The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays - Page 147

Art Deco · 10-10-2025, 03:03 PM

The partying goes on in Tampa Bay as the Rays celebrate title #20.

Also, here's a playoff stats recap:

Aponte and Gonzales got the trophies but Mayes was the unsung hero of the offense, consistently hitting throughout the postseason.

We got our first dose of reality after the celebration as our ace Dave Rose opted out of the final year of his contract. He's 36 but as good as ever so we'll definitely be trying to re-sign him

Otherwise 2058 will largely be a case of running it back as the only free agents of note are C Ryan Rivera, SP Jorge Barraza and relievers Victor Boria and Willie Navarro. Despite the title we're being given a $160M payroll which isn't the greatest but we should have somewhere between $20-25M to spend if we re-sign Rose.

Since everyone else is going to be back there's no point in doing a position-by-position outlook except for the following:

Catcher: The job is prospect Omar Gaitan's to lose and we'll have to bring in a backup as Alex Gonzalez is a FA as well.

Rotation: I'm going to assume we re-sign Rose, which means we have the Barraza opening to fill. I'll kick the tires on him but I suspect he'll be too expensive so we could turn to youngster Julio Mattilla, who's had cups of coffee the last three season, primarily as a reliever, or Danny McMullan who did some swing work for us while shuttling between here and Durham. And there's always old standby Randy Mastropietro as a last resort.

Bullpen: Boria was a valuable middle reliever and Navarro gave us some late-inning strength but we still have Cid and Tadlock in the 8th and the 9th. We'll need to trade for or sign a couple of decent middle men.

Others: Ruben Brown is an MLB-quality 1B right now but he's blocked by Gonzales and Aponte at 1B/DH. He could be trade bait (or Aponte could) to for some pitching. Also if we want to get creative Jesus Avalos is due $25M going into his last year of team control and I might see what he can fetch with Jalen Diaz so impressive in his late-season callup.

Stay tuned.

Art Deco · 10-15-2025, 05:46 PM

Retirements of note: Steve Talbott, who spent 4 years as our closer (2050-53) and saved 140 games for us, hung up the spikes and had his number retired by Washington where he spent the bulk of his career. Also having his number retired was Joel Taylor, who finished with 612 career homers and was honored by the White Sox. Other former Rays retiring were SP Nicola Greico (2050) and RP Mel Mejia (2046-51).

We made a couple of small trades right after the World Series:

Abron was a late first-round pick of the Dodgers in 2055 and is an OF with 60 contact and 55 power (65/60 potential) who's about average defensively. They had interest in Vigil, who has 55 stuff and could be a future swingman. Abron has the ability to make the big club (he was up for one at-bat with LA late in the season) but will probably start 2058 at Durham.

We need another 1B/DH-type like we need a hole in the head but this deal was too good to pass up. I like Bush's bat but we never had a position for him and he was going to be out of options come the spring. McNeill had become a top 100 prospect and has 65/65 potential but is currently rated 55/55. He came up with Cleveland late in the season and hit 287/342/407 with 3 HR in 108 AB but is also ticketed for Durham.

We kept him:

4 years for a 37-year-old pitcher is a lot, and I fully expect him to start declining, but for now he's still one of the game's best. The fourth year is a team option with a $5M buyout, so we're really only on the hook for about $75M.

Elsewhere we settled with all the arb-eligible guys except Aaron White and Jesus Avalos, who wanted multi-year deals. IF Alex Brown seems a bit pricey at his projected $5.5M in arbitration and I will likely deal or non-tender him.

Awards Season:

Gold Glove: No Rays were winners.

Reliever of the Year: In the AL Minnesota's Eddie Knowlton was a unanimous winner after a 7-win, 42-save, 2.14 ERA season. Surprisingly our Josh Meenach was second despite being purely a middle reliever. Guessing his 1.89 ERA got votes rather than the 2 wins and 2 saves. In th NL, Atlanta's Victor Rosa was a clear winner after a 38-save, 2.04 ERA season.

Silver Slugger: We had two winners: Joel Bland (LF) and Angel Gonzales (DH).

Rookie of the Year: After a .289-30-94 season Baltimore OF Danny Cobos was a unanimous AL winner with our Tony Guzman finishing fourth. Indianapolis LF Alex Aviles also got all the first-place votes thanks to a .319-13-84 which earned 6.3 WAR.

Cy Young: Well, well, well...

And Whitaker followed up that regular season with a brilliant run in the playoffs. Dave Rose took second and Jorge Barraza even got a few votes. The NL winner was Milwaukee's David Marrero, 15-5, 2.64 with a league-best 235 Ks and 6.9 WAR.

MVP: In the AL Chicago RF Juan Martines won after a .322-43-116 year which was good for 8.1 WAR. Our Angel Gonzales finished third, Joel Bland sixth and Jesus Avalos ninth. The NL nod went to Pittsburgh superstar SS Nick Villafana as the 24-year-old won for the second straight year after winning as a rookie last season. He followed up that campaign with a .311-49-127 season with a .412 OBP, and 9.8 WAR, giving him 21.2 over his first two seasons.

November 20: Made a surprise re-signing:

We're going to give Boria a chance to improve on those 10 wins in relief last season by making him a starter - his ratings suggest he's more than capable with only his 40 stamina a drawback but he should still give us 5-6 good innings most of the time. And if he turns out to be really good $10M/year will look like a steal.

November 21: Another trade:

As mentioned Brown was due $5.5M or more in arbitration and that was a bit pricey for a backup MI, albeit a good one. So we packaged him with Villalobos, a C prospect a long way off, for a couple of intriguing guys in Sailes and Lobban. Sailes is MLB-ready with 50 contact and 65 power (with potential for 55 contact) and raked in AAA to the tune 338/410/703. The 25-year-old was a 2nd round pick in 2054 by Houston and is an average to slightly-below-average corner OF who can also play 1B. Lobban is more of a lottery ticket with 60 contact and power potential who was taken in the fourth round of this past summer's draft.

November 23: Arbitration hearings were held and Jesus Avalos will get $25.8M instead of $25.5M we offered and Aaron White will get $7M instead of the $6.5M we submitted, so no great shakes either way. We made a qualifying offer to Jorge Barraza but he turned it down, so hello comp pick.

December 3: Former Astro Randy Heller, one of the game's top pitchers but now 37, signed a 2/56 deal with Philadelphia so thankfully he's out of the AL.

December 4: More wheeling and dealing:

Decided to package Jackson and Tafoya, two hard-hitting infielders with questionable gloves and not much future with the team, originally looking for a quality reliever or two which remains a need. Instead we got offered a power-hitting SS/3B in Diaz who was too good to pass up. My scout says he has 5-star potential and is already rated 50 contact, 65 power with 55/70 potential. He put up ridiculous numbers with Las Vegas last year: 349/416/656 with 41 HR and 136 RBI and played a credible if slightly below-average shortstop. He's yet to play in the bigs but I am seriously considering making him at least the part-time SS especially with Aaron White's injury-proneness. Jayden Woodard can always come in as a defensive replacement.

December 10: Two of our free agents found new homes. C Ryan Rivera got a 4/78 deal from Cincinnati and reliever Josh Meenach is a Cardinal for 2/19.

December 11: Finally added a bullpen arm:

The 34-year-old Friedman is a solid reliever who's averaged about 1 WAR each of the last three seasons with ERAs in high 2s and low 3s and is rated 65/60/50. He's making $3.9M and is a free agent after the season's end. In return we've finally freed Mayo, a 2050 9th-round pick who's spent the last 7(!) seasons in Durham's rotation. He's the ultimate finesse pitcher with 40 stuff, 65 movement and 60 control but never got a crack with the big club, and won 101 games with a 4.05 ERA during his tenure with the Bulls. Hopefully he makes it with the A's.

December 12: Another bullpen addition:

Wanted another lefty for the pen and got one in the 36-year-old vet Lopez, coming off a solid season in which he made 73 appearances covering 99 innings. He's rated 60/60/60 and should give us decent middle relief. The cost was low as Gaona isn't really a prospect and Washington is eating 50% of his $3.6M salary.

All we need now is another catcher and the roster should be largely set.

December 22: Added OF/P Garik Samuels, 2B Bobby Pena and C Jonathan Restituyo to the 42-man roster.

Rule 5 time again. Samuels is a 5-star prospect as a hitter, Pena is a good-hitting middle infielder, and Restituyo right now would be our backup catcher, not a terrible thing since he's a 60-contact hitter who batted .347 in part-time action at Durham and isn't terrible with the glove.

December 23: 24 players were taken in the Rule 5 Draft but none of them belonged to us.

December 27: Signed C Alex Gonzalez to a 1-year, $2.2M contract.

Meet the new backup catcher, same as the old backup catcher. Gonzalez did a fine job for us as Ryan Rivera's caddy and now will do likewise for the youngster Omar Gaitan. I'll gladly take a repeat of his 259/314/455, 8 HR in 143 AB season. Barring some kind of surprise deal that should give us a fairly set roster going into next season and the Gonzalez signing fills our 42-man roster.

