The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was a struggle against the 1-8 Reds but the Rays finally prevailed 4-3 in 11 innings when Jeff Baez singled in Danny Ayala. Josh Carsello was all over the place in his 4 innings of work, going 4 6 3 3 4 9 as our pitchers continue to be wild. But the bullpen was great, turning in 7 scoreless innings with only 3 hits allowed, 2 walks and 10 whiffs. Danny Medina and Mike Wherry each turned in a pair of innings with Wherry picking up win #2 while Kikuo Kawase nabbed save #3. Solo homers from Eric Titcombe (#3) and Jim Gebers (#3) kept them in it until Jaiden Hardaway singled in the tying run in the 7th. Robbie Salazar, claimed from us by Cincinnati, had a chance to win it in the 9th with two men on and two out but Wherry got him to ground out and he's now 0-24 with the Reds.

I've been so busy playing games over these months that I haven't taken advantage of all the features OOTP has, so at long last here's a team photo so you can put some faces to the names I've been writing about all this time:



Game 2: Josh Hanna was brilliant and the Rays squeaked out enough offense to take a 2-0 win over Cincinnati and drop the Redlegs to 1-10 on the season. Hanna went 6.2 2 0 0 2 5 to improve to 2-0, 2.29. Vinny Willard got a big strikeout to end the 7th, and Jim Golunski took over. With numerous lefties to face and a quick 8th under his belt, Golunski came back out and pitched the 9th as well for his 1st save. He's been near unhittable this season with a season line of 7 2 0 0 0 14. The bats were up against a former Ray farmhand in Johnny Soland, who was traded years ago to the Reds in the deal that brought Jon Soranno here for Jack Leiter. At the time Soland was more of an infielder but converted to pitching and has turned into quite the prospect with 60 stuff, 65 movement and 50 control as a starter. He pitched well today but the Rays did get to him for a pair of runs in the 6th after loading the bases. Omar Rodriguez singled in a run and Daniel Vasquez brought home another with a sac fly and thanks to Hanna and Golunski it would be all they'd need.

MLB News: It took them 12 innings but Cleveland is finally in the win column with a 5-4 win over the White Sox after dropping their first 11. Think they're going to have a hard time living up to that preseason prediction of winning the AL Central by 16 games.

Game 3: The bats had been relatively quiet the last four games but today they erupted for 7 homers in a 13-3 rout of the Reds, the Rays' first win this season by more than 4 runs. 3 of those 7 homers came off the bat of Danny Ayala, who quadrupled his season total and drove in 5 runs in the process. Also going deep were Dayle Jenkins (#2), Bo Angeac (#4), Daniel Vasquez (#1), and Omar Rodriguez (#4), who had a 4-hit game. Jaiden Hardaway also drove in a pair of runs with a pair of hits. The beneficiary of all this support was Nate Thompson, who went to 3-0 and made it through 21 1/3 innings this season without allowing an earned run until the Reds got 2 off him in the 7th. He finished 6.2 6 2 2 2 6 and now has an ERA at 0.83. Bob Sirna went 1 1/3 and gave up a run while Willie Bertone mopped up with a 1-2-3 9th.

Team record: 10-3. Next up: The road trip heads east to Baltimore for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays edged the Orioles 2-1 today but suffered a grievous blow when Kevin Kerstetter had to leave after the first inning with a torn rotator cuff and will be out five months. Vinny Willard, likely to take his rotation spot, went 4 scoreless innings after Kerstetter gave up a run in his inning. Billy Hoyte pitched the 6th and picked up the win when Bo Angeac delivered a 2-run homer in the 7th (#5). Tim Siqueiros went 1 1/3, Mike Wherry got the final 2 outs in the 8th, and Kikuo Kawase struck out the side in the 9th for save #4.

April 15: Placed P Kevin Kerstetter on the 60-day IL with a torn rotator cuff, recalled P Jose Espinoza from AAA Durham.

