The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

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Traded 29-year-old reliever Christian Chamberlain to the Philadelphia Phillies, getting 26-year-old minor league reliever Romulo Canelon and 23-year-old minor league closer Chris Hicks in return.

Chamberlain had to go, he was out of options and Shane McClanahan is ready to return after his 2nd rehab start at Durham which was quite impressive. So rather than waive him I shopped him, and while the offers weren't great I took a questionable contract off Philly's hands and got a fine relief prospect for doing so. For some reason the Phillies signed Canelon to a 2-year, $6.2M deal despite him being a minor leaguer. He briefly pitched 4 excellent innings for Texas in 2027 but the Phillies had him at High-A Clearwater as aside from those innings with Texas he's only pitched 10 innings above that level. He has 60 stuff and 60 control, but 40 movement. He'll go to AA Montgomery to see if we have anything. Hicks was the prize in the deal, he was at low-A Lakewood, was Philly's 3rd round pick in 2027 and has potential 70 or 75 stuff depending on who's scouting reports you read, throws 98-100, only 30 control currently but potentially 50 so he could be a relief stud if things work out.

Placed P Jeremy Bowers on the 60-day IL with elbow ligament reconstruction surgery.

Bowers had been pitching at Durham after being in our bullpen most of last season and was being used as a starter this year. Apparently starting didn't agree with him as he left his start the other night with the elbow injury and the news was bad as he'll miss a year+. So he'll go on the MLB 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for us should we need it.

Optioned OF Dayle Jenkins to AAA Durham, activated OF Jasson Dominguez from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, recalled P Malachi Benford from AAA Durham.

Jenkins was impressive in his limited action and is an MLB CF right now, but we have two of those at the moment in Dominguez, who got in a few at-bats the last two nights in Durham after sitting out two weeks, and Julio Cedillo. Benford comes up to take Chamberlain's spot for a couple of days until we bring McClanahan back to start Sunday or Monday. He struck out 125 in 81 innings at Durham last year, so you know the arm speaks for itself.

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Game 1: The bad times continue to roll as the Rays fell 8-4 to Oakland to make it 5 dropped out of the last 6, and with the Yankees winning in Toronto they drop out of 1st place in the AL East as well. Jack Leiter made his last start for now with Shane McClanahan coming back and wasn't that great, going 5 7 3 3 1 6. But the bullpen, which looked like one of the best-ever on paper starting the year, was terrible again and Malachi Benford had an MLB debut he'd like to forget. Taking over with the Rays down 3-1 in top of the 6th, Benford failed to retire all 4 batters he faced, all reaching on hits with two of them of the infield variety. Mike Mooney let a couple of them score as Benford was charged with 3 runs in all and that pretty much was the ballgame. Jordan Diaz threw 2 perfect innings to keep them in the game as they got back to 6-4, but Evan Godwin was terrible again, giving up 2 runs and leaving the bases loaded. The offense did little until it was too late, with a Nate Clark sac fly in the 1st all their offense until Judson Fabian hit #3 leading off the 6th and Spencer Torkelson tripled in a run but was stranded at 3rd. Julio Cedillo doubled in a run in the 8th. Cedillo was in the game because Jasson Dominguez, in his first game back from the IL, had to leave with a blister which will nag him for 4 more days.

Game 2: There was a definite "here we go again" vibe when Oakland struck for 3 runs in the top of the 1st against Blake Money on Billy Thompson's bases-clearing double. But that would prove to be Oakland's zenith for the game as the Rays went on to take an 8-3 decision aided largely by a very wild Athletics pitching staff which put 9 Rays on base for free. While Money settled down Oakland's pitchers did not. Joe Barker's RBI double in the 3rd got the Rays on the board before it all broke loose in the 5th. Pedro Torrealba, who had walked 5 Rays in the first four innings and ran his pitch count up to 83, was pulled for Felipe Mezquita and he walked Keibert Ruiz to lead off the inning. Connor Kirlkey reached on an error, Judson Fabian singled to load the bases, then Nate Clark walked to make it 3-2, Barker grounded out to tie the game, and after Isaac DeLeon walked to re-load the bases, 2028's WPA leader Jhon Diaz doubled down the line to score two more and put the Rays up to stay. Bobby Witt Jr walked to load the bases again, and Oakland could not turn Julio Cedillo's grounder into a double play so another run scored before the 6th run of the inning scored on a passed ball. Kirkley's sac fly in the 8th scored the final run. Money ended up 6 6 3 3 0 7 to even his record at 2-2, Daniel Espino and Jose Alvarado each had scoreless innings, and with the lead expanded to 8-3 Malachi Benford got another crack at the whole MLB thing and fared better this time, whiffing a pair even though he allowed a walk and yet another infield single. The Yankees lost in Toronto so the Rays climb back into first by 1/2 game.

April 22: Optioned P Malachi Benford to AAA Durham, activated P Shane McClanahan from his injury rehab at AAA Durham.

Mac makes his belated season debut today against Oakland, Jack Leiter goes back to long relief.

Game 3: It wasn't pretty but the Rays did just enough to squeak by Oakland 3-2 in the return of Shane McClanahan. After going 7 6 1 1 0 4 in his season debut it's safe to say Mac is back, although unfortunately for him JDLC blew the lead in the 8th and vultured his win as the Rays rallied in the bottom of the inning to score the winning run. They did it without the benefit of a hit as Oakland pitching was wild again. This time Alex Young walked Judson Fabian to lead off the inning, and Fabian Petrovich then walked Nate Clark. Joe Barker's deep fly ball allowed Fabian to move up to 3rd, and Isaac DeLeon's second sac fly of the day scored Fabian with the winner. Jose Alvarado then pitched a 1-2-3 9th (JDLC and Alvarado were flip-flopped due to righties due in the 8th and Daniel Espino unavailable) for save #3. Julio Cedillo had a 2nd inning RBI single to put the Rays on the board before a name from our past, Seth Beer, homered off McClanahan in the 6th to tie the game. But the Rays immediately regained the lead when Joe Barker doubled (extending his hitting streak to 14), went to third on a wild pitch and scored on DeLeon's fly ball. The Yankees lost again in Toronto after blowing a 5-run lead by giving up 3 runs in the 8th and 3 in the 9th, so the Rays are now up 1 1/2 games. That's significant because...

Team record: 12-6. Next up: Those very Yankees come to town for a 3-game set.

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Game 1: The Rays raced out to a 7-2 lead in the 6th inning and needed every one of those runs as they held on to beat the Yankees 7-6 and open up a 2 1/2-game AL East lead. Alec Sachais got the start and he was brilliant, except for Vidal Brujan's solo HR leading off the game and a later longball to Victor Robles, going 7 6 2 2 0 9 to start the young season 3-0, 2.63. Meanwhile they used the longball to build the lead, with solo shots from Keibert Ruiz (#3) and Julio Cedillo (#2) and a Cedillo RBI single to hold a 3-2 lead going into the 6th, when they had a big inning. Connor Kirkley's infield single scored a run and then Judson Fabian smacked a 3-run HR (#4) to make it 7-2. After Sachais left, Mike Mooney took over in the 8th and it did not go well at all. Mooney loaded the bases with one out, and Daniel Espino came to face Miguel Sano, who hit a sac fly to make it 7-3, and then Espino continued his bad habit of allowing homers this season by serving up a 3-run blast to Robles to cut it to 7-6. With JDLC and Alvarado showing tired, Espino stayed in and got the final out of the 8th and a 1-2-3 9th to grab a shaky save #1 of the season. Cedillo and Ruiz were a terror at the bottom of the order with each going 3-4.

MLB News: Taylor Clarke of the Diamondbacks pitched a no-hitter (despite 45 stuff) against the Giants, walked 3, whiffing 8, and only throwing 99 pitches so it was a Maddux as well.

Game 2: In the mirror image of yesterday's game it was the Yankees who took a 6-2 lead and had to hang on for a 6-5 win over the Rays today. Mack Anglin started and was brilliant through 4 1/3, allowing only one hit on a Tyree Reed homer and striking out 7. But the wheels came off with one out in the 5th, as Anglin loaded the bases and after he got the second out with a whiff, Vidal Brujan got revenge on his former team with a bases-clearing triple to make it 4-2 New York. A Victor Robles double and a Vlad Jr. single made it 6-2 and Anglin departed with a 4.2 6 6 6 1 8 line. Evan Godwin, Andy Aparicio and Jose Alvarado shut the Yanks down the rest of the way to allow the bats to attempt a comeback, and they did try with a Spencer Torkelson RBI single in the 6th and a 2-run HR by Isaac DeLeon (#6) off former Ray Diego Castillo in the 8th which made it 6-5. But that was all they could manage as the Yankees move back within 1 1/2. The Rays' first two runs came in the 4th on a Nate Clark RBI single and Tork's sac fly.

