did as they ground out a 7-5 win over Seattle at Publix Park. Gates' outing wasn't as terrible as some others recently (5 7 3 3 3 4) but he did put them in a 3-1 hole. Homers from Jeff Baez (#3) and Jim Gebers (#13) helped the Rays come back to tie, and a 4-run 6th featuring another big 2-run single from Jaiden Hardaway got them in front. Jeff Reece picked up the win with some excellent pitching, getting out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the 6th unscathed and pitching a clean 7th. Chris Toombs gave up his first runs of the year after 20 innings with a 2-run homer to former Rays prospect Ricky Loya in the 8th, but Kikuo Kawase nailed down save #15 despite putting a couple of runners on.

MLB News: The Cubs crushed Washington today 12-2 to make it 14 straight wins, and they currently have the 2nd best record in baseball at 45-20, percentage points behind the Rays' 44-19. Also the Padres have a 32-year-old middle reliever named Emanuel Sandino, a journeyman they picked up this year. What's notable about him? See below:



Somehow he's tied for the MLB lead in wins at 8, all have come in relief and he's only made 12 appearances. That's just downright bizarre.

Game 2: It was one of those nights as the Rays were blanked by Seattle ace Willie Valdez and fell 6-0 to the Mariners. Valdez held them 2 hits in 6 innings and they didn't have any success against the bullpen either. Jeremy Curtis pitched well (6 7 2 2 1 9) but Damani Cotton didn't and gave up in 4 runs in the 8th to allow Seattle to put the game away.

Game 3: Once again the Rays fought off a rough start and came back to down Seattle 9-4. Ron Adams gave up 4 runs through the first 5 innings and the Rays trailed 4-3 but it was no problem for the offense today. Adams ended up with the win going 6 7 4 4 1 8 to improve to 9-2 but with a bloated 4.81 ERA. Vinny Willard got another of his famous 3-inning saves (#5) with 4 whiffs in his scoreless effort. They hit four homers: Jaiden Hardaway (#7), Bo Angeac (#5), Omar Rodriguez (#13) and the biggest of all, a 2-run shot from Jon Jimenez in the 6th (#9, getting a rare start against a lefty) which put them ahead to stay 6-4. Angeac added an RBI double and Jeff Baez had a 2-run single.

Team record: 45-20. Next up: A rare visit from the San Francisco Giants for 3 over the weekend.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: San Francisco took it to the Rays in the series opener 9-2 as Josh Carsello's woes continue. The reigning AL Cy Young winner had another bad start, going 5 6 5 5 1 6, and the bats weren't much help either, held to 2 runs on 6 hits with Jaiden Hardaway driving in both on a sac fly and a double.

Game 2: Well that had to be the least-satisfying come-from-behind walk-off win in Rays history, as they prevailed 11-10 in 10 innings at Publix Park. Least-satisfying because the game started with the Rays putting 9(!) on the board in the first inning and blowing that lead before tying it in the bottom of the 8th and getting the win in the 10th. Tampa Bay jumped all over its former first-round pick (from 2027) Kevin Lovetere and a couple of Giants errors prolonged the inning. With Danny Romero on the mound, it was time to mail it in, right? Nope, Romero finally succumbed to the Bad Starter Disease that has afflicted the rotation of late, pulled in the 3rd after giving up 7 runs including a pair of homers to Giants who hit their first of the year. And he put two more on after that so Jeff Reece came on and once again was great in long relief, going 3 1/3 hitless innings and Ken Burgess handled the 7th with ease as the Rays clung to a 9-7 lead. But Mike Wherry crapped the bed in the 8th, allowing 3 runs and improbably putting San Francisco in the lead. Fortunately Jon Jimenez delivered an RBI double in the bottom of the frame to tie it, and after Kikuo Kawase went 2 somewhat tough but scoreless innings on 41 pitches, Omar Rodriguez led off the 10th with his 5th hit of the game before coming around to score on a Daniel Vasquez single and the Rays won a game they should have won 9 innings earlier. Interestingly, Jimenez's double was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Rays and Vasquez was the only Ray with more than one RBI. Kawase notched his 2nd win but will need a day or two to rest.