We acquired Espinoza from Seattle near the deadline in 2034, and he's pitched at Durham since. In relief, he's got 70 stuff, but that's married with 35 movement and 45 control. He does have 70 stamina so we'll be looking at him for long relief. Vinny Willard will take Kerstetter's spot in the rotation until Jon Soranno comes back around the end of the month.

Game 2: The Rays went homer-happy again, clubbing 6 in an 11-1 rout of the Orioles. Jaiden Hardaway set the tone by leading off the game with his 1st longball of the year, and Jeff Hayes took over from there with his 2nd 2-homer game of the season, including a 3-run shot later in the 1st. He added a 2-run blast in the 5th to give him 4 on the season in 25 AB, and Eric Titcombe (#4), Omar Rodriguez (#5) and Mike McKee (#1) found the seats as well. Ron Adams started and notched his first win of the season after a 5 3 1 1 3 7 outing on 100 pitches. Bob Sirna went three scoreless innings and Jose Espinoza made his Rays debut with a scoreless 9th which saw him fan 3. Incidentally, the Yankees are off to a hot start at 10-4 and sit only 1 1/2 behind the Rays, who don't even have the best record in the AL as Houston is 12-2.

Game 3: Tampa Bay completed the sweep with a tense 4-3 win over Baltimore. Josh Carsello started against his former team and was cruising through 5 innings before falling apart in the 6th, eventually giving up a bases-clearing double to allow the Orioles within a run and finishing 5.2 3 3 3 4 6. The bullpen held from there, first with Danny Medina getting the final out of the 6th and pitching the 7th, then with Tim Siqueiros putting two on for Jim Golunski to bail him out (but not before Golunski issued his first walk as a Ray in 26.2 innings) and finally Kikuo Kawase in the 9th who put two on himself before getting save #5 to preserve Carsello's 2nd win. All the offense came in a 4-run 3rd inning on a Danny Ayala sac fly, a Bo Angeac RBI double and then a 2-run Omar Rodriguez double.

Team record: 13-3. Next up: Four games at Publix Park vs the Yankees, who did lose today and drop 2 1/2 back. Game 1 will see a date with old friend Leo Ortega.

MLB News: Speaking of old friends, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit career HR #600 today for the Angels.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays treated their former teammate Leo Ortega rudely in a 6-3 win over New York at Publix Park. Jaiden Hardaway greeted him with a double to start the game, scored on a Jon Jimenez sac fly and then Bo Angeac drilled a 2-run homer (#6) off Ortega to make it 3-0. They added 3 more in the 4th to chase him with the key hit a Daniel Vasquez double. Josh Hanna had the 6-0 lead but let it go to 6-3 when he ran out of gas in the 6th, finishing 5.2 7 3 3 1 5 but still improving to 3-0, 2.84. Like yesterday Danny Medina rescued a fading Rays starter in the 6th and Mike Wherry rescued him when Medina put a couple on in the 7th. Wherry pitched through the 8th and Kikuo Kawase did his thing again in the 9th with two whiffs for save #6.

Game 2: Never count this team out, especially at Publix Park, and the Yankees found that out today as the Rays came back from a 7-3 deficit in the 5th to take a 10-7 walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th on Omar Rodriguez's 6th HR of the year. The Rays jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on Dayle Jenkins' 3rd HR, an RBI double from Daniel Vasquez and a Jeff Baez RBI single. But Nate Thompson, who sailed through the first 4 innings, lost it big-time in the 5th allowing 7 runs including a 3-run Sal Mota homer to cap the inning and saw his ERA rise from 0.83 to 3.08. Jose Espinoza came in and was impressive, going 1 1/3 with 3 whiffs while the Rays started chipping away. First Jon Jimenez hit HR #2 with a man on in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-5 and in the 6th Vasquez (#2) and Will Quintana (#1) homered to tie it up. That's where we stayed until the 9th when Eric Titcombe hit a one-out pinch-hit triple. Danny Ayala whiffed for out #2 but Bo Angeac walked to set O-Rod up for his game-winning 3-run blast. Billy Hoyte went 2 perfect innings to keep it close and Tim Siqueiros picked up his first win of the year thanks to a 1-2-3 9th (and O-Rod).

