The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Order restored, but at a cost...



The Rays got a much-needed 6-2 win over Boston to even the ALDS, but it came a price as SS Jeff Baez was lost for the playoffs with a strained rib cage muscle. Light-hitting Melvin Gutierrez will now be the everyday SS, and I really don't have another SS to cover so here's hoping he stays healthy. Robbie Salazar, a 2B, was called up to take Baez's place on the roster. We also had injury problems in the 1st inning when Leo Ortega had to leave with a back issue. It's not too serious and if we make the ALCS he'll be available to make his scheduled start. That pressed Nate Thompson into action, and it's rare (if not unheard of) for a team to have a 21-game winner not make its playoff rotation but Thompson came in and did alright in his 4 innings of work, picking up the win despite allowing two runs. Billy Hoyte was brilliant in his two innings while Mike Wherry shouldn't have been pushed into a second; he put the first two on in the 9th and Tim Siqueiros had to save the day. On offense the top of the order came through as Jaiden Hardaway and Dayle Jenkins combined for 5 hits and 3 RBI while Bo Angeac homered. And before he had to leave, Baez contributed an RBI double.

In the other ALDS:



Big win for the Twins in another low-scoring affair between these teams to even things up.

[Art Deco]

The Cards sweep the Lightning and the big Game 3 hit came from Ramon Ruiz, St. Louis's backup shortstop and a former prospect of ours. While we got the better of St. Louis in the Victor de Jesus for Jeremy Bienick trade, they got us on this one as a few years back I wasn't quite sold on Bo Angeac as a long-term solution at 3B and acquired prospect Kjeld Visser from them for Ruiz. Visser fizzled out in the minors and hasn't gotten past a bad first half at Montgomery this year which saw him back at A+ Charlotte, so he's not really a prospect. Anyway, the Dodgers took the edge on the Cubs with an 8-run 8th and it looks like we're headed for our umpteenth Dodgers-Cardinals NLCS.

[Art Deco]

Phew...



A game the Rays should have had easily in their back pocket turned into a nailbiter, but they still hung on to take a 7-5 win over Boston at Fenway Park and a 2-1 lead in their ALDS. Tampa Bay built a 7-1 lead, and it really should have been more as they left 16(!) men on base as not only did they amass 10 hits, Red Sox pitchers issued 11 walks. Still it should have been more than enough, but a key Victor de Jesus error let Boston back in the game to score three unearned runs to make it 7-4, and then Kikuo Kawase was shaky again in the 9th but this time he had a 3-run lead instead of a 1-run lead so the run he allowed wasn't fatal. But not without a scare as Jerry Bowman, who had homered off Josh Hanna in the 1st inning, made the final out hitting one to the warning track which would have been a walk-off winner had it traveled a few feet more. Still there was a lot of good, led by Hanna who went 6.2 with 9 whiffs and only one earned run allowed, and Jaiden Hardaway had a huge day including the game's biggest hit, a 2-run homer off Boston ace Sean Nelson in the 4th inning to break the game open at the time. And Melvin Gutierrez, not known for his bat, reached base 4 times in 5 trips to the plate. Kevin "21-0" Kerstetter will look to close out the series tomorrow at Fenway.

In the other division series:



Texas takes the advantage over Minnesota with a fairly comprehensive win, while its Dodgers vs Cardinals in the NLCS once again as LA rode a 4-run 2nd inning to a 5-4 win.

Some other news:



When the Durham Bulls were in trouble this year, they called their Loya when they needed a big hit (comedy gold, I tell ya). For the third straight season a Durham 1B was league MVP as Jon Jimenez in 2033 and David Vasquez in 2034 took the honors. As you can see by his numbers he can flat-out hit, but at the moment with Jimenez and Vasquez lined up for big-club action in 2036, Loya may get a chance to repeat. Also impressive was that Durham players took the top 3 spots, with Andy Vasquez and Jim Gebers getting recognition for their brilliant seasons.

[Art Deco]

Back to Tampa...



Well that was quite unexpected, as Kevin Kerstetter picked a bad time to lose his first game of the season. The Rays lefty was done in by a couple of lefty Red Sox hitters in the 1st, Ben Traylor with a 2-run homer and Pierson Gibis with an RBI double and it got worse from there. 35-year-old journeyman Demar Dotson meanwhile kept the Rays in check, retiring the first 9 batters before giving up a Jaiden Hardaway homer and held them until the 7th when Omar Rodriguez hit a 2-run shot but by then the game was out of hand. Nate Schultz will need to pitch way better than he did in Game 1, or this record-setting team is going to be watching the rest of the playoffs from home.