Game 3: And now for something completely different: a well-pitched start. Tim Gates provided one as the Rays jacked the Giants 11-3 at Publix Park with the righty an excellent 7 5 1 1 0 10 to improve to 8-2, 3.32 (Damani Cotton's struggles continued as he gave 2 runs in 2 IP to up his ERA to 5.68). He had plenty of offensive support, with Bo Angeac (#6) and Jaiden Hardaway (#8) homering in a 4-run 2nd, the latter coming off Daniel Olarte, a one-time Rays farmhand was one of the pieces sent to San Francisco in the deal which brought Hardaway here as a prospect (I'd say that worked out). Danny Ayala took Olarte deep for #16 and 3 more runs in the 5th while Daniel Vasquez cleared the bases with a triple in the 7th.

Team record: 47-21. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays got a solid start from Jeremy Curtis and some solid offense in a 7-3 win at Progressive Field over the Guardians. Aside from being a bit wild, Curtis turned in a fine 6 4 1 1 4 5 performance to improve to 5-2, 3.62. Billy Hoyte gave up a couple runs as he's allowed 7 in his last 4 appearances before Ken Burgess cleaned things up. Omar Rodriguez was the man on offense, driving 4 with a single and a 3-run HR in the 3rd (#14) which was immediately followed by a Danny Ayala solo shot (#17).

Game 2: Another comfortable win in Cleveland for the Rays as they swamped the Guardians 8-1. Jon Jimenez is officially done with his cold start to the year as he belted a pair of solo homers to give him 11, Danny Ayala was 3-4 with HR #18 and 2 RBI, Jeff Baez had a 2-run blast (#4) and Jaiden Hardaway kept his modest hitting streak alive with a solo shot (#9). Meanwhile on the mound Ron Adams was dealing after a series of rough starts but had to leave after the 5th with back spasms which won't keep him from his next start. He went 5 1 0 0 1 6 to become MLB's first 10-game winner in 2038 and Jeff Reece provided 3 innings of sound relief (allowing only a solo homer) to pick him up.

Game 3: The Rays swept the season series from Cleveland including this one with a 5-0 win on a combined one-hitter from Josh Carsello and two relievers. It looks like facing the Guardians was the cure for the Rays' recent starter woes and Carsello was the latest to thrive, going 7 1 0 0 3 7 and no-hitting Cleveland for 5 2/3 before giving up a single. Ken Burgess and Mike Wherry finished off the combined shutout with an inning apiece. On the offensive side Danny Ayala continued his rampage, driving in 3 more on a 2-run double in the 4th to get Tampa Bay on the board and adding an RBI single. Jon Jimenez and Jeff Hayes chipped in RBI singles as well.

Team record: 50-21. Next up: An off-day then we head to Baltimore for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Baseball is an easy game for the Rays when their starters are effective and today was no exception to that rule as they crushed Baltimore 15-1 at Oriole Park. It was a comfortable 6-1 game until the Rays feasted on the soft underbelly of Baltimore's "B" bullpen for 9 runs in the final 2 innings. Danny Romero looked like Danny Romero tonight, going 7.1 5 1 1 1 7 to improve to 8-2, 3.44 while the star on offense was Mike McKee, who had a (possible) career day with 5 RBI highlighted by a 2-run homer in the 4th (#8) and a 2-run single in the 8th. Jon Jimenez stayed hot by homering (#12), doubling and driving in 3 while Danny Ayala and Jeff Baez each brought home a pair.

Game 2: Today was a bit tougher but the Rays took a 6-4 win over Baltimore to extend their winning streak to 7. Jon Jimenez homered once again to break a 3-3 tie in the 7th, his fourth in four games and 13th overall. On base at the time was Jaiden Hardaway, who was on base every time today, going 3-3 with 2 walks, a steal and HR #10 of the season. Danny Ayala added a solo shot (#19). Tim Gates started and was perfect through 4, but put the first two men on in the 5th and surrendered a 3-run homer. He still hung around long enough to get the win though as he gave up nothing else and finished 6 4 3 3 1 7 to go to 9-2, 3.40. Kikuo Kawase had a 1-2-3 2-whiff 9th for save #16.

Game 3: The Rays' 7-game win streak was snapped today in a 7-4 loss to the Orioles as the series finale blues hit once again. Jeremy Curtis was the main culprit, getting bombed for 6 runs in 2 2/3 innings of work as he fell to 5-3, 4.19. Bo Angeac tried to keep the Rays in it with a 3-run homer in the 3rd (#7) after Curtis gave up his first 3 runs, but the offense generated little after that.