Game 3: They did it again. The Rays scored twice in the bottom of the 9th to take a 6-5 win over the Yankees for their second straight walk-off win and 9th consecutive overall. After Jim Gebers hit a game-tying double off former Ray Tyler Jefferson, Mike McKee followed with a double of his own to give the Rays the victory. Like yesterday, a rough start put the Rays in the hole as Vinny Willard struggled mightily in the early innings in his first MLB start, giving up 5 runs over the first two. But maybe once he got past the nervousness, or whatever, he settled down admirably by pitching 4 shutout innings to end his start a still-bad but not that bad 6 7 5 5 2 4. Willie Bertone pitched the 7th and got two out in the 8th before putting a couple on when Jose Espinoza bailed him out. And Mike Wherry got the nod in the 9th and picked up his 3rd win already of the young season when the comeback happened in the bottom of the inning. Danny Ayala had gotten the Rays on the board in the 1st with a 2-run shot (#5) and they added two more in the 7th on RBI singles from Jeff Baez and McKee. One minor injury: Omar Rodriguez had to leave with an intercostal strain and will be out 3 days.

Game 4: There would be no comeback today as the Yankees scored 7 times in the 5th and waxed the Rays 8-2. Ron Adams got through the first 4 innings allowing only a run although he was in trouble most of the way, and there was no escaping it in the 5th when the Yankees added 3 more off him. He left with two on and Bob Sirna, who has struggled this young season, gave up a grand slam to the immortal Joe Hanek, a light-hitting rookie backup catcher and that was that. Adams finished a brutal 4.1 8 6 6 3 3 and saw his ERA rise to 7.64 as he now owns 2 of the team's 4 losses this year. Sirna hung around for 2 2/3 with the 2 runs allowed and Billy Hoyte pitched the final 2 scoreless. There were few offensive highlights but Jaiden Hardaway did hit a solo HR, his 2nd, and Jeff Hayes hit two triples (tying a team record held by many) and a double and somehow never scored.

Team record: 16-4. That isn't the best in baseball as the Astros continue their amazing start at 17-2. Next up: An off-day then Minnesota comes to town for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Rays pitchers struck out 20 Twins today but still had to hang on to a 5-4 win at Publix Park. Once again we got the full Josh Carsello experience, as he went 5 5 4 4 4 11 on 100 pitches but still picked up the win thanks to some top-notch relief pitching. Carsello is now 3-0, 4.91 thanks to Danny Medina (2 scoreless with 5 whiffs), Tim Siqueiros (2 Ks in 1) and Kikuo Kawase (2 more Ks including one to end the game with a man on 3rd) who got save #7. All the scoring came in the first four innings. Eric Titcombe had a 2-run double in the 1st and he was doubled home by Jeff Hayes, Omar Rodriguez tied it up in the 3rd with HR #7, and Jaiden Hardaway had what proved to be a game-winning RBI double in the 4th.

Game 2: No hanging on needed today as Omar Rodriguez homered twice to lead the Rays to a 9-2 rout of Minnesota. A 6-run 3rd capped by the first of O-Rod's homers broke it open, with Jon Jimenez launching a 3-run shot (#3) earlier in the inning. Dayle Jenkins added HR #4 in the 5th and Rodriguez hit his 2nd of the game and 9th of the year in the 6th. O-Rod is off to an incredible start hitting 390/400/780 and leading MLB in OPS. Josh Hanna was solid today in a 6 3 2 2 3 7 performance to improve to 4-0, 2.87, and Willie Bertone looks a new pitcher this year, going 3 hitless innings with 6 whiffs for save #1 as he's unscored upon in 9 1/3 innings so far.