We've also got a Game 5 in the other ALDS:



Julio Rodriguez hit a tie-breaking single and Aaron Nixon added a 2-run knock in the 7th to break open a 5-5 game and propel the Twins to a series-tying win. And yes, that's former Rays reliever Chris Hicks with the win. Game 5 will be back in Texas.

[Art Deco]

Welp...



A record 132 wins meant nothing in the end as the Rays bowed out in the ALDS for the third time in five seasons after dropping Game 5 at Publix Park to Boston 6-2. Plenty of blame to go around but Nate Schultz gets a lot of it as for the second time in this series he was rocked by the Red Sox, giving up 5 runs on 3 homers in 4 innings, taking a 1-0 lead and turning it into a 5-1 deficit. Schultz had a shaky postseason last year and followed that up with an even worse one. Blame too for the bats, which scored at a record pace this year but made Mario Candelaria look like John Candelaria, or something. When they needed to come up big, they didn't, scoring a grand total of 5 runs over the final 2 games of this series which they lost. They did make a half-hearted attempt at making it interesting when they loaded the bases with 2 out in the 9th and brought Victor de Jesus up as the tying run, but his lazy fly ball to center was the end of the Rays' season. And although I'm not singling him out - and he did put us on the board with an RBI double in the 1st - somehow Danny Ayala has managed to play 23 postseason games the last two years and not hit a single, solitary homer despite 94 over that same time in the regular season.

But as always, it's the vagaries of a short series and all that so I can't be too hard on them though.

And Boston will be playing...the Texas Rangers in the ALCS, as their ace came through unlike ours:



Will Diaz was magnificent with 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball and Izaac Pacheco had a huge 2-run homer.

[Art Deco]

With the Rays out of it, I'll do the LCS round in two posts, this one will cover Games 1-3:

October 12:



Former Ray Jeremy Bienick was activated off the IL and came through big for St. Louis in Game 1 with 6 shutout innings.

October 13:



Red Sox get a leg up in the ALCS behind their ace Sean Nelson, who was hit hard by the Rays in Game 3 of the ALDS, while the Dodgers even things up as Fernando Tatis Jr's 3rd-inning HR broke a 2-2 tie and stood up the rest of the way.

October 14:



A good-old fashioned slugfest in Texas saw the Rangers even up the ALCS. That was 2034 Ray Tyler Jefferson getting the win for Texas, despite allowing 7 runs in 6 1/3 innings.

October 15:



A 7-spot in the 1st inning set the Dodgers on their way to a rout of the Cards and a 2-1 series lead as St. Louis starter Jesus Cabrera failed to retire a batter, giving up all 7 runs.

October 16:



Texas went into Fenway and lit up Mario Candelaria for 5 runs in the 1st like we should have in Game 5, and took a 2-1 series lead while Max Passariello and the Dodgers blanked St. Louis to move one win away from a return World Series trip where they won't have to face the Rays.

[Art Deco]

October 17:



Identical 2-1 wins have us one Texas win away from a Rangers-Dodgers World Series. Jo Adell tripled and scored on a Bobby Carman wild pitch in the 8th to break a 1-1 tie in the Rangers' favor as they take a 3-1 series lead, and a 2-run homer from Nate Martin off Cardinal closer Tim Manley put LA in the World Series. Fernando Tatis Jr. was named series MVP.

October 18:



Texas got to Boston ace Sean Nelson for 3 runs in the 8th, including a 2-run double from series MVP Edgar Medina, and made it back to the World Series after winning it in 2032. Meanwhile the Dodgers will be looking to become the first NL winner of the Fall Classic since St. Louis beat the Angels in 2027.

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

[Art Deco]

Congrats to the Dodgers on their first World Series win since beating the Rays in 2024 to cap off a 3 titles in 5 years run, and for becoming the first NL team to take the title in 8 years.

[Art Deco]

Usually like to start these posts off with a picture of the World Series trophy, but alas that isn't happening this year. Anyway, here's the news:

* Our market size has grown, from "Tiny" to "Small"

* Possibly as a result, my owner Stuart Sternberg has increased the payroll available to $220 million! This is kind of ridiculous to me, as with the talent we have in the system I need more payroll like Imelda Marcos needs more shoes (there's a dated reference). Accordingly, I have poured several millions more into scouting and player development.