Team record: 52-22. Next up: Back home for 3 vs Boston.



Don't normally post minor league players of the week, but Ben Hill had quite a week and is having quite a season:

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Ron Adams was in control even though it took him 112 pitches to get through 6 innings as the Rays roasted the Red Sox 6-1 in the first game of a homestand at Publix Park. Adams got past a first-inning solo homer from Mario Aguilar (back in the AL to torment us) and went 6 3 1 1 3 7 to pick up his MLB-best 11th win. Mike Wherry recorded his first save of the season when the lead expanded in the 8th and he stayed in. Jon Jimenez put the Rays in front to stay in the 3rd with a 2-run shot (#14, his 5th in 6 games), Danny Ayala added #20 with the bases empty and Jeff Baez salted it away with a 2-run blast (#6) in the 8th.

Game 2: The Rays used the longball to take a 6-4 come-from-behind walk-off win over the Red Sox. Danny Ayala's 2nd of the game (#22, his third in two days), the team's 5th and only one with a man on, was the game-winner as the Rays entered the bottom of the 9th down 4-3. Jon Jimenez took care of the deficit with a leadoff blast (#15, 6 in 7 games for him) and Omar Rodriguez reached on an infield single before Ayala's heroics. Also going deep were Bo Angeac (#8) and Jaiden Hardaway (#11), who led off the game with a shot to left which extended his hitting streak to 20. All of this was necessary to overcome yet another schizophrenic start from Josh Carsello, who put up a full house line of 4 7 4 4 4 7. Jeff Reece went 3 perfect innings in relief and Vinny Willard wound up with win #4 thanks to two scoreless innings.

Game 3: Tampa Bay completed the sweep after handily beating Boston 9-3. Omar Rodriguez had a big game, going 4-4 with 2 RBI while Danny Ayala doubled and tripled among his three hits and drove in a pair. Daniel Malone was 3-5 with HR #7 but Jaiden Hardaway saw his hitting streak end when he went 0-3 although he did walk twice and steal a base. Danny Romero wasn't his sharpest but picked up the win after going 5 7 2 2 2 5; he's now 9-2, 3.44.

Team record: 55-22. Next up: 4 at home against Detroit, which will bring us to the halfway mark of the season.

Time for some monthly awards:





As noted Ben Hill can certainly rake but there are a couple of chinks in his armor. First, he doesn't walk; he has a 35 eye and that's how exactly how many walks he has in last 200 games. The other is that he can't field, 35 in LF is his best rating so he's a born DH.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: A pretty routine 7-3 win for the Rays at Publix Park over Detroit tonight behind Tim Gates and Jaiden Hardaway. Gates started and went 6.2 4 3 3 4 7 to up his record to 10-2, 3.44 while Hardaway didn't waste any time after losing his hitting streak last time out by doubling the lead off the game and homering later (#12) with 2 RBI. Daniel Vasquez added an RBI single and an RBI double while Omar Rodriguez and Danny Ayala each had 2 hits and a run knocked in.

MLB News: The Columbus Lightning swung a couple of decent-sized deals, sending prospects to Boston for starter Ruben Marroquin, who has an impressive 3.23 ERA in 78 innings this year with 69 whiffs in 78 IP, and then sent some more minor leaguers to Detroit for former Ray and noted clubhouse cancer Jordan Diaz, who had 18 saves this year as the Tigers' closer.

Game 2: The Rays were held to only 4 hits tonight by Detroit knuckleballer Derek DeGolyer but two of them left the yard while Jeremy Curtis was outstanding and the Rays took down the Tigers 4-1. Curtis went 6.2 5 1 1 1 4 and improved to 6-3, 3.96 with Kikuo Kawase handling the 9th for save #17 (lowering his ERA to a nice 0.69). Jon Jimenez continued his power surge with a 1st-inning homer (#15) which tied it at 1 and then Bo Angeac had the game's big blow, a 3-run jack in the 3rd (#9) to make it 4-1 which is where we finished.