Game 3: The Rays took the rubber game of the series against the Yankees with a 5-3 win. The star on the mound was as usual Christian Little, who went 6.2 5 2 2 0 10 with the two runs being a pair of Vlad Jr solo homers, and the star at the plate was Jhon Diaz, who slugged a pair of homers himself, a solo shot in the 2nd and a 2-run blast in the 6th that provided the margin of victory. Daniel Espino got Little out of the 7th, but gave up a leadoff hit in the 8th and had to leave the game with back stiffness which will keep him out a couple of days. This brought on Jordan Diaz who made things interesting to say the least. He gave up a single to Vidal Brujan and a double to Derek Crum to make it 5-3 with men on 2nd and 3rd and nobody out and the heart of the Yankee order coming up. But he consecutively struck out Vlad Jr., Victor Robles and Miguel Sano to get out of the inning and Jasseel De La Cruz had a much quieter 1-2-3 9th to get his third save. Little is now 4-1, 2.30. The Rays got on the board in the bottom of the 1st after Vlad's first HR when Connor Kirkley led off with a double and scored on Jud Fabian's sac fly. Diaz's first HR gave them a 2-1 lead before Vlad equalized for New York, and Joe Barker hit #3 in the 4th to make it 3-2 Rays and Diaz's 3rd of the year and second of the game made it 5-2 in the 6th. The Rays now lead New York by 2 1/2 games.

Team record: 14-7. Next up: A Midwest road trip starts with 4 games in Chicago against the White Sox.

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Game 1: The Rays overcame an awful start from Blake Money and outslugged the White Sox 10-7. Early on it was HR Derby for the Rays as Jasson Dominguez, back in the lineup, blasted his first HR of the year in the top of the 1st and Nate Clark followed with #5. After Money gave back those runs in the bottom of the inning Bobby Witt Jr. hit #4 to restore the lead briefly before Money really came apart in the 2nd, allowing 4 runs and leaving with an ugly 1.2 6 6 6 2 3 line. But within two innings the Rays had tied it up, first on Dominguez's 2nd HR of the game in the 3rd and then on RBI groundouts from Jhon Diaz and Keibert Ruiz. And they re-took the lead in the 6th on RBI singles from Witt and Conner Kirkley. After Chicago made it 8-7 in the 7th, Ruiz provided some much-needed insurance with a 2-run double. With Money departing in the 2nd, it was going to be a bullpen game and Jack Leiter was called on in need of long relief. Unfortunately he lasted two batters before having to leave with a herniated disc that will keep him out the better part of two weeks so he's IL-bound. Andy Aparicio came on and pitched decently, going 2 2/3 scoreless despite giving up 4 hits. He nabbed the win. Evan Godwin had a 1-2-3 6th but gave up a leadoff HR to Logan Wyatt in the 7th so Jordan Diaz came on again and had his best outing as a Ray with two perfect innings before JDLC finished off the game for save #4. The Yankees lost again so the lead has grown to a season-high 3 1/2.

April 27: Placed P Jack Leiter on the 15-day IL with a herniated disc, recalled P Malachi Benford from AAA Durham.

Benford is back and he has decent stamina so we can use him in long relief if needed.

Game 2: The Rays got another bad start and this time they couldn't overcome it in a 9-5 loss to the White Sox. Shane McClanahan, so effective in his first start of the season, struggled with Chicago and Omar Rivas in particular tonight. Rivas hit a 2-run inside-the-park homer in the 1st after Jud Fabian had doubled in the top of the inning to put the Rays in front and after Fabian followed up with a 3-run shot (#5) in the 2nd to make it 4-2 Rays, Mac melted down in the 4th allowing Rivas to hit one outside of the park this time with the bases full, gave up another run, and then saw Malachi Benford allow 2 more of his runners to score to end with a hideous (except for the Ks) 3.2 8 9 9 4 7 line. In a classic case of closing the barn door after the horses left, Benford went 3 1/3 scoreless after that, and Mike Mooney had a perfect 8th but the Rays couldn't score again until Nate Clark hit #6 with the bases empty to give us our final score. The Yankees lost yet again but Boston won its 5th straight and has now moved into 2nd, and the lead is 3 over the Red Sox.

Game 3: Like the first two games, the Rays kept hitting homers. Unlike the first two games they got a very good outing from their starter so that combination yielded a 7-2 win over the White Sox. The Rays scored enough runs to win 3 batters into the game as Jhon Diaz led off with a single, Judson Fabian stayed hot with HR #6, and Nate Clark hit #7. They kept the rally going with the key hit an Isaac DeLeon double, and Bobby Witt Jr's sac fly made it 4-0 before Alec Sachais took the mound. And Sachais got it done, even though it took until the 5th inning before he recorded his first strikeout. He ended 6 4 2 2 1 3 and is now 4-0, 2.70. Mike Mooney pitched 2 perfect innings and Evan Godwin one perfect inning in relief to finish off the game. And they added more runs with Keibert Ruiz's RBI single in the 4th and then Ruiz blasted #4 before Fabian made it 3 HRs in 2 games and 4 in 5 with HR #7 in the 7th. Haven't spoken about it much, but Keibert is off to an incredible start this season at 365/388/619, hitting for average and power and looking like the mid-2020s version of himself. He'd only hit 10 & 11 HR the last two seasons after exceeding 20 three times, and he might return to that figure this season. Perhaps the "every third game off to get Carlos Perez experience" plan is keeping him fresh. I've taken to calling him "Contract Year Keibert" since he's a FA at year's end.

Game 4: The Rays got a solid start from Mack Anglin and just enough offense to beat the White Sox 3-2 and take 3 of 4 in the series. Anglin was 6.1 4 2 2 2 6, pulled after he gave up his 2nd homer of the game. Daniel Espino walked two in relief of him but got two strikeouts to get out of the inning, then he put a man on to start the 8th and Jose Alvarado walked one as well but got out of that, and Jasseel De La Cruz pitched around a 2-out single to get save #5. Anglin is now 3-2 with a still-unsightful 5.59 ERA. The bats didn't exactly knock the cover off the ball but got the key hits, none moreso than Carlos Perez's 1st MLB homer which proved to be the difference, giving the Rays a 3-1 lead at the time. Earlier Joe Barker hit #4 and Bobby Witt Jr had an RBI double off one-time Rays farmhand Daiveyon Whittle.

Team record: 17-8. Next up: An off-day, followed by a pair of games in Kansas City.

Remember how the Yankees were the Rays' biggest threat in the division? Well that all changed in the last week as everyone else got hot:



MLB News: Philadelphia's Jack Little threw the 2nd no-hitter of the young season, beating the Mets 5-0. Little walked 1, struck out 6 and threw 104 pitches in outdueling none other than Emerson Hancock, now in the Mets' rotation.

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Game 1: The Rays and Christian Little beat the Royals 5-0 in what was probably the worst team shutout in franchise history. Although they didn't allow a run Rays pitchers gave Kansas City 18 baserunners on 9 hits, 8 walks and a HBP yet the Royals could not push across a run. And they only turned one double play and threw one runner out on the bases so it wasn't like KC ran into a bunch of outs. Of course it helps to have a strikeout pitch like Little and he went 5.2 9 0 0 2 8 to go to 5-1, 1.96. Mike Mooney took over for him in the 6th and was the most effective of the relievers, getting 5 outs on 3 whiffs and only allowing one walk. Jordan Diaz walked 2 in his lone inning, and Evan Godwin was given the opportunity to finish but walked the bases loaded in the 9th, necessitating JDLC to come in for the final out and get save #6. Nate Clark was the star on offense with a 2-run HR in the 3rd (#8) giving the Rays all the runs they'd need, and he added an RBI single in the 9th. In the 4th Connor Kirkley's RBI groundout and Keibert Ruiz's sac fly provided the other runs. All the other AL East teams won except Toronto (who was playing Boston), so 18-8 is only good for a 2 1/2 game lead right now.