Art Deco · 10-18-2025, 10:07 AM

January 3: The Hall of Fame voting is in an a former Rays star was the only inductee:

Although he ended up playing more years in San Francisco (10) than in Tampa Bay (6), he actually accumulated more WAR with the Rays including this incredible stretch in which the team won 4 titles:

He was MVP in 2037, quite unsurprisingly. Two other Rays stars (Kawase and de Jesus) came close.

January 11: Our free agent Jorge Barraza signed with Arizona for only 3/39 after turning down our more lucrative (for the coming season anyway) qualifying offer, and since the contract was small we're getting a supplemental 2nd rounder instead of a 1st. Lose-lose all around I guess.

January 13: Our amateur scout signed a pitcher from Italy but he only has 0.5-star potential, leading me to think he only went there for the sights and the food.

January 15: Middle reliever Erik Witten, in our pen the last few years, signed a 1-year $1.1M deal with the Dodgers and some reason his departure caused the fan interest to decrease noticeably. Not that we've just won a World Series or something.

January 17: Saw this headline and wondered I was getting papal news:

But it turns out to be Toronto catcher Alex Pope.

January 18: Oh boy:

The dreaded guru storyline.

January 22: With the international amateur free agent window now open, we signed OF Ricky Falcon. The soon-to-be 17-year-old has 80 contact and 70 power potential and also projects to be a slightly above-average defensive OF.

February 10: Remember when I said the team was set? I lied:

We're down to only $5M to play with so that really will be it, but I couldn't pass up Sutherland, who has elite 80/75/75 ratings. He, Cid and Tadlock give us a formidable back end of the bullpen. Sutherland has an opt-out for next season so hopefully he'll be good enough this year to exercise it.

On to the preseason.

Art Deco · 10-24-2025, 03:08 PM

A run-of-the-mill spring training with only reliever Jonathan Bolon going on the IL with back stiffness but he'll be back in a week or so.

The Opening Day roster:

C-Gaitan, A.Gonzalez
1B-Aponte
2B-Chinchilla
SS-A.White
3B-Mayes
IF-Woodard, O.Diaz
LF-Bland
CF-H.Dominguez
RF-J.Avalos
OF-Whittaker, Flores
DH-A.Gonzales

SP-D.Rose, Whitaker, Guzman, Boria, Mattila
LR-Swords, Mastropietro
MR-Alexander, Friedman, M.Lopez, J.Rose
SU-Cid, Sutherland
CL-Tadlock

IL-Bolon (P)

Cid and Sutherland are lefties so Tadlock may end up in more of a setup role, and Sutherland will get a fair number of saves.

A look at these gents:

So what does OOTP think of this crew as it seeks to defend its title?

Well they're picked to win the division but not to be a dominant team as they were last season in accruing 112 regular season wins, followed by 11 more in the playoffs.

We'll be opening the season in Detroit of all places for 3 games before our home opener against Boston.

Art Deco · 10-24-2025, 08:59 PM

The Opening Day box:

Not a pleasant day for the Rays, both for the 36-degree weather wind a wind chill making it feel colder and for the 6-1 loss they suffered to open the 2058 season. It was a 1-1 game until Dave Rose gave up a 2-run homer and things snowballed (no pun intended) from there. The bottom line was that the offense could only manage one run on six hits, so the additional runs surrendered by the bullpen really didn't matter.

Game 2: The bats didn't heat up much in the 33-degree weather on Saturday but they got warm enough to give the Rays their first win over the season, 3-2 over the Tigers. Paul Mayes had an RBI double and it was 2-2 heading into the 9th when they put a couple of men on and Dantel Chinchilla (who probably would like to be wearing one in this clime) delivered a sac fly to provide the winning margin. Tony Guzman went 5.2 5 2 2 1 3 and the new/old-look bullpen did the job with Jake Cid handling the 7th, Devin Tadlock the 8th and Bill Sutherland picking up his first Rays save with a clean 9th.

Game 3: After excelling yesterday the late-inning bullpen let the Rays down in the series finale, but all it served to do was delay victory as Tampa Bay eked by Detroit 5-4 in 12 innings to take the series. They got their first homer of the season when Angel Gonzales delivered a 2-run shot in the first and rookie Orlando Diaz's first MLB hit was an RBI single as the Rays took a 3-0 lead behind Elijah Whitaker. Whitaker gave up some baserunners but hung in there before allowing a pair in the 6th and finishing 5 8 2 2 2 5. Jesus Avalos singled home an insurance run in the 8th to make it 4-2 but Jake Cid gave up a run in the 8th and Bill Sutherland was hit for a leadoff triple in the 9th which scored to tie the game. Finally in the 12th Paul Mayes doubled in the go-ahead run and Joe Rose (1-0) and Randy Mastropietro, the 9th(!) Rays pitcher of the day, got the final out for his first career save after making 138 starts in the bigs. The win came at a cost though as lefty reliever Mike Alexander tore his rotator cuff and is done for the season.

Team record: 2-1. Next up: We head home to a much warmer Tampa for our home opener, part of a 3-game set with the Red Sox at Publix Park.

Art Deco · 10-27-2025, 03:58 PM

Game 1: The Rays received their 2057 championship rings at Publix Park in the home opener and immediately went out and scored 7 runs in the first inning on their way to an 8-2 beatdown of Boston. Henry Dominguez led off the game with his first homer of the year, Paul Mayes belted a 2-run double and rookie C Omar Gaitan capped the inning with a bases-clearing two-bagger. This made things easy for Victor Boria (1-0), making his first start after spending all of last season in relief and going 5 6 2 2 2 7. And former starter Steve Swords went 4 1 0 0 2 6 to close out the game for his first save in another successful role reversal.

Game 2: The Rays and their fans were salivating over the power potential of rookie Orlando Diaz when he was acquired this offseason and today he gave them something concrete as he belted a pair of dingers to lead the Rays to their fourth straight win, a 9-5 triumph over the Red Sox. Diaz's first homer had helped them to a 4-0 lead through 5 with yet another rookie in Julio Mattila cruising but he allowed a run in the 6th and left with the bases loaded. And unfortunately new bullpen piece Chris Friedman, who gave up only one homer of all of last year, surrendered his second already this season to the first man he faced, a grand slam that put Boston ahead 5-4. But Diaz cranked his second homer of the game and year to tie it in the 7th and Henry Dominguez hit his second homer of the game (#3) in the 8th to break the deadlock. Paul Mayes then broke it open later in the inning with a 3-run shot (#1). Mattila ended up 5.1 3 4 4 3 5 but deserved better while Jake Cid (1-0) to the win in relief.

Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep and consigned Boston to an 0-7 start to the season thanks to a 5-1 win behind Dave Rose. The veteran righty was much better than he was in the opener and evened his record at 1-1 after going 7 5 1 1 2 7. Joe Rose made a mess in the 9th so Bill Sutherland had to come in and notch save #2. That man Henry Rodriguez homered yet again, giving him 4 in the 3-game set, Adrian Gonzales had an RBI double and Paul Mayes went yard for the second straight game (#2).

Team record: 5-1. Next up: A day off then 3 games in Baltimore.

Art Deco · 11-01-2025, 09:00 AM

Game 1: After Tony Guzman was rocked and Baltimore took a 7-1 lead the offense fought back and made a game of it but the Rays fell just short in Baltimore by a score of 8-7. They even had two men on in the 9th but couldn't get the tying run across. Guzman (0-1) just didn't have it today and finished 3.1 9 7 7 1 3 but in the end the difference turned out to be an unearned run Baltimore scored in the 8th thanks to an Aaron White error. The red-hot Henry Dominguez was 3-5 with an RBI double and Dantel Chinchilla and Omar Gaitan were each 2-4 with 2 RBI to lead the ill-fated comeback.

Game 2: It was a brutal day in Baltimore as the Orioles held the Rays to two hits in an 8-0 blowout. Eljiah Whitaker (0-1) blanked Baltimore through 4 innings before the roof caved in during the 5th as he allowed 6 runs including a pair of longballs and that was that. He finished with an ugly 5 6 6 5 3 5 line while on the other hand Tony Valladares carved up Tampa Bay hitters to the tune of 7 1 0 0 2 9.

Game 3: The Rays did salvage the finale behind a fine performance from Victor Boria (2-0) and a 3-RBI day from Rodrigo Aponte as they beat Baltimore 6-1. Boria was brilliant going 6.1 6 1 1 0 4 as his transition to the rotation has been an early success, and Aponte drew a bases-loaded walk to break a 1-1 tie in the 4th before adding to the lead with a 2-run shot, his first of the year. Also going yard for the first time in 2058 was Aaron White (solo) while Dantel Chinchilla was 3-3 with a walk and a pair of doubles.

Team record: 6-3. Next up: We continue the road-heavy early part of the schedule with 3 games in Chicago against the White Sox.