Game 3: Another comfortable win for the Rays as Nate Thompson was brilliant in an 8-1 win. The righty has been the team's best starter this fifth turn through the rotation and today he went 8 2 1 0 0 6 to up his record to 4-0, 2.36 with an outstanding 6/37 BB/K ratio in 34 innings. Jose Espinoza had a 1-2-3 9th to finish things. On offense the unlikely star was Mike McKee, 2-4 with HR #2, a 3-run shot in the 4th. David Vasquez was 3-4 with an RBI and Omar Rodriguez went 2-4 to extend his hitting streak to 19 games and up his AL-leading batting average to .395.

Team record: 19-4, still not the best record in MLB as Houston stays hot at 20-3. Next up: A weekend wrap-around 4 games on the south side of Chicago vs the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays came from behind and took a 5-4 win in Chicago against the White Sox tonight. Danny Ayala's pinch-RBI double in the 7th broke a 3-3 tie, and Jeff Baez added a run-scoring single to get the Rays in position for win #20 of the season. Vinny Willard started, and once he learns how to get through the first inning the sky might be the limit for him. After giving up 3 in the 1st inning in his last start and later settling down, he did it again, throwing 30 pitches while Chicago put 3 on the board. But he went the next 5 scoreless, finishing 6 5 3 3 3 5 and picked up his first major league win thanks to the 7th inning rally. Jim Golunski struggled against his old team in the 7th allowing a run on 3 hits, and Tim Siqueiros had to pitch around a pair of walks to lead off the 8th before Kikuo Kawase had a 1-2-3 9th with two whiffs for save #8. Eric Titcombe and Jim Gebers each drove in a run earlier, and Omar Rodriguez went 3-4 with a steal to extend his hitting streak to 20 games and raise his average to .411.

April 26: Activated P Jon Soranno from the 10-day IL, optioned P Jose Espinoza to AAA Durham.

Espinoza was impressive in his 4 appearances and will be in line for the next callup, while Soranno will take Vinny Willard's place in the rotation although the way Ron Adams has been going it might be his spot, we'll see how Adams does today.

Game 2: The Rays brought out the boomsticks tonight as they clubbed 5 homers in an 8-4 win over the White Sox. Bo Angeac's 2-run shot in the 1st (#7) got them going and Jaiden Hardaway (#3) and Dayle Jenkins (#5) went back-to-back in the 5th. Also going back-to-back were Jon Jimenez (#4, a 2-run homer) and Danny Ayala (#6) in the 7th. Ron Adams started and wasn't entirely convincing, going 6.1 8 4 4 2 7 for win #2 and bringing his ERA down to 7.12 in the process. Billy Hoyte went 1 2/3 with 3 strikeouts and Willie Bertone remain unscored upon with a clean 9th. One negative note: Omar Rodriguez's 20-game hit streak was snapped.

Game 3: The Rays failed to score in 7 of the 9 innings today, but still put 15 runs on the scoreboard in a 15-2 rout of Chicago. They actually trailed 2-0 going into the 5th inning when they erupted for 8 runs with the big blow an Omar Rodriguez grand slam, his 10th homer already. Then they put 7 more on the board in the 8th with Dayle Jenkins crushing a 3-run homer (#6, quite a few already for a guy who averages them in the teens) and Danny Ayala going deep for #7. Jenkins drove in 4 on the day, Ayala 2, Daniel Vasquez added a 2-run double and Will Quintana was 3-3 with an RBI as they pounded out 19 hits in total. Jon Soranno made a triumphant return to the rotation in his first start in over a year, going 6 5 2 2 4 3, although it was his 2nd win. Danny Medina went the final 3 scoreless for his first save of the year.



O-Rod also leads the AL in WAR with 1.9.