Game 2: The Rays completed the sweep of the 2-game mini-series with Kansas City with a 9-6 win. It was a tense 2-2 game until the 6th when Jasson Dominguez, struggling to get going with his injury-riddled start to the season, cleared the bases with a 2-out double to put the Rays up 5-2. After Blake Money was left in too long to allow a 2-run double to Lewin Diaz in the bottom of the frame, the Rays broke it open with 4 runs in the 8th on a 2-run HR from Isaac DeLeon (#8) and a 2-run single from Jhon Diaz who's been thriving since being moved to the leadoff spot (3-4 today with 2 steals). But after Jordan Diaz got the Rays' first 1-2-3 inning of the two games in the 7th and Jose Alvarado did the same in an 8-pitch 8th, Alvarado stayed on and gave up 2 hits and Daniel Espino gave up 2 more of his own to allow Alvarado's runners to score to make it 9-6 before he got Xavier Edwards to ground out to end the game. Earlier Joe Barker had hit a 2-run HR (#5) in the 1st to put the Rays up before former Ray Hunter Bishop hit a 2-run shot of his own off Money in the 3rd to tie it. Money got the win and is now 3-2, but the 4 runs allowed in 5 2/3 keep his ERA up at 5.46. Baltimore won its 8th straight to stay 2 1/2 back.

Team record: 19-8. Next up: An off-day followed by 3 games in Coors Field against the Rockies. With how well the bats have been going and how mediocre the pitching has been, I'm fully expecting a 13-10 game or two this weekend.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Shane McClanahan came into Coors Field with an ERA over 8, but surprised us all by going 6 6 1 1 1 3. And Colorado pitcher Jake Woodford (once briefly a Rays property in 21 or 22, I forget now) came in with an ERA over 8 as well. He went 8 7 0 0 2 4 and amazingly beat the Rays in a rare 1-0 game at Coors Field. How rare? I'm not sure I recall one in this save and some quick Googling says there have been 9 of them as of 2018. But yeah, only giving up 1 run at Coors should be an automatic win. Some baserunning outs hurt the Rays. Jasson Dominguez was twice thrown out trying to steal and in the most egregious one of the day, Isaac DeLeon led off the 9th with a double and inexplicably tried to stretch it into a triple despite being down 1-0 and despite there being no outs and was thrown out. Dane Ayers was the only hitter could really hold his head up high - he was 3-4 with a double and a triple. Mike Mooney and Daniel Espino had scoreless innings to keep it close. Baltimore lost (and lost last night while the Rays were idle) so the lead remains 3.

Game 2: Now this was more like Coors Field. The Rays banged out 12 runs and 20 hits in a 12-5 win over the Rockies. There were gaudy batting lines galore, but perhaps the most impressive performance came from Mack Anglin. The Rays starter walked 1 and struck out a career-high 13 in 6 innings of work. Now there is a caveat, there was one 5-batter sequence that saw the Rockies hit a 3-run homer and then a 2-run homer in the 3rd to pull within 6-5 after the Rays scored 6 times in top of the inning. But given the ballpark and game situation, Anglin (4-2) deserves to be lauded. Jordan Diaz had 2 scoreless innings and Malachi Benford closed it out in the 9th on the mound. Then there were the bats. Rather than recap the scoring, I'll just tally up the damage. Joe Barker was 4-4 with a walk, double, homer (#6) and 2 RBI. Dane Ayers, getting his second straight start at 2B in place of Connor Kirkley, followed up yesterday's 3-4 with a 3-5 that included a HR (#3), 4 RBI and a steal. He's now hitting 444/500/926 in 27 AB with 3 HR and 6 RBI. Judson Fabian was 3-6 with a RBI, Jasson Dominguez 3-6, and Isaac DeLeon and Carlos Perez each had 2-hit, 2-RBI games. Every starter except Anglin had at least one hit. Baltimore lost so the lead is now up to 4 games.

Game 3: Take a bow, Alec Sachais. I was not looking forward to the seemingly most homer-prone of the Rays starters to take the mound at Coors Field, but it was more like he took it over as he threw 8 shutout innings in an 8 3 0 0 1 6 performance in a 5-0 Rays win. He was never in any serious trouble and left after 8 having only thrown 91 pitches after being pinch-hit for in the top of the 9th. That move paid off as pinch-hitter Jhon Diaz walked to keep the inning alive for Dane Ayers to rip a 2-run single to make a 3-0 game a 5-0 one. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless 9th to complete the shutout as Sachais goes to 5-0, 2.13 and continues to demonstrate last season's rookie success was not a fluke. The Rays were up against Colorado ace David Villegas and it took them until the 4th inning to break through on RBI doubles from Bobby Witt Jr (continuing his 180 from last year's disappointing debut Rays season and leading the team with 1.7 WAR) and Julio Cedillo. Isaac DeLeon added a 460-ft moon shot (#8) in the 6th to make it 3-0. Rays pitching held the Rockies to 6 runs total over the 3-game series in Coors, usually good enough for a sweep but they'll have to settle for 2 out of 3 after that 1-0 loss in the opener.

Team record: 21-9. Next up: Finally back home with Toronto in town.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays overpowered Toronto both figuratively and literally in a 10-0 win to kick off their homestand. The power pitching of Christian Little and 5 HRs led the way. Little was utterly dominant tonight, getting the first 14 outs of the game via strikeout. Not until Drew Browser grounded out to second with 2 out in the 5th did Toronto make an out with the ball in play. Little ended 6 1 0 0 2 15 and is now 6-1, 1.69 as he looks to make it 2 Cy Youngs in a row. The bats were loud too, none moreso than Isaac DeLeon who drilled 2 homers, a triple and drove in 5 runs. He now has 10 HRs and is hitting 307/344/667 and with Bobby Witt Jr also playing like an MVP candidate it's going to be interesting to see what happens when Ricky Widmar is back later this month. Also homering for the Rays were Jhon Diaz (#4), Nate Clark (#9) and Jasson Dominguez (#3). Finishing out the team shutout were Evan Godwin (a 1-2-3 7th) and Malachi Benford (2 scoreless despite 3 walks). Boston is the 2nd place team du jour and is 4 1/2 back.

Game 2: Blake Money's struggles continue and he put the Rays into a hole which they valiantly climbed out of only to succumb in 10 innings 7-5 to the Blue Jays. Money was hit for a 3-run HR by Adanson Cruz and a 2-run HR from Skyler Messinger in the first two innings, put two more on after the Messinger homer, and was yanked for Andy Aparicio. Aparicio was absolutely brilliant in long relief, getting out of that inning and going 5 3 0 0 0 8. He came in with Tampa Bay down 5-2 and the Rays managed to finally tie it by the 7th on Jhon Diaz's RBI double (part of a 3-5, 3 RBI day for Diaz which included HR #5). Unfortunately they couldn't generate any more offense after that, and after Jose Alvarado and JDLC had scoreless innings, a poorly-timed catcher's interference from Keibert Ruiz gave Toronto a runner in the 10th and with two out, Dave Lara, a lefty hitter, took lefty Mike Mooney deep to give Toronto the win. Isaac DeLeon also had an RBI single for the Rays, but the concern now is Money who has been hit for 15 ER over his last 3 starts in only 9 1/3 innings and has seen his ERA rise to 6.48. For the year he still has a nice 10/43 BB/K ratio in 33 innings but the 5 HR and .385 BABIP are killing him. This is probably one of those things which will work itself out, but Aparicio has served notice he might be ready for the rotation as he's now working on a 12 1/3 IP scoreless streak over his last four outings. All of the Rays' AL East rivals lost, so the lead remains 4 1/2.

Game 3: The Rays dropped their second in a row and for the second time in less than a week they came out on the wrong end of a very low-scoring game, tonight 2-1. Joe Musgrove shut them down to the tune of 8 4 1 1 1 6 while Shane McClanahan was once again denied the run support the team usually provides. He wasn't his greatest, but a 6 8 2 2 2 7 line is usually enough to win comfortably with this offense. Julio Cedillo's infield RBI single in the 3rd was the only run the Rays could scratch across, and they could have had more with the bases loaded and 1 out but failed to capitalize. And after that they mounted very little of a threat against Musgrove. Daniel Espino, Evan Godwin and Jordan Diaz each had a scoreless inning to keep it close. And the win for Toronto means they now move into second place, 4 games behind the Rays.