Art Deco · 11-04-2025, 09:55 PM

Game 1: The Rays lost the opener in Chicago 9-6 and the culprit was easy to spot: the bullpen. First Jonathan Bolon allowed two of Julio Mattila's runners to score and then one of his own in the 5th, and after the Rays had regained the lead in the 7th on Angel Gonzales' 3-run homer (#3), his second of the game, Jake Cid gave up the tying run in the bottom of the inning and then Devin Tadlock (1-1) surrendered a 3-run shot in the 8th to lose it. Mattila ended up 4 5 4 4 3 4 and a 4-RBI day from Gonzales was wasted.

Game 2: Oops they blew it again - the usual suspects from yesterday, Jake Cid and Devin Tadlock, squandered a 3-1 Rays lead going into the 7th to send the team to another loss, 5-4. Dave Rose was excellent having allowed only one run through 6 but put the first two men on in the 7th before departing for Tadlock, who allowed both men to score to let Chicago equalize (with some help from a Jesus Avalos error). And then in the 8th Cid (1-1) served up a 2-run homer to lose it in the worst kind of Ray-ja vu. Orlando Diaz had homered (#3) and doubled while Angel Gonzales had a pair of RBI singles and although they got a run back in the 9th it wasn't enough. Rose finished 6 7 3 2 2 9 in a no-decision.

Game 3: Tony Guzman went 8 shutout innings with a slender lead before Tampa Bay broke it open in the 9th and salvaged the finale 8-0 over the White Sox. In perhaps his best start as a Ray, Guzman (1-1) went 8 2 0 0 3 5 on 104 pitches but the lead was only 2-0 through 7 before they added an insurance run in the 8th and then truly put it away on a grand slam from the suddenly-hot Angel Gonzales (#4) in the 9th. Speaking of hot Henry Dominguez was 3-4 with two doubles, a steal and 4 runs scored and is hitting 404/446/731 to start the season.

Team record: 7-5. The Yankees are off to a 10-3 start so they lead the Rays by 2 1/2 in the early going. Next up: An off-day then finally back home for 3 against Baltimore although they follow that up with a 6-game road trip meaning five of their first seven series will be on the road.

Art Deco · 11-08-2025, 04:52 PM

Game 1: It wasn't the prettiest of wins but it was good enough as the Rays got by Baltimore 4-2 to open their 3-game set at Publix Park. Elijah Whitaker (1-1) had a downright ugly first inning in which he walked the bases loaded then walked in a run but settled down from there to finish with a strange 6 4 2 2 5 2 line that earned him a win. Bill Sutherland took care of the 9th for his 3rd save. On offense four different Rays drove in a run with Aaron White leading the way going 2-4 with an RBI double.

Game 2: Joel Bland snapped out of a season-long slump with a first-inning grand slam and the Rays went on to down the Orioles 8-2. Bland, hitting .122 coming into the day's action, hit his first long ball of the season and perhaps will finally get going after having a 6.6-WAR season last year. He later doubled as well while Angel Gonzales was 4-5 with a ribbie. Meanwhile Victor Boria (3-0) continued to excel as a starter, going 5 2 1 1 2 4 to win his third game in as many starts.

Game 3: The Rays completed the home series sweep with their second 4-2 triumph of the series. Rookie Julio Mattila pitched by far his best game as a big leaguer going 7 4 2 2 3 10 to earn his first MLB win in his first decision of the season but had to sweat out Bill Sutherland in the 9th. The veteran lefty closer loaded the bases with two out and it looked for all the world that Baltimore's Will Sanders would clear the bases with a drive into the gap but Henry Dominguez made an incredible diving catch to save the day and give Sutherland a shaky 4th save. On offense they scored all 4 runs in the 2nd inning on 2-run singles from Angel Gonzales and Rodrigo Aponte.

Team record: 10-5. They shaved a game off the Yankees' lead and now trail in the division by 1 1/2 games. Next up: Back out on the road starting with 4 in Toronto.

Art Deco · 11-12-2025, 05:20 PM

Game 1: Dave Rose had an off-day and a first-inning 3-0 Rays lead disappeared quickly as they fell to Toronto 6-4 in the opener. Rodrigo Aponte's 2-run double was the key hit in that inning but Rose (1-2) gave up a run in the bottom of the frame and then 3 more in the 2nd on his way to finishing 4 8 5 5 1 6.

Game 2: The good news: Tampa Bay easily handled Toronto 7-1 in the second game. The bad news: The team lost the red-hot Henry Dominguez for a month thanks to a torn quadriceps. H-Dom was hitting 397/453/647 in the early going and had already earned 1.2 WAR. As for the game Tony Guzman (2-1) was outstanding again at 6 3 1 1 2 3 and the offense was spread out amongst the lineup with Rodrigo Aponte leading the way after going 2-4 with 2 RBI.

April 17: Placed OF Henry Dominguez on the 10-day IL, recalled OF Jalen Diaz from AAA Durham.

Diaz will platoon with Brian Whittaker in Dominguez's place with Jesus Avalos shifting to center against righties with Diaz in RF while Whittaker will play CF against lefties. Diaz of course excelled with the big club last season in limited late-season action.

Game 3: Another win, another starting OF lost for a month. This time it was Joel Bland, who had just started heating up after a miserable start to the season, who went down with a fractured rib. Bland missed about a month last year as well but still earned 6.6 WAR - it'll now be tough for him to replicate that considering his poor start. Meanwhile the team got a 9th-inning solo homer from Dantel Chinchilla, his first of the year, to pull out a 6-5 win over the Jays. Orlando Diaz came off the bench in the 7th to deliver a 2-run shot (#4) which put them up 5-4 before Devin Tadlock lost that lead in the 7th. Elijah Whitaker started and suffered again with his control, going 5 4 3 3 6 4 and now has issued 16 free passes in 21 IP. Jake Cid (2-1) picked up the win with Bill Sutherland nabbing save #5.

April 18: Placed OF Joel Bland on the 10-day IL and recalled OF Jordan Sailes from AAA Durham.

Sailes was one of the young MLB-ready guys we acquired in the offseason who were stuck behind regulars, so he gets a shot with Bland out to start in LF with his 65 power.

Game 4: The Rays managed to win the series by taking the final game and somehow they didn't lose an OF in the process as they topped Toronto 5-2. Victor Boria (4-0) has been perfect in his four starts and today went 6 3 2 2 1 7 with the only two runs against him scoring after he left with two men on to start the 7th. Bill Sutherland saved again (#6). Angel Gonzales had a solo homer (#5) to put them on the board in the 1st and Rodrigo Aponte capped a big series with a 2-run homer (#2) which made it 5-0. Jordan Sailes was 2-4 in his Rays debut.

Team record: 13-6, moving within 1/2 game of the division-leading Yankees. Next up: Off to Oakland for 3 games.

Art Deco · 11-15-2025, 06:01 PM

Game 1: The first five Rays to bat in the opener at Oakland all reached based and scored, capped by Jordan Sailes' first MLB homer, a 3-run shot. Unfortunately though Julio Mattila gave up 3-run homers in the 2nd and 3rd and the offense couldn't score again so the Rays took an unlikely 6-5 loss. Mattila (1-1) couldn't stand prosperity, although to his credit he hung in there to keep the game close finishing 6.1 3 6 6 3 6.

Game 2: Dave Rose pitched his best game of the young season and the Rays got back in the win column with a 4-1 triumph over the A's. Rose (2-2) was outstanding at 6.1 5 1 0 1 4 and Bill Sutherland closed for the 7th time this year. The offense came primarily off the bat of Angel Gonzales, who had an RBI single in the top of the first and then belted a 2-run homer (#6) in the 5th.

Game 3: Tampa Bay dropped the rubber game in another tough one, falling 3-2 to Oakland. Tony Guzman (2-2) gave them a quality start at 6 5 3 3 2 8 but the offense was limited in this one with the highlight being Manny Flores' first homer of the year, a solo shot in the 6th which briefly tied the game at 2.

Team record: 14-8. Fortunately the Yankees also dropped 2 of 3 so the Rays remain 1/2 game behind New York. Next up: home for 3 against the Angels.

Art Deco · 11-19-2025, 01:18 PM

Game 1: The Rays scored early and often and went on to take the opener from the Angels 8-4. The offense primarily flowed through three hitters who combined to go 9-14 with 2 HR and 7 RBI: Jesus Avalos, who finally homered for the first time this year in Game #23, a 3-run blast, and drove in 4; Angel Gonzales, 3-4 with 2 RBI; and Jordan Sailes, who was 4-5 with a double and a solo homer (#2). Elijah Whitaker (2-1) wasn't great again at 5.1 6 4 4 1 6 but picked up the win, and Devin Tadlock earned his first save of 2058, cleaning up a mess created by Manny Lopez in the 9th.

Game 2: Tampa Bay dropped a tough one to LA, falling 3-2 despite having several chances to tie or go ahead. Victor Boria failed to win for the first time in 5 starts but stayed undefeated with a no-decision after a performance that was dominant and not-dominant at times, finishing 5 7 2 2 0 10. The winning run came in the 6th off Joe Rose (1-1) after Jesus Avalos had tied the game in the 5th on a 2-run shot, his second of the year and in as many days.

