The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

We're 1/3 of the way into the Rays season (technically, one game over), so here's a look at the MLB standings and leaders for the first two months:



Lots of parity in the AL. You might think this has been a frustrating, disastrous season by Rays standards - yet they have the best record in the league (just barely of course). Of course that record is only 10 games better than the worst team, showing how compressed things are. No parity for the Pirates, though, at 16-40 and on a 15-game losing streak.

Here are the Rays team stats so far:



The offense is humming along just like it always has, despite the injuries (Bo Angeac has hit better than Bobby Witt Jr, although Connor Kirkley is still missed). Obviously the pitching numbers are off this year. Partially it's just that pitchers aren't pitching as well (although we're still #1 in pitcher WAR despite the starters being 10th in ERA), but it's also because the team BABIP against is horrendous, which is combination of bad luck and bad defense. Angeac for Witt might be a plus on the offensive side, but not on defense. I'd also point out Jaiden Hardaway is a mediocre 2B, but so is Connor Kirkley. We're also a little wilder and a little more homer-prone this year. And of course the bullpen, while better of late, is the main reason our Pythagorean record is 3 games better than our actual record (that 5-11 record in 1-run games, hoo boy). I still think this team is going to get going and have a big 2nd half but it's been a struggle to string more than a couple of wins together.

[Art Deco]

While we were playing in Minnesota it was draft time again, and here's what we got in the early rounds:

<table class="data" width="968px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td class="dl wrap">Drafted CF Jeremy McKenna in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 1, Pick 32, 32nd overall pick). </td></tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted CF Jimmy Burns in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 2, Pick 32, 68th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted C Mike Perrone in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 3, Pick 25, 96th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted SP Dan Grant in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 4, Pick 28, 124th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted 3B Tim Bachi in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 5, Pick 30, 155th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr> <td class="dl wrap"> Drafted SP Steve Beaver in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 6, Pick 30, 185th overall pick). </td> </tr><tr><td class="dl wrap"> Drafted SP Jerry Covington in the 2032 first-year player draft (Round 7, Pick 30, 215th overall pick).
</td></tr></tbody></table>
McKenna: An Iowa high-school CF with prodigious power potential, but questions remain about his contact ability. A familiar story at this spot in the draft.

Burns: Another high-school CF from South Florida who was a Florida Gators commit. More of a prototypical CF type, potential 60 contact, but 45 power, a great runner and a good defensive CF.

Perrone: Been a long time since we drafted a catcher this high, Perrone is another high-schooler (from Connecticut) who could be a big-time power hitter with the scouts playing up his batting eye.

Grant: A high-school righty from Pennsylvania, he throws in the mid-90s and Metzler sees him as a 4 or 5 starter.

Bachi: Yet another high-schooler (I really wasn't thinking about high school vs college per se but it turned out kind of ridiculous), he's expected to be a decent 3B defensively with power and patience potential.

Beaver: You guessed it, a high-school righty from Oklahoma who's more of a pitcher than thrower type, so who knows? Metzler thinks he has rotation potential.

Covington: Finally, a college player! The Vanderbilt product is projected as a reliever and made an impressive debut with High-A Port Charlotte the other night, pitching 3 hitless innings with three whiffs.

All in all, you can probably tell none of these picks really excited me but I'm sure a couple of them will be keepers.

[Art Deco]

Bo knows hitting:



June 7: Optioned P Eric Carter to AAA Durham, purchased the contract of P Bob Sirna from AAA Durham.

Sirna is a hard-throwing lefty we claimed on waivers a couple of weeks ago, then put back on waivers so we could send him to Durham. He has 75 stuff and 55 movement, but 30 control hence he was on waivers (that, and he's out of options). With Sanchez unavailable from starting yesterday for several days, I figured we needed another lefty in the pen.

Game 1: As mediocre as this team has been the last month one thing they really haven't done in a while is lose consecutive games, but now they have as they were thumped 6-1 by Arizona. Andy Aparicio wasn't terrible, but all the hits he gave up in 3 separate innings when Arizona scored twice were all bunched together, so he ended up 7 8 6 5 0 5 despite not allowing any homers. The 7 innings are the one good thing I can say about his outing since we didn't burn through the pen. Bob Sirna made his Rays debut in the 8th and would have given up a run but Nate Clark threw a runner out at the plate for the 3rd out. Cayden Wallace kept the offense in check except for a Rodolfo Rivas solo shot in the 4th (#12). Gonna single out Jasson Dominguez today, as he was 0-4 with 3 whiffs to mark his 3rd hitless day in the last 4 with 9 strikeouts over that time, he seems to be a one-man rally killer these days. His eye, which was always poor, has dropped to 25 and for the season he has a 2/55 BB/K ratio in 180 AB and he only has 0.7 WAR hitting .239. It's not like I don't have any other options (Omar Rodriguez, Alex Buitrago) but his 70 defense, 80 power and 65 contact have made him a star and it would be nice to see some of that start translating to the field again. The Yankees won again to push us back into second place, 1/2 game behind.

Game 2: This team is really circling the drain right now after a 3-0 loss to Arizona, their third straight. The complete inability of the offense to do anything is shocking as tonight they didn't even manage a hit until the 6th, and when they had an opportunity to get back into the game having loaded the bases in the 8th with nobody out, Ricky Widmar and Dayle Jenkins hit infield pops and Nate Clark whiffed. Jasson Dominguez put up another 0-4 with 3 strikeouts as he's headed to the bench for a day or two. Jon Hayes pitched well, but for the second straight day the infield made two errors both of which led to Arizona runs as Hayes ended 6 8 2 0 0 5. We're still giving up way too many hits but there's not much to do about that. Jon Whiteleather was terrible again in relief, giving up hits to 2 men to score a run in his 1/3 of an inning (the batter he retired was on a sac bunt) but Bob Sirna looked good again going the final 1 2/3 without incident. The Yankees meanwhile have become our opposite, winning again to push us back 1 1/2 in the division.

Game 3: Christian Little to the rescue as the one-time and once again this season Rays ace pitched 7 1-hit innings to lead the Rays to a 7-0 win over Arizona to salvage a game from the series and end a 3-game losing streak. Little was completely dominant, going 7 1 0 0 2 11 and improved to 6-2, 3.31. Nate Thompson pitched two one-hit innings to finish the combined 2-hit team shutout. For 3 innings against Arizona's ace, Jeremy Odle, it looked like more of the same toothless offense that saw them score one time in the previous two games. But D'Andre Hodges, getting the start over the slumping Jasson Dominguez, delivered an RBI single in the 4th to put the Rays on the board and Dane Ayers followed a couple of batters later with a 2-run single to make it 3-0. Ayers has been a clutch hitter this season; with his third RBI of the game later, he now has 24 RBI in 31 games and is hitting .324 in 111 at-bats. Jaiden Hardaway also had a big day, going 3-5 with a double and scoring twice while Hodges also doubled in another run and Bo Angeac continues to rake, going 2-5 with an RBI. The news was good all around as the Yankees lost so the Rays move back within 1/2 game of the division lead.

Team record: 33-25. Next up: An off-day then back home for the first time in almost two weeks to face Houston in a weekend series.

MLB News: Congrats to Angelo Romo, who hit his first MLB homer for San Diego, a 3-run shot in a win over Atlanta. Romo hasn't exactly been setting the bigs on fire since the trade to San Diego for Alexander Beltre (neither has Beltre to be fair) and is hitting .222 with that homer and 10 RBI in 54 AB so far, playing somewhat sporadically for San Diego.