Game 4: Mack Anglin's been mostly good this year except for a penchant to give up a few too many homers, something out of character for someone with 55 movement so his overall numbers have suffered. But tonight he put it all together, no-hitting the Jays until the 5th and going 7 2 1 1 0 11 in a 6-1 win over Toronto. The lone run against him came in the 8th after he struck out a batter who reached on a wild pitch and then came around to score as he goes to 5-2, with a still-bloated 5.14 ERA. Jordan Diaz got through the 8th and Mike Mooney handled the 9th as the Rays salvaged a split of the series. Just about all the offense came in a 5-run 1st inning, with RBI singles from Nate Clark and Bobby Witt Jr followed by a 3-run Jasson Dominguez HR (#5). Isaac DeLeon added an RBI single in the 2nd as the offense took the rest of the night off but weren't needed thanks to Anglin. The lead now grows to 5 games over 2nd-place Toronto.

Team record: 23-11. Next up: A rematch of last year's (and the 2023) World Series as the Padres come to town for the weekend.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays busted open a 1-1 game with a 6-run 7th on the way to a 7-2 win over the Padres in the teams' first meeting since last year's World Series. Jasson Dominguez drilled a 2-run double to break the deadlock in the 7th, and Bobby Witt Jr (who in the previous inning hit #5 to tie the game at 1) and Keibert Ruiz added RBI singles before Connor Kirkley hit a massive 2-run shot to dead center (#3) to finish off the inning. The game started out inauspiciously as starter Alec Sachais had to leave with one out in the 2nd with a sore ankle, which fortunately will not keep him from making his next start. Andy Aparicio came in for the second time this week with some brilliant long relief, going 3 2/3 perfect innings with 6 Ks to get them through the 5th, but he stayed on for one more batter in the 6th who tripled off him. Evan Godwin then came on and allowed an RBI single for San Diego to score the game's first run before Witt hit his equalizer in the bottom of the inning. Daniel Espino whiffed 2 in a scoreless 7th to get his 2nd win of the season, and with a 7-1 lead Mike Mooney couldn't get it done, walking a pair, making a throwing error and leaving with the bases loaded and one run in so Jasseel De La Cruz had to come in and quickly got a double play to end the inning and had a 1-2-3 9th to pick up his 7th save. Toronto lost but Baltimore and Boston both won, moving them into a second-place tie 5 1/2 back of the Rays.

Game 2: The final score said 14-1 Rays, but it was more of a comfortable win than a rout until they scored 9 times in the 8th inning. Christian Little was Christian Little again tonight, going 6.1 4 1 1 2 9, now 7-1, 1.65 and leading in all 3 pitching triple crown categories. Daniel Espino threw a scoreless inning while it was only 4-1, and Jose Alvarado got the final two outs of the 8th before Malachi Benford pitched a 1-2-3 9th. Jasson Dominguez led the offensive charge, with an RBI triple to put the Rays on the board in the 2nd, and adding a solo HR (#5) and an RBI single in that 9-run 8th. Keibert Ruiz had a big 2-run double in the 2nd inning and Connor Kirkley's sac fly put them up 4-0. Jud Fabian hit #8 in the 7th to make it 5-1, and then all hell broke loose in the 8th with Bobby Witt Jr hitting #6, Nate Clark with a 3-run double and Isaac DeLeon with a 2-run single. Baltimore and Boston both won, so the lead stays 5 1/2.

Game 3: The Rays got a decent start from Blake Money, some brilliant work from the bullpen, and just enough hitting to beat the Padres 5-3 and sweep the series. Money came out dealing and was great until he suddenly couldn't get anyone out with 2 gone in the 5th, allowing 4 consecutive batters to reach base with 3 runs in allowing San Diego to equalize. But Jhon Diaz led off the bottom of the inning with a double and came home on a Bobby Witt Jr grounder with what held up as the winning run. Jordan Diaz and Jose Alvarado had 1-2-3 innings and JDLC closed it by striking out the side after allowing a leadoff single for save #8. With his 6 6 3 3 2 9 outing, Money improves to 4-2 despite his still-too-high 6.18 ERA. The Rays jumped on Ryan Weathers for 3 runs in the 1st inning on a Witt RBI double and RBI singles from Joe Barker and Spencer Torkelson. Carlos Perez had a 6th inning RBI single to pad the lead a bit. Boston and Baltimore keep winning so no change to the division lead.

Team record: 26-11. Next up: An off-day then the Red Sox visit for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was a matchup of Rays Cy Young winners as Tyler Glasnow of Boston faced Shane McClanahan, and although neither quite bring it they way they did when they were younger, both pitched great and left the game at 2-2. It wasn't until Nate Clark blasted HR #10 with Jud Fabian on base in the 10th inning off Ken Giles that the Rays broke the tie and went home with a 4-2 win. Mac was particularly efficient today, going 8 4 2 2 2 4 on only 91 pitches while Glasnow was 6 4 2 1 2 2, getting by more on guile these days (with only 45 stuff). Jose Alvarado pitched a 1-2-3 9th and Daniel Espino a scoreless 10th to get his 3rd win. The offense was largely quiet, although in addition to his walk-off winner, Clark had a big RBI double in the 3rd after a 2-out Red Sox error allowed Fabian to reach. The Rays tied the game in the 6th after Bob Kelly took Mac deep for Boston's 2 runs without getting a hit as Joe Barker walked, Jasson Dominguez was hit by a pitch, and two groundouts moved the runners and allowed Barker to score. The loss knocked Boston out of 2nd as Baltimore won again, so the Orioles are now the 2nd place team 5 1/2 back.

Game 2: For the second time this season Yonny Chirinos largely stifled his former team, but this time the Rays were able to feast on the Boston bullpen to turn a 4-2 deficit into an 8-4 win. Yonny went 6 8 2 2 0 1 and only gave up a 3rd inning Judson Fabian RBI single and Nate Clark's 11th HR of the year in the 6th. But the Rays turned it around against Sam Tuivailala in the 7th, with Fabian's 2nd RBI single of the day tying it, and then Clark going to work again with a 3-run shot (#12), his third in two days after last night's walk-off winner. They then added two more in the 8th on Jhon Diaz's sac fly and a wild pitch. Mack Anglin got the start and looked like he'd be the hard-luck loser, going 6 5 4 3 2 6 with the big hit against him a Franklin Barreto 3-run HR after a walk and a Connor Kirkley error. Jordan Diaz continued his roll with a perfect 7th and notched his first Rays win, Evan Godwin whiffed a pair in a scoreless 8th, and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th despite losing his save opportunity with the 8th-inning runs. Baltimore has apparently decided never to lose again, so the lead stays 5 1/2. (The next series is in Camden Yards so the Rays will have some say in that matter.)

Game 3: Runs were tough to come by tonight, and they were a bit tougher for the Rays as they dropped a 3-2 decision to Boston. Charlie Barnes, who had come into the game 5-0, 2.40, shut the Rays out on 2 hits through 6 innings before they finally did get to him in the 7th when Spencer Torkelson hit #2 of the year off the LF foul pole with a man on to get the Rays close. But Ken Giles, who they victimized in the first game of this series, held them off in the 9th even after walking a couple of men with two out as he whiffed Tork to end a game that saw the Rays only manage 4 hits. Alec Sachais started for the Rays and had an uncharacteristically wild first inning, walking 3 men which led to a Boston run. He later gave up a couple of solo homers with the second one to Gabriel Arias proving to be the difference, and ended up 5.2 5 3 3 3 5 in taking his first loss of the season against 5 wins. Mike Mooney (1 1/3), Daniel Espino (1) and Jose Alvarado (1) shut down the Sox over the final 3 1/3 to give the offense a chance. Baltimore was idle so the lead drops to 5 games.

Team record: 28-12. Next up: 3 games in Camden Yards against Baltimore, our current closest pursuer.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It's a little early in the season to say the Rays' series with Baltimore is a big one as all four of the other teams in the AL East have held down 2nd place at one point or another over the last few weeks. But Baltimore had been the hottest, winning 5 straight games coming into tonight's series opener. And the Rays snapped that streak tonight with a 5-2 win behind Christian Little, the best pitcher in the American League. Little went 6 4 0 0 1 6 and is now 8-1, 1.47 as he looks to make it two Cy Youngs in a row. Evan Godwin threw a scoreless inning and Malachi Benford pitched the final 2, losing the team shutout on a 2-out, 2-run HR in the 9th from the Orioles' Sam Hilliard. Jasson Dominguez got the Rays on the board off Baltimore ace Bryar Johnson with a 2-run HR in the 2nd (#6) and Isaac DeLeon (who loves hitting in this park after last year's 3-HR game) had the 2nd of his 3 hits tonight with an RBI single in the 3rd. Keibert Ruiz's sac fly in the 7th scored Bobby Witt Jr who had doubled, and Joe Barker tacked on a solo HR (#7) in the 8th. The win now gives the Rays a 6-game lead in the AL East.