Game 3: The bullpen was the culprit as the Rays lost the rubber game of the series 5-4 to the Angels in 10 innings. Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead into the 9th but Bill Sutherland blew the save when he allowed a 2-out homer to tie it, and then Jake Cid (2-2) gave up a one-out triple to allow the losing run in the 10th. This after the Rays fought back from a 3-1 deficit caused by a shaky Julio Mattila start (4.1 6 3 3 4 2) thanks in large part to Jordan Sailes' 2-run homer (#3) as the rookie continues to impress filling in for the injured Joel Bland.

Team record: 15-10. New York took 2 of 3 to push the Rays 1 1/2 games back in the division. Next up: After an off day those Yankees visit Publix Park for a big early 3-game series.

Art Deco · 11-23-2025, 10:32 PM

Game 1: The Rays opened their big early-season series with the Yankees at Publix Park with a 7-4 comeback win. Down 4-2 in the 6th, they got a run back and then erupted for 4 in the 7th to turn the game around keyed by a bases-clearing Paul Mayes double. Orlando Diaz was 3-4 with a pair of RBI doubles and Jordan Sailes continued to mash with the rookie belting his 4th homer in 8 games since his callup. Dave Rose started and had his ups and downs at 6 6 4 4 2 6, Jake Cid (3-2) picked up the win in relief and Bill Sutherland picked up a 4-out save (#8).

Game 2: Tampa Bay managed to come from behind again against the Yankees and take over the division lead but not after having to overcome a blown lead in the 9th as they prevailed 6-5 in 10 innings. It was the game of young catcher Omar Gaitan's career as not only did he belt his first MLB homer in the 5th to tie the game at 3, he drove in the game-winner with a walk-off single in the 10th. Aaron White was 3-5 with a 2-run homer (#2) to get them back in it after the Yankees went up 3-0 in the first, and Orlando Diaz hit his 5th homer in the 8th to give the Rays what looked like an insurance run at 5-3 before Bill Sutherland blew his 3rd save of the season already by giving up a 2-run homer in the 9th. Joe Rose (2-1) ended up with the win and Tony Guzman was a solid 5.2 7 3 0 0 4 in his start.

Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep of the Yankees to go up 1 1/2 games in the division with a - you guessed it - comeback 5-2 win. This time all the scoring took place in the 6th. Elijah Whitaker had his best start of the season going and departed with 2 on and 2 out in the 6th, only for Chris Friedman to allow those men to score on a couple of hits. Whitaker finished 5.2 4 2 2 1 5 with the lone walk a season-low. But Tampa Bay stormed back in the bottom of the frame with Aaron White's 2-run triple putting the Rays ahead for good. Friedman (1-0) bounced back from those two hits allowed to earn his first win as a Ray by going the next two innings and fanning 5 in total. And Joe Rose earned his first save of the year despite bringing the tying run to the plate with two out but he got the final out swinging.

Team record: 18-10. Next up: Toronto comes to Publix Park for 3 games.

Art Deco · 11-28-2025, 09:19 AM

Game 1: The Rays jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and then hung on to top Toronto 5-4 in the series opener at Publix Park. Orlando Diaz had an RBI double and Rodrigo Aponte an RBI single as they built that lead by the 4th inning and Victor Boria (5-0) was cruising until things got dicey in the 6th. Boria gave up a run and Manny Lopez let one of Boria's men score along with one of his own and the Jays were within one, leaving Boria with a 5.2 8 3 3 0 5. But the pen held strong from there and Devin Tadlock picked up his 2nd save with an uneventful 9th.

Game 2: Another Patented Publix Park Comeback as Rodrigo Aponte walked it off with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th, his 3rd, to give the Rays a thrilling 7-6 win in a game they trailed most of the way. Julio Mattila wasn't bad at 5.2 6 3 3 2 5 but the offense was dormant until Jordan Sailes' 2-run homer (#5) in the 6th and a couple of runs in the 7th got them level at 4. But the Jays got a pair off Jonathan Bolon in the 8th and looked headed for victory until Aponte had his say. Joe Rose (3-1) earned the win in relief.

Game 3: The Rays pulled off their second straight series sweep and sent Toronto to its 8th consecutive loss after a tidy 5-2 win in the finale. Dave Rose (3-2) was in vintage form at 7 7 1 1 0 9 and Devin Tadlock shut the door again for his 3rd save. Meanwhile the bats which came up big yesterday did it again today with Jordan Sailes (#6) going solo and Rodrigo Aponte (#4) delivering a 2-run blast. Angel Gonzales also went deep (#7) with the bases empty in the first.

Team record: 21-10. It's a good thing they swept as the Yankees did likewise to stay 1 1/2 behind them. Next up: A day off then we head to Boston for 3 games.

Some league honors:

And he started May with a homer as well.

Art Deco · 12-02-2025, 10:47 AM

Game 1: The Rays made a 1-0 lead hold up for almost 7 innings, but couldn't score again and ended up losing 2-1 to Boston on a walk-off in the bottom of the 9th. Rodrigo Aponte's 3rd-inning RBI single was enough for a while for Tony Guzman, who was excellent again at 7 5 1 1 3 9 but gave up the equalizer in the 7th. And then Jake Cid (3-3) put men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out in the 9th only to see Omar Gaitan throw wildly in trying to pick the runner off at 1st, allowing the winning run to score.

Game 2: It was a struggle again on offense but Tampa Bay managed to eke out a 4-3 win 12 innings over the Red Sox. Solo homers from Angel Gonzales (#8) and Rodrigo Aponte (#5) gave them a 2-0 lead but Elijah Whitaker lost that lead in the 5th and finished 5 6 2 2 2 8. The Rays went up 3-2 in the 9th on Aaron White's RBI single but Bill Sutherland blew yet another save, his third, by allowing an RBI double in the bottom of the 9th. Finally in the 12th they got a man to third and he scored on a wild pitch, and Jake Cid got it done in the bottom of the inning for his first save of the season with Devin Tadlock (2-1) picking up the win.

Game 3: The Rays finally the bats going and jumped out a 6-0 lead before holding on for a 6-4 win over Boston to take the rubber game of the series. Rodrigo Aponte's 2-run double and Aaron White's 2-run homer (#3) were the big hits and Victor Boria (6-0) was brilliant again at 6 3 0 0 0 8 and lowered his ERA to 2.54. Things got dicey in the 8th when Randy Mastropietro and Chris Friedman combined to allow 3 runs and Joe Rose gave up one more in the 9th but still nabbed his second save.

Team record: 23-11. The Yankees lost 2 of 3 so the Rays' division lead increased to 2 1/2 games. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland.

Rays news: Despite the series win and increased division lead it wasn't all good news as we got word that star OF Henry Dominguez suffered a setback in his quad injury and instead of returning in 2-3 weeks he's going to be out 2-3 months as surgery is going to be required. We'll keep on going with Jaden Diaz for now although Jordan Sailes might be the guy who stays when Joel Bland comes off the IL in a couple of weeks.

Art Deco · 12-06-2025, 02:05 PM

Game 1: Julio Mattila pitched his best game as a big leaguer and led the Rays to a 4-1 win over the Guardians in Cleveland. Mattila went 7 5 1 1 0 6 to improve to 2-1 and Bill Sutherland looked sharp in a 1-2-3, 2-whiff 9th for his 9th save. The big blow on offense came in the 5th when Orlando Diaz snapped a 0-0 tie with a 2-run shot (#6) and Brian Whittaker added his first homer of the year, a solo shot in the 8th.

Game 2: Dave Rose was uncharacteristically poor (and wild) and Cleveland routed the Rays 10-1 in the second game. Rose (3-3) went 3.2 5 5 5 5 4, and Steve Swords was even worse in relief, allowing 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Game 3: Tampa Bay dropped the series in Cleveland thanks to some horrendous work from the bullpen, seeing a 4-1 lead evaporate in a 6-run Guardian 6th and they ended up falling 8-6. Things began well enough with Jesus Avalos belting a 3rd-inning grand slam (#3) and Tony Guzman pitching around traffic to hold Cleveland to one run through 5. But Guzman had two on and two out in the 6th and gave up a 2-run double to make it 4-3, and then Chris Friedman (1-1) came in and lost the plot, unable to retire anyone as four more runs scored, including 3 men he put on. Paul Mayes hit a 2-run homer (#3) in the 9th and they loaded the bases after that but Aaron White popped out to end the rally and the game.

Team record: 24-13. Fortunately the Yankees also dropped 2 of 3 so the division lead remains 2 1/2 games. Next up: After a travel day off the Rays will host Oklahoma City for 3 games.

