The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The last few nights it seems the Rays starters have been playing a game of "can you top this?" when it comes to bad starts to see how much of a hole they can put the offense into to make it come back from. Tonight Jack Leiter was positively awful during the first three innings, giving up 6 runs despite being staked to a 3-1 lead in the first inning on a Spencer Torkelson homer (#6). And Leiter settled down to throw 3 scoreless innings to give the Rays enough time to tie the game at 6 on a 2-run HR from Joe Barker (#14) and a Carlos Perez RBI single. But thanks to some bad work from the bullpen, this time there would be no Rays win. First, Evan Godwin allowed the same-handed former Ray Triston Casas to hit an RBI double off him to give KC a 7-6 lead. And then in the 8th Mike Mooney was downright horrible, allowing all 5 hitters he faced to reach and yielding 3 runs as the Royals prevailed 10-6. Unfortunately we had to burn Daniel Espino tonight to pitch the final 2 innings just to get the game over with. Leiter's 6 10 6 6 2 6 outing doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in him as a Christian Little replacement but we'll see how it goes.

Game 2: And the Rays get yet another shaky start, but excellent bullpen work to buy time to allow the team to score 9 runs over their final 3 innings to take an 11-3 win over Kansas City. Blake Money managed to get through the 1st unscathed but gave up runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings and ended up with a 5 4 3 3 4 7 line. Not horrible but they trailed 3-2 after 5 with Keibert Ruiz's 2-run HR (#8) their only offense to that point. Romulo Canelon pitched a scoreless 6th and ended up getting the win when Jasson Dominguez hit a 3-run HR (#17) to make it 5-3 Rays. And after Jordan Diaz got them through the 7th, they added 3 more in the bottom of the inning on a Ruiz RBI double and RBI groundouts from Ricky Widmar and Jud Fabian. Keibert was in the middle of another rally in a 3-run 8th when Tropicana Field fans and the TV audience were treated to the rare sight of him hitting a triple, his first in two years and which meant he missed the cycle by a single. Bobby Witt Jr had led off the inning with HR #9, and Widmar singled in Ruiz for the other run. Mike Mooney bounced back from yesterday's debacle with a pair of scoreless innings to finish out the game. An oddity: Nate Clark was hit by a pitch 3 times in the game, which ties the MLB record set by many, including former Rays HBP legend Brandon Guyer (twice) and Jonny Gomes.

Game 3: The Rays were done in by some familiar faces today in a 3-1 loss to Kansas City. First and foremost was Royals starter Aaron Ashby, who spent 5 1/2 seasons with the Rays before being waived last season. He pitched in relief for us but was converted to starting by Kansas City and he was great today, going 5.1 4 0 0 1 6 against the best offense in baseball. Meanwhile Triston Casas had a big double in the 4th inning which led to the Royals' first run, and 2026 1B flop for the Rays Lewin Diaz continued to torment them with a 2-run HR off Jose Alvarado to turn a 1-0 game into a 3-0 game in the 8th. Diaz has 6 HR and 15 RBI in 80 AB against the Rays playing for various teams since the Rays offloaded him to San Diego, including a pair of HRs in the Angels' ALCS win over the Rays in 2027. Today he was 2-2 with 2 walks to go with that HR. The anemic offense today wasted yet another great start from Shane McClanahan, who went 6 3 1 1 3 9 and has allowed only 4 runs in his last 26 innings. The only offense they managed was a Joe Barker RBI single in the 8th to cut it to 3-1, and they had 2 on with 2 out when yet another ex-Ray, Luke Little, whiffed Jasson Dominguez to end the inning.

Game 4: Tim Siqueiros got another start and it was the polar opposite of his Rays debut as he was masterful and efficient in going 8 4 1 1 3 6 on 93 pitches as the Rays dumped the Royals 7-1. It did help that Kansas City is a less patient team, but it was still an encouraging sign from the righty who'll either likely be in next year's rotation or in the Andy Aparicio multi-inning reliever role. A William Contreras 8th-inning HR was the only run scored against Siqueiros, and Romulo Canelon pitched a scoreless 9th to finish. The offense was led yet again by "Contract Year Keibert" as the veteran receiver bashed a 2-run HR (#9) in the 2nd to make it 3-0 after Connor Kirkley singled in a run and later drilled an RBI double in the 6th. Ruiz is showing no signs of slowing down, hitting 329/357/595. Kirkley also drove in a run with a groundout and Ricky Widmar was 3-4 with a RBI.

Team record: 49-19. Next up: An off-day, then a 3-game series in Boston which includes a doubleheader on Tuesday. Alec Sachais is due back and will start one of the games.

[Art Deco]

Some well-earned honors from the league office:



Game 1: In the first game of today's doubleheader the Rays rode a pair of homers from Nate Clark, 4 hits from Ricky Widmar, and 3 more from the scorching-hot Keibert Ruiz to take a 9-4 win over Boston. Mack Anglin started and had his usual bad inning (3 runs in the 2nd) but was pretty good outside that in a 6 5 3 3 2 4 performance which was good enough for his AL-leading 10th win of the year. Romulo Canelon went the final 3 innings allowing 1 run to grab his first MLB save as we saved the bullpen for Game 2. Unlike the past couple of times they faced him the Rays had their way with Yonny Chirinos, especially Clark who hit HRs #19 and #20 to almost the identical spot into the RF corner at Fenway. Clark also added an RBI double later. Widmar was 4-5 with an RBI, 2 runs scored and a steal, Jasson Dominguez had a pair of RBI singles and Connor Kirkley hit one over the Monster in the 8th for his 9th of the year. Keibert was 3-4 with a double as he tries to make himself Player of the Fortnight.

Game 2: The Rays completed the doubleheader sweep of Boston with a 15-1 thrashing. Ricky Widmar, who had 4 hits in the first game, set the tone by homering to lead off the game with his 5th of the year and added an RBI triple and RBI single to give him a 7-hit day. He's now hitting 395/434/671 in the 18 games he's played since returning. Bobby Witt Jr, who had Game 1 off, was 3-4 with 2 HR (#10 & 11) and 4 RBI, Dane Ayers had a 2-run HR (#4) and Carlos Perez was 2-4 with 2 RBI as the bench got into the act as well. Jasson Dominguez was 3-4 with 2 RBI as well. All this offense made things more comfortable for Alec Sachais in his return from the IL, and he was excellent going 6 7 1 1 0 4 to improve to 7-1, 2.71. Jordan Diaz had a scoreless inning and Mike Mooney two to finish off the day.

Game 3: After sweeping yesterday's doubleheader the Rays swept the series with an 8-3 win and an aggregate score of 32-8. Jasson Dominguez continued red-hot and his 18th HR of the season made it 2-0 in the 4th and they never looked back. The other hot guys stayed hot: Keibert Ruiz was 2-3 with a walk, double and RBI while Ricky Widmar was 2-4 with an RBI and a steal and upped his BA to .400 since starting the season late. Jhon Diaz, who was having a rough day at 0-4 with 3 whiffs and a throwing error that scored a run for Boston, made up for it with a 2-run blast (#8) to cap the scoring in the 9th. Jack Leiter had his best start of the season, going 7 8 3 2 0 7 and closing with a flourish by striking out the side in his final inning. Jose Alvarado got a hold with a scoreless 8th when it was 6-3, and despite losing the save opportunity JDLC pitched the 9th as he'd made only 17 appearances all year coming into today and whiffed a pair in his shutout inning.

Team record: 52-19. Next up: 4 games at Yankee Stadium.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays continue to lay waste to the AL East as they crushed the Yankees in the opener of their 4-game series by an 8-0 score. Blake Money had his best start in over a month and lowered his ERA below 5 at 4.82 with 7 shutout innings, walking 1 and whiffing 6. Evan Godwin had a scoreless 8th and Romulo Canelon was impressive again, striking out the side in the 9th and now has 10 whiffs in 7 1/3 innings with only one run allowed. Judson Fabian and Bobby Witt Jr each hit HR #12, but the offensive star once again was Ricky Widmar, 4-5 today with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Widmar has 6 straight multi-hit games, going 18-29 over that stretch and has a cool .424 batting average. Nate Clark had a pair of RBI hits as well.