Game 2: Blake Money snapped out of his slump and the Rays continued to bash the longball in an 8-1 win over Baltimore. Money, who had allowed 18 ER in his last 15 1/3 innings, was brilliant today going 7.1 4 1 0 1 8 in going to 5-2 and knocking almost a run off his bloated ERA to get it down to 5.21. Jordan Diaz got the final 2 outs of the 8th and Andy Aparicio had a perfect 2K 9th mopping up. (Side note: Aparicio's numbers are pretty sick now after a rough start to the season, he has a 5/42 BB/K ratio in 26.2 innings and a 2.02 ERA.) On the offensive side of things, Oriole Park continues to be Isaac DeLeon's personal playground as his 3-run blast (#11) in the 4th turned a 1-0 Oriole lead into a 3-1 Rays advantage. They added 4 more runs in the 6th on a Jasson Dominguez RBI single, Joe Barker's 8th HR, and a 2-run shot from Spencer Torkelson (#3). Nate Clark added #13 in the 9th for good measure. So with Baltimore losing and Boston winning again, the Red Sox now take their turn in 2nd, 6 1/2 behind the Rays.

Game 3: Postponed by rain, to be made up August 20.

Team record: 30-12. Next up: The road trip continues with 3 in Toronto.

Since we're just past the quarter pole of the season, here's a look at the team stats:



5th in defensive efficiency! A positive zone rating! What new devilry is this? I was surprised last season when our defensive didn't improve despite the obvious upgrades at SS, 3B and CF so maybe we're finally getting positive regression in that department. I figured it might be worse with Joe Barker, who's terrible at 1B, instead of Yordan Alvarez. Also we're not drawing a lot of walks, but that's kind of meaningless since our OPS and runs scored at #1.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays routed the Blue Jays 15-8 (it was 15-3 before the Jays got some late runs) in the opener of their 3-game series. Joe Barker was the hitting star, going 3-4 with 2 HR (#s 9 and 10) and 6 RBI, Nate Clark was 2-4 with a 3-run HR (#14), and Judson Fabian was 4-5 with two doubles and an RBI. Isaac DeLeon had a 2-run HR (#12) in an 8-run 3rd inning that put the game away. Shane McClanahan picked up his 1st win of the season against 3 losses and was pretty good even with his 7 5 5 5 4 4 line not looking that great with most of the scoring against him after the game was in hand. Malachi Benford struck out the side in the 8th, but wasn't too sharp in his second inning of relief, allowing 3 runs and requiring Jordan Diaz to come in and get the final out. Having a big day for Toronto was their 1B, Brendan McKay. Yes, that Brendan McKay who is now a full-time hitter and having a pretty good season with the Jays after they acquired him from the Mets during the offseason. He was 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBI and is hitting .287-9-29 this season. The lead remains 7 as Baltimore (today's 2nd place team) beat the Yankees.

Game 2: The Rays downed the Jays 7-4 thanks in large part to Judson Fabian, who belted a 3-run HR in the 5th and a 2-run HR in the 7th (#10). Jasson Dominguez hit #7 in the 2nd with a man on to put the Rays up 2-1, and Fabian made it 5-1 in the 5th. After Toronto pulled back within 5-4, Fabian's 2nd in the 9th provided some much-needed insurance. Mack Anglin did his usual "pitched well most of the time but had a bad sequence or two" thing, going 5.2 7 4 4 2 5 to go to 5-2, and Jordan Diaz got him out of the 6th and through the 7th. Jose Alvarado got two outs in the eighth but walked a man ahead of righty Skyler Messinger, so Daniel Espino came in to get out of that inning. Jasseel De La Cruz pitched the 9th for save #9 but made things interested by putting the first two men on before retiring the next three. Still 7 ahead of Baltimore.

Game 3: Home run or bust got the Rays through 9 innings tied at 3, but they finally strung together a couple of hits in the 10th to take a 4-3 win and a series sweep of the Blue Jays. For the first 7 innings they could only manage 3 hits off Joe Musgrove (who shut them down at the Trop a few weeks back) but luckily they were all longballs: Joe Barker's 11th in the 2nd, Jasson Dominguez's 8th in the 5th, and Carlos Perez's 2nd in the 6th. The latter two brought them back after Alec Sachais put them in a 3-1 hole. The righty wasn't his sharpest today, needing 92 pitches to go 5 6 3 3 2 4. Andy Aparicio took over for him in the 6th, struck out the side, did it again in the 7th around a couple of baserunners and then gave up a leadoff double to Aaron Judge in the 8th. Jose Alvarado came on, got a groundball that moved Judge to 3rd and then got out of it with another grounder at the drawn-in infield and a whiff. Daniel Espino pitched the 9th, gave up a leadoff double with the next batter intentionally walked to set up a force or double play and got the next 3 out to survive that. This bought them time for the 10th when Barker led off with a single, stole second with two out, and scored on Bobby Witt Jr's double after Witt had been 0 for the series. JDLC had a much easier 1-2-3 10th for save #10 while Espino continues to rack up relief wins, 4 now this year after 10 last season. Baltimore fell to the Yankees so the lead is a season-high 8.

Team record: 33-12. Next up: An off-day, then back home for the Yankees this weekend.

[Art Deco]

May 25: Optioned P Malachi Benford to AAA Durham, activated P Jack Leiter from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

Leiter had two great starts at Durham and will go back to long relief for the Rays.

Game 1: The Rays took a 3-2 lead into the 8th inning and with the way the bullpen has been going a win looked like a good bet. But the "Chicago boys", Jordan Diaz and Mike Mooney (who were acquired from the Cubs this past offseason) turned the game into a 6-3 Yankees win. After Connor Kirkley homered in the 2nd (#4) and Isaac DeLeon hit a 2-run shot (#13) in the 6th to put the Rays ahead, Jose Alvarado relieved Christian Little with a 1-2-3 7th. Little had gone 6 5 2 2 2 12 in a typical Christian Little outing and was in line for win #9 before things went bad. And went bad they did with Diaz in the 8th as he saw the tough threesome of Robles-Joe Allen-Vlad Jr ding him for double-double-single to make it 4-3 Yankees. And after Evan Godwin got the next three to keep it a 1-run game, Mooney served up a 2-run blast to Robles in 9th to put it away for the Yankees. As usual, the Rays managed to get the tying run to the plate on 2-out singles from Kirkley and Keibert Ruiz (his 3rd hit of the game) but Jhon Diaz grounded out to end the game. Baltimore won but had lost the night before so the lead is 7 1/2.

Game 2: The Rays continue to be unable to get Victor Robles out and it cost them dearly in a 7-2 loss to the Yankees. Robles' 2-run HR in the 3rd gave New York the lead to stay, his RBI double in the 5th made it 3-1, and he doubled again in the 7th inning. And long-time former Ray Vidal Brujan's 2-run triple off Andy Aparicio in the 8th turned a 3-1 game into a 5-1 affair. Blake Money started and wasn't great but wasn't terrible either, going 6 8 3 3 2 5. Aparicio struck out the side around a couple of runners in the 7th but gave up 3 runs in the 8th, and Evan Godwin gave up a solo HR in the 9th. Meanwhile the offense couldn't really solve Chris Paige, with only Jasson Dominguez's 9th HR in the 2nd (which gave the Rays a brief lead), and Nate Clark's 8th inning RBI double the sum total of the offense. Baltimore won so they shave the lead to 6 1/2.

Game 3: After dropping the first two games of the series to the Yankees, the (new) empire struck back with a 16-3 bludgeoning of the Bronx Bombers. Joe Barker's 3-run HR (#12) highlighted a 5-run 1st inning which represented all the runs the Rays would need today, but they added 11 more for good measure. Everyone in the lineup had at least 2 hits except Judson Fabian who had to settle for one. Carlos Perez had a big 3-run shot in the 4th (#3) when the Yankees had climbed within 6-3 and Jasson Dominguez added a 2-run blast (#10) against his old team. Nate Clark also had a big day against his old organization, going 3-6 with a pair of RBI doubles. Shane McClanahan struggled some early, allowing 3 runs in his first 4 innings, but settled down with the big lead to go 7 6 3 3 3 5 and win his second straight start. Jack Leiter got back into MLB action with a couple of scoreless innings to close the game out. Baltimore fell to Toronto so the lead is back up to 7 1/2.