Off-day Update: Mike Trout hit career HR #688 to help the Angels beat the Yankees, meaning we're in first place again, percentage points ahead of New York. Also we made a minor trade:



Martin wouldn't go back to Durham, he cleared waivers, but nevertheless Arizona was willing trade us Steveson, who throws 98-100 but is coming off a minor arm injury. He's a groundballer with 60 stuff/movement but 35 control (45 potential). A lottery ticket of sorts but better than just flat-out releasing Martin.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The bullpen blew it again as Jose Alvarado and Jordan Diaz combined to allow 2 runs and 4 hits in the 9th for Houston to tie it up at 3, but Jaiden Hardaway completed his big day with an RBI single in the 11th to give the Rays a 4-3 win over Houston. Alec Sachais started and looked about as good as he ever has over his five seasons with the Rays, striking out 13 Astros in 6 2/3 innings while only allowing a run on four hits. Alexander Beltre got him out of the 7th and got the first two in the 8th, with Tim Siqueiros getting the final out of the 8th and the first of the 9th, leaving with two lefties due. Enter Alvarado who was flat-out terrible, giving up 3 hits and a run while only getting one out, and then with a righty due Jordan Diaz came on and gave up the game-tying single. Diaz pitched through the 10th and Nate Thompson struck out the side in the 11th, eventually getting his first win of the season. That was because Hardaway singled in Victor de Jesus, who had singled and stole second. Hardaway earlier hit a solo homer in the 3rd (#5) and singled in what appeared to be an insurance run in the 8th to put them up 3-1. Nate Clark drove in the other run with a sac fly, but it would be nice if he starting doing more than hitting homers here and there as his average is down to .229 after an 0-fer. The Yankees lost tonight so the Rays are back up a full game in the AL East, 2 ahead in the loss column. One bit of bad news, though: Ricky Widmar had to leave the game with knee tendinitis. It's "minimal" but for 1-2 weeks so I'm considering the IL for him again.

Game 2: The bullpen made it interesting in the 8th before Victor de Jesus's grand slam broke it open in a 10-4 win over Houston, the team's third straight victory (and Houston's 8th straight defeat). Andy Aparicio started and struggled early, allowing 2 runs in the first 3 innings (including 3 hits to start the game one of which was erased by Jasson Dominguez's OF assist) but got into a groove after that and finished 7 4 2 2 3 6 to win his 7th of the season, tied for tops in the AL. When he left it was 6-2 Rays, but things got a little too interesting in the 8th. Bob Sirna came in with a couple of lefties due but gave up a pair of singles, and Tim Siqueiros got a grounder that advanced the runners, then gave up a double to score them both and it was nervous time again at 6-4. But with 2 out in the 8th, de Jesus came through with HR #15 to clear the bases and allow the Rays and their fans to exhale. David Sanchez got the 9th and only allowed a single. The offense was led by Dominguez, who scored three runs, hit his 12th HR, had a sac fly and most incredibly, walked twice (and was hit by a pitch). He had come into the game with only 3 bases on balls all season. Also impressive was Francisco Alvarez in his first game at Publix Park, who went 3-4 with a 2-run homer in the 4th, his first as a Ray and 10th of the season. Jaiden Hardaway and Nate Clark also drove in runs. And the Yankees fell again so the division lead is up to 2.

Game 3: The Rays had their way again and swept a 3-game series for the first time since mid-April with a 10-3 win over Houston. Dane Ayers keeps hitting regardless of who he's filling in for, and today it was Ricky Widmar on the bench with his knee tendinitis. Ayers drilled a 2-run double in the 2nd to put the Rays ahead to stay, the first hit of a 3-4 day that saw his average rise to .347. Dayle Jenkins added a sac fly to make it 3-1 and then they broke it open in the 5th. First, Victor de Jesus led off with HR #16 as part of his 3-hit day, and later in the inning Bo Angeac extended his hitting streak to 13 games in emphatic fashion with a grand slam (#7) and they never looked back. Rodolfo Rivas had a 2-run HR in the 6th (#13) for the final two runs. Jon Hayes started and was outstanding before running out of gas near the end; his 6.2 8 3 3 0 8 line includes hits yielded to the final three batters he faced with 2 out in the 7th, leading to the third run. He evened his record at 6-6, 4.46, numbers that look pedestrian until you realize he's projected for a 6.0 WAR season. Bob Sirna took over and was electric, showing off his 75 stuff by retiring the final 7 Astros with 5 of them on strikes. The Yankees stopped their bleeding with a win to stay 2 back.

Team record: 36-25. Next up: An off-day, then Seattle comes to Publix Park for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays finally seem to be on a roll now, winning their 5th straight in convincing 7-1 fashion over Seattle at Publix Park. Christian Little is having another Cy Young-caliber season in his contract year as today he went 7.1 6 1 1 1 12 to improve to 7-2, 3.12 to shackle the Mariners. Alexander Beltre got a couple of outs in the 8th after Little put two men on and left, while David Sanchez looked impressive in relief whiffing a pair in a 1-2-3 9th. The offense took a while to get going, not getting a baserunner until the 4th, but once it did it didn't stop. Dayle Jenkins broke the ice with a double and scored on Nate Clark's single to tie the game at 1. Then in the 6th Rodolfo Rivas doubled home Dane Ayers to give them the lead for good and the game was broken open in the 7th on a 2-run Francisco Alvarez single and a 3-run blast from Jenkins (#6) to cap a 3-hit day for him. The Yankees continue to struggle, losing in Coors Field which means the division lead has grown to 3.

Game 2: Make it 6 straight with another win today over Seattle 7-2. The Rays blasted four homers in the victory, none bigger than Victor de Jesus's 3-run shot (#17) in the 2nd inning. After they got another run in the inning on a wild pitch Jasson Dominguez (#13) homered in the 3rd, and after Seattle got within 5-2 and started threatening, Dane Ayers (#3) and Dayle Jenkins (#7) went back-to-back in the 7th. Alec Sachais started and was in command through 5 before giving up a run in the 6th and then a hard-hit triple to lead off the 7th with the game at 5-2. But Tim Siqueiros snuffed out that threat with three consecutive strikeouts, and after they made it 7-2 in the bottom of the inning, Bob Sirna came on and did his thing again, 2 perfect innings with 4 whiffs to end the game. Sirna now has 11 whiffs in 7 1/3 innings as a Ray and is looking to be a real weapon. Sachais goes to 7-1, 3.67 as he joins Christian Little and Andy Aparicio for the team and AL lead in wins (with others as well). The Yankees lost yet again and the lead is up to 4 games.

June 17: Optioned P David Sanchez to AAA Durham, activated P Jon Soranno from the 15-day IL.

Game 3: It's sad to see Jose Alvarado as not the dominant reliever he's been since this save started in 2020, the constant throughout all these years. But that's the nature of sports and aging and while the lefty is still a useful arm, he's probably not the best option in high-leverage situations any longer and today he gave up a 2-run homer in the 10th to allow Seattle to take a 2-0 win over the Rays, snapping their 6-game winning streak. It was a great duel between Jon Soranno, just off the IL, and Seattle's Kannon Handy and neither blinked before being relieved. Soranno might have pitched his best game of the year even if it was in vain, going 7.2 3 0 0 1 8. Alex Beltre got him out of the 8th and Jordan Diaz pitched around a leadoff single in the 9th. With a string of lefties due, Alvarado came on for the 10th, gave up a leadoff single then a homer to lefty-hitting Michael Siani. He also allowed another hit before erasing the runner on a strike 'em out-throw 'em out double play to end the inning. Meanwhile the offense, which had scored 45 runs in the 6-game win streak, drew a complete blank today and only managed 6 hits through 10 innings. Half of them came from Jaiden Hardaway and two of the other three from Nate Clark. The Yankees won in Minnesota so the lead is down to 3.

Team record: 38-26. Next up: The San Francisco Giants come to town with old friend Spencer Torkelson and one-time Rays phenom SS Jose Gonzales, part of the deal which brought Jaiden Hardaway here.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays jumped all over Giants starter Tony Cardoso for 7 runs and 8 hits in the first 2 innings and Andy Aparicio continued to round into dominant form in a 10-1 shellacking of San Francisco. Dayle Jenkins was the man once again on offense, homering for the 3rd time in 4 games (#8) with Dane Ayers (who had another 3-hit game) aboard in the 1st and drilling a 2-run double in the 5th. He was 3-4 with the homer and 4 RBI, and has taken over the AL WAR lead with 2.9 thanks to a 324/393/555 line and his 70 defense in RF. The other big hit of the game came in the 2nd when Nate Clark blasted a grand slam off Cardoso (#18). Jasson Dominguez hit HR #14 in the 4th and Jaiden Hardaway had an RBI single against his old organization as well. Aparicio meanwhile was mowing 'em down, going 7 4 1 1 1 12 to pick up his AL-best 8th win of the season and lowering his ERA to 4.12. Danny Medina, who hadn't pitched in ages, went the final 2 innings with 4 whiffs. The lone run against Aparicio came off the bat of old friend Mike Lammers, who hit a solo homer in the 7th. Lammers was waived by Colorado last year after he went there in the Eloy Jimenez trade and was picked up by the Giants, where he's bounced back and forth from AAA.