* However, I will look to sign Jaiden Hardaway to an extension with all this extra money. I haven't signed an extension or a big contract in years, but he really is a special player.

* Nate Schultz, Victor de Jesus and Dayle Jenkins are all going into their final year of arbitration and will make $22M or more. They're all great players but I don't want to lose them for draft picks next winter so I will look to trade them for cheaper versions with team control left (a la the Aparicio for Hanna deal last winter) or prospects. My fan interest will crash but who cares, I have more money than I need.

* I also need to open up some 40-man roster spots. Leo Ortega is the only one leaving via free agency. Going to have to make some 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 deals involving 40-man guys as the following guys need to be protected or exposed to Rule 5: Andy Vasquez, Ricky Loya, Steve Abeles, Camren Nethercutt (he's injured so maybe not), Jim Harrell, Phil Hable, Steve Champagne, Mike Thomas, Chris Crabb. Not going to open up this many spots but Vasquez, Loya and Champagne are absolute musts.

Let the deals begin:



This deal was necessitated by the fact Tobar wouldn't agree to a minor league extension, so I dealt him for Burgess, another quality relief prospect who was only drafted last year.

Here's a big one:



Au revoir, Nate Schultz. Three excellent regular seasons, two World Series wins, and well we'll just forget about this year's playoffs. Roush deserves to play in the majors and yes it will be against us in the division but so be it. Alvarez was a "make it work" one-star guy. So what do we get? Carsello is pretty damn impressive:



The control may be an issue but he cut his walks substantially last year, otherwise he's a strikeout machine and an excellent starter. He's got 3 years of team control left and is pegged to make around $6M in his first year of arbitration this winter. Josh Hanna 2.0.

Another deal:



I guess his 75 defense and minimum contract made him a more valuable commodity than I expected, as Gutierrez brought me a decent starting pitching prospect in Moone, who was a second-round pick in this past summer's draft and is a lefty with potential 55 stuff and 60 control (45 movement, but nobody's perfect). This move opens up a 40-man spot for Andy Vasquez, who plays fine defense but has more of a bat than Gutierrez, important because starting SS Jeff Baez is "fragile".

Jaiden Hardaway contract extension!



Pretty reasonable considering he's baseball's best player and should win a third straight MVP. The only negative is that he turned 30 in July, so there will be some decline here. Still, though he's remarkably hit exactly .364 each of the last three seasons so we know what we're getting. This buys out 3 arb years + 2 free agent years and if the decline is severe, we can buy out 2040 for $8M.

Congrats, Kikuo!



This marks two straight seasons he's won this award.

November 8: The Silver Sluggers were announced, and our winners were Jaiden Hardaway (2B), Danny Ayala (LF), Dayle Jenkins (CF) and Jon Jimenez (DH).

November 9: Traded 29-year old RHP Edgar Rios to the Houston Astros, getting 23-year old minor league RHP Josh MacDonald in return.

The quest for open 40-man spots continues with Rios being shipped out. I have plenty of options to replace Rios in the pen, and MacDonald is one of those freaks like Raymher Costa that intrigues me. Take a look:



Incredible stuff, great movement....and terrible control. Look at the #s at the bottom for what he did at A ball last year, kind of silly. If we can just get control under control a little bit, he could be something, if nothing else he'll provide interesting lines in my minor league box scores to look at.

November 11: The Cy Young awards were announced and in the AL Minnesota's Jim Robinson took it. He led the league in pitcher WAR and was 13-4, 2.41 with 245 whiffs in 198 innings. Kevin Kerstetter finished 4th behind Robinson, Wil Diaz and Sean Nelson. My first-place vote for him was the only one he received. Josh Hanna was 5th and Nate Schultz was 7th. In the NL, the Cubs' Raul Robles won unanimously after going 13-8, 3.20 with 255 Ks in 194 IP, and he too led his league in pitcher WAR.

A three-peat for Jaiden:



Mets 1B Chris McLoughlin won the award in the NL after a .325-31-99 season which also saw him lead MLB in OPS (he had a .442 OBP).