Team record: 34-14. Next up: 4 straight games against our former in-state rival now known as the Columbus Lightning. The first two will be here, and if you recall I raised an eyebrow at the fact the preseason predictions had the Bolts taking 1st in the NL East. That doesn't look so far-fetched now as Columbus is right there with the Rays for the best record in baseball at 35-15 with a wealth of young talent. Going to be an interesting four days.

[Art Deco]

May 28: Traded 24-year-old center fielder Julio Cedillo to the Cleveland Indians, getting 25-year-old minor league starting pitcher Tim Siqueiros, 24-year-old minor league starting pitcher Tim Sandstrom and 20-year-old minor league first baseman Raul Valdenegro in return.

Activated SS Ricky Widmar from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham.

Well we go from one roster jam to another. Someone had to go for Widmar and while Dane Ayers might seem like the choice, his versatility makes him a valuable backup. This leaves Cedillo, who was always going to be expendable after the acquisition and emergence of Jasson Dominguez. And what made him more expendable was the emergence of Dayle Jenkins, who's ready to play CF in majors right now as we saw earlier this season and we're seeing with his .370 performance at Durham. Plus, we're already carrying 5 OFs on the roster. If Dominguez gets hurt again, Jhon Diaz can slide over if it's short-term, and Jenkins is there if it's longer.

So what's the return? A couple of outstanding arms to start. Siqueros is a 98-100 mph power pitcher who has 60/70 (or 65/80 if you like OSA) stuff as a starter along with 55/60 movement. His only drawback is control although OSA sees 55 potential there while Metzler sees 45. Still his profile reminds me a lot of Blake Money and both scouts agree he has top-of-the-rotation potential. Sandstrom is a fairly hard-throwing lefty (94-96) with 60 stuff, 50 movement and 50 control who's either a potential #2 starter (OSA) or #3 (Metzler). Siqueros, who's been up as a reliever with Cleveland in stints the this year and last, will start at Durham while Sandstrom will go to AA Montgomery. And don't sleep on the third guy, Valdenegro, who has massive raw power and is only 20 and will probably play for our DSL team.

Of course now we have the Widmar problem. Another good problem to have but Isaac DeLeon has been so good (283/328/572 with 13 HR and 1.8 WAR to date) that he doesn't deserve to leave the lineup. DeLeon can play 3B too so we could have a Widmar-DeLeon-Witt rotation.

Also, this bit of news from the league office:

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was billed as a matchup of the two top teams in baseball on this Memorial Day, but it turned out a one-sided affair as the Rays squelched the Lightning 9-0 behind big bats and another power outing from Mack Anglin. The veteran righty has really become a strikeout artist this year, and his 6 2 0 0 3 11 outing marked his third start in his last five with double-digit whiffs. He improves to 7-2 and finally gets his ERA below 5 at 4.68. Jordan Diaz (1 inning) and Mike Mooney (2) completed the team shutout. Meanwhile the bats teed off against Tristan Smith, who came in with a 3.53 ERA and left with one much higher after they had 7 off him in the first 4 innings. Jasson Dominguez kicked off the scoring with HR #11 in the 2nd, and then a 4-run 3rd broke it open thanks to an RBI triple from Ricky Widmar in his first action of the season, a Judson Fabian RBI single and a 2-run double from Spencer Torkelson. Fabian followed with a 2-run HR (#11) in the 4th and Connor Kirkley capped things off in the 6th his own 2-run blast (#5). Baltimore keeps winning so the lead stays 7 1/2.

Game 2: Alec Sachais turned in one of his most dominant performances and the bats came through again in an 8-3 win over Columbus to sweep the 2-game mini-series at home. Sachais had a ridiculous 6 2 0 0 0 13 line before running out of gas in the 7th, giving up a leadoff HR to Victor Mesa Jr and then two batters later Andrew Benintendi launched a 2-run homer to make it 6-3 Rays. Daniel Espino came on and despite hitting a couple of batters, whiffed two and got through the 7th. Jose Alvarado put 2 on himself and struck out the side, and Jack Leiter had a perfect 9th with a K to make a total of 19 Lightning struck out by Rays pitching tonight. They broke the game open early with 3 in the 2nd on an Isaac DeLeon double and Connor Kirkley's inside-the-park HR (#6), and 3 more in the 3rd thanks to Joe Barker's 2-run single and Jasson Dominguez's 12th HR of the year. The longball for Dominguez marked the 4th straight game he's homered in. Judson Fabian and Jhon Diaz later added RBI singles. Baltimore lost so the lead is a season-high 8 1/2.

Team record: 36-14. Next up: 2 more against these Lightning on their turf in Columbus.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Heartbreak for the Rays as Connor Walsh homered off Jasseel De La Cruz with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th to turn a 2-1 win into a 3-2 loss. The Rays had gone out in front in the 8th 2-1 on a Judson Fabian pinch-hit RBI single, and Jordan Diaz had a 1-2-3 8th. With three lefties due in the 9th, Jose Alvarado got the call and walked Victor Mesa Jr to lead off the inning but whiffed the next two batters. With the righty Walsh due, JDLC came in and that move backfired with the home run. Christian Little was bound for a no-decision either way, but was great as usual going 6 3 1 1 3 6 and lowering his ERA to 1.61. Nate Clark's first-inning HR (#15) put the Rays on the board, but they got nothing else against Delvis Alegre and it wasn't until the 8th when Carlos Perez doubled against former Ray Mitchell Verburg and scored on Fabian's single that they did anything again. Baltimore won so the lead is back down to 7 1/2.

Game 2: Blake Money was worthless tonight and the Rays lost 7-4, a scoreline which was flattering to them as they got a few late runs to make it respectable. Money went 2.1 5 5 5 1 2 and was relieved by Jack Leiter, who immediately gave up a homer of his own and another in the 4th inning. Andy Aparicio went 3 2 0 0 1 4 in another excellent long relief outing. Adam Hill, who is now 9-1, 2.16, shut them down over his 6 innings, allowing only 2 hits including Jasson Dominguez' 13th HR of the year. Keibert Ruiz and Judson Fabian had late RBI singles as the Lightning offset their two-game embarrassment at the Trop with 2 wins in Columbus. Baltimore continues to win and is now within 6 1/2.

Team record: 36-16. Next up: A weekend in Cleveland where we see the very-recently-departed Julio Cedillo again.

[Art Deco]

Christian Little is deservedly honored for his great month:



Game 1: Shane McClanahan was masterful tonight and Keibert Ruiz supplied the offense as the Rays avoided their first 3-game losing streak of the season with a 6-1 win in Cleveland. Mac won his third straight start after starting the year late and 0-3, and this was the best one yet as he went 7 3 1 1 2 8. Evan Godwin had a scoreless 8th and Jordan Diaz a clean 9th. Ruiz had the game's big hit, a 2-run HR (#5) in the 2nd off Luis Castillo to make it 2-0 Rays, and he added an RBI single in the 6th. Nate Clark had a 3rd inning RBI single and Ricky Widmar homered with a man on in the 9th for 1st of the year in his 4th game and added 2 steals to boot. Julio Cedillo was 1-3 off Mac in his first game against his old team. Baltimore won yet again so the lead stays at 6 1/2.

Game 2: In what was hands-down their ugliest win of the season, the Rays overcame 19 Cleveland hits and an 8-6 deficit in the 8th to pull out a 9-8 victory. For a while it looked like Julio Cedillo would be the hero today, tormenting his former team with 3 hits and 3 RBI, including 2 of the infield variety which scored runs and kept innings alive. Mack Anglin was handed a 5-1 lead in the 2nd, but by the bottom of the 4th he had completely squandered it and let Cleveland take the lead, going a terrible 3 11 6 6 1 3. Mike Mooney somehow went 2 1/3 scoreless despite allowing 2 hits and 4 walks, but Jordan Diaz wasn't so lucky, letting Cleveland score twice on 4 hits in the bottom of the 7th after the Rays came back to tie in the top of the inning. But Bobby Witt Jr had an RBI double in the 8th to make it 8-7 Cleveland, and in the 9th Ricky Widmar led off being hit by a Jackson Baumeister pitch, stole second, was singled to 3rd by Nate Clark and scored on a wild pitch to tie it. Jasson Dominguez then singled in Clark with the game-winner, and Jose Alvarado pitched around a leadoff single to pick up save #4 while Evan Godwin notched his 1st win of the year with a scoreless 8th. They had built the 5-1 lead earlier in part on Keibert Ruiz's 2-run HR (#6), his second in as many days, and RBI knocks from Dane Ayers and Judson Fabian. Baltimore never seems to lose these days, so the lead is still 6 1/2.