Game 2: It was a low-scoring affair as expected with Jon Hayes on the mound for the Rays and one of the NL's top pitchers in Pat Brownell for the Giants but the Rays did enough to prevail 3-2, their 8th win in 9 games. Hayes left with a 2-1 lead after going 6 4 1 1 3 6 and lowering his ERA to 4.25, but Tim Siqueiros blew it for him in the 7th on another homer from Mike Lammers who seems determined to torment his ex-mates. Siqueiros put a couple more on with two out and left for Alexander Beltre, who whiffed pinch-hitter Ronny Mauricio to get out of the inning and then impressively set down three righties 1-2-3 in the 8th, getting the win in his best outing as a Ray. Jordan Diaz finished with a 1-2-3 9th for save #7 as it looks like he may be over his early-season malaise. Brownell wasn't easy to score against, but Nate Clark did manage a wind-aided HR in the 1st which just barely cleared the fence in left, his AL-leading 19th. They scratched out another run against Brownell in the 5th when Victor de Jesus singled, was doubled to 3rd by Bo Angeac, and brought home on a sac fly from Francisco Alvarez. de Jesus and Angeac teamed up for the game-winner in the 7th when the former doubled and was singled home by the latter. The Yankees have found their groove again in Minnesota, so the lead remains 3 games.

Game 3: I'm running out of superlatives for the run Christian Little's been on, so I'll let his numbers today speak for themselves: 8 3 1 1 0 15 in a 9-2 win over San Francisco at Publix Park. Little did not allow a hit until the 6th inning and didn't allow a run until Jose Gonzales doubled to lead off the 8th and scored after two ground balls. With the win he goes to 8-2, 2.94 and an MLB-leading 4.3 pitcher WAR in mid-June. He had some rough outings earlier in the season but over his last 5 starts his combined line is 34.1 20 4 4 7 58. That's a 1.05 ERA and 15.2 K/9 in that span with wins in each of those 5 games. Bob Sirna struck out 3 in the 9th but gave up a Spencer Torkelson homer. On offense the big star was Victor de Jesus, having an MVP-type season and who had a 2-run single in the 3rd and a 2-run homer (#18) in the 5th to account for four of the first five Rays runs as part of a 4-4, 4 RBI day. He leads MLB in OPS and has a 305/383/619 line. Also having an MVP-type year is Dayle Jenkins, who homered yet again and singled in a run, giving him 9 for the season and 4 in his last 6 games. He's at 332/405/569 himself and is right behind de Jesus for #2 in OPS in MLB (and thanks to his defense, 1st in WAR among position players at 3.2). D'Andre Hodges was also 2-3 with 2 RBI today. The Yankees completed the sweep in Minnesota to stay 3 back.

Team record: 41-26. Next up: We hit the road starting with 3 in Cleveland.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays took a hard-fought 3-2 win over Cleveland thanks to solid pitching and the bat of Jasson Dominguez. Alec Sachais went 7 4 2 2 1 6 to improve to 8-1, 3.58 with his only blemish a 2-run homer from former Rays farmhand Jordan Evangelista, who is now tied with Nate Clark for the AL HR lead at 19. In fact it looked like the trade which sent Evangelista to Cleveland 5 years ago would haunt them tonight as another of the players shipped in the deal for Daniel Espino, Jimmy West, was keeping the Rays in check through 6, allowing only a 2-run Bo Angeac single in the 2nd. But Dominguez came through with HR #15 to break the deadlock in the 7th as part of his 3-hit day. Jordan Diaz pitched the 8th and with lefties due in the 9th Alexander Beltre got his first Rays save as he seems to be over the slump he was in when acquired from San Diego. Ricky Widmar returned to the lineup for the first time in 8 days and was 0-4. The Yankees were off so the lead grows to 3 1/2.

Game 2: Apparently this was too good of a team to flounder around a few games over .500 as the Rays continue to put their recent struggles in the rear-view mirror with their 10th win in 11 games, a 10-2 thrashing of Cleveland. Things were looking a lot like last night's tight, low-scoring affair as the game was 1-1 through 5 innings. But they loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 6th for Ricky Widmar, who drilled a double down the LF line to clear them, and Dayle Jenkins continued on his home run tear with a 2-run shot (#10) and within 2 batters a 1-1 game became a 6-1 game. They tacked on four more in the 8th on RBI singles from Jaiden Hardaway and Dane Ayers before Jenkins added a 2-run double. Jon Soranno got the start and was excellent again, going 6.2 7 2 2 0 4 and improving to 5-2, 3.13. Jose Alvarado took over for him getting the final out of the 7th and pitched so efficiently in the 8th he ended up finishing the game in an unusually lengthy 2 1/3-inning outing for him. The Yankees lost at home to Colorado (with old friend Caleb Picciotti driving in a pair), so the lead is now 4 1/2 games.

Game 3: The Rays picked up where they left off last night, hammering Cleveland and old friend Evan Godwin 11-0 behind a 5-hit shutout from Andy Aparicio. The game was 8-0 by the 4th inning and Aparicio was pitching from his rocking chair the rest of the night, going 9 5 0 0 0 4, getting a lot of weak contact and going to 9-3, 3.93. The shutout was his first of the season after twirling 3 in his magical Cy Young/MVP season last year. Meanwhile Godwin, a Ray for the previous 7 seasons pitching middle relief, got his second start of the year against the Rays. He had to leave the first one after two batters when he tweaked his back, and he probably wishes he tweaked it again in the 1st inning tonight as the Rays jumped all over him. Rodolfo Rivas' solo HR (#14) in the 2nd and a Jaiden Hardaway RBI groundout in the 3rd made it 2-0, and then the watershed broke in the 4th. D'Andre Hodges and Xavier Edwards delivered RBI singles before Ricky Widmar hit a grand slam to make it 8-0. Later on they added a 2-run HR from Hodges (#3) and a second from Widmar (#7) for the other 3 runs. It was impressive that they put 11 runs on the board considering their entire starting OF of Nate Clark, Jasson Dominguez and Dayle Jenkins needed to sit with fatigue. In addition to Hodges' homer and 3 RBI, Edwards was 2-3 with a walk, RBI and steal. The division lead stays 4 1/2 with the Yankees winning today.

Team record: 44-26. Next up: An off-day then the road trip continues in Baltimore for four this weekend, including a Saturday doubleheader.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Last time the Rays came into Baltimore in mid-April they were in the throes of an offensive slump, losing a pair of 2-1 games. Today they came in winners of 12 of 13 while scoring almost at will and continued on their run with a 7-2 win at Oriole Park. Three swings of the bat brought home all 7 runs, with Victor de Jesus hitting HR #19 with a man on in the 4th and tying Nate Clark for the team lead, Rodolfo Rivas clearing the bases with a 3-run double in the 5th, and Dayle Jenkins homering with a runner aboard and for the 6th time in 9 games with #11 in the 7th. Jon Hayes was outstanding on the mound, going 6.1 6 1 1 1 9 to get on the winning side of the ledger at 7-6, 4.05 as all the Rays starters seem to be bringing their ERAs down from their high numbers of the early season. Nate Thompson pitched for the first time in 13 days with 1 2/3 scoreless, and after Bob Sirna failed to retire anyone in the 9th, Jon Whiteleather made his first appearance since June 8 and had a scoreless inning. The Yankees lost tonight, so the lead grows to a season-high 5 1/2 games.

Game 2: The Rays rode another dominant Christian Little start and some timely late hitting to take a 4-1 win over Baltimore in the first game of their doubleheader, their 14th win in 15 games. Little went 6 4 1 1 0 11 with a Gunnar Henderson homer keeping him from getting the win as the game went 1-1 into the 8th after Dayle Jenkins had singled in a run for the Rays. Nate Clark hit HR #20 with Jenkins aboard in the 8th off Steve Givens to make it 3-1, and Bo Angeac added #8 in the 9th for the final run. Nate Thompson picked up his 2nd win of the year by pitching the 7th, and Alexander Beltre held the fort in the 8th for Jordan Diaz to get save #8 pitching the 9th.

June 26: Recalled P David Sanchez from AAA Durham.