Game 4: Tampa Bay dropped the series finale 5-4 thanks to another inconsistent outing from Josh Carsello. The lefty went 6 8 5 5 3 4 and took his first loss of the season as he lost a 4-2 lead in the 5th allowing a 3-run homer. Willie Bertone struck out the side in the 7th and Mike Wherry did likewise in the 8th to keep it close, but the bats couldn't get over the hump with Danny Ayala being thrown out at home in the 8th trying to score the tying run. Omar Rodriguez drove in a pair with a single and a groundout, and Daniel Vasquez was 2-4 with an RBI but it wasn't a big day for the offense.

Team record: 22-5. Next up: The road trip continues in Fenway for 3 against the Red Sox.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Jaiden Hardaway rapped out 5 hits and the Rays routed the Red Sox 9-0 at Fenway Park in the opener of their 3-game series. Included among the hits were a pair of doubles and the second sacker drove in a run as well in his first career 5-hit game. Jeff Baez had the game's big hit, a 3-run homer which turned a 1-0 game into a 4-0 game in the 4th, his first circuit clout of the season. Dayle Jenkins also drove in 3 with a pair of knocks. Josh Hanna was excellent on the mound as well, going 7 3 0 0 3 7 to improve to 5-0, 2.35 while Bob Sirna is hopefully over his early-season struggles after going 2 perfect innings in relief.

Game 2: The rookie lefty-bashers had a big day, driving in 7 of the 11 runs the Rays scored in another rout of the Red Sox, 11-2. Jeff Hayes had a big 2-run double in the 6th to break open a 1-0 game and later drove in a run with sac fly, and Jim Gebers launched a 3-run homer over the Monster along with a sac fly to give him 4 RBI as they got to former Ray Jeremy Bowers. Will Quintana's 2nd HR of the year gave them the 1-0 lead, and Jon Jimenez was 3-5 with 2 RBI. Nate Thompson continued his Cy-caliber pitching by taking a shutout into the 9th before he put the leadoff man on and gave up a homer, so he finished 8 7 2 2 0 9 to improve to 5-0, 2.34. Willie Bertone remains unscored upon after a clean 2K 9th.



Hail Omar! He's leading the AL in all three Triple Crown categories.



Meanwhile all this guy does is hit.

Game 3: Ron Adams pitched his best game of the season and the Rays completed their own "Boston Massacre" with a 5-0 win to sweep the series by an aggregate score of 25-2. Adams went 6 4 0 0 2 9 on 107 pitches to up his record to 3-2 and lower his bloated ERA to 5.70. Tim Siqueiros, Jim Golunski and Vinny Willard all pitched a scoreless inning to complete the shutout. They took an early 3-0 lead on solo homers from Dayle Jenkins (#7), Jon Jimenez (#5, back-to-back with Jenkins) and Will Quintana (#3, second straight game for him), and Jeff Baez added a 2-run triple in the 8th to create some separation.

Team record: 25-5. Houston lost 3 straight to fall to 22-6, so the Rays now have MLB's best record. Next up: 3 games at Yankee Stadium.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Pitching ruled the night as the Rays and Yankees went 1-1 into the 13th inning at Yankee Stadium before Tampa Bay broke through with a run to take a 2-1 win. Jon Soranno and Mitchell Stone were stingy tonight with the former allowing a 1st-inning run thanks to a pair of Rays errors while Stone only allowed a Bo Angeac solo homer (#8) in the 6th. Soranno was excellent, going 7 5 1 0 1 9 and so was the bullpen with Tim Siqueiros striking out the side in the 8th, Jim Golunski fanning 5 in 2 innings, Mike Wherry 3 more in his 2 and Kikuo Kawase whiffing 3 around a couple of baserunners in the 13th to get save #9. Wherry, who seems to be our late inning good-luck charm got his 4th win of the season already as Rays pitching fanned 23 Yankees in the game. Wherry's win came thanks to Jaiden Hardaway leading off the 13th with a double and scoring on an Angeac single.