Game 2: The Rays' bullpen blew a pair of leads and key error by Ricky Widmar led to a 7-6 Yankees win over the Rays in 11 innings. It was a back-and-forth game that saw the Rays up 3-2 when the rains came in the 6th inning, causing a 41-minute delay and causing Shane McClanahan to have to leave the game having pitched fairly well (5 4 2 2 2 2) on 78 pitches. He would have gone at least one more inning but instead Jordan Diaz pitched the 6th and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits but the Yankees in front. Yet the bats responded and they went ahead 5-4 in the top of the 7th only for Daniel Espino to repeat Diaz's feat and give up 2 more runs on 3 hits of his own. But Bobby Witt Jr. hit #13 in top of the 8th to tie the game at 6. After Jose Alvarado pitched two scoreless innings and Evan Godwin 1 1/3, Jasseel De La Cruz came on and gave up a pinch-double to Ivan Vega. But Widmar dropped a pop-up in short LF, and after JDLC whiffed Vidal Brujan for what would have been the third out, Derek Crum singled in Vega with the game-winner. Before his costly error Widmar continued his ridiculous hitting binge by leading off the game with HR #6 and getting another hit later, now giving him 7 straight multi-hit games. Jhon Diaz had a 2-run HR (#9) in the 4th and Witt had a 3-hit game. Can't win 'em all.

Game 3: The Rays were done in today by an old friend in a 6-2 loss. Vidal Brujan, who lost his regular 2B job with the Yankees to their prize prospect Ivan Vega, was the DH today and hit he did, slamming a pair of homers and driving in 5 to make it two in a row for the Yankees over the Rays. Andy Aparicio got the spot start today with the doubleheader last Tuesday, and he didn't look much like the dominant multi-inning reliever he's been this year. He gave up a 3-run blast to Brujan in the 1st, and although the Rays got back within 3-2 in the 2nd on Isaac DeLeon's 14th HR of the year, a 467-foot shot to dead center, that was the last run they'd score for the day despite getting 10 hits as they left 11 on base today. They had scored in the first when Ricky Widmar continued his ridiculous roll with a leadoff single, steal of second, and scored on Jhon Diaz's single. Widmar would add 2 more hits to raise his average .432 and extend his multi-hit streak to 8 games. Aparicio did settle down after that rough 1st, only giving up a Tyree Reed homer in the 5th and ending 6 8 4 4 1 5. Jordan Diaz had a scoreless 7th but stayed in to face Vlad Jr. in the 8th, who singled off him. Mike Mooney then came on and gave up Brujan's 2nd HR of the day to make it 6-2 Yankees.

Game 4: The Rays got some late thunder to edge the Yankees 5-4 and keep from losing 3 consecutive games for the first time this season. Dane Ayers greeted Fernando Romero with HR #5 to tie the game in the 7th, and Nate Clark hit #21 off Romero in the 8th to straight-away center to provide the win. Mack Anglin started and had his usual horrible inning, giving up 3 in the 2nd to put the Rays in a 3-1 hole, but settled in from there and was only touched for one more run to still go a mediocre 5 8 4 4 3 5 and keep his ERA high at 5.36. Romelo Canulon pitched another fine 1 1/3 scoreless in relief and Daniel Espino got the final two outs in the 7th to pick up his 6th relief win of the year and 16th in the last season and a half. Jose Alvarado was brilliant, retiring all 5 Yankees he faced until with two out in the when 9th Vlad Jr stepped up to the plate, so JDLC got him on a groundball to end the game and get save #14. Ricky Widmar singled to lead off the game, stole second and scored on a Clark single, but didn't get another hit so his multi-hit streak is over. Ayers and Joe Barker also had RBI singles earlier in the game.

Team record: 54-21. Next up: We return home to face Toronto.

[Art Deco]

More not-shocking news from the league office:




Game 1: It was an incredibly frustrating game for the Rays until the very end, when Bobby Witt Jr. tattooed a Tyler Jefferson fastball and put it into the LF stands to give the Rays a walk-off 3-2 win in 10 innings, Witt's 14th HR of the year. The Rays had numerous chances to score throughout the game but kept leaving runners on base, 11 in total. Meanwhile, Toronto scored its two runs on a Judson Fabian dropped fly ball and stringing a double and single together and only had 5 hits and one walk on the night. Fortunately for the Rays they did push across a run in the 8th on an RBI single from Connor Kirkley (who was on base all 4 times with 3 hits and a walk tonight) to get it to extras. Earlier their only run came on a Ricky Widmar RBI single in the 2nd, on batter after they had a man thrown out at the plate. Alec Sachais started and deserved the win but looked like he'd be a hard-luck loser before Kirkley tied it up. He was excellent at 7 4 2 1 1 9, lowering his ERA to 2.57. Evan Godwin struck out the side in the 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz went 2 perfect innings with 3 Ks to get his 2nd win of the season. Widmar had 3 more hits today and a walk to reach base 4 out of 5 times as his insane run continues.

Game 2: The Rays rode the longball and strong pitching from Jack Leiter and the bullpen to a 5-1 win over Toronto. Leiter was outstanding, going 6 5 1 1 2 9 with his only issue being an Aaron Judge homer he allowed in the second. Jordan Diaz and Jose Alvarado each had a scoreless 2K inning and Daniel Espino finished up with a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th. Leiter moves to 3-2 and continues to bring his unsightly ERA down to 5.21. After Judge's shot gave Toronto a brief lead, the Rays answered right back in the bottom of the 2nd with a 2-run homer from Jasson Dominguez (#19). Nate Clark added #22 in the 4th and Jhon Diaz's 10th HR in the 7th made it 4-1, and Clark's sac fly scored Ricky Widmar, who had 2 more hits in 4 trips to raise his average to .439, in the 8th for the final run.

Game 3: With the key bullpen pieces tired today, the Rays lost a 2-1 lead in the 8th and went on to drop the final game of this series 5-4 to Toronto. Before the bullpen meltdown Blake Money was in 2028 form, going 6 1 1 1 2 9 in a dominant performance. Romulo Canelon had a 1-2-3 7th but probably shouldn't have come out for the 8th as he walked the leadoff man. A slightly tired (67%) Jordan Diaz came on and pitched like he was tired, allowing a hit and a walk to tie it and leaving with men on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out. Evan Godwin came in to face the lefty and threw a wild pitch, allowing the go-ahead run to score and then Godwin served up a 2-run HR to a lefty in the 9th to make it 5-2. Jhon Diaz blasted a 2-run HR (#11) in the bottom of the 9th to get the Rays back within a run, and they did put two on with two out but Ricky Widmar popped out to end the game. Earlier Widmar kept his 15-game hitting streak alive with an RBI single and Jasson Dominguez had an RBI double.

Team record: 56-22. Next up: An off-day then the AL Central-leading Tigers come to town for the weekend.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Shane McClanahan was great through the first 3 innings and then just couldn't get hardly anyone out in the 4th and 5th as the Rays lost 7-4, a scoreline very flattering to them considering it was 7-1 in the 9th. Mac had his strikeout pitch going, something he hadn't had in abundance during his recent hot run, but was far too hittable and ended up 4.2 8 6 6 2 8. It didn't help that Romelo Canulon had his first bad outing as a Ray, allowing a couple of Mac's runners to score along with one of his own. And Ricky Widmar's hitting streak came to a halt at 15, although he was on base twice with walks. He was robbed in his next-to-last at-bat by a diving Levi Usher catch in the 8th and then improbably got another bat in the 9th when the Rays put on a rally but flied out to right to end the game. Mike Mooney was a nice 3 2 0 0 0 5 in mop-up work while the offense came from Jasson Dominguez's 20th HR in the 7th and a 3-run shot from Isaac DeLeon (#15) in the 9th to make the score look close.