10-10-2025, 03:03 PM	#2921
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	2057-58 Offseason: State of the Team The partying goes on in Tampa Bay as the Rays celebrate title #20. Also, here's a playoff stats recap: Aponte and Gonzales got the trophies but Mayes was the unsung hero of the offense, consistently hitting throughout the postseason. We got our first dose of reality after the celebration as our ace Dave Rose opted out of the final year of his contract. He's 36 but as good as ever so we'll definitely be trying to re-sign him Otherwise 2058 will largely be a case of running it back as the only free agents of note are C Ryan Rivera, SP Jorge Barraza and relievers Victor Boria and Willie Navarro. Despite the title we're being given a $160M payroll which isn't the greatest but we should have somewhere between $20-25M to spend if we re-sign Rose. Since everyone else is going to be back there's no point in doing a position-by-position outlook except for the following: Catcher: The job is prospect Omar Gaitan's to lose and we'll have to bring in a backup as Alex Gonzalez is a FA as well. Rotation: I'm going to assume we re-sign Rose, which means we have the Barraza opening to fill. I'll kick the tires on him but I suspect he'll be too expensive so we could turn to youngster Julio Mattilla, who's had cups of coffee the last three season, primarily as a reliever, or Danny McMullan who did some swing work for us while shuttling between here and Durham. And there's always old standby Randy Mastropietro as a last resort. Bullpen: Boria was a valuable middle reliever and Navarro gave us some late-inning strength but we still have Cid and Tadlock in the 8th and the 9th. We'll need to trade for or sign a couple of decent middle men. Others: Ruben Brown is an MLB-quality 1B right now but he's blocked by Gonzales and Aponte at 1B/DH. He could be trade bait (or Aponte could) to for some pitching. Also if we want to get creative Jesus Avalos is due $25M going into his last year of team control and I might see what he can fetch with Jalen Diaz so impressive in his late-season callup. Stay tuned.

10-15-2025, 05:46 PM	#2922
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	2057-58 Offseason: Part 1 Retirements of note: Steve Talbott, who spent 4 years as our closer (2050-53) and saved 140 games for us, hung up the spikes and had his number retired by Washington where he spent the bulk of his career. Also having his number retired was Joel Taylor, who finished with 612 career homers and was honored by the White Sox. Other former Rays retiring were SP Nicola Greico (2050) and RP Mel Mejia (2046-51). We made a couple of small trades right after the World Series: Abron was a late first-round pick of the Dodgers in 2055 and is an OF with 60 contact and 55 power (65/60 potential) who's about average defensively. They had interest in Vigil, who has 55 stuff and could be a future swingman. Abron has the ability to make the big club (he was up for one at-bat with LA late in the season) but will probably start 2058 at Durham. We need another 1B/DH-type like we need a hole in the head but this deal was too good to pass up. I like Bush's bat but we never had a position for him and he was going to be out of options come the spring. McNeill had become a top 100 prospect and has 65/65 potential but is currently rated 55/55. He came up with Cleveland late in the season and hit 287/342/407 with 3 HR in 108 AB but is also ticketed for Durham. We kept him: 4 years for a 37-year-old pitcher is a lot, and I fully expect him to start declining, but for now he's still one of the game's best. The fourth year is a team option with a $5M buyout, so we're really only on the hook for about $75M. Elsewhere we settled with all the arb-eligible guys except Aaron White and Jesus Avalos, who wanted multi-year deals. IF Alex Brown seems a bit pricey at his projected $5.5M in arbitration and I will likely deal or non-tender him. Awards Season: Gold Glove: No Rays were winners. Reliever of the Year: In the AL Minnesota's Eddie Knowlton was a unanimous winner after a 7-win, 42-save, 2.14 ERA season. Surprisingly our Josh Meenach was second despite being purely a middle reliever. Guessing his 1.89 ERA got votes rather than the 2 wins and 2 saves. In th NL, Atlanta's Victor Rosa was a clear winner after a 38-save, 2.04 ERA season. Silver Slugger: We had two winners: Joel Bland (LF) and Angel Gonzales (DH). Rookie of the Year: After a .289-30-94 season Baltimore OF Danny Cobos was a unanimous AL winner with our Tony Guzman finishing fourth. Indianapolis LF Alex Aviles also got all the first-place votes thanks to a .319-13-84 which earned 6.3 WAR. Cy Young: Well, well, well... And Whitaker followed up that regular season with a brilliant run in the playoffs. Dave Rose took second and Jorge Barraza even got a few votes. The NL winner was Milwaukee's David Marrero, 15-5, 2.64 with a league-best 235 Ks and 6.9 WAR. MVP: In the AL Chicago RF Juan Martines won after a .322-43-116 year which was good for 8.1 WAR. Our Angel Gonzales finished third, Joel Bland sixth and Jesus Avalos ninth. The NL nod went to Pittsburgh superstar SS Nick Villafana as the 24-year-old won for the second straight year after winning as a rookie last season. He followed up that campaign with a .311-49-127 season with a .412 OBP, and 9.8 WAR, giving him 21.2 over his first two seasons. November 20: Made a surprise re-signing: We're going to give Boria a chance to improve on those 10 wins in relief last season by making him a starter - his ratings suggest he's more than capable with only his 40 stamina a drawback but he should still give us 5-6 good innings most of the time. And if he turns out to be really good $10M/year will look like a steal. November 21: Another trade: As mentioned Brown was due $5.5M or more in arbitration and that was a bit pricey for a backup MI, albeit a good one. So we packaged him with Villalobos, a C prospect a long way off, for a couple of intriguing guys in Sailes and Lobban. Sailes is MLB-ready with 50 contact and 65 power (with potential for 55 contact) and raked in AAA to the tune 338/410/703. The 25-year-old was a 2nd round pick in 2054 by Houston and is an average to slightly-below-average corner OF who can also play 1B. Lobban is more of a lottery ticket with 60 contact and power potential who was taken in the fourth round of this past summer's draft. November 23: Arbitration hearings were held and Jesus Avalos will get $25.8M instead of $25.5M we offered and Aaron White will get $7M instead of the $6.5M we submitted, so no great shakes either way. We made a qualifying offer to Jorge Barraza but he turned it down, so hello comp pick. December 3: Former Astro Randy Heller, one of the game's top pitchers but now 37, signed a 2/56 deal with Philadelphia so thankfully he's out of the AL. December 4: More wheeling and dealing: Decided to package Jackson and Tafoya, two hard-hitting infielders with questionable gloves and not much future with the team, originally looking for a quality reliever or two which remains a need. Instead we got offered a power-hitting SS/3B in Diaz who was too good to pass up. My scout says he has 5-star potential and is already rated 50 contact, 65 power with 55/70 potential. He put up ridiculous numbers with Las Vegas last year: 349/416/656 with 41 HR and 136 RBI and played a credible if slightly below-average shortstop. He's yet to play in the bigs but I am seriously considering making him at least the part-time SS especially with Aaron White's injury-proneness. Jayden Woodard can always come in as a defensive replacement. December 10: Two of our free agents found new homes. C Ryan Rivera got a 4/78 deal from Cincinnati and reliever Josh Meenach is a Cardinal for 2/19. December 11: Finally added a bullpen arm: The 34-year-old Friedman is a solid reliever who's averaged about 1 WAR each of the last three seasons with ERAs in high 2s and low 3s and is rated 65/60/50. He's making $3.9M and is a free agent after the season's end. In return we've finally freed Mayo, a 2050 9th-round pick who's spent the last 7(!) seasons in Durham's rotation. He's the ultimate finesse pitcher with 40 stuff, 65 movement and 60 control but never got a crack with the big club, and won 101 games with a 4.05 ERA during his tenure with the Bulls. Hopefully he makes it with the A's. December 12: Another bullpen addition: Wanted another lefty for the pen and got one in the 36-year-old vet Lopez, coming off a solid season in which he made 73 appearances covering 99 innings. He's rated 60/60/60 and should give us decent middle relief. The cost was low as Gaona isn't really a prospect and Washington is eating 50% of his $3.6M salary. All we need now is another catcher and the roster should be largely set. December 22: Added OF/P Garik Samuels, 2B Bobby Pena and C Jonathan Restituyo to the 42-man roster. Rule 5 time again. Samuels is a 5-star prospect as a hitter, Pena is a good-hitting middle infielder, and Restituyo right now would be our backup catcher, not a terrible thing since he's a 60-contact hitter who batted .347 in part-time action at Durham and isn't terrible with the glove. December 23: 24 players were taken in the Rule 5 Draft but none of them belonged to us. December 27: Signed C Alex Gonzalez to a 1-year, $2.2M contract. Meet the new backup catcher, same as the old backup catcher. Gonzalez did a fine job for us as Ryan Rivera's caddy and now will do likewise for the youngster Omar Gaitan. I'll gladly take a repeat of his 259/314/455, 8 HR in 143 AB season. Barring some kind of surprise deal that should give us a fairly set roster going into next season and the Gonzalez signing fills our 42-man roster.