June 3: Trade Alert!



A pretty big trade as prospects go. Bienick was ranked highly on the prospects list, but has yet to see his potential realized. He has 60 stuff as a starter, 70-75 stuff as a reliever, but his bugaboo is control and in two seasons pitching for Durham (and a brief stint with the big club last year) he has been a bit underwhelming. Some of it is a really high BABIP but his 40/45 control is the other part of it. Still, a great arm and along with Epperly, one of our supplemental 1st round picks who's kind of the antithesis of Bienick in that his calling card is movement and control and is only projected for 45 stuff, you have to give something to get something. And what we got is a potential elite hitter in de Jesus. He's ranked as the #19 prospect in baseball, and here's what he could do right now if we plopped him in the MLB lineup:



He can rake, and he also has 70 base-stealing ability. He's a 55 LF and he's a possible Jud Fabian replacement as Fabian is getting expensive. For now he'll help Durham, which needs it as they're hovering around .500 still. Abrego is an interesting young CF who can play the position well and could end up hitting.

Game 3: It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of day as Alec Sachais had to leave after the 1st inning with a moderate elbow strain (a 2-week injury which will see him go on the IL) but the Rays used their depth to pull out a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Cleveland to sweep the series (as well as the season series). After Sachais left, Jack Leiter came on in the 2nd and with one out gave up a homer to Tyreque Reed, then allowed another run in the 4th to put Cleveland up 2-1 after Spencer Torkelson hit his 4th HR of the year for the Rays in the top of the 3rd. Leiter left after those 3 innings and gave way to Andy Aparicio who was brilliant once again in long relief going 3 0 0 0 1 4. This kept the game close while the Rays came back to equalize in the 7th on a Tork RBI single. Connor Kirkley then singled but Julio Cedillo threw Tork out at the plate to keep it tied. Daniel Espino came on in the 8th and got Cleveland out, setting us up for the 9th when another player off the bench came through. In that 7th inning Joe Barker left with knee soreness so Dane Ayers had to come in, and he led off the 9th with an infield single, stole second, went to third on the bad throw and scored on Isaac DeLeon's single. With several in the bullpen tired JDLC stayed put in the pen in case we had extras so Espino remained in the game and got a 1-2-3 9th to save his own win, his 5th of the season. And Baltimore finally lost so the lead expands to 7 1/2.

Team record: 39-16. Next up: An off-day which features the 2029 Amateur Draft, then the upper midwestern road trip continues in Detroit.

[Art Deco]

<table class="data" width="968px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td class="dl wrap">Drafted RF Zach Mathias in the 2029 first-year player draft (Round 1, Pick 34, 34th overall pick). </td></tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted CF Ian Imbraguglio in the 2029 first-year player draft (Supplemental Round 1, Pick 3, 37th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted SP Andy Nerison in the 2029 first-year player draft (Round 2, Pick 34, 71st overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted SP David Sanchez in the 2029 first-year player draft (Round 3, Pick 25, 100th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted RP Steve Bloom in the 2029 first-year player draft (Round 4, Pick 28, 128th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted SP Jarrod Cox in the 2029 first-year player draft (Round 5, Pick 30, 159th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr><td class="dl wrap"> Drafted CF Andy Vasquez in the 2029 first-year player draft (Round 6, Pick 30, 189th overall pick).
</td></tr></tbody></table>

Not the most exciting draft, but there was one interesting pick.

Mathias: 18-year-old RF from Ohio whose nickname is "Grinder". Projects as a high-average, low-to-moderate power guy with great speed and a great batting eye.

Imbraguglio: Hopefully we won't get into a contract imbroglio with Imbraguglio, an 18-year-old CF from South Carolina who projects to be a power hitter and gap power hitter. Contact could be the issue here.

Nerison: An 18-year-old starting pitcher from a Virginia HS. Although he's 6'8" he throws 89-91 and is a finesse lefty who the scouts still really like (OSA says "front of rotation potential" while Metzler is more muted as "middle of a rotation at his peak".

Sanchez: A 21-year-old starter from University of Virginia, a lefty who throws 93-95, more of a back-end-of-the-rotation starter but we're late 3rd round at this point.

Bloom: He's one of these guys I like taking at least once in every draft, a potential closer out of college. Most times guys who throw really hard have their speed listed as "98-100mph". Bloom is listed at "100+" for speed. He started at Oklahoma State and whiffed 205 in 130 innings, but is projected as bullpen only and rated with 5-star potential for that.

Cox: Now here's the interesting pick. An 18-year-old righty from Texas who throws 96-98 and is committed to Vanderbilt. He would normally be a 1st round pick but he's come in with a sky-high "impossible" more than $11M signing demand. So I've offered him $11M. Yolo and all that.

Vasquez: A speedy CF from an Ohio HS who's projected as a decent if unspectacular hitter.

[Art Deco]

June 5: Placed Alec Sachais on the 15-day IL with an elbow strain, recalled P Malachi Benford from AAA Durham.

Hopefully Sachais is good to go in two weeks, Jack Leiter will move into the rotation in the interim. Benford gets another crack at long relief/mop-up duty.

Game 1: The Rays continued their bad habit of not supporting Christian Little and Daniel Espino continued his bad habit of giving up longballs as the Rays lost 3-1 on a 2-run Blaze Jordan homer off Espino in the bottom of the 9th. It was quite the duel between Little and Detroit starter John Rizzo. Little went 7.2 4 1 1 0 11 (lowering his microscopic ERA to 1.57) as his relative efficiency got him well into the 8th and he would have finished had he not given up a 2-out double with lefty Parker Meadows due up. Jose Alvarado retired Meadows but gave up a one-out hit in the 9th and with the power-hitting righty Jordan due up, Espino came in and that was that. Rizzo, meanwhile, went 6 3 1 1 3 8 with the only damage against him Nate Clark's 16th HR of the year in the 6th. Clark had 2 of the team's 4 hits for the night. Baltimore won to move back within 6 1/2.

Game 2: The Rays turned the tables on Detroit with their own 3-1 win, although it wasn't as dramatic as Detroit's last night. Shane McClanahan walked the tightrope but didn't fall off, going 6 6 0 0 3 3 and twice getting out of bases-loaded jams including one in the first which saw all 3 of his walks. Mac is now 4-3 having won four straight starts and lowers his ERA to 3.75. Evan Godwin gave up a 2-out hit in the 7th which Jordan Diaz allowed to score, but Diaz breezed through the 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th to nab save #11. Offensively there wasn't a lot again tonight but for the second straight game Nate Clark went deep with #17 in the 1st to put the Rays up 1-0, a scoreline which stood up until the 6th when Bobby Witt Jr. came up with a big 2-run double. Baltimore lost so the lead oscillates back to 7 1/2.

Game 3: The Rays didn't exactly knock the cover off the ball today, but they made the most of their 7 hits in a 6-4 win over Detroit. Nate Clark hit #18 with a man on in the 1st, giving him homers in all 3 games of the series (and moving him into a tie for the AL lead with Vlad Jr), Bobby Witt Jr. hit a 2-run shot for his 7th in the 5th to make it 4-1, and Joe Barker delivered a big 2-run single in the 8th after the Tigers had closed to within 4-3. Mack Anglin started and pitched well, but ran a lot of deep counts and had to leave after allowing the leadoff man to reach in the 6th. Andy Aparicio was called on in a non-long relief role and wasn't his normal sharp self, allowing Anglin's runner to score and giving up a run of his own. Anglin ended up 5 4 2 2 1 7 which was enough to up his record to 8-2. Jose Alvarado got Aparicio out of the 7th with a double play, but gave up a leadoff double to Parker Meadows in the 8th, who Daniel Espino allowed to score to make it 6-4. Jasseel De La Cruz said enough is enough and got a quick 1-2-3 9th with a pair of whiffs for save #12. Baltimore fell to drop 8 1/2 back before they come to town this weekend.