Game 3: Ron Adams missed a shutout by one batter as he had to leave with a knee tweak, and Ken Burgess completed it as the Rays took another low-scoring affair from Detroit 3-0. Adams, who should be OK for his next start, went 8.2 5 0 0 3 5 on 108 pitches to improve to 12-2, 3.94 and who else but Jon Jimenez provided the offense? The blazing-hot DH delivered a 2-run homer in the 3rd, his 16th and 8th in 11 games. Kevin Morley, who called a good game behind the plate, provided some insurance with an 8th-inning RBI single.

Game 4: The Rays made it 7 straight wins and 13 of 14 with a 9-5 victory over Detroit to reach the season's midway point. Omar Rodriguez was the offensive star with a pair of homers (#15 and 16) as part of a 4-5, 4-RBI day. O-Rod also scored four runs, as did Jaiden Hardaway who was 2-3 with HR #13 and a steal and Danny Ayala contributed a 2-run homer (#23) after the Tigers fought their way back to cut the lead to 6-5. Josh Carsello started and pitched well through 6, allowing only 2 runs, but came out for the seventh and put the leadoff man before giving up a homer to finish 6 5 4 4 3 8. He still got the win to go to 7-5 but his 4.98 ERA isn't pretty. Vinny Willard gave up another run in the inning to make it 6-5 but Ken Burgess and Jeff Reece each had perfect innings to finish the game.

Team record: 59-22. Next up: The lengthy homestead continues as the Angels visit for 4.

[Art Deco]

The Rays team stats:



Nothing not to like here, with the only exception that our staff issues a lot of walks, primarily thanks to Josh Carsello. This is the best zone rating we've maybe ever had, and we're stealing bases again for the first time in a few years.

The hitting stats:



The pitching stats:



All good, except that Kevin Kerstetter hasn't taken to being a long reliever.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays just continue to roll on as today they did behind an excellent outing from Danny Romero in a 4-1 win over the visiting Angels. The polished lefty went 7 3 1 1 0 9 in one of his best outings as a Ray, and Kikuo Kawase struck out the side in the 9th to preserve Romero's 10th win and notch his own 18th save. The offense wasn't spectacular today but good enough with solo homers from Bo Angeac (#10) and Mike McKee (#9) giving them a 2-1 lead before a Daniel Malone sac fly and a Jaiden Hardaway RBI single made it 4-1 in the 6th.

Game 2: Another routine win for the Rays, who made it 9 straight and 15 of 16 thanks to a 6-2 decision over the Angels. Tim Gates started and gave them a Tim Gates start, 6 innings with 2 or 3 runs allowed and today it was the former as he went 6 5 2 2 1 5 to improve to 11-2, 3.42. Vinny Willard tried for a 3-inning save but loaded the bases with one out in the 9th so Kikuo Kawase came in and of course struck out both men he faced for save #19. The offense put 4 on the board through the first two innings, all on solo homers. Jaiden Hardaway led off the game with #14, Bo Angeac (#11) and Daniel Vasquez (#16, the first of his four hits) went back-to-back in the 2nd and two batters later Jeff Baez hit #6.

Game 3: The Rays' winning run was temporarily interrupted when the Angels scored 7 times against Jeremy Curtis in the first inning and went on to a 13-7 blowout win over Tampa Bay. Curtis only retired one batter before being lifted after giving up his 2nd homer of the inning, and Kevin Kerstetter allowed 5 more runs in long relief, although only 2 were earned. Damani Cotton fanned 8 in 4 2/3 impressive innings of long relief although he started off by allowing a homer to score Kerstetter's last two runners. Despite scoring 7 the Rays were never in it; Jon Jimenez padded his stats with 2 HR and 5 RBI, including a 3-run shot with two out in the 9th to make the score a bit more respectable. Jimenez is up to 19 HR and 63 RBI, and has 12 HR in his last 15 games.

Game 4: The Rays returned to winning ways with a 4-3 comeback win over the Angels to close out the homestand. Ron Adams started and spotted LA a 3-spot in the 2nd but was unyielding after that and finished 6 5 3 3 5 7. The Rays chipped away at the deficit with a 2-run Danny Ayala double in the 6th, and in the 7th took the lead on a Jon Jimenez RBI triple and Ayala's bloop to shallow right which the Angels misplayed into an RBI single. Chris Toombs picked up the win in relief, his 2nd, and Kikuo Kawase did his thing once again with 3 whiffs in the 9th around a single for save #20.

Team record: 62-23. Next up: 3 games in Boston before we hit the All-Star break.