Game 2: The Rays offense is so good that it can paper over their sins and that was the case today as 4 homers leading to 8 runs made up for some shaky pitching and an even shakier defense in a wild back-and-forth 8-6 win over the Yankees. Josh Carsello continues to be problematic as the bats kept handing him leads and he kept giving them back, allowing 4 homers, tripling the amount he had allowed all year. He cut back on the walks (0) but got too much of the plate in exchange, finishing 6 6 6 4 0 9. As you can see from that line two of the runners who scored ahead of the homers he allowed reached on errors as the team made four in total with everyone on the infield contributing one except for 1B David Vasquez (Mike McKee had the other). But the one thing that is always reliable on this team aside from the bats is the bullpen, and despite the "A-team" being unavailable after last night's marathon, Willie Bertone had a scoreless 7th (and got the win), Billy Hoyte a clean 8th and the save went to Vinny Willard, who closed at Durham last year and got his first MLB chance at Yankee Stadium, acquitting himself nicely with a 1-2-3 9th including a whiff for MLB save #1. And the bats, of course. Homers from Jon Jimenez in the 1st (#6, a 2-run shot), Vasquez and McKee in the 4th (#3 for each, both solos) and Dayle Jenkins (#8, a 2-run shot and well on pace to break his personal best of 22) brought home the first 6 runs while Jenkins delivered the game-winner in the 8th, a 2-run single to break a 6-6 tie and give him a 4-RBI day.

Game 3: The Rays made it a clean sweep of the Northeast by following up their 3 wins in Fenway with 3 more against the Yankees, prevailing today 4-2 behind a strong outing from Josh Hanna. After treating him rudely at Publix Park earlier this season the Rays again jumped out quickly against former teammate Leo Ortega thanks to a 3-run homer from Danny Ayala (#8) in the 1st. Those 3 runs held up thanks to Hanna, who shook off allowing runs in the first two innings by shutting down the Yanks the rest of the way to the tune of 7 6 2 2 0 5 on 82 pitches and went to 6-0, 2.38. With righties due up in the 8th and lefties in the 9th, Kikuo Kawase came in for a rare hold, getting New York in the 8th while Mike Wherry made quick work of the Yankees (3 outs on 5 pitches) in the 9th for his 1st save of the year. Wherry's job was made a little easier thanks to Daniel Vasquez's 4th HR of the year in the top of the frame to make it a 2-run game.

Team record: 28-5. Next up: The AL gets a break from being terrorized for one day before we head back home to play Baltimore for 3. Hey, remember when the Astros were 22-3 and had a better record than the Rays? They lost their sixth straight today to drop to 22-9.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: It was the battle of the Nates at Publix Park as the Rays' ace of the staff the last 3 years, Nate Schultz, returned to a familiar mound to face the new ace of the Rays, Nate Thompson. And as it was said in Highlander, there can be only one and it was Thompson who came out on top along with the Rays by a decisive 8-1 margin. Schultz got the Leo Ortega treatment as the Tampa Bay bats jumped all over him in a 6-run 3rd which saw homers from David Vasquez (#5), Jaiden Hardaway (#4, a 2-run blast), and Bo Angeac (#9, also a 2-run shot). In the 7th, Dayle Jenkins and Danny Ayala each hit their 9th to pad the lead. This was plenty to support another dominant performance from Thompson, who went 7 3 1 1 0 11 and is now 6-0, 2.19, and leads MLB in pitcher WAR at 2.3. Willie Bertone made it 15 1/3 scoreless this season with a pair of clean frames.

Game 2: It's not often you see a 1-0 game at Publix Park, and it's even more rare to see the Rays lose a 1-0 game at Publix Park, but Zach Farese and two relievers shut out Tampa Bay tonight to snap the Rays' 7-game win streak. The Orioles squeaked across a run in the 8th off Tim Siqueiros and that would be all they'd need tonight as the Rays wasted a season-best effort from Ron Adams. The righty went 7 4 0 0 2 10 and lowered his ERA to 4.62 but Siqueiros put two men on with a hit and a walk and gave up an RBI single to Jose Serrano. Jim Golunski got the final 4 outs with 3 whiffs but despite getting Jeff Baez up to 2nd in the bottom of the 9th, pinch-hitter Daniel Vasquez whiffed as did Jaiden Hardaway, and Dayle Jenkins grounded out to end the game. A milestone was reached tonight as Baltimore's Mookie Betts got career hit #3500. Betts sits at #6 all-time and is 15 hits away from passing Tris Speaker to move into 5th. He would need another 116 to pass Stan Musial into 4th, though.