10-18-2025, 10:07 AM	#2923
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	2057-58 Offseason: Part 2 January 3: The Hall of Fame voting is in an a former Rays star was the only inductee: Although he ended up playing more years in San Francisco (10) than in Tampa Bay (6), he actually accumulated more WAR with the Rays including this incredible stretch in which the team won 4 titles: He was MVP in 2037, quite unsurprisingly. Two other Rays stars (Kawase and de Jesus) came close. January 11: Our free agent Jorge Barraza signed with Arizona for only 3/39 after turning down our more lucrative (for the coming season anyway) qualifying offer, and since the contract was small we're getting a supplemental 2nd rounder instead of a 1st. Lose-lose all around I guess. January 13: Our amateur scout signed a pitcher from Italy but he only has 0.5-star potential, leading me to think he only went there for the sights and the food. January 15: Middle reliever Erik Witten, in our pen the last few years, signed a 1-year $1.1M deal with the Dodgers and some reason his departure caused the fan interest to decrease noticeably. Not that we've just won a World Series or something. January 17: Saw this headline and wondered I was getting papal news: But it turns out to be Toronto catcher Alex Pope. January 18: Oh boy: The dreaded guru storyline. January 22: With the international amateur free agent window now open, we signed OF Ricky Falcon. The soon-to-be 17-year-old has 80 contact and 70 power potential and also projects to be a slightly above-average defensive OF. February 10: Remember when I said the team was set? I lied: We're down to only $5M to play with so that really will be it, but I couldn't pass up Sutherland, who has elite 80/75/75 ratings. He, Cid and Tadlock give us a formidable back end of the bullpen. Sutherland has an opt-out for next season so hopefully he'll be good enough this year to exercise it. On to the preseason.

10-24-2025, 03:08 PM	#2924
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	2058 Opening Day Roster & Preseason Predictions A run-of-the-mill spring training with only reliever Jonathan Bolon going on the IL with back stiffness but he'll be back in a week or so. The Opening Day roster: C-Gaitan, A.Gonzalez 1B-Aponte 2B-Chinchilla SS-A.White 3B-Mayes IF-Woodard, O.Diaz LF-Bland CF-H.Dominguez RF-J.Avalos OF-Whittaker, Flores DH-A.Gonzales SP-D.Rose, Whitaker, Guzman, Boria, Mattila LR-Swords, Mastropietro MR-Alexander, Friedman, M.Lopez, J.Rose SU-Cid, Sutherland CL-Tadlock IL-Bolon (P) Cid and Sutherland are lefties so Tadlock may end up in more of a setup role, and Sutherland will get a fair number of saves. A look at these gents: So what does OOTP think of this crew as it seeks to defend its title? Well they're picked to win the division but not to be a dominant team as they were last season in accruing 112 regular season wins, followed by 11 more in the playoffs. We'll be opening the season in Detroit of all places for 3 games before our home opener against Boston.

10-24-2025, 08:59 PM	#2925
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	March 29-31, 2058: at Detroit (3) The Opening Day box: Not a pleasant day for the Rays, both for the 36-degree weather wind a wind chill making it feel colder and for the 6-1 loss they suffered to open the 2058 season. It was a 1-1 game until Dave Rose gave up a 2-run homer and things snowballed (no pun intended) from there. The bottom line was that the offense could only manage one run on six hits, so the additional runs surrendered by the bullpen really didn't matter. Game 2: The bats didn't heat up much in the 33-degree weather on Saturday but they got warm enough to give the Rays their first win over the season, 3-2 over the Tigers. Paul Mayes had an RBI double and it was 2-2 heading into the 9th when they put a couple of men on and Dantel Chinchilla (who probably would like to be wearing one in this clime) delivered a sac fly to provide the winning margin. Tony Guzman went 5.2 5 2 2 1 3 and the new/old-look bullpen did the job with Jake Cid handling the 7th, Devin Tadlock the 8th and Bill Sutherland picking up his first Rays save with a clean 9th. Game 3: After excelling yesterday the late-inning bullpen let the Rays down in the series finale, but all it served to do was delay victory as Tampa Bay eked by Detroit 5-4 in 12 innings to take the series. They got their first homer of the season when Angel Gonzales delivered a 2-run shot in the first and rookie Orlando Diaz's first MLB hit was an RBI single as the Rays took a 3-0 lead behind Elijah Whitaker. Whitaker gave up some baserunners but hung in there before allowing a pair in the 6th and finishing 5 8 2 2 2 5. Jesus Avalos singled home an insurance run in the 8th to make it 4-2 but Jake Cid gave up a run in the 8th and Bill Sutherland was hit for a leadoff triple in the 9th which scored to tie the game. Finally in the 12th Paul Mayes doubled in the go-ahead run and Joe Rose (1-0) and Randy Mastropietro, the 9th(!) Rays pitcher of the day, got the final out for his first career save after making 138 starts in the bigs. The win came at a cost though as lefty reliever Mike Alexander tore his rotator cuff and is done for the season. Team record: 2-1. Next up: We head home to a much warmer Tampa for our home opener, part of a 3-game set with the Red Sox at Publix Park.

10-27-2025, 03:58 PM	#2926
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 1-3, 2058: vs Boston (3) Game 1: The Rays received their 2057 championship rings at Publix Park in the home opener and immediately went out and scored 7 runs in the first inning on their way to an 8-2 beatdown of Boston. Henry Dominguez led off the game with his first homer of the year, Paul Mayes belted a 2-run double and rookie C Omar Gaitan capped the inning with a bases-clearing two-bagger. This made things easy for Victor Boria (1-0), making his first start after spending all of last season in relief and going 5 6 2 2 2 7. And former starter Steve Swords went 4 1 0 0 2 6 to close out the game for his first save in another successful role reversal. Game 2: The Rays and their fans were salivating over the power potential of rookie Orlando Diaz when he was acquired this offseason and today he gave them something concrete as he belted a pair of dingers to lead the Rays to their fourth straight win, a 9-5 triumph over the Red Sox. Diaz's first homer had helped them to a 4-0 lead through 5 with yet another rookie in Julio Mattila cruising but he allowed a run in the 6th and left with the bases loaded. And unfortunately new bullpen piece Chris Friedman, who gave up only one homer of all of last year, surrendered his second already this season to the first man he faced, a grand slam that put Boston ahead 5-4. But Diaz cranked his second homer of the game and year to tie it in the 7th and Henry Dominguez hit his second homer of the game (#3) in the 8th to break the deadlock. Paul Mayes then broke it open later in the inning with a 3-run shot (#1). Mattila ended up 5.1 3 4 4 3 5 but deserved better while Jake Cid (1-0) to the win in relief. Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep and consigned Boston to an 0-7 start to the season thanks to a 5-1 win behind Dave Rose. The veteran righty was much better than he was in the opener and evened his record at 1-1 after going 7 5 1 1 2 7. Joe Rose made a mess in the 9th so Bill Sutherland had to come in and notch save #2. That man Henry Rodriguez homered yet again, giving him 4 in the 3-game set, Adrian Gonzales had an RBI double and Paul Mayes went yard for the second straight game (#2). Team record: 5-1. Next up: A day off then 3 games in Baltimore.

11-01-2025, 09:00 AM	#2927
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 5-7, 2058: at Baltimore (3) Game 1: After Tony Guzman was rocked and Baltimore took a 7-1 lead the offense fought back and made a game of it but the Rays fell just short in Baltimore by a score of 8-7. They even had two men on in the 9th but couldn't get the tying run across. Guzman (0-1) just didn't have it today and finished 3.1 9 7 7 1 3 but in the end the difference turned out to be an unearned run Baltimore scored in the 8th thanks to an Aaron White error. The red-hot Henry Dominguez was 3-5 with an RBI double and Dantel Chinchilla and Omar Gaitan were each 2-4 with 2 RBI to lead the ill-fated comeback. Game 2: It was a brutal day in Baltimore as the Orioles held the Rays to two hits in an 8-0 blowout. Eljiah Whitaker (0-1) blanked Baltimore through 4 innings before the roof caved in during the 5th as he allowed 6 runs including a pair of longballs and that was that. He finished with an ugly 5 6 6 5 3 5 line while on the other hand Tony Valladares carved up Tampa Bay hitters to the tune of 7 1 0 0 2 9. Game 3: The Rays did salvage the finale behind a fine performance from Victor Boria (2-0) and a 3-RBI day from Rodrigo Aponte as they beat Baltimore 6-1. Boria was brilliant going 6.1 6 1 1 0 4 as his transition to the rotation has been an early success, and Aponte drew a bases-loaded walk to break a 1-1 tie in the 4th before adding to the lead with a 2-run shot, his first of the year. Also going yard for the first time in 2058 was Aaron White (solo) while Dantel Chinchilla was 3-3 with a walk and a pair of doubles. Team record: 6-3. Next up: We continue the road-heavy early part of the schedule with 3 games in Chicago against the White Sox.