[Art Deco]

Well, I finally pulled the trigger on a Victor de Jesus deal:



Lauritsen is a solid starter prospect, Columbus's 1st round pick in 2034. Although it says #68 below, he's actually ranked #57 overall among MLB prospects and it's a pretty good return for a guy who's either a one-year rental for the Lightning or will cost a fortune in terms of a long-term contract as he's the wrong side of 30 now. Of course our offense will go from otherworldly to damn good since he's a tough player to replace, but we'll get by. I'd rather have Lauritsen than a supplemental draft pick in 2037.



I'm considering keeping Dayle Jenkins though, since we moved enough salary with Schultz and de Jesus.

Let the trades continue:



Cross and Peters were marginal for me, Peters especially as Jim Gebers is going to take his role as the backup 3B (and may get some DH at-bats against lefties). Plus, I got a message from the clubhouse that they were glad to see Peters gone. Cross was intriguing but he was lost in the numbers game. And most importantly, this opens up 2 40-man roster spots as I need one for the soon-to-return Jon Soranno from the 60-day IL and still have minor leaguers galore worthy of protection. Oh yeah, and we get Schroeder, a top-200 prospect at a position we are kind of thin in organizationally, SS. He was a first-round pick by Houston last year (13th overall) so he's got room to grow.

November 21: Traded 24-year old minor league DH Steve Paonessa to the Philadelphia Phillies, getting 24-year old minor league SS Quincy Siegle in return.

A minor trade as Paonessa was Rule 5-eligible. Paonessa has massive power (75 HR the last two years at A+ and AA) but is purely a DH - he's not even rated for a position. Siegle, meanwhile also has massive power (75-rated) and can play SS, 3B and 2B (40-45 but at least passable) and isn't Rule 5-eligible.

[Art Deco]

December 1: Juan Soto signed a 2/75 deal with the Astros, the first of the significant free agents to sign. The 37-year-old still has it, even if he is a bit injury-prone as he ages.

December 6: He may no longer be with us but we'll still be seeing a lot of Leo Ortega as he signed a 5/124 pact with the Yankees. We of course will get a compensation pick since we did give him a qualifying offer. Also 38-year-old Gleyber Torres signed a 2/26 deal with the Phillies as he's been a "have bat, will travel" guy lately playing for Boston and Detroit. Finally, the Astros signed Anthony Siegler, one of the better catchers in the league to a 3/43.2 contract.

December 7: The Lightning weren't going to let Victor de Jesus walk after this season, and they inked him to a massive 6/222 deal (that's $37M/year).

December 8: The market for catching must be thin as 37-year-old Adley Rutschman, who hasn't hit above .230 the last 3 seasons, signed a 3-year, $46.6M deal with the Cardinals. Their division rival Cubs were busy as well, signing reliever Joe Hanley to a 2/8.5 deal and acquiring 40-year-old Cody Bellinger (coming off a 4-WAR season in Colorado) for 3 minor leaguers.

December 8: Traded 24-year old minor league RF Zach Mathias to the Colorado Rockies, getting 24-year old minor league SS Devin Boatman in return.

When you make our 40-man roster, it's either up or out, and it's out for Zach Mathias. Mathias is a nice player, and could win a batting title playing Coors as he's a natural .300-.310 hitter. He has some speed and gap power as well but is maybe a 10-12 HR guy (that could be 15-20 in Coors) and he's only a 45 in RF so he was kind of a tweener for us as he doesn't hit for enough power to DH and doesn't play the OF well enough to start there. So we opened up a 40-man spot and swapped him for Boatman as we continue to stock up on shortstops. Here's the skinny on Boatman:



He was Colorado's 2nd round pick in 2034 and is quite the slick-fielding SS. The bat is a question mark but it looks like he's got enough pop to serve as an eventual MLB backup.

December 9: The Cubs continue to assemble a great 2021 team as they signed 41-year-old Shohei Ohtani to a 1-year $12.4M deal. Ohtani is wrecked and didn't play a whole lot for Detroit last year. He hit OK (274/375/518) but it was only over 164 AB due to injuries and he was 4-8, 4.73 on the mound with only 57 whiffs in 91 innings.

December 10: Mike Champagne, who was our first round pick way, way back in 2027 and has been the workhorse of the Durham Bulls pitching staff the last 4-5 years, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers today. Good luck, Mike!

December 17: A few more free agent signings involving former Rays. Gavin Lux, still getting it done at 38 (3.2 WAR last year), signed a 2/37.2 pact with Baltimore, while Luis Berdin (whom we checked in on for a possible 1-year deal) signed with Detroit for 3/57.8 so good for him. He's hit 68 HR and 204 RBI the last two seasons with the Cubs.