Sanchez is the 26th man for the doubleheader and will start Game 2

Game 3 (Game 2 of doubleheader): Nate Clark hit a 2-run homer in the first inning and David Sanchez, in his spot start, retired the Orioles in the 1st inning. And had the game stopped there it would have been great for the Rays. Alas, Sanchez was lit up like a Christmas tree in the 2nd inning for 7 runs (we tried getting him through it with 4 already in and 2 out but he gave up a 3-run homer), and the Rays lost the nightcap to Baltimore 11-2. Sanchez gave up a leadoff double in the 3rd and I had seen enough, going with Danny Medina, who gave up a couple of groundouts to score that runner so Sanchez was charged with 8 runs in 2 innings. Medina later gave up 3 runs of his own in the 5th on a bases-clearing double from Druw Jones but gave us 4 innings. Speaking of giving us innings, Rodolfo Rivas, who got the 2nd game off at 1B, came in and pitched 2 scoreless innings. For those who maybe forgot, Rivas has legit pitching ability but unlike last year when he was a part-timer and therefore available out of the bullpen more, this season he's been the everyday first baseman so this was a rare chance for him to pitch. Clark ended up with 3 of the team's 5 hits on the game, as this will probably be the last we see of David Sanchez for a long while (at least as a starter). The Yankees won to pull within 5 games as with the doubleheader, we've finally played the same number of games as New York.

Game 4: Just when it appeared the Rays had put their early-season bullpen meltdowns behind them they managed to blow an 8-3 lead with one out and nobody on in the bottom of the 9th at Camden Yards. Luckily for them today Bo Angeac hit his 2nd homer of the game in the top of the 10th to give them a 10-8 win, but it showed they still can't count on the pen. They had built that 8-3 lead on the longball and one not-quite-as-long ball on blasts from Nate Clark (#22, his 3rd straight game with a homer), Angeac, Dayle Jenkins (#12), Luis Corpus (#7) and an inside-the-park 2-run homer from Ricky Widmar (#8). This backed a solid if not spectacular outing from Alec Sachais (6.2 8 3 3 0 4 with 2 HR allowed) and Jose Alvarado pitched well, getting the final out of the 7th, a 1-2-3 8th and the first man in the 9th. With the 5-run lead, Jon Whiteleather was entrusted with getting the final two outs; instead, he didn't retire anyone, giving up 2 hits and hitting a man. This brought on Jordan Diaz, and he was just as bad, walking a pair and giving up a 2-run double to tie the game, leaving with men on 2nd and 3rd. Alexander Beltre got the final out albeit on a diving liner caught by Jaiden Hardaway to at least force it to extras, and Angeac's 10th of the year and 2nd of the game with a man aboard restored the lead. Beltre then got the O's in the 10th to hang on to his 2nd win of the season. The Yankees won so the lead remains 5.

Team record: 47-27. Next up: Back home vs Boston for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Dayle Jenkins continued to make his case for MVP with 3 doubles and 3 RBI today in an 8-3 win over Boston. The Rays RF, leading AL hitters with both 3.8 WAR and a cool 1.000 OPS came through with a 2-run double in the 5th after Rodolfo Rivas had put the Rays ahead with a 2-run HR (#15) in the 4th, and later knocked in an insurance run with his 3rd double. The other member of their RBI triumvirate today was Bo Angeac, who had a sac fly in the 5th and a 2-run homer in the 8th, his 11th and third in two days. Jon Soranno started for the Rays and wasn't particularly sharp, but managed to gut his way through 6 allowing only 1 run before walking a man and giving up a triple to start the 7th, finishing 6 5 3 3 5 2. Tim Siqueiros got through the 7th, and Jose Alvarado pitched the final two innings scoreless to nab his 6th save. The Yankees fell at home to Texas so the lead has grown to 6 games.

Update: Alexander Beltre was diagnosed with gout, of all things, and will be out 4 days.

Update #2: Our game on the 29th was rained out. This is the first rainout in the game in 3 seasons at Publix Park which of course is highly unrealistic given the summer thunderstorm season in Florida and PP being an open-air park. But it finally happened, so doubleheader tomorrow. We'll go with Aparicio and Hayes and then probably just have Danny Medina start in 5 days.

Game 2: The Rays ending up pounding Boston 9-2 in the first game of their doubleheader, but it was a 2-2 game into the 7th before the Rays scored 7 times with 2 out in the inning. They had loaded the bases with nobody out but looked like they might squander the opportunity when Jaiden Hardaway hit into a force at the plate and Bo Angeac struck out. But Luis Corpus delivered a 2-run single, Ricky Widmar singled in a run, and after Dayle Jenkins walked, Nate Clark stepped up and drilled a grand slam (#23) into the LF seats and 2-2 was 9-2. That was more than enough for Andy Aparicio, who pitched a complete game 3-hitter, going 9 3 2 2 1 11 on 122 pitches and giving the bullpen a rest with another game to play today. AA becomes the first in MLB to 10 wins and lowered his ERA to 3.68. The Rays had scored earlier on a Hardaway homer (#6) and Jenkins' RBI single.

Game 3 (Game 2 of doubleheader): The nightcap followed an similar script to Game 1, tied at 3 in the middle innings before the Rays broke it open and won 14-5, sweeping the 3-game series by an aggregate score of 32-10. D'Andre Hodges was the star today as his 2-run homer in the 5th made a 4-3 game 6-3, and he ended up homering again in the 8th to give him 5 on the season, reached based all 5 times to the plate with 2 walks and an HBP, and scored all 5 times he was on base to tie the team record for runs scored in a game. Of course in a 14-run outburst there were plenty of other offensive heroes as well with Rodolfo Rivas 3-4 with a HR and 4 RBI, Jayden Hardaway was 3-4 with an RBI and Francisco Alvarez knocked in 3. And although he didn't score a run or drive one in, special mention to Xavier Edwards. All he does is get on base in his infrequent appearances for the Rays. He's had 30 plate appearances with a .600 OBP, drawing 9 walks, one HBP and getting 8 hits in 20 AB. Hodges too deserves another shout-out, after his 2-HR performance today he's 288/373/593 in his 59 AB. Jon Hayes started today and wasn't his best, but good enough for the win at 5 8 3 3 1 6 to go to 8-6, 4.13. Nate Thompson was dominant with 5 whiffs in 2 scoreless innings and sports an 0.29 ERA on the season with one ER in 31.1 innings. Bob Sirna had a 1-2-3 2K 8th and an 11-run lead was Jon Whiteleather-proof but even at that he gave up 2 runs in the 9th as his ERA now sits at 7.45 and in his last 5 appearances he's allowed 8 runs in 2 2/3 innings. He's out of options so it's either keep, trade, or dump. He has 70 stuff and 50 movement & control so he looks great on paper but for whatever reason isn't getting it done.

Team record: 50-27. Next up: 4 at home vs Detroit as they return to Publix Park for the first time since shocking Andy Aparicio and the Rays in Game 5 of last year's ALDS.

[Art Deco]

Usually, I insert these into the game recap posts, but there were so many of them up and down the organization for the month of June that they're getting their own post.

First we'll start with the big club's clean sweep of the three monthly awards as befitted a 22-6 June:





Now for the farm:



We definitely have a Mike Harms problem. He also won this award for May and as you can see he's clearly overqualified for AAA but there's no room for him in the lineup with Rodolfo Rivas entrenched at 1B. With Christian Little and Jon Hayes becoming free agents at year's end there will be a couple of holes to fill in the rotation. Right now the idea is to fill them internally with some combination of Nate Thompson, Danny Medina and Gil Wayne (doing great at Durham when healthy). But I might also deal some of the hitting glut as Omar Rodriguez is also in the same boat as Harms, more than ready for MLB, for a proven MLB starter. One other option is this guy:



Lovetere is an interesting case. He has 40 stuff right now (although his potential is 50-55) but he has 55 control and movement and manages to get it done without striking out a lot of people (77 in 163 IP at AA last year, 50 in 99 IP at Durham this year), but right now I'd imagine he'd get eaten alive in MLB. Still BNN likes him (#93 overall prospect) so he's either depth or trade bait.

One step down is this guy:



Boesel's been in the top 100 prospects although right now he's #106. An athletic OF with 30-HR power right now, he'd already be up on a second-division team but right now he's looking at Durham next year. He was acquired along with Marc Wagner in the ill-fated Blake Money/Jhon Diaz deal with Oakland.

We also had a couple of other Players of the Month who aren't hot prospects (P Mel Vallone at AA Montgomery, 1B/OF Jorge Herrera at Class-A Bowling Green) as our minor league clubs below Durham are doing much better than usual this year (Bowling Green is an outstanding 54-23 for example).