Game 2: Once again the Rays avoided their first 3-game losing streak of the season thanks primarily to Joe Barker in a 6-2 win over Detroit. The Rays' 1B blasted a pair of homers, one in the second to put them on the board after falling behind 2-0, and the other breaking a 2-2 tie in the 6th with two men aboard, giving him 16 on the season. The other two runs also came on homers with Jhon Diaz (#12) in the 2nd to tie it and Bobby Witt Jr (#15) adding the final run in the 6th. Mack Anglin got the start, had his usual bad inning (the 1st with 2 runs) and then was great from there, going 6 6 2 2 2 9 to pick up his 11th win. Evan Godwin, Jordan Diaz and Andy Aparicio had scoreless innings to close it out.

Ricky Widmar? Ricky Widmar.



Game 3: It was a great pitchers' duel between Alec Sachais and Detroit's Jon Duplantier and the difference for the second straight day was Joe Barker as the Rays took a 2-1 win. Barker's RBI double broke the ice in the 4th and his 6th inning HR (#17) proved to be the winning run. Sachais was in command all day until he started to run out of gas in the 7th, giving up an RBI double with 2 out and ending his 6.2 4 1 1 1 6 day. Daniel Espino got the final out of the 7th, and after giving up a leadoff hit in the 8th Jose Alvarado came on to get the next 3 Tigers and Jasseel De La Cruz whiffed a pair in a 1-2-3 9th for save #15. Sachais goes to 8-1, 2.47 and would be leading the AL in ERA by a wide margin but is currently 4 1/3 innings short of qualifying due to his IL stint. He's 22-4 since the start of last season.

Team record: 58-23. Next up: Off to Houston for 4 games.

[Art Deco]

We're exactly halfway through the season, and it's shaping up to be another hugely successful one with the only real question at this point being how far they go in the playoffs.

A look at the stats first, followed by the report card:



Nothing to complain about here. This team doesn't walk very much, but it doesn't matter since they hit so well and are 1st in OBP anyway. The defensive efficiency has gone from bad to mediocre, and despite a negative number the zone rating is 5th in the league, as high as I've seen it. Only the right side of the infield is subpar defensively, with Kirkley a 45 and Barker a poor 35.

The player stats:





The grades:

C: (A). Keibert Ruiz has had a renaissance season, making me think I might try to extend him beyond this year. He'll probably ask for too much. Heir apparent Carlos Perez has done OK in a backup role. He's a different type of hitter than Ruiz (draws walks, hits for power, less contact).

1B: (B+). Joe Barker has been streaky this year and right now he's on a hot streak having nearly single-handedly won the last two games. His defense is a problem, but not a big one given the position. He's done just as well as, if not better than, Yordan Alvarez at a fraction of the salary.

2B: (C+). Connor Kirkley has been kind of a disappointment, he was supposed to get on base at nearly a .400 clip with his 70 eye but instead is about .320. He's been adequate, but outplayed by Dane Ayers in a smaller sample size. This position should eventually be prize prospect Jaiden Hardaway's, and something I haven't mentioned is that top-notch OF prospect Dayle Jenkins can also play the position, at about 40-45 D.

SS: (A+). Isaac DeLeon held down the fort with excellent power for the first 6-7 weeks until Ricky Widmar came back and boy did Widmar come back. Despite it being early in his season, he's still hitting over .400 despite going 0 for the last 2 games.

3B: (A+). Bobby Witt Jr is a stealth MVP candidate this year and the player we thought we were getting the year before when he struggled with the Rays and had his season cut short due to injury.

LF: (B-). Judson Fabian is just kind of "there", he hasn't been spectacular but hasn't been bad either. He's getting more expensive and may make room for Jenkins or Victor de Jesus next season.

CF: (B+). Jasson Dominguez has gotten past a couple of IL stints and is blasting HRs left and right again while providing excellent defense. No complaints here.

RF: (A-). Jhon Diaz continues to excel, leading MLB in steals to go with solid hitting and defense.

DH: (A). Nate Clark is on pace to replicate his massive season from last year, which is all I can ask for him as the DH.

Bench: (A). Perez and Ayers as mentioned have been solid contributors, and DeLeon, who played most every day for the first two months, is still a productive bat off the bench. Spencer Torkelson has been the odd man out but has produced when put in the lineup and may take more PT from Fabian over the second half.

Starters: (A-). Christian Little was headed for a 2nd Cy Young before his ruptured finger tendon that will keep him out until mid-late September, so that's a blow. But the others have picked up the slack; Alec Sachais is just as good as he was last year, Shane McClanahan has recovered from his late start to the season to deal again, Blake Money is starting to round back into 2028 form, and Mack Anglin is nastier than ever but has had a bad run of sequencing with most of his runners coming in bunches and inflating his ERA. Jack Leiter should be adequate the rest of the way, too.

Bullpen: (A). The back end of the pen has been great, especially the ageless combo of Alvarado and JDLC. Daniel Espino hasn't been as lights-out as he was last season but overall has still been good, while Jordan Diaz has been solid. The big addition is Andy Aparicio, who's been a best in long relief/multi-inning appearances. He probably goes into the rotation next year to take Mac's place but I almost hate to take him out of this role. The only disappointments have been Evan Godwin (who admittedly has been better lately) and Mike Mooney (who I had high hopes for but has been very inconsistent).

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The bats came out today against former Ray Nick Frasso and the Rays prevailed 9-6 despite the best (worst) efforts of the bullpen. Connor Kirkley apparently read the midseason report card and came out swinging, going 4-4 with 3 runs scored and an RBI while Joe Barker remained scorching hot, going 3-5 with a HR (#18) and 3 RBI. Bobby Witt Jr. hit #16 and Keibert Ruiz was 3-4 with 2 RBI as well. Jack Leiter (4-2) got the start and pitched OK, aside from the usual 2 HRs against (one by Eloy Jimenez, whom I don't think we've ever kept from homering against us in a series we've played against him) and ended 6.2 8 4 4 0 6 although Mike Mooney allowed the 4th run of Leiter's. Mooney then gave up his own homer to Jimenez and Jordan Diaz allowed a run in the 9th.

Game 2: Outside of a couple of solo HRs the offense did nothing and Eloy Jimenez killed us once again in a 4-2 Astros win over the Rays. Griffin Jax held the Rays in check for 7 innings, only allowing HRs to Jhon Diaz (#13) in the 1st and Nate Clark (#23) in the 4th. Meanwhile Blake Money was shaky today and he allowed the day's big hit, yet another HR by Jimenez against the Rays, a 3-run shot in the 2nd. Money was 6 6 4 4 3 7 and it could have been worse had Jasson Dominguez not thrown out a couple of baserunners including one at the plate. Evan Godwin and Romelo Canulon had perfect innings in relief but the offense could not generate enough to come back.

Game 3: Deja vu all over again as the Rays once again could only manage a couple of solo HRs on offense and Eloy Jimenez did it again (he's getting walked now if there's an open base) with a 3-run HR in the first as the Astros beat the Rays 6-2. Shane McClanahan simply did not have it tonight, failing to retire the first 4 batters with Jimenez and his HR the 4th as it was 4-0 Houston before he got an out. 4 8 6 6 2 4 was the final damage for Mac in his second straight poor start, and Andy Aparicio pitched the final 4 doing his usual thing at 4 2 0 0 0 6. The offense only managed 5 hits with today's solo HRs coming from Bobby Witt Jr (#17) and Jasson Dominguez (#21).

Game 4: Well it finally happened: the Rays lost 3 in a row this season. Today was the worst performance of the three, a 6-0 loss to Houston in which they only managed 6 hits. Former Ray Mitchell White shut them down like he did for the Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, going 7.1 4 0 0 1 4. And mediocre Mack was at it again as Anglin went 5.1 9 6 6 2 5 as I've just about given up hope he'll ever get his numbers looking decent. The only twist this time is that Eloy Jimenez didn't do much damage, although Anglin walked him to lead off the 2nd and he scored the first of 2 runs that inning. Romelo Canulon went 2 2/3 scoreless in mop-up duty as the Rays will be glad to see the last of Minute Maid Park (most likely, the Astros are now 43-43 which is good enough for 1 1/2 off the AL West lead) this year.