December 18: Jackson Baumeister, the reigning NL Reliever of the Year with the Dodgers who helped them to a World Series win, hopped on the freeway and headed out to Anaheim where he joined the Angels on a 2/18.7 deal, not a bad signing.

December 21: Eric Knatz, a fixture with the Red Sox where he's hit 144 HR over the last 5 years for them, was dealt to the Cardinals for a couple of prospects.

December 22: Grizzled veteran 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes went to Atlanta for 3/25.2 while Tyler Jefferson, who was with us in 2034, cashed in big with the Yankees on a 4/79 contract, and speaking of former Rays pitchers whom we sent to Texas, David Sanchez went for 3/11.8 to Philadelphia.

December 22: Added 3B Steve Champagne, Ps Mike Thomas and Steve Abeles, 1B Ricky Loya and SS Andy Vasquez to the 40-man roster.

Time for the Rule 5 draft:



Mainly hoping not to lose Chris Crabb. Let's see how it goes (I'm updating this live).

Welp, I was not expecting to lose Camren Nethercutt since he's out a few more months with injury, but the White Sox took him with the 2nd pick. Atlanta took veteran 2B Iso Kurokawa who was with Durham last year, and is kind of a "who cares". And now Boston just took Jimmy Steveson, a decent starter at Durham. So after years of worrying for nothing, this was the year I finally needed to worry. What other fresh horrors will await me? OK, that was it, but I've never lost 3 guys in one Rule 5 draft before. Steveson I can live with, but Nethercutt was a real disappointment so lesson learned: if I have a guy I want to protect, protect him even if he's injured because that isn't going to scare off teams. Perhaps I'll get him returned to me, which has been known to happen. (Just for yuks, I tried trading back for him but the only guy Chicago would take was Pat Lauritsen, the stud pitching prospect I just got for Victor de Jesus. Never mind.)

December 23: Find someone who loves you like the Angels love aging veterans as the Halos signed Eloy Jimenez to a 2/32 deal. Eloy had 27 HR and 100 RBI for the Cubs last year so he isn't quite dead yet at 39.

December 29: Since we dealt him after the 2033 season, noted malcontent Jordan Diaz has bounced from Houston to the White Sox to the Mets and has now landed in Detroit on a 3/17.1 deal. He is coming off a good-for-a-reliever 1.6 WAR season with New York.

LOL, don't take my word for it, here's what BNN had to say about the signing:

[Art Deco]

January 3: The Hall of Fame Voting is in:



January 18: San Diego signed Kevin Turnbull, a pretty good starting pitcher whom I eyed as possibly acquiring via trade a couple seasons back, to a 3/55.6 deal.

January 21: The Phillies traded Hugo Garza, one of the top strikeout artists in MLB and coming off a rough, injury-plagued season, to Washington for three minor leaguers including P Billy Haynes, their 2033 #1 pick who has been a top 100 prospect.

January 28: Former Rays pitcher Hayden Johns cashed in with Atlanta on a 1-year, $11.6M deal.

February 10: Cincinnati dealt veteran C Luis Campusano to the Columbus Lightning for a couple of minor leaguers.

February 18: Former Yankees and Cleveland slugger Joe Allen, who got a ring but didn't play that great last year with the Dodgers, signed a 3/35.6 deal with Oakland.

February 22: We just can't get rid of Andrew Benintendi. The 41-year-old just can't quit the AL East, so after several years of going against him with the Yankees, we'll now be facing him as a Baltimore Oriole thanks to a 2/22.6 deal.

February 29 (yes it's a leap year): Former Ray and well-traveled reliever Alexander Beltre signed a 1/5.6 pact with the Astros.

March 9: Old friend Jud Fabian signed a 1/3 deal with the Blue Jays and Ryan Mountcastle inked a 1/2.8 pact with Pittsburgh.

March 22: Opening Day is upon is, but it really isn't, I'm using the 2014 schedule to make sure we play the NL Central per the rotation, but that season the Dodgers and Diamondbacks played a couple games in Australia early, so when that happens in OOTP it ends everyone's spring training and we sit around for a week or so. In a couple of last-minute free-agent signings, veteran C Bo Naylor joined Detroit on a 1/7.1 deal, Victor Robles a 1/3.8 deal with Atlanta and most significantly, 43-year-old Mookie Betts signed for 1/14 with Baltimore. Weird because he was only asking for 6 when I checked yesterday, and I was considering him as a RH OF platoon bat but he's "wrecked" and Jeff Hayes had a huge spring where he'll likely make the team as a RH OF bench/platoon bat. More on that in the Opening Day roster post coming up.