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It's not going to bring back their 2031 playoff hopes but tonight's hard-fought 4-3 walk-off win over Detroit brought satisfaction to the Rays and their fans. The Rays lost a 3-1 lead in the 7th but Jaiden Hardaway had an infield single to lead off the bottom of the 9th, stole second, and scored on Luis Corpus' single to CF. The run made a winner of Jordan Diaz for the first time this year and he looked much better than he did last time out in Baltimore, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 9th. The Rays built that 3-1 lead off Detroit ace Kumar Rocker thanks to solo homers from Nate Clark (an AL-best #24) and Jasson Dominguez (#16) along with an RBI double from Bo Angeac against his old organization. Lately this has been enough run support for Christian Little, who mowed through the Tigers during the first 5 innings but ran into trouble in the 6th, walking the bases loaded and giving up a run on an infield hit for the first Detroit run. He then gave up a single and double to start the 7th, and Tim Siqueiros nearly got him out of it but gave up a 2-run single to Sam Huff to tie it. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless 8th, and the Rays have now won 19 of their last 21 games.

Game 2: Alec Sachais pitched the team's second complete-game shutout in four games as he and the Rays blanked Detroit 3-0. Sachais was in command most of the way and kept his pitch count reasonable to go 9 7 0 0 1 12 on 108 pitches. He did put two men on in the 9th but we kept the faith in him and he got Daz Cameron to fly out to end the game, improving to 9-1, 3.30. Sachais was aided in the early innings by Jasson Dominguez and Dayle Jenkins throwing out runners at the plate, and Jenkins also supported him with the bat by homering yet again (#13) in the 3rd to break the stalemate. Bo Angeac blasted his 4th homer in 5 games in the 7th (#12) to give Sachais some breathing room as the team only managed 6 hits for the night. The Yankees lost in San Diego so the lead is now a healthy 7 games.

Game 3: Detroit jumped all over Jon Soranno for 5 runs in the first 4 innings, but it didn't matter as the Rays clubbed the Tigers 15-7 to make it 7 wins in a row and 21 of their last 23. Soranno made it through the 5th and picked up a fortunate win to go 7-2 with his ERA up to 3.55. The Rays had multi-HR games from two players: Jasson Dominguez hit #s 17 and 18, driving in 4 and Jaiden Hardway hit #s 7 and 8, driving in 5. Victor de Jesus added a grand slam (#20) in the 8th as those three drove in 13 of the 15 runs on the day. Nate Thompson went a couple of innings allowing a run in relief, Tim Siqueiros had one scoreless and Bob Sirna gave up a run in the 9th pitching with the big lead. Dayle Jenkins was 3-4 and is now hitting .343.

Game 4: Holy crap, Danny Medina! Making a spot start because of the doubleheader earlier in the week, the rookie righty dominated the Tigers to the tune of a complete-game, 3-hit shutout in a 6-0 Rays win, walking one and striking out 10 on 105 pitches. He nearly had a Maddux at 92 pitches with one out in the 9th but ended up throwing a few extra to strike out the final two batters. I mentioned him a few days back as an option for the rotation next season and to the extent today was an audition I'd say he passed it. Meanwhile Victor de Jesus continues on a tear, homering twice today to bookend the scoring as he went deep for a solo shot in the 2nd to put the Rays on the board and then hit a 2-run job (#22) in the 5th to conclude it. In between they scored 3 times in the 4th including an RBI double from Francisco Alvarez and an RBI single from Dane Ayers. The news wasn't all good, though, as Alvarez fractured a finger sliding into 2nd on his double and will be out 6-7 weeks. Expect to see Will Quintana finally make his long-awaited MLB debut as Luis Corpus's backup very soon.

Team record: 54-27. Next up: The Angels come to town for 4 games, but as this marks the halfway point of the year the next post will be the midseason report card.

[Art Deco]

Here we are, halfway through yet another season. The standings and leaders:



Rays team stats:



Quite a turnaround from when we last posted these in the column on the far right. Our pitching numbers are vastly improved and even the zone rating is semi-respectable now. BABIP/DE remain poor but that's something that's always been an issue, maybe in how I play the game. Oh, and our baserunning isn't so hot as we seem to be getting all kinds of runners thrown out on the bases or attempting steals this year for some reason.

Team hitting stats:



Team pitching stats:



In lieu of position-by-position report card with grades, I'll go with categories.

Needs improvement: Short relief, where Jordan Diaz has been wildly inconsistent, Jose Alvarado doesn't have the stuff he used to, Jon Whiteleather's been horrible, and Tim Siqueiros, while striking out people, has had a knack for giving up big hits. Also needing improvement: Jasson Dominguez, who's striking out too much and not hitting for average although his power has come around. Nate Clark is hitting tons of homers but not much else, reflected in his BA and his WAR.

Top of the class: Dayle Jenkins is having an MVP-caliber season, and Christian Little looks like the AL Cy Young frontrunner.

Best newcomers: Jaiden Hardaway got off to a mediocre start (as did the team), but in June he hit 350/437/476. And Bo Angeac has exceeded expectations at 3B. When Connor Kirkley and Bobby Witt Jr come back later this month, we're going to have some tough lineup and roster decisions to make. Xavier Edwards will go when Kirkley is back, but I really don't want to send Angeac back down.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: After such a dominant run of 22 wins in 24 games the Rays were due for a stinker, and tonight was just that even though the final scoreline of a 4-2 loss to the Angels didn't look that awful. The bad baseball came in the early innings, especially the 2nd when LA scored all 4 of its runs. Andy Aparicio was kind of all over the place, and thanks to 3 Rays errors behind him plus a strikeout which reached on a wild pitch, it took him 111 pitches just to get through 4 innings. His final line was 4 4 4 1 2 6 with a Ricky Widmar error in the 2nd looming large but it was mostly his doing. With normal long reliever Danny Medina having pitched yesterday, Jon Whiteleather got the call down 4-0 and amazingly turned in his best MLB performance going 4 2 0 0 1 7, before Bob Sirna pitched a scoreless 9th. Normally Whiteleather's heroics would have bought time for the offense to do its thing, but they didn't show up today either, only managing 4 hits in total off 37-year-old opener Victor Arano and 38-year-old follower* Alex Young through 8 innings. Jasson Dominguez's 19th HR of the season in the 7th was the only damage. They did make it interesting in the 9th, all with 2 out. Dominguez tripled and scored on a wild pitch, and then Angel closer Danny De Jesus walked Victor de Jesus and Jaiden Hardaway. But Bo Angeac grounded out and that was that.

*This Angels team might be the oldest I've seen in years. In addition to those two pitchers, they have Mike Trout (40), Mookie Betts (39), Francisco Lindor (38), Andrew Benintendi (37) and Jake Rogers (37).

Game 2: The Rays' season-long bullpen bugaboo came back to bite them today in a 5-4 loss to the Angels. It was Alexander Beltre, who hadn't pitched in over a week due to a bout of gout, who was the culprit today, giving up two doubles and a triple in the 8th allowing LA to plate 2 runs to come back and take the game. Jon Hayes started and pitched well through 6, with the Rays staking him to a 4-2 lead. At 97 pitches I shouldn't have brought him out for the 7th, but with a lefty due I left him in and he gave up a triple to lead off the inning which Tim Siqueiros allowed to score. Siquerios got the first out in the 8th and then Beltre came in and blew the game. Nate Thompson had a 1-2-3 9th. The offense was sluggish again today, doing nothing through 5 before erupting for 4 in the 6th. They erased a 2-0 deficit three batters into the 6th when Ricky Widmar homered (#9), Dayle Jenkins doubled, and Nate Clark homered (#25). They continued to rally with Luis Corpus singling in a run but not two as Jasson Dominguez was thrown out at home, another negative trend from this season. They looked like they might have a chance in the 9th when Bo Angeac walked to lead off the inning, but Dane Ayers grounded into a double play to end any comeback hopes. The Yankees have lost the last two days as well, meaning the 7-game division lead remains intact.

Game 3: The Rays snapped their mini 2-game losing streak with a 5-1 win behind a 4-run 1st and another overpowering outing from Christian Little. Little struck out 10 Angels in the first 4 innings on his way to a 6 4 0 0 1 14 effort, more than good enough to go to 9-2, 2.78 with another Cy Young in his sights. Tim Siqueiros lost the shutout when he gave up a Francisco Lindor homer in the 7th, but Alexander Beltre bounced back today with 1 1/3 scoreless, whiffing 3. Nate Thompson finished in the 9th as Rays pitchers combined for 20 strikeouts, possibly a team record for a 9-inning game. Their four-run rally in the 1st came courtesy of a Rodolfo Rivas RBI single and another Victor de Jesus homer, a 3-run blast which was his 23rd, equaling his total from all of last season. Nate Clark added an RBI single in the 8th. Will Quintana got the start in his MLB debut and while he went 0-4 at the plate with a GIDP he obviously called an excellent game behind the plate. Another Yankee loss makes the division lead 8 as that is becoming less and less an area of concern.