Team record: 59-26. Back home to start a 10-game homestead which will see them through the All-Star break, with the White Sox in town for the weekend.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays got back in the win column after their season-high 3-game losing streak thanks to 6 strong innings from Alec Sachais and a monster slump-busting night from Judson Fabian in a 7-0 victory. Although the final score was lopsided, it wasn't until the late innings that the Rays put it away. Sachais wasn't his sharpest but managed to go 6 6 0 0 2 7 and is now 9-1, 2.29 as he's now only 3 innings away from qualifying for the league ERA lead. Fabian, meanwhile, came into the game in a dreadful 0-28 slump and hadn't had a hit in two weeks. He changed that quickly tonight, hitting 3 doubles and his 13th HR of the year to cap the scoring in the 8th. His second double in the 4th got the Rays on the board with the game's first run and Connor Kirkley followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. That score stood until the Rays exploded for 4 in the bottom of the 7th on a 2-run Bobby Witt Jr double and a 2-run HR by Nate Clark (#24) off the generically-named White Sox rookie Tommy Pitcher. On the mound, four relievers combined to finish the final 3 innings as Daniel Espino put two on with one out in the 7th when it was still 2-0 and Jose Alvarado had to bail him out. Alvarado came out after it was 6-0 so Evan Godwin pitched the 8th and Jordan Diaz the 9th.

Game 2: Joe Barker's 2-run HR (#19) broke a 4-4 tie in the 8th and gave the Rays a 6-4 win over the White Sox. With two out and nobody on, Nate Clark tripled off Sox reliever Tyson Miller and Barker followed up with his game-winning dinger. Jasseel De La Cruz got the Sox in the 9th for save #16 while Daniel Espino picked up yet another relief win (his 7th of the year and 17th in a season and a half) with a scoreless 8th. Jack Leiter started and put the Rays in an immediate 3-0 hole with a bad first inning, but hung in there to go 6 7 4 4 3 5. The Rays chipped away at the lead starting with a Keibert Ruiz RBI double in the 3rd, and then Spencer Torkelson hit HR #7 with a man on in the 4th to tie it before Connor Kirkley gave the Rays their first lead with an RBI single later in the inning. After the Sox tied it up off Leiter, Evan Godwin pitched a scoreless 7th. Judson Fabian continued his extra-base streak to 5 at-bats with a first-inning double.

Game 3: Yet again a Rays starting pitcher put his team in an early hole, as Blake Money gave up 3 in the 1st inning. And it didn't get any better from there in a 10-1 White Sox win as the Rays have struggled to get decent starting pitching from anyone not named Alec Sachais. Money gave up another run and left with the bases loaded in the 5th for Andy Aparicio and he immediately gave up a 2-run double and later a couple of runs of his own as he wasn't as effective as usual either. Romelo Canulon had a nice 8th but stayed in while tired and gave up the final 2 in the 9th as he took one for the team. The offense wasn't any better either, with only Dane Ayers' RBI triple in the 5th standing between them and being shut out. Jhon Diaz had to leave with back stiffness, described as a "moderate" 3-week injury, so the IL beckons for him.

Team record: 61-27. Next up: 4 at home vs Minnesota.

[Art Deco]

July 9: Placed OF Jhon Diaz on the 10-day IL with back stiffness, recalled OF Dayle Jenkins from AAA Durham.

Jenkins is back, and he was raking at Durham (334/409/531). He's a legit MLB player right now and will share time with Spencer Torkelson filling in for Diaz, who'll be out for 3 weeks.

Game 1: Shane McClanahan was in his 2027 Cy Young form as the Rays won a pitchers' duel 2-0 over Minnesota. Mac was hardly in trouble in a dominant 7 3 0 0 1 8 performance, evening his record at 6-6. Daniel Espino got through the 8th and with two lefties leading off the 9th Jose Alvarado came in and got a 1-2-3 9th for save #5. Alvarado's having one of his best seasons, with a 1.91 ERA and a 5/34 BB/K ratio in 33 innings, impressive considering control has been his one historical weak link. Spencer Torkelson's 8th HR of the year off Jordan Wicks leading off the 5th turned out to be the only run they'd need, but Bobby Witt Jr. added an RBI single in the 6th to give them a little insurance. Those two hits were half of their total on the night as each team only managed 4.

Game 2: For 6 innings it looked a lot like last night with the Rays clinging to a 2-1 lead. Then Jordan Diaz took it upon himself to blow the lead in the 7th and let Minnesota go ahead 3-2. But then the Rays hitters took it upon themselves to score 7 runs over the next two innings in a 9-3 win. Keibert Ruiz had himself a game, including a 2-run HR (#10) off Kodi Whitley to give the Rays the lead back at 4-3, and then an RBI double in a 4-run 8th as he continues to have a great season at 333/367/575. Mack Anglin started for the Rays and was excellent through 6, avoiding his usual meltdown inning on the way to going 6 5 1 1 1 7. Unfortunately Diaz vultured his win with the a rough 7th. Jose Alvarado got a 1-2-3 8th while it was still 5-3, and Mike Mooney mopped up in the 9th. Dayle Jenkins saw his first action after being called up again and was in the middle of everything, getting on base via error, hit by pitch and a single and scoring 3 times with a pair of stolen bases. Judson Fabian drove in a pair and so did Joe Barker with a bases-loaded single in the 8th. Ricky Widmar also was on base twice with a walk and a single and had a steal and an RBI.

Game 3: The Rays jumped on Minnesota ace Jon Hayes for 9 runs in the 2nd inning on their way to a 10-6 win that saw Alec Sachais and Andy Aparicio apparently pitch to the score. Dayle Jenkins' 1-out RBI single put the Rays on the board in the 2nd, but Minnesota should have been out of the inning when Keibert Ruiz hit an easy double play ball to Minnesota 3B Yairo Munoz. Munoz booted it, though, loading the bases for Ricky Widmar who took a Hayes offering into the LF stands to make it 5-0, his 7th HR of the year. And then the bases became turnstiles as Jud Fabian doubled and then Joe Barker, Jasson Dominguez and Bobby Witt Jr had RBI singles and Spencer Torkelson an RBI groundout (he later added an RBI single for the 10th run) and it was 9-0. Sachais cruised through the first 3, then gave up a couple of homers for 3 runs in the 4th, gave up another homer in the 6th, and ended up 6 7 4 4 0 8 while going to 10-1. Aparicio came in for the final 3, gave up a 2-run HR in the 8th but hung on to pick up his first MLB save. Witt had a 3-hit night and Jenkins was 2-4, starting at 2B and giving Connor Kirkley a night off. He turned a double play to end the game.

Game 4: The Rays stunk in all phases of the game as they dropped the series finale 7-2 to the Twins. Jack Leiter was way too hittable, giving up 4 runs on 7 hits including a homer in his 102 pitches over 4 innings, although he did strike out 8. The defense wasn't very good either as Ricky Widmar made a key error in a 3-run 3rd for Minnesota and then he later misplayed a pop up into short left to give the Twins another unearned run later in the game. And the offense, although key regulars were rested for this day game after a night game (Witt, Fabian, Ruiz, Dominguez), couldn't manage to rub two sticks together, scratching out a couple of a late runs to avoid being shut out on an RBI double from Dane Ayers and an RBI groundout from Spencer Torkelson.