[Art Deco]

Normally this would be where I'd include the preseason predictions but I forgot to get them after simming past the "opening day" that really wasn't "opening day". Anyway, it turns out a couple of players were out of options so I had to do something with them: Robbie Salazar and catcher Ricky Limongelli.

March 24: Lost Robbie Salazar to Cincinnati on waivers.

D'oh! Figured he'd get through with the usual 500 guys on waivers at the start of the year, but I was wrong. Here's hoping Jaiden Hardaway doesn't get hurt.

March 24: Traded 21-year old minor league LHP A.J. Gibson and 26-year old C Ricky Limongelli to the San Diego Padres, getting 23-year old minor league C Kevin Morley and 23-year old minor league RHP Ed Pretty in return.

Morley is a guy I've always wanted (I've periodically tried to trade for him), he's a top-150 prospect catcher who can hit for power and draw walks. He'll probably hit .220 though but he'll make a great part-time catcher which is all Limongelli was likely to amount to. Pretty is a hard-throwing reliever taken in the 2nd round by San Diego last year. Gibson was a "make it work" guy with 2-star potential.

Opening Day roster:

C-Quintana, McKee
1B-J.Jimenez
2B-Hardaway
SS-Baez
3B-Angeac
IF-Gebers, D.Vasquez (DH)
OF-Ayala, Jenkins, O.Rodriguez, Titcombe, Hayes

SP-Carsello, Kerstetter, Hanna, Thompson, Adams
LR-Soranno
MR-Medina, Hoyte, Sirna, Wherry, Willard
SU-Golunski, Siqueiros
CL-Kawase

Three rookies make the team: Jim Gebers, who takes the Chris Peters role from last year as backup 3B and who will DH against lefties; Jeff Hayes, who will play LF against lefties and/or DH against them; and Vinny Willard, who could start but we already have 6 starters as it is with Jon Soranno relegated to long relief.

Not making the team: Willie Bertone, who struggled in the spring and whom I'm starting to write off, and Andy Vasquez, who probably should be on the team instead of Gebers because I really don't have a middle infield backup. We'll see how that goes.

Lineup considerations: As great as Danny Ayala and Jon Jimenez are, neither can hit lefties to save their lives, and Daniel Vasquez doesn't look like he can hit them either. I went back and looked up Ayala's and Jimenez's stats against LHP and they were like 230/320/390 or something like that. So Gebers, Hayes and Titcombe are going to start against lefties from now on.

[Art Deco]

Someone helpful in the main forum pointed out where I could pull the HTML file for them, so here they are after all:



Things that surprise me: Cleveland's predicted dominance and Seattle's shot at the division.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Opening Day went well, if a bit wild:



Another Opening Day at Publix Park and another Rays win, although they had to outlast the Blue Jays 9-6. It looked like a rout early when Omar Rodriguez hit a grand slam in his first at-bat of 2036, but surprise Opening Day starter Josh Carsello ran out of gas in his Rays debut in the 5th, and only managed to get the win thanks to Dayle Jenkins throwing a man out at the plate to end the inning, otherwise he would have been pulled. The bullpen was shaky with Danny Medina and Billy Hoyte giving up 3 runs in their 2 innings, but we kept answering with runs and Tim Siqueiros and Kikuo Kawase were in vintage form to close it out. Meanwhile, Daniel Vasquez has to feel good about getting through Opening Day without a season-ending injury like he couldn't last year.

Game 2: The Rays rode three solo homers and effective if wild pitching in a 4-0 win over Toronto. Josh Hanna reprised his early-season wildness of last year by walking 5 in 6 shutout innings but he didn't allow a hit until the 6th, giving up the only 2 the Jays had and whiffing 7 for the win. Vinny Willard made his MLB debut and got through the 7th allowing only a walk but then walked the first two men in the 8th, necessitating Jim Golunski to come in and whiff the next 3 batters. Although it wasn't a save situation, Kikuo Kawase came on again and had a 1-2-3 2K 9th. Bo Angeac homered in the 2nd to give the Rays the only run they'd need, but Jon Jimenez added a solo homer in the 4th. It was notable because it was off a lefty and the only reason Jimenez was even starting was because Eric Titcombe is suspended for the first 3 games thanks to abuse of an umpire during a spring training game. Jaiden Hardaway added an RBI double and then in the 6th Jim Gebers homered in his MLB debut after he stayed in the game when Toronto brought in a righty. Also making his MLB debut today was Jeff Hayes, who was 0-4 but had three line drives caught on the infield and the outfield.