Game 4: The Rays took a split of the series with the Angels thanks a hard-fought 3-1 win. Both teams had lots of chances to score, but had issues with RISP until the Rays finally broke through for a pair in the 7th to nab the win. Alec Sachais started and pitched pretty well, giving up an Andrew Benintendi homer in the 1st inning and settling in from there before leaving with men on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out in the 7th. He finished 6.2 6 1 1 2 8 to lower his ERA to 3.18, and Jose Alvarado came in and whiffed pinch-hitter Mookie Betts to get out of that jam. Alvarado then proceeded to get LA 1-2-3 in the 8th with a pair of strikeouts in the best he's looked this season since he's lost a little of his stuff. Thanks to the runs in the bottom of the 7th, he picked up his 2nd win while Jordan Diaz made it interesting in the 9th. After striking out the first two batters Diaz gave up a walk and a single to bring pinch-hitter Mike Trout up with the game on the line. Diaz struck him out for save #9. The hitters meanwhile had no trouble getting on base, but they just couldn't get the runners home with their first run scoring on a GIDP. Finally in the 7th Jaiden Hardaway led off with a single and stole second. After the next two batters struck out it looked like "here we go again" but Ricky Widmar delivered a triple to score him and Dane Ayers followed with a double to bring Widmar home.

Team record: 56-29. Next up: We head to Fenway for 3 before the All-Star break.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was quite the pitchers' duel between Boston's Victor Romero and Jon Soranno today with Romero no-hitting the Rays until Bo Angeac singled in the 6th and the game scoreless through 7. But the Rays got Romero to blink first in the 8th. Jaiden Hardaway led off with a double, Angeac was intentionally walked, and then Luis Corpus was unintentionally walked to load the bases. After Ricky Widmar hit into a force at the plate, Morton walked Dayle Jenkins to force in a run. Former Ray Shane Baz came in and Nate Clark dunked a 2-run single to center to give the Rays a 3-0 lead which turned out to be the final score. Soranno pitched 8 1/3 before Jose Alvarado got the final two outs for save #7 and was 8.1 4 0 0 1 6 on 100 pitches to go to 8-2, 3.25 and 15-3 since joining the Rays rotation last year.

July 10: Sent 2B Connor Kirkley to AAA Durham on a rehab assignment.

The first of our long-term injured is back, but we'll kick the can down the road at least a week or two and have Kirkley rehab at Durham. He'll go back into the lineup when he's activated.

Game 2: The Rays outscored a mediocre start from Andy Aparicio in an 8-4 win at Fenway. AA struggled for the second straight start with extremely high pitch counts, today going 5 8 3 3 3 7 on 107 pitches after throwing 111 in 4 last time out. This time it was good enough for the win, though, to go to 11-4, 3.71. That's because the offense picked it up today. Dane Ayers had another big game off the bench, going 3-4 with a 2-run double in the 2nd to put them in front for good, and Jasson Dominguez, Nate Clark and Rodolfo Rivas each drove in a pair as well. It was all hands on deck with the bullpen as Tim Siqueiros gave up yet another longball in the 6th to pull Boston within 6-4 (that's 6 HR in 28 IP, a lot for a guy with either 55 or 60 movement depending on the scout). Bob Sirna had to get him out of that inning, and Nate Thompson calmed the waters with 2 perfect innings. But with a 4-run lead Alexander Beltre made things interesting by giving up 3 singles to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate, but Beltre struck out Thairo Estrada (who had homered earlier off Aparicio) to end the game.

Game 3: This save dates back to 2020 so this is the 2,032th regular season game I've managed for the Rays and had something happen today that has never happened in the previous 2,031: we had a game shortened by rain. I've seen numerous instances involving other teams over the years but this is the first time it's happened to us. Thankfully the rains came in the bottom of the 6th with the Rays ahead 3-0 so they sweep the series heading into the All-Star break. Jon Hayes went the "distance" as it was, going 5.1 4 0 0 3 4 on 91 pitches (he was about to be pulled) to go to 9-6 and get his ERA below 4 at 3.94. He was in a pretty good duel with Boston's Erick Barraud, as it was 1-0 on a Rodolfo Rivas 1st-inning RBI single until the top of the 6th when Jasson Dominguez hit a 2-run shot to right (#20) to make it 3-0. Other than that there wasn't much to say except Hayes did have to pitch out of a couple of jams but got the key out(s) when he needed one.

Team record: 59-29. Next up: The All-Star break, and then Baltimore comes to town next weekend.

[Art Deco]

Here are the All-Star teams, first with the AL:






Lots of interesting names here. The Rays' pitchers that made it were Little and Sachais as starters, and Nate Thompson and Danny Medina as relievers. Medina was a surprise, but he's listed as a reliever and that spot start shutout of his really boosted his numbers for whatever algorithm OOTP uses apparently. On the hitting side the only Rays are the ones who won the voting: Widmar, Jenkins and de Jesus. Plenty of former Rays in the AL as well, including guys we kind of casted off, like Aiden Meola, Jeremy Bowers and Jordan Evangelista. Over in the NL, some interesting former Rays are Malachi Benford, Jack Leiter (unsurprisingly), Daniel Olarte (part of the Jaiden Hardaway deal) and all 3 first basemen. We've had a bottomless well of quality 1B it seems and Caleb Picciotti is having a big year with Colorado, while Joe Barker is doing his usual thing in Washington. Victor Barillas is really having a big year and he went to the Phillies in the deal that brought us Rodolfo Rivas and D'Andre Hodges, but they ended up waiving him to be claimed by Cincinnati where he's flourished.

HR Derby: Nate Clark was a participant once again, but this time he lost in the first round to eventual winner Cristhian Rodriguez of Columbus, who edged him 17-16 and then went on to nip former Rays property Jordan Evangelista 16-15 in the final round.

The game itself:



What a brutal performance by the AL. MVP of the game Austin Hendrick became the first player in MLB history to homer twice in the same inning in an All-Star game as the NL went deep four times in 10-run 2nd inning in a 13-1 rout of the AL. Our three Rays hitters were a combined 0-8, Christian Little came in to get the final out of that 10-run 2nd, Alec Sachais had a scoreless inning and Danny Medina gave up a run on Hendrick's RBI double. Nate Thompson didn't pitch.

[Art Deco]

July 16: Optioned 2B Xavier Edwards to AAA Durham, activated 2B Connor Kirkley from his rehab assignment at AAA Durham, sent 3B Bobby Witt, Jr. to AAA Durham for a rehab assignment.

Unlike Austin Martin, Edwards accepted his demotion to Durham after filling in admirably as a bench player the last couple of months. Kirkley tore it up in 6 games at Durham, going 435/567/739 with 2 HR in 6 games, so I'd going to go out on a limb and say he's ready.

Game 1: We had a rainout at Publix Park on Friday night, so we have a doubleheader today. And in the first game the Rays looked kind of awful for the first 6 innings before rallying with a 4-run 7th to take a 6-5 win over Baltimore. Jon Hayes was not great today, putting them in a 5-2 hole and wasn't helped by a key Rodolfo Rivas error which allowed a pair of Baltimore runs to score in the 2nd. Still it was mostly Hayes to blame, who went 5.2 11 5 3 1 6. Jon Whiteleather took over and had another impressive outing, getting the final out of the 6th and striking out the side in the 7th and became the pitcher of record when the Rays rallied to get his first win of the season. That rally came when Ricky Widmar singled to lead off the inning, Dayle Jenkins tripled him home, Nate Clark hit a grounder to score Jenkins, Rodolfo Rivas singled, and then Jasson Dominguez drilled HR #21 into the RF bullpen. Jenkins and Bo Angeac earlier had RBI singles. Jose Alvarado got two outs in the 8th and left with two on, with Jordan Diaz getting the final four outs for save #10. Connor Kirkley was 2-4 in his return to the lineup.