Team record: 64-28. Next up: The Rays will look for some revenge against Houston, who beat them 3 out of 4 last week, when they come to town for the final 3 games before the All-Star break.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Joe Barker and Jasson Dominguez were a two-man wrecking crew as the Rays beat the Astros 7-2. Barker put the Rays on the board with a 2-run 1st inning double, and Dominguez hit HR #22 in the 3rd to make it 3-0. And after Houston got within 3-2, Barker blasted a 3-run shot (#20) in the 7th, following by Dominguez's 2nd of the game (#23). Blake Money was the beneficiary of their run support, going 6 8 2 2 1 5 to improve to 7-6. With the score 3-2, Jose Alvarado got the first two outs of the 7th while putting a man on, bringing Rays-killer Eloy Jimenez to the plate. Daniel Espino came on and struck him out, and then Barker & Dominguez blew the game open in the bottom of the inning, allowing Evan Godwin and Jordan Diaz to clean up the final 2 innings.

Game 2: Shane McClanahan had a rough first inning, putting the Rays in a 2-0 hole before they came to bat. But they answered with 5 runs in the bottom of the frame, added 2 more in the third and cruised to an 8-2 win over the Astros. Jasson Dominguez, one of last night's heroes, was the hero again with a 2-run double in that 5-run 1st and a 2-run HR in the 3rd (#24). Bobby Witt Jr doubled in a run and Isaac DeLeon capped the 1st with a 2-run shot of his own (#16). Judson Fabian's RBI single in the 4th made it 8-2 and the offense was able to take the rest of the day off as Mac settled in after that rocky 1st to go 6.1 6 2 2 3 6, a line that would have looked prettier had he not walked the last two men he faced in the 7th. Romelo Canulon went the final 2 2/3 with 4 whiffs to finish off the game as Mac goes back above .500 to 7-6, 3.96.

Game 3: Mack Anglin was brilliant as the Rays got revenge on Houston for taking 3 of 4 from them a week and half ago with a sweep, winning 2-1. Anglin was 7.1 3 1 0 2 5 with the only run against him scoring after Spencer Torkelson booted what would have been the third out of the 5th. He's now 12-3 (tied for the MLB lead in wins), and although the ERA is high at 4.89 he's third in the AL in strikeouts and has 2.7 WAR already. Jose Alvarado got two whiffs to finish the 8th and Jasseel De La Cruz worked around a leadoff walk to Eloy Jimenez (not a bad thing) to grab save #17. Anglin's counterpart on the mound for Houston was former Ray Nick Frasso, who pitched out of jams through his 5 innings, walking 4 and giving up 4 hits and getting out of a bases-loaded nobody out situation in the 2nd with a Keibert Ruiz double play ball. It took a Dayle Jenkins-led double steal in the 4th to finally get a run across when Ruiz's sac fly scored him. The game-winner came in the 7th on a Nate Clark RBI single. Jenkins continues to impress, on base 3 of his 4 trips with 2 hits, a walk, and a pair of steals. He's 345/441/448, albeit it in only 29 at-bats but those numbers are in line with the ones he's put up at Durham.

Team record: 67-28. Next up: The All-Star break, then a lengthy AL East road trip starting in Toronto.

[Art Deco]

First, a look at the standings:



Despite 4 of the 6 AL teams at .500 or better being in the AL East, you can see why I haven't mentioned the standings much as the Rays hold another massive division lead. And over in the lower right, check out who's been of the NL's best pitchers this year, none other than Cole Patten, part of what we gave up to get super-prospect Jaiden Hardaway (having an nice year at AA Montgomery by the way).

Here are the all-star rosters:






A lot of Rays and former Rays on these rosters.

Home Run Derby: For once a Ray is participating: Nate Clark. He's matched up against Washington's Josh Ellis in the first round. Ellis beat him 20-19, which is too bad because Clark's 19 would have been good enough to win any of the other first round matchups. Well, an ex-Ray did win: Yordan Alvarez beat Cody Bellinger 26-23 in the final round.

The All-Star Game:



Rays dominated the roster, and Rays dominated the game, from MVP Nate Clark and his 2-run HR off former Ray Chris Paddack, to Joe Barker's RBI double for the AL's 3rd run, to Jasson Dominguez who played the whole game and doubled, to Daniel Espino who got out of his own jam in the 8th by whiffing former teammate Gavin Lux, and to Andy Aparicio, who got the save despite allowing a Gleyber Torres homer.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays kicked off the traditional "second half" of the season with a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the Blue Jays in Toronto. Dayle Jenkins' 3-run HR (#2) in the 7th turned a 2-0 Toronto lead into a 3-2 Rays advantage, and Judson Fabian and Joe Barker doubled in the 8th for another run which proved to be the game-winner. Blake Money got the start and was pretty good, if a bit wild, going 5.2 5 2 2 4 8 with a couple of wild pitches, one of which directly led to a run. Jordan Diaz had to get the final out of the 6th and picked up win #3 as a result, staying in to get the Jays 1-2-3 in the 7th. Daniel Espino gave up a leadoff homer to Adanson Cruz in the 8th to make it 4-3, and Jasseel De La Cruz had a 1-2-3 9th for save #18. Barker was on base today in all 4 trips, going 2-2, walking twice and stealing a base.

Game 2: The Rays have been one of the toughest teams in the AL to walk, but Toronto pitchers managed the feat today with 8 bases on balls, including 3 with the bases loaded to make the difference in a 5-2 Tampa Bay win. Jared Jones walked Dayle Jenkins and Spencer Torkelson with the sacks full in the 4th to give the Rays a 2-0 lead, and Ricky Widmar doubled the advantage in the top of the 7th with a 2-run blast (#8). And after the Blue Jays got within 4-2, Jonathan Chesire walked Nate Clark with the bags full to make it 5-2 in the 8th. Mack Anglin started and was very good, going 6 4 0 0 2 5 as he continues to get in line with his FIP. His 13th win against 3 losses now leads all of MLB. Andy Aparicio came on in the 7th and gave up 2 runs but made it through the 8th unscathed, and JDLC came in again for another 1-2-3 9th and save #19.

Game 3: Another outstanding pitching performance got the Rays a sweep of Toronto in a 6-2 win. Shane McClanahan was excellent, going 7 4 2 1 1 9 with a Drew Bowser homer the only earned run against him with the other run coming from a batter who reached on a Ricky Widmar error. He's now 8-6, 3.78. Bobby Witt Jr hit #18 (one more than he hit last season with the Rays) and Nate Clark had an RBI groundout to keep the Rays at parity through 6 before they broke it open with 4 runs in the 7th. Carlos Perez snapped the tie with an RBI single, and with two out Judson Fabian doubled in another run and then Clark drove in two more with a single. Jordan Diaz had a scoreless 8th and Romelo Canulon a scoreless 9th to finish out the game as the Rays notched win #70 on the season. Widmar had 3 hits today and continues to bat a cool .377.

Team record: 70-28. The road trip continues as we head to Fenway for three.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays were on the receiving end of a good ol' fashioned butt-whipping today as they lost 8-1 to the Red Sox. It was pretty much over in the 1st when Boston scored 5 thanks to one likely source and one unlikely one. The former was Ryan Mountcastle, who tied the game at 1 after the Rays had scored on a Joe Barker sac fly in the top of the inning. Mountcastle's RBI single was his 17th ribbie against the Rays in 13 games this season (He lated added #18). Another Ray-killer, David Dahl, singled to load the bases and then the unlikely Luisangel Acuna, with only 4 HR all season in everyday play, launched a grand slam off Alec Sachais over the Monster and it was 5-1. Sachais stuck around to give up a couple of solo HRs to Pierson Gibis, ending 5 7 7 7 2 3 and Mike Mooney allowed another run in his 3 innings of mop-up work.

Game 2: After last night's thrashing at the hands of the Red Sox the Rays returned the favor and then some in a 16-2 massacre of Boston. Bobby Witt Jr led the 21-hit parade by going 3-4 with a HR (#19) and 4 RBI, with his solo shot starting the onslaught in the 2nd inning off former Ray Yonny Chirinos, who wasn't his usual tough self against them. Dane Ayers, in for the slumping Connor Kirkley, went 3-4 with a HR (#6) and 4 RBI himself while Judson Fabian (with HR #14), Nate Clark and Jasson Dominguez (breaking out of his own slump with his first hits since the break) all had 3 hits and an RBI. Dayle Jenkins drove in a pair as well as everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and everyone had at least one RBI except for Ricky Widmar. Jack Leiter was the beneficiary of all this offense, and held up his end quite well going 7 6 2 2 0 7 to improve to 5-3. Romulo Canelon pitched the final two innings.