MLB News: Columbus opened its season against Colorado yesterday and beat them again today for the second straight time by the score of 1-0 with their starter throwing a complete-game shutout. Yesterday it was Josh Doyle with a 2-hitter, fanning 11 and walking none; today it was Marco Sandoval with a 2-hitter as well, but he went Doyle even better by fanning 14 (and also walking none). Yesterday it was Andy Aparicio who was outdueled, and Victor de Jesus was 1-6 with a triple in the two games. Meanwhile, a couple of our starters from the last few years fared poorly in their debuts. Nate Schultz gave up 5 runs in 5 1/3 and got a no-decision although Baltimore won yesterday while Leo Ortega was hit for 4 runs in 4 2/3 and gave up a couple of homers in Houston as the Astros clobbered the Yankees in their opener.

Game 3: Nate Thompson, ladies and gentlemen. The righty, now in his 4th season in the Rays rotation, pitched the game of his career today as he twirled a 2-hit shutout, walking 1 and whiffing 11 in the process on 113 pitches as the Rays won 2-0 over Toronto. It was his first career shutout and he needed to be sharp as the Jays' Helcris Olivarez no-hit the Rays through 5 before Jaiden Hardaway led off the 6th with a double and Dayle Jenkins followed with his first homer of the season. Those two hits represented half of the team total today as runs (and hits) were scarce.

Game 4: The Rays swept the 4-game series from Toronto to start the year 4-0 thanks to a 13-inning come-from-behind 4-3 win at Publix Park. Kevin Kerstetter got the start and was excellent, going 6 5 1 1 0 8, but young Jays starter Wyatt Banks held the Rays' bats in check with a Danny Ayala RBI single make it 1-1 through 6. Danny Medina got the ball in the 7th and was terrible again, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while retiring only one batter, and Vinny Willard got him out of it with a double play and pitched the 8th as well. The Rays got a run back in the 7th on a wild pitch and then in the 8th down 3-2 Eric Titcombe made his first appearance of the season after his 3-game suspension, pinch-hitting for Jon Jimenez when the Jays brought in a lefty. Titcombe came through with a 443-foot oppo shot to RCF to tie the game, and on and on we went through extras. Finally in the 13th Ayala led off with a double and came around to score on a Jeff Baez sac fly. That made of winner of Mike Wherry, who went 2 innings in his season debut after Tim Siqueiros turned in a pair of scoreless innings of his own.

Team record: 4-0. Next up: The Texas Rangers visit for 3 this weekend.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Rays pitching remains wild but effective as they pitched around 8 walks to beat Texas 5-1 today at Publix Park and stay perfect for 2036. Ron Adams started and went 5 5 1 1 4 4. Jon Soranno took over for the 6th and went 2 innings in which he walked a pair, but got the win when the Rays erupted for 4 runs in the 6th after being down 1-0. Jaiden Hardaway tripled, Dayle Jenkins doubled him home, Danny Ayala walked and then Bo Angeac brought them all home with his 2nd HR of the young season. Omar Rodriguez doubled in a run in the 8th to cap the scoring. Jim Golunski pitched the 8th (1-2-3, the only Rays hurler not to walk anyone) and Vinny Willard a scoreless 9th with 2 more walks.

Game 2: The walks finally caught up with the Rays today as they dropped their first game of the season, 5-4 to the Rangers. Josh Carsello survived his 3 free passes, going 6 3 1 1 3 8 and the Rays looked golden with a 3-1 lead going into the 8th. But Tim Siqueiros walked the bases loaded with one out, and Kikuo Kawase came in try and whiff his way out of it but instead gave up a grand slam to Victor Arellano, a shocking development as it was the first homer Kawase had allowed in a regular season game since August 1, 2034 (he did allow one in the playoffs that year). That made it 5-3 and the Rays did mount a big rally in the 9th and probably should have won it. Jaiden Hardaway singled in a run to cut the lead to 5-4 and they had the bases loaded with nobody out. But Jon Jimenez grounded into a 6-2-3 double play and Danny Ayala grounded out to end the game. Earlier Omar Rodriguez had a solo HR (#2) and an RBI double and Hardaway singled in a run to give them the 3-1 lead.