Game 2: The Rays completed the doubleheader sweep in dramatic fashion, getting a Victor de Jesus HR (#24) with two out in the 9th inning to tie it up and winning it in the 12th 5-4, but the win came at a high price. The glue guy in our bullpen and our most effective reliever this year, Nate Thompson, left after 2 outs in the 7th with what turned out be a torn labrum and will be out for a year. I was eyeing Thompson as a starter next year to fill one of the Hayes/Little openings but that's out the window now, and we have a hole in our bullpen for the rest of the season. He was brilliant this year with an 0.47 ERA in 38 innings with 12 walks and 44 Ks, earning a deserved trip to the All-Star Game and will be missed. As for the game, the Rays got their second poor start of the day which they had to overcome as Jon Soranno struggled to go 3.2 7 4 4 2 5 and racked up 100 pitches. But the bullpen was lights-out from there and ended up with 8 1/3 scoreless. Tim Siqueiros started it with 2 1/3, striking out 4, Bob Sirna went 1 1/3 with a pair of whiffs after Thompson had to leave, and Danny Medina, who will be taking over the Thompson role, was excellent again going 4 1 0 0 0 4 and getting his 3rd win. The bats started extremely slowly against former teammate Steve Givens, who didn't allow them a hit until the 6th. But they put together enough to score 3 times in that inning on RBI singles from Dayle Jenkins and Jasson Dominguez along with a wild pitch to score a run, and it went 4-3 into the 9th. Oriole closer Jorge Cadena retired the first two men before de Jesus took him deep. We plugged along until the 12th, when another 2-out rally saw Jaiden Hardaway beat out an infield single, Dane Ayers single him to 3rd, and Luis Corpus lined one to left to bring Hardaway home for the walk-off win.

July 18: Placed P Nate Thompson on the 60-day IL with a torn labrum; recalled P Chris Hicks from AAA Durham.

Hicks is the replacement for now, although I will be looking to perhaps make a trade to replace Thompson. He pitched pretty well in his earlier stint with the big club, striking out 14 in 12 innings with a 3.00 ERA. Also Bobby "Mr. Glass" Witt Jr played his first rehab game at Durham and suffered a minimal strain of his quadriceps which will set him back for 3 days.

Game 3: Lousy outing from starter puts them in 4-run hole, Rays come back and win, rinse and repeat. Today it was Andy Aparicio with his third straight poor start and the the third straight poor start since the break from a Rays starter, as he was hit for 4 runs in the 1st inning and went 6 9 5 5 3 7. He left with the Rays down 5-1, but you can guess the rest. And today it was more ridiculous than yesterday's two games as the Rays scored 11 times in the 6th, 7th and 8th to take a 12-5 win. They picked up 2 runs in 6th to make it 5-3 and took the lead for good in the 7th on a bases-clearing double from Bo Angeac, who had been kind of slumping lately. The rest is pretty much accounting: Jasson Dominguez hit solo homers in the 7th and 8th to give him 23, Nate Clark had a 2-run shot in 8th for #26, and Ricky Widmar had homered back in the 3rd (#10) to get the Rays on the board. Luis Corpus drove in a pair and Angeac had another run-scoring hit to give him a 4-RBI day. Picking up his second win in as many days was the suddenly-resurgent Jon Whiteleather, whom I was ready to send on a rocket into the sun a week or so ago but has now gone 7 4 0 0 1 13 in his last three outings combeind. Alex Beltre got the final out of the 8th when it was only 7-5 so he stayed in and picked up his 2nd Rays save after pitching the 9th.

Team record: 62-29. Next up: You like scoring? We'll give you some scoring as the Rays travel to Colorado for 3 games at Coors Field. Of course they lost a 1-0 game last time they were there 3 years ago.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: You know you're in Coors Field when the score is 8-3 after two innings. Fortunately the Rays had the 8 and strangely enough there was only one more run scored in the game after that as Tampa Bay beat Colorado 9-3. All 7 Rays runs in the 2nd inning came with two out and the big hit was a bases-clearing double from Ricky Widmar. Dayle Jenkins brought Widmar home with a single and then Nate Clark and Rodolfo Rivas went back-to-back for #s 27 and 17 respectively. Clark added #28 in the 7th for the only run scored after the 2nd. Christian Little started and struggled with his control, walking 4 in the first 2 innings and surrendering a 3-run homer to Corbin Carroll. But he did calm down after that and made it through 5 on 103 pitches at 5 3 3 3 4 8 to improve to 10-2. Little's outing was followed by some excellent relief pitching from Bob Sirna and Chris Hicks, who threw two scoreless innings apiece.

Game 2: A brutal day for the Rays. Not only was their 9-game win streak snapped today but they lost Alec Sachais for the rest of the season with an arthritic elbow as the pitching injuries continue. Sachais had to leave in the 1st, and tomorrow's expected starter Danny Medina (due to the doubleheader this past weekend) had to come in and was not very good, going 3.1 5 4 4 3 0 although it didn't help that he left the bases loaded for Tim Siqueiros, who promptly walked the first guy he faced and hit the next one to force in a pair of Medina's runners. Siqueiros did OK from there, going 2 1/3 scoreless, but the damage was done, and Jose Alvarado gave up a solo homer in his two innings of work. The Rays' scoring all came in the 4th on a 3-run HR from Jasson Dominguez (#24) and a solo shot from Jaiden Hardaway (#9). So now they're going to need a starter for tomorrow and one to replace Sachais in the rotation. That will probably be Medina, but with the trade deadline in about 10 days I may need to deal from my hitter surplus for one.

...and I didn't waste any time:



Checked the trading block and the Pirates were desperate to get anything for Carmona, a free agent at season's end. He's a quality starter with 60 stuff, 65 movement and 60 control who's averaged about 3.5 WAR the last two seasons and was on pace for about that this year. He'll make an excellent #4 starter for us, and we didn't really give up anything as Baldridge is a marginal prospect and Pittsburgh is eating 90% of Carmona's salary, leaving us on the hook for only $800K. Unfortunately he can't start tomorrow so we'll still have to call someone up to throw to the wolves in Coors, probably Kevin Lovetere who's already on the 40-man.

July 21: Placed P Alec Sachais on the 60-day IL with an arthritic elbow, recalled P Brad Ballmann from AAA Durham.

He's baaaack! Remember Brad Ballmann? I had kind of forgotten about him too. After providing middling middle relief the last season and a half since being acquired from Texas, he was sent to Durham this year to be a starter, and frankly it didn't work out so hot. When we wasn't missing about six weeks with forearm inflammation he was struggling with a 5.01 ERA and only 38 Ks in 50 1/3 innings. Nevertheless he's going to start for us today in Coors since he's rested and on the 40-man. Whatever we get from him will be a bonus.

Game 3: With Brad Ballmann getting an emergency start today the fact that the Rays lost to Colorado isn't a surprise. What is the surprise is that Ballmann wasn't the problem, he left the game with a 4-2 lead in the 6th. Instead it was the bullpen and the defense which let them down today in a 5-4 loss. Ballmann actually did pitch pretty well, going 5.2 7 2 2 3 2 and getting numerous ground balls, a good thing in this park. It looked like it might be a long day for him when he loaded the bases with nobody out in the 1st, but he pitched out of it and hung in there admirably. Instead it was the pen that was our downfall. Jon Whiteleather struck out the last man in the 6th to get Ballmann out of a jam but didn't do so well putting two men on in the 7th. With middle-relief righties Tim Siqueiros and Danny Medina unavailable, Chris Hicks came in and gave up a hit to score a run and then wild-pitched in another to tie it. And in the 8th the defense was the culprit as Dane Ayers threw away a grounder that directly led to the winning run on a Yordys Valdes RBI single off Alex Beltre. Of course if the offense hadn't taken the game off after the 3rd inning they might have had more margin for error, but after D'Andre Hodges and Bo Angeac came through with RBI doubles in the 2nd and Nate Clark hit another homer at Coors, a 2-run shot in the 3rd (#29), Rockies pitching retired 16 straight Rays before Jaiden Hardaway got his 3rd hit of the game in the 8th, and then four straight after that to finish the game.

Team record: 63-31. Next up: We head farther west to play 4 in Oakland. Alexis Carmona will make his Rays debut tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Alexis Carmona made his Rays debut and it was a roaring success as he went six scoreless innings to lead the Rays to a 2-0 win in Oakland. The veteran righty was in control most of the way and finished 6 4 0 0 1 6 to get his first Rays win and 5th of the season. He did have some trouble in the 6th with men on 1st and 3rd and nobody out but got a 2-6-3 double play with the runner on 3rd holding and then a fly ball to finish the inning and his day. Bob Sirna and Jose Alvarado were fine in the 7th and 8th but Jordan Diaz really made it an adventure in the 9th, going infield single-strikeout-walk-strikeout-walk-strikeout to end the game with the bases loaded and pick up save #11. The offense struggled to get anything going against the A's Jake Estes, but in the 4th Nate Clark singled, stole second, went to third on a deep fly ball and scored on Victor de Jesus' fly ball, and then in the 8th Rodolfo Rivas had a 2-out RBI double for the second run.