Game 3: The Rays scored 18 runs in their three games in Boston, but unfortunately for them 16 of them game in the second game as they fell 4-1 to Boston tonight. Shawn Semple kept things simple, holding them to a 7 5 1 1 2 5 line including three double play grounders. Jasson Dominguez's 4th-inning RBI double was the extent of their offense tonight, and Blake Money's wildness caught up with him in the 5th when Boston scored 3 times after there were two out and nobody on. Money finished 6 5 4 4 4 6, having allowed only 1 hit going into that 5th inning. Jose Alvarado got some work in, pitching for the first time since the ASB and getting a 1-2-3 7th while Evan Godwin pitched a scoreless 8th.

Team record: 71-30. Next up: An off-day then a weekend series in New York before we head back to Boston on the Monday to make up a rained-out game.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays went homer-happy tonight at Yankee Stadium, bashing 7 as a team and led by Judson Fabian who belted 3, tying the team record, in an 11-5 win. At first it looked like the Yankees may be the big bashers tonight as after Fabian's 1st of the game gave the Rays a 2-0 lead in top of the 1st, Vlad Jr and Kyle Isbel each hit 2-run shots in the bottom of the frame off Mack Anglin to give New York a 4-2 lead. But Jasson Dominguez hit the first of his 2 homers on the night to tie the game in the 3rd, and Fabian's 2nd of the game, a solo shot, gave them the lead for good in the 5th. And in the 6th they broke it open on 2-run shots from Spencer Torkelson and Ricky Widmar, the 9th of the year for each. Dominguez hit his 2nd of the game in the 7th to give him the team lead with 26, and Fabian hit #3 of the game and #17 of the season in the 8th to cap the Rays' scoring. Meanwhile after that rough first inning Anglin was virtually untouchable over the next 6 innings, finishing 7 5 4 4 2 5 and improving to 14-3 and remaining the MLB wins leader. Jordan Diaz pitched a scoreless 8th and Romulo Canelon gave up a Miguel Sano solo homer in the 9th but nothing else to wrap up the game. Including all the homers, the Rays managed 20 hits with everyone getting at least one.

July 28: Optioned OF Dayle Jenkins to AAA Durham, activated OF Jhon Diaz from the 10-day IL.

Jenkins was great again in his second stint with the big club this season, and will probably have a place somewhere in next year's lineup but for now goes back to Durham. He'll probably also be the September hitter callup. Diaz missed only 3 weeks so I think he can get by without a rehab assignment.

Game 2: Games can turn quickly, and the Rays found that out to their detriment today as Shane McClanahan took a no-hitter one out into the 6th with a 2-0 lead and by the time the inning was over it was 5-2 New York and by the time the game was over it was 11-2 Yankees. With one out in the 6th, Mac hit a batter and then gave up his first hit of the game to old pal Vidal Brujan, who doubled. After Vlad Jr. walked to load the bases, Joe Allen delivered a 2-run single up the middle, a wild pitch put men on 2nd and 3rd and then a 2-run single from Cade Horton made it 4-2. Mac then departed, and Evan Godwin gave up a triple to make it 5-2. Godwin continued to struggle in the 7th, giving up a homer, then putting a couple more on for Mike Mooney to give up a 3-run HR and the rout was on. Meanwhile, Nate Clark's 25th HR of the year in the 1st, a 2-run shot, was all the offense they could muster and was only one of five hits on the day. This was despite Yankee starter Brennan Malone leaving in the 1st inning with an injury and a parade of Yankee relievers pitching. They seem to be in a pattern of either getting 15 runs and 20 hits in a game or 1 or 2 and 5 with no in between.

Some trade news:



This was a swap of top 100 prospects as we send Pelaez packing and get Buitrago. I was starting to sour on Pelaez, as although he's a good shortstop I wonder how much he's going to hit. He started the year at Durham, which was probably too aggressive by the AI which sets the minors subject to my adjustments, as he hit .139 in 137 AB. He got sent down to A+ Charlotte, where he was 262/352/353. He has a great eye and has some pop in his bat, but his contact/gap potential #s are not great. Throw in the fact that he has to go on the 40-man this winter and Ricky Widmar has a lock on the SS position for the foreseeable future, and it's no surprise I was shopping him. So about Buitrago. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2027 draft out of Cal State Fullerton and he's done nothing but live up to billing, already at AA where he's continued to hit (293/362/524). Here's a peek under the hood:



No real weaknesses here, other than not walking enough. The gap power is elite, the HR power is already MLB-average, and the hit tool should be solid. Of course this gives us another outfielder, and it's not like we're hurting for CFers either with Jasson Dominguez and Dayle Jenkins, and corner-wise we have Victor de Jesus on the rise. But he doesn't have to go on the 40-man this year, and he's still probably 2 years away. We had to include Mordasini in the deal to make it work, a speedy singles-hitting SS in DSL ball who will probably never hit enough to be a decent MLB regular.

Game 3: Jasseel De La Cruz had a major meltdown in the 9th inning, turning a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 loss in the 9th as the Rays dropped the series to the Yankees. Alec Sachais had a brilliant start, going 6 4 0 0 1 6, and Daniel Espino had a scoreless 7th. Connor Kirkley's error allowed the Yankees to get an unearned run off Jose Alvarado in the 8th, but with 2 righties out of 3 due at the bottom of the Yankee order it seemed like a tailor-made save situation for JDLC. Unfortunately, the righty singled off him, and the lefty doubled, and although he got a fly ball to CF to hold the runners, Vidal Brujan wreaked havoc on his old team again with a 2-run single. JDLC then whiffed Derek Crum for the second out to bring up Vlad Jr with first base open. Yours truly could have walked him and had JDLC face the almost-as-dangerous lefty-hitting Joe Allen, but I played the righty-righty matchup and Vlad sent one into the LF seats. Of course if the offense could have scrounged up a few runs after the 3rd inning they might not have been in this predicament, but after Joe Barker (a 2-run shot, #21) and Jasson Dominguez (#27) went back-to-back, the scoring dried up.

Team record: 72-32. Next up: A quick trip back up to Boston to play a makeup game, then home to face Arizona.

[Art Deco]

It was Jack Leiter vs Yonny Chirinos for the second time in 6 days at Fenway and although the Rays didn't repeat their 16-2 blowout of the Red Sox in that matchup, they took a 5-2 decision today. Leiter did not look long for the game in the early innings. He gave up 5 hits and 2 runs in the 2nd, and then two more hits in the 3rd, making a total of 8 hits allowed in 2 1/3 innings. But he retired the final 11 Red Sox he faced and came away with a fine 6 8 2 2 0 7 performance to go to 6-3 and lower his ERA to 4.95. Jordan Diaz, Jose Alvarado and Daniel Espino (picking up save #2) pitched a scoreless 7th, 8th and 9th respectively. As has been the custom lately, the offense primarily came via the home run. Jhon Diaz had a 2-run homer (#14) off Chirinos in the 2nd, and Jasson Dominguez (#28) and Bobby Witt Jr (#20) went back-to-back in the 4th to make it 4-2. Connor Kirkley added an RBI single in the 6th for the 5th run.

Team record: 73-32. Next up: 2 games at home vs Arizona, when we welcome Gavin Lux back to pick up his World Series ring.