Team record: 41-17. Next up: 3 at home vs those Orioles.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays continued to be sluggish on offense, only managing 6 hits, but Joe Barker slugged a homer in the bottom of the 9th to break a 3-3 tie and give the Rays a 4-3 win over Baltimore and a 9 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Jack Leiter got the start in place of the injured Alec Sachais and had a nightmarish second inning, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits. But he settled in from there and shut down the Orioles, leaving with a 6 6 3 3 0 8 line and allowing his teammates to creep back into the game. Ricky Widmar started the comeback with his 2nd HR of the year to make it 3-1 in the 3rd, Bobby Witt Jr tripled in the 5th and scored on a Connor Kirkley single, and they manufactured in a run in the 6th when Widmar walked, stole second, went to third on a fly ball and scored on Nate Clark's sac fly. Jordan Diaz (4) and Jose Alvarado (5) got the final 9 outs in order, setting the stage for Barker's 13th HR of the year, a moon shot to dead center leading off the 9th against Ruben Galindo and sending the Trop into a walk-off frenzy. Alvarado picked up his first win of the season.

Game 2: It was a blowout, then it got close in the 8th, then it was a blowout again as the Rays ended up romping over the Orioles 11-3. Blake Money started despite still not being completely over his back spasms, and he was truly dominant over the first 4 innings, not allowing a hit and striking out 10 while walking 3. Unfortunately the back issues led to a slight hamstring tweak and he had to leave the game after that. He should be free of both injuries by the time his next start comes up. Andy Aparicio took over and continued the no-hitter for two more innings before giving up an Adley Rutschman double leading off the 7th. He still held Baltimore scoreless through that inning and picked up his 2nd win of the season. By that point it was 6-0 and Mike Mooney came on for the 8th and was flat-out terrible, giving up 3 runs and lucky it wasn't a 4th when Jud Fabian gunned down Druw Jones at home plate. But the Rays re-broke it open with 5 more in the bottom of the inning to make it 11-3, and Malachi Benford cleaned up with a 1-2-3 9th. On offense they steadily built the lead against Orioles ace Bryar Johnson, with Jasson Dominguez hitting #14 in the 2nd to make it 1-0, Fabian with an RBI single in the 3rd, Jhon Diaz and Isaac DeLeon with 4th inning RBI singles and DeLeon's RBI double and Connor Kirkley's RBI single in the 6th making it 6-0. And with two out and the bases loaded in the 8th, Ricky Widmar homered for the second straight night with his grand slam being #3 in only his 10th game back this season. Nate Clark tacked on an RBI double to close out the scoring. The division lead is a now-gargantuan 10 1/2 games.

Game 3: The Rays won a wild 8-7 back-and-forth game with Baltimore to sweep the series and open up an 11-game lead on the now-second place Yankees, but it came at a very significant cost. Christian Little ruptured a tendon in a finger on his pitching hand and will be out almost 3 1/2 months. This pretty much kills off the rest of his regular season (as well as his hopes of a 2nd straight Cy) save a few late-September appearances but hopefully he'll be good for the playoffs. The injury occurred in the 3rd and it meant for the second straight day the Rays would have to get a lot of innings out of the bullpen, which led to the crazy nature of the game. Malachi Benford came in for Little with one out in the 3rd and by the 5th it was 3-0 Baltimore. Jordan Diaz came in and got through the rest of the 5th and the 6th, and this enabled the Rays to take the lead with a 5-run rally in the 6th. Nate Clark had an RBI single, Jasson Dominguez an RBI groundout, Jhon Diaz a sac fly and Connor Kirkley a 2-run HR (#7) to break the tie. Evan Godwin gave up a homer in the 7th but nothing else and Daniel Espino came in for the 8th with a 5-4 lead, which he promptly blew in a terrible inning that saw 3 runs score and Espino leave with the bases loaded and 2 out. Jose Alvarado got Gunnar Henderson on a pop fly, and this set the stage for the bottom of the 8th when Bobby Witt Jr blasted a 3-run HR (#8) to give the Rays the lead back for good. Like the other day with JDLC the last fresh arm in the pen, Alvarado stayed in and saved his own win by getting the Orioles out in the 9th. Little's injury means Jack Leiter has a rotation spot for the rest of the season and we'll need another starter soon for Alec Sachais' spot until he comes off the IL. Benford will likely also go down for a fresh arm from Durham.

Team record: 44-17. Next up: Boston comes to town for 3.

[Art Deco]

June 11: Placed P Christian Little on the 60-day IL with a ruptured finger tendon, optioned P Malachi Benford to AAA Durham. Recalled P Tim Siqueiros and P Romulo Canelon from AAA Durham.

Siqueiros will be getting a start or two while Alec Sachais remains on the IL and Canulon, a lefty, is a fresh arm for the pen. Both were pitching well at Durham: Canelon has a 6/32 BB/K in 19 innings while Siqueiros made two starts since being acquired in the Julio Cedillo trade, the first was 5 3 0 0 1 10 and the second was 6 2 0 0 0 11, not too shabby.

Game 1: Shane McClanahan continued his roll, winning his 5th straight start as the Rays edged Boston 5-4. Mac went 7 5 2 2 2 8 on exactly 100 pitches as he improves to 5-3, 3.62. Evan Godwin had a scoreless 8th but Jasseel De La Cruz gave up a 2-run HR to Yoan Moncada to allow Boston to get within one before finishing off the Sox for save #13. The offense came early: a 2-run HR by Spencer Torkelson (#5) in the 2nd, and in the 4th an RBI double from Bobby Witt Jr and a 2-run HR from Connor Kirkley (#8, his second straight game with a longball).

Game 2: The Tim Siqueiros era did not get off to a great start tonight as the rookie righty had a case of the nerves, walking four Red Sox in the first inning leading to two runs, and then after settling down for a couple of innings got into more trouble and ended 4 2 3 3 6 5 before Andy Aparicio had to come in and rescue him. Meanwhile, outside of a Jhon Diaz homer leading off the game the Rays could once again get little-to-nothing going against old friend Yonny Chirinos with only 2 hits through 5 and trailing 3-1. But the Rays unloaded on Chirinos in the 6th with 3 homers and 4 runs and ended up winning going away 8-3. First Keibert Ruiz launched #7 leading off the inning and Diaz immediately followed with his 2nd of the day (#7) to tie the game. A few batters later Jasson Dominguez blasted a 2-run shot to put the Rays ahead to stay. Bobby Witt Jr drew a bases-loaded walk in the 7th and singled in a run in the 8th to give him a pair of RBI, and Dominguez went deep again in the 8th (#16) to cap the scoring. Aparicio picked up the win with another brilliant outing, 3 2 0 0 0 5 to give him his 3rd win and a sick 9/71 BB/K ratio in 44 innings. He should have probably got the start tonight but he's been so valuable in that multi-inning role that Shane McClanahan once played to perfection in 2022-23. Jose Alvarado and Mike Mooney pitched scoreless innings to finish out on the mound.

Game 3: Mack Anglin was not sharp tonight, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in the first inning before the Rays even came to bat. And once again it didn't matter as by the 4th inning the Rays were up 9-3 on their way to an 11-4 win. Anglin was a pretty-bad 5.1 10 4 4 3 6 but thanks to yet another avalanche of run support he's 9-2 despite his 5.30 ERA (and despite a fine 22/94 BB/K ratio in 73 innings, the .358 opponent BABIP is part of the problem). Romulo Canelon made his Rays debut and looked pretty good, whiffing 3 in 1 2/3 innings despite being pushed a bit too far into a 3rd inning (the 8th) when he gave up a hit and a walk. Jordan Diaz got out of that with a whiff and a 3-6-3 DP and pitched the final 2 innings. The offense was led by the forgotten man, Spencer Torkelson. Once the young power-hitting stud the offense was built around in part, he's missed most of the last 2 seasons with injury and found himself largely on the bench this year thanks to a Clark/Fabian/Dominguez/Diaz hold on DH and the OF. But he's been producing lately and tonight he banged out 3 doubles and drove in 4 runs to lead the charge. After Ricky Widmar broke a 3-3 tie in the 4th with his 4th HR, Tork's bases-clearing double made it 7-3 and game over. Jasson Dominguez had 3 hits and an RBI as everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and everyone except Jud Fabian and Joe Barker had at least 1 RBI.

Team record: 47-17. Next up: 4 games at home vs Kansas City, also known as "Rays west" with Hunter Bishop, Triston Casas, Xavier Edwards, Lewin Diaz, Ian Lewis, and Luke Little.