11-04-2025, 09:55 PM	#2928
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 8-10, 2058: at Chicago White Sox (30 Game 1: The Rays lost the opener in Chicago 9-6 and the culprit was easy to spot: the bullpen. First Jonathan Bolon allowed two of Julio Mattila's runners to score and then one of his own in the 5th, and after the Rays had regained the lead in the 7th on Angel Gonzales' 3-run homer (#3), his second of the game, Jake Cid gave up the tying run in the bottom of the inning and then Devin Tadlock (1-1) surrendered a 3-run shot in the 8th to lose it. Mattila ended up 4 5 4 4 3 4 and a 4-RBI day from Gonzales was wasted. Game 2: Oops they blew it again - the usual suspects from yesterday, Jake Cid and Devin Tadlock, squandered a 3-1 Rays lead going into the 7th to send the team to another loss, 5-4. Dave Rose was excellent having allowed only one run through 6 but put the first two men on in the 7th before departing for Tadlock, who allowed both men to score to let Chicago equalize (with some help from a Jesus Avalos error). And then in the 8th Cid (1-1) served up a 2-run homer to lose it in the worst kind of Ray-ja vu. Orlando Diaz had homered (#3) and doubled while Angel Gonzales had a pair of RBI singles and although they got a run back in the 9th it wasn't enough. Rose finished 6 7 3 2 2 9 in a no-decision. Game 3: Tony Guzman went 8 shutout innings with a slender lead before Tampa Bay broke it open in the 9th and salvaged the finale 8-0 over the White Sox. In perhaps his best start as a Ray, Guzman (1-1) went 8 2 0 0 3 5 on 104 pitches but the lead was only 2-0 through 7 before they added an insurance run in the 8th and then truly put it away on a grand slam from the suddenly-hot Angel Gonzales (#4) in the 9th. Speaking of hot Henry Dominguez was 3-4 with two doubles, a steal and 4 runs scored and is hitting 404/446/731 to start the season. Team record: 7-5. The Yankees are off to a 10-3 start so they lead the Rays by 2 1/2 in the early going. Next up: An off-day then finally back home for 3 against Baltimore although they follow that up with a 6-game road trip meaning five of their first seven series will be on the road.

11-08-2025, 04:52 PM	#2929
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 12-14, 2058: vs Baltimore (3) Game 1: It wasn't the prettiest of wins but it was good enough as the Rays got by Baltimore 4-2 to open their 3-game set at Publix Park. Elijah Whitaker (1-1) had a downright ugly first inning in which he walked the bases loaded then walked in a run but settled down from there to finish with a strange 6 4 2 2 5 2 line that earned him a win. Bill Sutherland took care of the 9th for his 3rd save. On offense four different Rays drove in a run with Aaron White leading the way going 2-4 with an RBI double. Game 2: Joel Bland snapped out of a season-long slump with a first-inning grand slam and the Rays went on to down the Orioles 8-2. Bland, hitting .122 coming into the day's action, hit his first long ball of the season and perhaps will finally get going after having a 6.6-WAR season last year. He later doubled as well while Angel Gonzales was 4-5 with a ribbie. Meanwhile Victor Boria (3-0) continued to excel as a starter, going 5 2 1 1 2 4 to win his third game in as many starts. Game 3: The Rays completed the home series sweep with their second 4-2 triumph of the series. Rookie Julio Mattila pitched by far his best game as a big leaguer going 7 4 2 2 3 10 to earn his first MLB win in his first decision of the season but had to sweat out Bill Sutherland in the 9th. The veteran lefty closer loaded the bases with two out and it looked for all the world that Baltimore's Will Sanders would clear the bases with a drive into the gap but Henry Dominguez made an incredible diving catch to save the day and give Sutherland a shaky 4th save. On offense they scored all 4 runs in the 2nd inning on 2-run singles from Angel Gonzales and Rodrigo Aponte. Team record: 10-5. They shaved a game off the Yankees' lead and now trail in the division by 1 1/2 games. Next up: Back out on the road starting with 4 in Toronto.

11-12-2025, 05:20 PM	#2930
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 15-18, 2058: at Toronto (4) Game 1: Dave Rose had an off-day and a first-inning 3-0 Rays lead disappeared quickly as they fell to Toronto 6-4 in the opener. Rodrigo Aponte's 2-run double was the key hit in that inning but Rose (1-2) gave up a run in the bottom of the frame and then 3 more in the 2nd on his way to finishing 4 8 5 5 1 6. Game 2: The good news: Tampa Bay easily handled Toronto 7-1 in the second game. The bad news: The team lost the red-hot Henry Dominguez for a month thanks to a torn quadriceps. H-Dom was hitting 397/453/647 in the early going and had already earned 1.2 WAR. As for the game Tony Guzman (2-1) was outstanding again at 6 3 1 1 2 3 and the offense was spread out amongst the lineup with Rodrigo Aponte leading the way after going 2-4 with 2 RBI. April 17: Placed OF Henry Dominguez on the 10-day IL, recalled OF Jalen Diaz from AAA Durham. Diaz will platoon with Brian Whittaker in Dominguez's place with Jesus Avalos shifting to center against righties with Diaz in RF while Whittaker will play CF against lefties. Diaz of course excelled with the big club last season in limited late-season action. Game 3: Another win, another starting OF lost for a month. This time it was Joel Bland, who had just started heating up after a miserable start to the season, who went down with a fractured rib. Bland missed about a month last year as well but still earned 6.6 WAR - it'll now be tough for him to replicate that considering his poor start. Meanwhile the team got a 9th-inning solo homer from Dantel Chinchilla, his first of the year, to pull out a 6-5 win over the Jays. Orlando Diaz came off the bench in the 7th to deliver a 2-run shot (#4) which put them up 5-4 before Devin Tadlock lost that lead in the 7th. Elijah Whitaker started and suffered again with his control, going 5 4 3 3 6 4 and now has issued 16 free passes in 21 IP. Jake Cid (2-1) picked up the win with Bill Sutherland nabbing save #5. April 18: Placed OF Joel Bland on the 10-day IL and recalled OF Jordan Sailes from AAA Durham. Sailes was one of the young MLB-ready guys we acquired in the offseason who were stuck behind regulars, so he gets a shot with Bland out to start in LF with his 65 power. Game 4: The Rays managed to win the series by taking the final game and somehow they didn't lose an OF in the process as they topped Toronto 5-2. Victor Boria (4-0) has been perfect in his four starts and today went 6 3 2 2 1 7 with the only two runs against him scoring after he left with two men on to start the 7th. Bill Sutherland saved again (#6). Angel Gonzales had a solo homer (#5) to put them on the board in the 1st and Rodrigo Aponte capped a big series with a 2-run homer (#2) which made it 5-0. Jordan Sailes was 2-4 in his Rays debut. Team record: 13-6, moving within 1/2 game of the division-leading Yankees. Next up: Off to Oakland for 3 games.

11-15-2025, 06:01 PM	#2931
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 19-21, 2058: at Oakland (3) Game 1: The first five Rays to bat in the opener at Oakland all reached based and scored, capped by Jordan Sailes' first MLB homer, a 3-run shot. Unfortunately though Julio Mattila gave up 3-run homers in the 2nd and 3rd and the offense couldn't score again so the Rays took an unlikely 6-5 loss. Mattila (1-1) couldn't stand prosperity, although to his credit he hung in there to keep the game close finishing 6.1 3 6 6 3 6. Game 2: Dave Rose pitched his best game of the young season and the Rays got back in the win column with a 4-1 triumph over the A's. Rose (2-2) was outstanding at 6.1 5 1 0 1 4 and Bill Sutherland closed for the 7th time this year. The offense came primarily off the bat of Angel Gonzales, who had an RBI single in the top of the first and then belted a 2-run homer (#6) in the 5th. Game 3: Tampa Bay dropped the rubber game in another tough one, falling 3-2 to Oakland. Tony Guzman (2-2) gave them a quality start at 6 5 3 3 2 8 but the offense was limited in this one with the highlight being Manny Flores' first homer of the year, a solo shot in the 6th which briefly tied the game at 2. Team record: 14-8. Fortunately the Yankees also dropped 2 of 3 so the Rays remain 1/2 game behind New York. Next up: home for 3 against the Angels.

11-19-2025, 01:18 PM	#2932
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 22-24, 2058: vs LA Angels (3) Game 1: The Rays scored early and often and went on to take the opener from the Angels 8-4. The offense primarily flowed through three hitters who combined to go 9-14 with 2 HR and 7 RBI: Jesus Avalos, who finally homered for the first time this year in Game #23, a 3-run blast, and drove in 4; Angel Gonzales, 3-4 with 2 RBI; and Jordan Sailes, who was 4-5 with a double and a solo homer (#2). Elijah Whitaker (2-1) wasn't great again at 5.1 6 4 4 1 6 but picked up the win, and Devin Tadlock earned his first save of 2058, cleaning up a mess created by Manny Lopez in the 9th. Game 2: Tampa Bay dropped a tough one to LA, falling 3-2 despite having several chances to tie or go ahead. Victor Boria failed to win for the first time in 5 starts but stayed undefeated with a no-decision after a performance that was dominant and not-dominant at times, finishing 5 7 2 2 0 10. The winning run came in the 6th off Joe Rose (1-1) after Jesus Avalos had tied the game in the 5th on a 2-run shot, his second of the year and in as many days. Game 3: The bullpen was the culprit as the Rays lost the rubber game of the series 5-4 to the Angels in 10 innings. Tampa Bay took a 4-3 lead into the 9th but Bill Sutherland blew the save when he allowed a 2-out homer to tie it, and then Jake Cid (2-2) gave up a one-out triple to allow the losing run in the 10th. This after the Rays fought back from a 3-1 deficit caused by a shaky Julio Mattila start (4.1 6 3 3 4 2) thanks in large part to Jordan Sailes' 2-run homer (#3) as the rookie continues to impress filling in for the injured Joel Bland. Team record: 15-10. New York took 2 of 3 to push the Rays 1 1/2 games back in the division. Next up: After an off day those Yankees visit Publix Park for a big early 3-game series.