Alex Buitrago update: In his Rays organization debut, Buitrago hit a pair of homers and drove in 4 for Montgomery in an 11-1 win. Not too shabby.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: You don't often see Blake Money and "pitch efficiency" in the same sentence, but Money was definitely efficient today, going 8 3 1 0 1 9 on 93 pitches in a 4-1 win over Arizona. He deftly navigated a lineup with numerous tough hitters, almost all lefties, including our MVP candidate of last year Gavin Lux and the guy who's killed the Rays since they got rid of him, Lewin Diaz. Jasseel De La Cruz bounced back from his Yankee Stadium debacle over the weekend with a 1-2-3 9th to get save #20 while Money goes to 8-7, 4.54. Once again all of the offense came via the longball with Bobby Witt Jr delivering the big blow, a 3-run HR in the 2nd inning (#21) and Judson Fabian adding #18 with the bases empty in the 3rd. They had 8 hits tonight distributed among 8 players with only Jhon Diaz hitless, but he reached via walk.

Game 2: A wild, back-and-forth game at the Trop ended up going Arizona's way 7-6 in 10 innings, despite the Rays coming back to tie it in both the 8th and the 9th. The bullpen seemed determined to blow this one, and it started when Evan Godwin served up a 2-run HR in the 7th to the first batter he faced to break a 2-2 tie. Then after the Rays tied it in the bottom of the 8th on a 2-run Nate Clark single, Andy Aparicio coughed up a couple of runs in the 9th to put Arizona back on top. But Jhon Diaz (#15) and Connor Kirkley (#10) hit solo homers in the bottom of the 9th to send us to extras, where Jasseel De La Cruz lost his second game in three outings by giving up a Tyler Callihan HR to make it 7-6. It looked like the Rays might have a third comeback in them when they loaded the bases with two out in the 9th but Spencer Torkelson, who earlier hit #10 with a man on in the 2nd to give the Rays an early 2-1 lead, struck out to end the game. Mack Anglin started and pitched decently, going 6.1 8 3 3 1 6 with the Godwin homer allowed costing him the 3rd run. Godwin's now allowed 7 homers in only 34.1 innings, no bueno.

Team record: 74-33. Next up: An off-day then the San Francisco Giants come to town for a weekend set.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Connor Kirkley had a huge game against the team which drafted him 2nd overall in 2022 as the Rays pounded the Giants 11-3. Kirkley's 3-run HR (#11) broke a 1-1 tie in the 2nd and he later added a 2-run single for an MLB career-best 5 RBI. Judson Fabian smacked a first-inning HR (#19) and Jasson Dominguez had a 2-run shot in the 3rd (#29) to go with a later RBI single while Nate Clark had a 2-run double as the Rays romped. Shane McClanahan got the start and was pretty good for the most part, finishing 7 8 3 3 0 5 and improving to 9-7. Jordan Diaz finished the game with 2 perfect innings on 19 pitches. Tanner Witt, the Rays' #1 pick in 2020, finally made his Trop debut DHing for the Giants today (he was 0-4) while old friends Yusniel Diaz and Andrew Knizner were in the San Francisco lineup. Spencer Torkelson had to leave with a strained rib cage muscle and will go on the IL.

MLB news: Speaking of former Rays, Nate Lowe did something I haven't seen in 10 seasons of this save with a 4-homer game tonight against Atlanta. This is the first time it's been done in MLB since JD Martinez in September 2017. The Phillies got the better of us in the 2020-21 offseason deal for Alec Bohm as Lowe went on to be one of the top power hitters in baseball during the first half of the decade. After Philadelphia brought in Miguel Sano, he found himself on the bench and only hit 20 homers combined in 2027-2028. But with Sano gone via free agency to the Yankees, Lowe regained the 1B job and is 293/364/568 with 25 HR and 73 RBI in 94 games this season, so good for him. Lowe's exploits overshadowed another huge game from a former Ray as Lewin Diaz had a 3-homer game tonight in Boston for Arizona.

August 4: Placed OF Spencer Torkelson on the 10-day IL with a strained rib cage muscle, recalled OF Dayle Jenkins from AAA Durham.

Game 2: Thanks to a big game from Ricky Widmar and an appearance from our good luck charm, the Rays came back to beat San Francisco 7-4 today. Widmar did it all, going 4-4 with a 2-run HR in the 3rd to put the Rays up for the first time at 2-1 and an RBI double in the 7th to tie the game. He scored 3 runs, including the game-winner when Nate Clark doubled him home in that 7th inning and is now hitting 380/419/585. Judson Fabian and Keibert Ruiz added RBI singles as well. Alec Sachais started and was cruising along until the 4th when he surrendered 3 solo homers to the Giants to put them up 4-2. After the Rays got within 4-3 and Sachais left with a 6 9 4 4 0 8 line, Daniel Espino came in and when I brought him in I thought "the Rays will probably come back here since he has 17 relief wins in the last season and a half" and sure enough they did with Espino picking up win #8 of the season and going 2 innings after getting the Giants on 8 pitches in the 7th. Jasseel De La Cruz, shaky of late, was shaky again as he loaded the bases on 3 singles with one out but got a double play ball to end the game and notched save #21.

Game 3: Cole Patten returned to the Trop in an enemy uniform and nearly made history but ended up with a no-decision as the Rays walked off a 2-1 win in the 9th inning. Patten, who was traded to the Giants last offseason in the deal which brought super prospect Jaiden Hardaway and is probably the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, was taking revenge on his former team by no-hitting them into the 8th inning with only a slender 1-0 lead. But Isaac DeLeon, getting a rare start these days with Ricky Widmar healthy and red-hot and Bobby Witt Jr 2nd in the AL in WAR, took Patten deep with an opposite-field shot (#17) into the RF stands with 1 out to cost Patten the no-hitter, the shutout, and the win as he was relieved after the homer. And in the bottom of the 9th another bench player getting a Sunday start, Dane Ayers, took a Melvin Adon offering into almost the same spot as DeLeon to win the game, his 7th of the year in only 103 ABs in which he's gone 330/397/621. It looked like Jack Leiter would be a hard-luck loser as he pitched great, going 6.1 5 1 1 1 7. Leiter left with runners on 2nd and 3rd and importantly Andy Aparicio got him out of the 7th without further damage. AA pitched into the 9th before Jose Alvarado got the final two outs and as it turned out, the win, his 3rd.

Team record: 77-33. Next up: An off-day then it's more interleague play as we head to Arizona for a pair.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Blake Money dominated the Diamondbacks again. After going 8 3 1 0 1 9 at the Trop last week, he was just as good the second time around, going 6 1 1 1 1 10 in a 5-1 Rays win in Arizona. A Drew Romo homer in the 2nd inning was the only damage against him as he once again mowed down a lineup with 8 lefty hitters and improved to 9-7. Jose Alvarado, Jordan Diaz and Romelo Canulon (whose ERA is down to 1.98) each threw scoreless innings in relief. Bobby Witt Jr tied the game in the 4th with HR #22, and the big hit came in the 7th when Jasson Dominguez drilled a 2-run double into the RF corner to break the tie. Nate Clark added a sac fly in the inning and Connor Kirkley put the cherry on top in the 8th with HR #12. Kirkley was on base all 4 times up, going 3-3 with a walk.

Game 2: The Rays set a team record for most HRs in a game with 8 on their way to a 13-3 blowout of the Diamondbacks. 7 different Rays found the seats at Chase Field, with Joe Barker hitting a pair to give him 23. They even had both their pinch-hitters go deep, with Jhon Diaz hitting #16 and Isaac DeLeon #18. Ricky Widmar set the tone by leading off the game with a longball (#11) and Barker's pair along with the only run they didn't score on a homer, Judson Fabian's sac fly, made it 5-0 in the 5th. Mack Anglin started and was rolling until the 5th when he allowed a pair of runs, and then he loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th. Evan Godwin did a great job in relief of Anglin, whiffing Lewin Diaz and getting a pop-up before allowing a single that made it 5-3 and would have made it 5-4 had Jasson Dominguez not gunned down the runner from 2nd at the plate. Anglin still picked up his MLB-best 15th win. Then the HRs started flowing again, with Bobby Witt Jr's 23rd and Connor Kirkley's 13th joining Diaz's pinch-hit job in the 7th, and Nate Clark adding #26 in the 8th before DeLeon's 3-run pinch-hit blast in the 9th. After Godwin's inning, Mike Mooney had 2 scoreless frames and Romelo Canulon one to finish out the game.