Game 3: The Rays overcame some more shaky pitching (5 more walks) and came from behind late to beat Texas 7-5. Danny Ayala's first homer of the year with a man on in the 8th broke a 5-5 tie to give the Rays the win. The homer came off Victor Tobar, whom the Rays had acquired last year but dealt to Arizona in the offseason before they neglected to re-sign him and he ended up with the Rangers. Josh Hanna had started and looked good through 6 but had trouble in the 7th, including giving up a go-ahead homer to that man again Victor Arellano who won yesterday's game for Texas. He finished 7 6 5 5 4 7 but the bats got him off the book in the bottom of the inning when Jeff Baez delivered a 2-run single to tie it. Jim Golunski pitched the 8th and got the win, and Kikuo Kawase made it interesting again by putting two on but with two out he got the extremely dangerous Edgar Medina to fly to center and pick up his 2nd save. Earlier Omar Rodriguez continued his hot start by going 3-5 with a solo homer (#3) and Bo Angeac had a 2-run single.

Team record: 6-1. Next up: 3 games in Kansas City.

MLB News: Cleveland - the surprise pick to run away with the AL Central per the preseason predictions - has started the year 0-6, the last remaining winless team (nobody is undefeated).

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Nate Thompson was very good again and the rookie lefty-bashers came through big as the Rays beat Kansas City 6-2 at Kauffman Stadium. Thompson, coming off a 2-hit shutout in his season debut, had some early struggles but finished 6 6 2 0 2 6 with both the runs scoring on a Javier Baez throwing error. He's now 2-0, 0.00. Billy Hoyte went 2 scoreless and Vinny Willard one to finish out the game. The star on offense was rookie Jim Gebers, who doubled to lead off the 3rd and scored on Baez's double, and then homered for the 2nd time this season in the 4th. And fellow rookie Jeff Hayes finally got his first MLB hit and it was a memorable one: a 465-foot 2-run homer in the 6th. Bo Angeac also hit his 3rd homer and Jaiden Hardaway had an RBI single.

MLB News: Former Ray Gavin Lux hit career HR #500 today for Baltimore, although they lost to the Yankees.

Game 2: Kevin Kerstetter got hit for 5 runs in the 2nd inning and it was all downhill from there in an 8-3 loss to Kansas City. The Rays took a quick 2-0 lead in the first on a 2-run double from Daniel Vasquez but Kerstetter had troubles in the 2nd and it was capped by a bases-clearing double with two out. Omar Rodriguez's sac fly got them back within 5-3, and Kerstetter settled down to finish 5 10 5 5 1 4 but Jon Soranno gave up a 3-run homer in relief and after getting his final man in the 8th, he was diagnosed with a sprained elbow and will be out 3 weeks.

April 9: Placed P Jon Soranno on the 10-day IL with a sprained elbow, recalled P Willie Bertone from AAA Durham.

Game 3: For the second straight night Rays' pitching was lit up like a Christmas tree as they were routed by the Royals 11-3. Ron Adams got hit for three in the first, including a 2-run homer, two more in the 3rd and two more in the 4th before being pulled for Bob Sirna, who couldn't get any of the six men he faced out, including two more Kansas City homers. Adams finished a brutal 3.1 10 7 7 1 4 and Sirna gave up four runs without recording an out. Willie Bertone did stop the bleeding with 3 2/3 scoreless, and Vinny Willard got a mop-up inning in. The bats weren't much better, managing only 3 hits for the day but two of them were homers: a 2-run shot from Jeff Hayes (#2) and a solo blast from Eric Titcombe (#2).

Team record: 7-3. Next up: An off-day to lick our wounds, then on to Cincinnati for the first time in years.

MLB News: Cleveland fell to 0-9 in the most heartbreaking and bizarre fashion today in a 5-4 loss to San Diego. They led 4-2 after 8 innings and that included a team no-hitter in progress as San Diego scored twice in the 2nd on 3 walks, a HBP and an error. In the 9th there was another walk and another error, but they got two outs and were one out away from a combined no-hitter and the first win of the year, only for Padre pinch-hitter Chris Zaccardi to launch a 3-run homer. So somehow they manged to give up 5 runs and lose despite allowing only one hit. Unbelievable. (By the way, picking up the win in relief for San Diego? none other than old friend Alec Sachais)