11-23-2025, 10:32 PM	#2933
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 26-28, 2058: vs NY Yankees (3) Game 1: The Rays opened their big early-season series with the Yankees at Publix Park with a 7-4 comeback win. Down 4-2 in the 6th, they got a run back and then erupted for 4 in the 7th to turn the game around keyed by a bases-clearing Paul Mayes double. Orlando Diaz was 3-4 with a pair of RBI doubles and Jordan Sailes continued to mash with the rookie belting his 4th homer in 8 games since his callup. Dave Rose started and had his ups and downs at 6 6 4 4 2 6, Jake Cid (3-2) picked up the win in relief and Bill Sutherland picked up a 4-out save (#8). Game 2: Tampa Bay managed to come from behind again against the Yankees and take over the division lead but not after having to overcome a blown lead in the 9th as they prevailed 6-5 in 10 innings. It was the game of young catcher Omar Gaitan's career as not only did he belt his first MLB homer in the 5th to tie the game at 3, he drove in the game-winner with a walk-off single in the 10th. Aaron White was 3-5 with a 2-run homer (#2) to get them back in it after the Yankees went up 3-0 in the first, and Orlando Diaz hit his 5th homer in the 8th to give the Rays what looked like an insurance run at 5-3 before Bill Sutherland blew his 3rd save of the season already by giving up a 2-run homer in the 9th. Joe Rose (2-1) ended up with the win and Tony Guzman was a solid 5.2 7 3 0 0 4 in his start. Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep of the Yankees to go up 1 1/2 games in the division with a - you guessed it - comeback 5-2 win. This time all the scoring took place in the 6th. Elijah Whitaker had his best start of the season going and departed with 2 on and 2 out in the 6th, only for Chris Friedman to allow those men to score on a couple of hits. Whitaker finished 5.2 4 2 2 1 5 with the lone walk a season-low. But Tampa Bay stormed back in the bottom of the frame with Aaron White's 2-run triple putting the Rays ahead for good. Friedman (1-0) bounced back from those two hits allowed to earn his first win as a Ray by going the next two innings and fanning 5 in total. And Joe Rose earned his first save of the year despite bringing the tying run to the plate with two out but he got the final out swinging. Team record: 18-10. Next up: Toronto comes to Publix Park for 3 games.

11-28-2025, 09:19 AM	#2934
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	April 29-May 1, 2058: vs Toronto (3) Game 1: The Rays jumped out to an early 5-1 lead and then hung on to top Toronto 5-4 in the series opener at Publix Park. Orlando Diaz had an RBI double and Rodrigo Aponte an RBI single as they built that lead by the 4th inning and Victor Boria (5-0) was cruising until things got dicey in the 6th. Boria gave up a run and Manny Lopez let one of Boria's men score along with one of his own and the Jays were within one, leaving Boria with a 5.2 8 3 3 0 5. But the pen held strong from there and Devin Tadlock picked up his 2nd save with an uneventful 9th. Game 2: Another Patented Publix Park Comeback as Rodrigo Aponte walked it off with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th, his 3rd, to give the Rays a thrilling 7-6 win in a game they trailed most of the way. Julio Mattila wasn't bad at 5.2 6 3 3 2 5 but the offense was dormant until Jordan Sailes' 2-run homer (#5) in the 6th and a couple of runs in the 7th got them level at 4. But the Jays got a pair off Jonathan Bolon in the 8th and looked headed for victory until Aponte had his say. Joe Rose (3-1) earned the win in relief. Game 3: The Rays pulled off their second straight series sweep and sent Toronto to its 8th consecutive loss after a tidy 5-2 win in the finale. Dave Rose (3-2) was in vintage form at 7 7 1 1 0 9 and Devin Tadlock shut the door again for his 3rd save. Meanwhile the bats which came up big yesterday did it again today with Jordan Sailes (#6) going solo and Rodrigo Aponte (#4) delivering a 2-run blast. Angel Gonzales also went deep (#7) with the bases empty in the first. Team record: 21-10. It's a good thing they swept as the Yankees did likewise to stay 1 1/2 behind them. Next up: A day off then we head to Boston for 3 games. Some league honors: And he started May with a homer as well.

12-02-2025, 10:47 AM	#2935
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	May 3-5, 2058: at Boston (3) Game 1: The Rays made a 1-0 lead hold up for almost 7 innings, but couldn't score again and ended up losing 2-1 to Boston on a walk-off in the bottom of the 9th. Rodrigo Aponte's 3rd-inning RBI single was enough for a while for Tony Guzman, who was excellent again at 7 5 1 1 3 9 but gave up the equalizer in the 7th. And then Jake Cid (3-3) put men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out in the 9th only to see Omar Gaitan throw wildly in trying to pick the runner off at 1st, allowing the winning run to score. Game 2: It was a struggle again on offense but Tampa Bay managed to eke out a 4-3 win 12 innings over the Red Sox. Solo homers from Angel Gonzales (#8) and Rodrigo Aponte (#5) gave them a 2-0 lead but Elijah Whitaker lost that lead in the 5th and finished 5 6 2 2 2 8. The Rays went up 3-2 in the 9th on Aaron White's RBI single but Bill Sutherland blew yet another save, his third, by allowing an RBI double in the bottom of the 9th. Finally in the 12th they got a man to third and he scored on a wild pitch, and Jake Cid got it done in the bottom of the inning for his first save of the season with Devin Tadlock (2-1) picking up the win. Game 3: The Rays finally the bats going and jumped out a 6-0 lead before holding on for a 6-4 win over Boston to take the rubber game of the series. Rodrigo Aponte's 2-run double and Aaron White's 2-run homer (#3) were the big hits and Victor Boria (6-0) was brilliant again at 6 3 0 0 0 8 and lowered his ERA to 2.54. Things got dicey in the 8th when Randy Mastropietro and Chris Friedman combined to allow 3 runs and Joe Rose gave up one more in the 9th but still nabbed his second save. Team record: 23-11. The Yankees lost 2 of 3 so the Rays' division lead increased to 2 1/2 games. Next up: 3 games in Cleveland. Rays news: Despite the series win and increased division lead it wasn't all good news as we got word that star OF Henry Dominguez suffered a setback in his quad injury and instead of returning in 2-3 weeks he's going to be out 2-3 months as surgery is going to be required. We'll keep on going with Jaden Diaz for now although Jordan Sailes might be the guy who stays when Joel Bland comes off the IL in a couple of weeks.

12-06-2025, 02:05 PM	#2936
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,593	May 6-8, 2058: at Cleveland (3) Game 1: Julio Mattila pitched his best game as a big leaguer and led the Rays to a 4-1 win over the Guardians in Cleveland. Mattila went 7 5 1 1 0 6 to improve to 2-1 and Bill Sutherland looked sharp in a 1-2-3, 2-whiff 9th for his 9th save. The big blow on offense came in the 5th when Orlando Diaz snapped a 0-0 tie with a 2-run shot (#6) and Brian Whittaker added his first homer of the year, a solo shot in the 8th. Game 2: Dave Rose was uncharacteristically poor (and wild) and Cleveland routed the Rays 10-1 in the second game. Rose (3-3) went 3.2 5 5 5 5 4, and Steve Swords was even worse in relief, allowing 4 runs in 2 1/3 innings. Game 3: Tampa Bay dropped the series in Cleveland thanks to some horrendous work from the bullpen, seeing a 4-1 lead evaporate in a 6-run Guardian 6th and they ended up falling 8-6. Things began well enough with Jesus Avalos belting a 3rd-inning grand slam (#3) and Tony Guzman pitching around traffic to hold Cleveland to one run through 5. But Guzman had two on and two out in the 6th and gave up a 2-run double to make it 4-3, and then Chris Friedman (1-1) came in and lost the plot, unable to retire anyone as four more runs scored, including 3 men he put on. Paul Mayes hit a 2-run homer (#3) in the 9th and they loaded the bases after that but Aaron White popped out to end the rally and the game. Team record: 24-13. Fortunately the Yankees also dropped 2 of 3 so the division lead remains 2 1/2 games. Next up: After a travel day off the Rays will host Oklahoma City for 3 games.