MLB News: Pittsburgh's had a forgettable season, going 31-64, but Mike Walsh gave them something to remember tonight with a no-hitter in a 2-0 win over Milwaukee. Walsh went 9 0 0 0 1 8 on 108 pitches in his gem.

Game 2: A near carbon copy of yesterday's game as the Rays topped Oakland 3-1 behind another strong start. Today's gem came from Jon Hayes, who went 7 4 0 0 1 7 to improve to 10-6, 3.75. Jose Alvarado ran into some trouble in the 8th, walking a couple, giving up a hit and wild-pitching in a run. Tim Siqueiros rescued him from that jam and got the first two outs in the 9th before putting a man on with a lefty due, so Alexander Beltre came in and got the strikeout to end the game for his 3rd Rays save. Again it took until the 4th for the offense to break through with the big hit a Dayle Jenkins triple which drove in a run with him coming home on Rodolfo Rivas' single. Will Quintana picked up his first MLB extra-base hit and first MLB RBI with a double in the 5th to score Bo Angeac, who had also doubled. And that was it the rest of the way although Quintana nearly had another RBI late but Victor de Jesus was thrown out at the plate.

Game 3: A strange game. It was shaping up like the last two nights with the Rays leading 3-0 in the 5th on a 2-run Jasson Dominguez HR (#25) and a Nate Clark RBI double and Jon Soranno was 1-hitting Oakland through 4. But in the 5th Soranno suddenly couldn't get anyone out, and the turnstiles started spinning for Oakland. Throw in a key Jaiden Hardaway error on a dropped popup in short right and Danny Medina hitting a man with the bases loaded in relief, and 3-0 Rays was 6-3 Oakland when the dust settled on their way to a 6-5 win. The start was Soranno's third poor one in his last four as he ended 4.1 5 6 3 4 1. Medina pitched well aside from the hit batter going 2 2/3 scoreless with 4 whiffs, and Chris Hicks had a shutout 8th. The offense dried up after the 5th and heading into the 9th they only had 3 hits on the day before Hardaway beat out an infield single with one out and Bo Angeac homered (#13) to bring him home to make the final score a little more respectable.

Game 4: After yesterday's back-and-forth game today played out like the first two games of the series: a low-scoring Rays win. Today's verdict was 4-2 Tampa Bay behind a decent if not terribly convincing outing from Andy Aparicio. He went 7 7 2 2 1 3 and had to get out of jams on several occasions, but gutted it out to go 12-4, 3.83. The bullpen was lights-out as Tim Siqueiros and Jordan Diaz had 1-2-3 innings to finish off the A's with Diaz grabbing save #12. The offense was sluggish but scored enough, with Luis Corpus singling in Jaiden Hardaway for their first run in the 5th to tie the game, and Jasson Dominguez went yard with a man on for #26 in the 6th to put them ahead to say. Connor Kirkley added #8 and his first homer since coming off the IL for some insurance in the 9th.

Team record: 66-32. Next up: An off-day, then we head down the coast to take on the Dodgers for a pair.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays brought their boomsticks to Chavez Ravine today as they blasted 6 homers in a 10-1 rout of the Dodgers in LA. Jaiden Hardaway, the front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year, blasted a pair to lead the longball parade, including a 2-run shot off Shohei Ohtani in the 2nd to start the scoring. Bo Angeac went back-to-back (#14) with Hardaway and Jasson Dominguez doubled the Rays' advantage with a 3-run shot (#27) off the Japanese two-way star in the 3rd. Hardaway (now up to 305/397/456) added his 2nd of the game and 11th of the season in the 8th as did Luis Corpus (#8) with Nate Clark hitting #30 in the 9th. All of this scoring was way more than enough for Christian Little, doing his usual thing and going 6 6 1 1 1 12 to improve to 11-2, 2.83. Bob Sirna, Chris Hicks and Jon Whiteleather each had scoreless innings as Rays pitching combined to strike out 19 Dodgers.

Game 2: Things were much tougher today for the Rays but they still managed to prevail 5-3 over the Dodgers. The big blow of the day was another Jasson Dominguez 3-run homer (#28) in the top of the 5th which turned a 2-1 Tampa Bay deficit into a 4-2 lead and they never trailed after that. Dominguez has homered in four straight games now. Alexis Carmona made his 2nd start as a Ray and wasn't quite as effective as he was in the debut but still picked up the win going 5 8 3 2 1 6 and leaving with a man on in the 6th. Bob Sirna got him out of that with an unusual 1-5-3 double play, but in the 7th Tim Siqueiros walked the bases loaded around a couple of outs before Jose Alvarado got Pete Alonso to fly out and end that threat. Alvarado stayed on to pitch the 8th, and Alexander Beltre had a shot at the save but gave up a 2-out hit to bring the tying run to the plate. With two righties due, Jordan Diaz was summoned from the pen and whiffed Sal Stewart to end the game and nab his 13th save. Connor Kirkley drove in the other two Rays runs with a 4th-inning sac fly and an 8th-inning solo homer (#9) as the Rays sweep the season series from the Dodgers after beating them twice at Publix Park earlier this year.

Team record: 68-32. Next up: A day off then they return home to face the Yankees for a weekend series. The Yankees are 10 1/2 back so basically only a New York sweep would make the division race marginally interesting.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Yankees came to Publix Park essentially needing a sweep to keep any faint hopes alive of making it a race in the division at 10 1/2 back. Well those hopes are gone after the Rays beat them 10-3 tonight in a game that was closer than the score indicated. In fact the Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the 6th on a Mario Aguilar 3-run shot off Jon Hayes, but Nate Clark was unstoppable tonight as he hit his 2nd homer of the game, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning and 32nd of the year, to put the Rays ahead to stay 4-3. Bo Angeac hit #15 in the 7th to make it 5-3, and then they scored 5 times in the 8th after a Yankee error with 2 out, with Ricky Widmar's bases-clearing double the big hit there. Hayes started and had dominating stuff tonight before he allowed 2 hits in front of Aguilar in that 6th inning but still ended 7 7 3 3 0 12 to improve to 11-6, 3.76. Jordan Diaz had a 1-2-3 8th when it was still a game, and Bob Sirna had a 1-2-3 9th when it wasn't. Clark ended up 4 for 4 with the 2 homers and a double.

Game 2: Jon Soranno's recent woes continued tonight as he couldn't make it out of the 3rd inning in a 6-0 loss to the Yankees. The lefty seems to have hit a wall lately, only lasting 10 1/3 combined through his last 3 starts, allowing 12 runs, and today's 2.2 8 5 5 1 1 was emblematic of that as his record drops to 8-4 and ERA rises to 3.94. Danny Medina went 4 1/3 in long relief allowing a run and Chris Hicks went the final 2 scoreless with 3 whiffs. The offense wasn't any better; although they did get 8 hits they didn't make any of 'em count. Bo Angeac was 3-3 with a couple of infield hits but was twice immediately erased on Luis Corpus double play grounders. Just one of those days to forget.

Game 3: Andy Aparicio was sharp and once again the bats broke open a close game in the late innings as the Rays made it 2 out of 3 over the Yankees with an 8-3 win. AA shut the Bombers down through 6, but gave up a 2-run Mario Aguilar homer in the 7th to allow New York within 3-2. He finished 7 5 2 2 0 7 to pick up his AL-best 13th win against 4 losses and then they scored 4 times in the 7th to blow it open. The Rays were up against an old friend in Daniel Lynch who pitched for them in the mid-20s. He was decent today, holding the league's top offense to 3 runs in 6 innings allowing a solo homer to Victor de Jesus (#25) and a 2-run shot from Connor Kirkley (#10). Another former Rays property did not fare as well as they jumped all over Hunter Barco (in the Rays' minor-league system from 2024-2028) for four runs in 1/3 of an inning on a Dane Ayers sac fly and a 3-run blast from Nate Clark (#33). Ayers added a solo homer (#4) in the 8th. Alex Beltre pitched a clean 8th while Jon Whiteleather gave up a run in the 9th. Clark, de Jesus and Dayle Jenkins each had a 3-hit day.

Team record: 70-33. Next up: Kansas City comes to town for four games.