Team record: 79-33. Next up: An off-day then we head further west for a weekend set at Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers where we reunite with old friends Nick Gonzales and Austin Meadows among others.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays were being shut down by Michael Baez through 5 and trailed 2-0, but they scored 3 in the 6th and then broke it open in the 8th on their way to a 9-2 win over the Dodgers. Jasson Dominguez ended the shutout in the 6th with his 30th HR of the season, a 2-run shot, and the Rays continued the rally afterwards with Connor Kirkley's sac fly giving them the lead. A 5-run 8th made it a blowout with the highlight being Isaac DeLeon's 2-run pinch-hit double (giving him 5 RBI in the last 2 games on pinch hits) and Keibert Ruiz capped a 4-hit day against his old team with HR #11 in the 9th. Ricky Widmar and Jhon Diaz had 3-hit games as well. Shane McClanahan went from potential hard-luck loser to comfortable winner in the end, going a fine 6 4 2 2 1 5 against a lineup that features in order Austin Meadows, Fernando Tatis Jr, Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts and Pete Alonso. Mac goes to 10-7 and Jose Alvarado (while it was 3-2), Jordan Diaz and Mike Mooney each had a scoreless inning in relief.

Game 2: The Rays built a 5-0 lead only for Alec Sachais to throw it away within an inning and a half, but Fernando Tatis Jr threw it right back when his 2-out toss to get a force at 2nd was wild and allowed the Rays to win it 6-5 in the 9th. Early on it looked like another rout with Joe Barker's RBI single and Connor Kirkley's 2-RBI single making it 3-0 in the 4th and Judson Fabian's 20th HR with a man on in the 5th making it 5-0. But Sachais, who had been cruising, gave up a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the 5th to former Ray Nick Gonzales and then served up a 2-run HR to another former Ray, Austin Meadows. Then yours truly made a decision to regret in the top of the 6th when the Rays had 1st and 3rd with 1 out and Sachais due up on 77 pitches. I left him in to hit, he whiffed, and Ricky Widmar couldn't get the run home. And then Sachais repaid my faith by giving up back-to-back dingers to Mookie Betts and Pete Alonso to tie the game at 5. Andy Aparicio came in and got 5 outs, Daniel Espino walked the bases loaded with 2 out in the 8th but Jose Alvarado got him out of it, and that brought us to the 9th. The Rays had 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Bobby Witt Jr grounded at the drawn-in Tatis for out #2 and Jhon Diaz walked to load the bases. Kirkley hit a grounder to Tatis that should have ended the inning with an easy force at 2nd but the Dodger SS's throw pulled Gonzales off the bag and allowed the winning run to score. Alvarado got 2 out in the 9th but allowed a single to Cody Bellinger to put men on 1st and 3rd so JDLC came in and struck out Betts to end the game and grab save #22. Alvarado picked up win #4.

Game 3: Isaac DeLeon probably just had the most productive week in the history of MLB with the fewest at-bats. Having hit a pinch-hit 3-run HR against Arizona earlier in the week and a 2-run pinch-hit double against the Dodgers on Friday, he got the start today and hit a 3-run HR and a 2-run HR, giving him 3 HR and 10 RBI in only 6 ABs. His two homers and shutout pitching from Jack Leiter and two relievers helped the Rays to a 6-0 win (their 8th straight) and a series sweep of LA in what could possibly be a World Series preview. DeLeon's first came in the 4th after Brusdar Graterol put two men but had to leave with an elbow issue, and he greeted reliever Enyel De Los Santos by sending his fastball into the LF seats to make it 3-0. Two innings later, Nate Clark (#27) and DeLeon (#20) victimized De Los Santos again to double the lead. That was more than enough for Leiter, who negotiated the tough Dodgers lineup with ease, going 6.2 4 0 0 1 6 and improving to 7-3, 4.33. Evan Godwin got him out of a little jam in the 7th when he put two on and pitched through the 8th with Jordan Diaz finishing off Tatis, Bellinger and Betts in order with a pair of whiffs in the 9th.

Team record: 82-33. Next up: An off-day, then finally back home to face Seattle for the first time this season.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Blake Money dominated his old team and Joe Barker hit a big 3-run homer off yet another former Ray as Tampa Bay downed Seattle 5-1 for its 9th straight win. Money was a bit pitch-inefficient but made it through 6 throwing a season-high 109 pitches in going 6 3 0 0 3 10 and upping his record to 10-7, 4.18. Andy Aparicio pitched the final 3 innings, whiffing 7 and allowing only a Mike Brosseau (everyone's a former Ray it seems) homer, for his 2nd save. Barker's blow (#24) came off one-time Rays starter Chris Paddack, and it followed a wild pitch that brought home a run and made it 4-0 in the 3rd. The Rays tacked on a run in the 5th thanks to Bobby Witt Jr's RBI single.

Game 2: The Rays fell behind 4-0 in the 4th but that was no sweat for a team as good and hot as they are as Joe Barker's 10th inning HR (#25) off still another former Ray, Steven Casey, completed the comeback in a 5-4 walk-off win, the team's 10th straight. Mack Anglin had his patented one bad inning in the 4th, giving up a 2-run single and a 2-run double to (you guessed it, a former Rays farmhand) Dawson Dimon to put them in a 4-0 hole which wasn't helped by a Ricky Widmar error, his fifth in seven games (a lot for a 65 defender). They started chipping away in the 5th with a 2-run single from the red-hot Connor Kirkley, who at one point a few weeks ago was thisclose to losing his starting job to Dane Ayers. Widmar atoned for his error with a 2-run single in the 7th to tie it up. After Anglin left after a decent 6 7 4 3 1 8 outing, the bullpen was lights-out for the next four innings, collectively allowing 0 hits, only 2 walks, and striking out 8 Mariners. Evan Godwin, Daniel Espino, Jose Alvarado and Jasseel De La Cruz each had a solid inning of work and when Barker hit his walk-off homer, JDLC collected his 3rd win.

Game 3: The Rays were outhit 14-8 but it didn't matter as they won 10-4 over Seattle to make it 11 in a row. I'd point to Seattle walking 7 Rays batters but Rays pitchers walked 5 themselves as they simply made the most of their opportunities while the Mariners didn't. It was a 1-1 game through 5 and Shane McClanahan departed having thrown 94 pitches and gone 5 5 1 1 4 5 in a night that was a struggle for him but he got the big outs when needed. Jordan Diaz came on for the 6th and gave up a run to put the Mariners on top but the offense, which had been held to 5 2 1 1 3 6 by Jorge Remon who also had to leave with a high pitch count, teed off on Chris Clarke, who gave up 3 hits, 3 walks and all 6 of those baserunners scored thanks to a 2-run HR from Isaac DeLeon (#21) who made it 3-2, and a 3-run shot from Judson Fabian (#21). Jhon Diaz had an RBI infield single in between the homers. They tacked on 2 more in the 7th on a Carlos Perez single, and a dropped fly ball in the 8th brought them a 10th run. Diaz, who picked up his 4th win, stayed on in the 7th and put a man on with one out, and Romulo Canelon gave up consecutive doubles to score one of Diaz's runners and one of his own. Canelon settled down and pitched through the 8th, and Mike Mooney gave up 3 singles in the 9th but had 3 strikeouts to keep anyone from scoring. Joe Barker was 4-5 with 3 runs scored and a steal, Dayle Jenkins drew 3 walks, stole a base, scored 2 runs and threw a runner out at 3rd, and Connor Kirkley drew 2 walks including one with the bases loaded in the 2nd for the first run and was hit by a pitch to reach 3 times as well.

Team record: 85-33. Next up: The wild card-contending Blue Jays come to town for 3 on the weekend.