MLB News: Also reaching a big milestone tonight was Houston's Juan Soto, who became the 36th player in MLB history to reach the 3000-hit mark in a Houston win which saw them snap their 8-game losing streak after having started the season 22-3.

Game 3: Almost as rare as a 1-0 Rays game is seeing the Rays bullpen implode but that's what happened as a 4-3 lead in the 8th became a 10-4 loss to Baltimore as Tampa Bay drops consecutive games for the first time in a month. Usually a late-inning Rays lead is money in the bank but Tim Siqueiros, who now has been charged with 3 of the team's 7 losses, struggled for the second straight day in the 8th giving up 3 hits and a walk to allow Baltimore to tie and left with the bases loaded. Jim Golunski got what looked to be a possible double play ball but they couldn't turn it and the go-ahead run scored. Vinny Willard then came out for the 9th and had nothing, getting pummeled for 5 runs on 5 hits with Willie Bertone allowing the last of his two runners to score (although none of his own so his ERA remains 0.00). All of this cost Jon Soranno a win, as he went a decent 6 5 3 3 3 7. On offense Daniel Vasquez hit HR #6 in the 5th to break a 3-3 tie with what should have been the game-winner while Jon Jimenez and Bo Angeac each had 2 hits and a ribbie.

Team record: 29-7. Next up: Cleveland visits for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays made sure they weren't going to lose three straight by walloping Cleveland 11-1 at Publix Park. Jim Gebers' RBI single in the 2nd got them on the board and then Bo Angeac's bases-clearing double in the 4th allowed them to pull away. Jaiden Hardaway added a 2-run triple, and Jeff Hayes had a 2-run HR (#5) followed by a Gebers solo shot (#5). Meanwhile Josh Carsello pitched his best game in over a month going 6 5 1 1 1 2 7 to improve to 4-1, 4.95. Willie Bertone and Bob Sirna had scoreless innings before Vinny Willard had to leave one batter into the 9th with a strained forearm (a one-week injury) and Billy Hoyte got the final two outs.

May 10: Placed P Vinny Willard on the 10-day IL with a strained forearm, recalled P Jose Espinoza from AAA Durham.

Game 2: The Rays overcame a rough start from Josh Hanna to come back and beat Cleveland 7-5. Jim Gebers was the star tonight as his 2-run HR in the 5th turned a 5-4 Cleveland lead into a 6-5 one for Tampa Bay, and he added insurance as well with his 2nd longball of the game (#7) in the 8th. Jaiden Hardaway also homered (#5), stole a base and drove in a pair while Dayle Jenkins and Jeff Baez had RBI knocks. Hanna was off tonight, allowing 5 runs in the first 3 innings, but managed to stick around through 5 and get the win, however undeserved. His final line was 5 7 5 5 2 6 and he's now 7-0, 3.04. Danny Medina went two strong innings in relief, Jim Golunski took care of business in the 8th and Kikuo Kawase notched save #10 with a pair of whiffs. I'll take a moment to mention how well our strategy of going with Eric Titcombe, Jeff Hayes and Gebers against lefties has paid off. It was somewhat controversial around Tampa Bay with slugging stars like Danny Ayala and Jon Jimenez being benched against lefty starters, but Titcombe is 288/356/561, Hayes 271/323/661 and Gebers 284/325/608 with 16 HR among the three. That's a fair shout better than what Ayala and Jimenez did against lefties last year, as well as what Daniel Vasquez would be likely to do.

Game 3: The Rays completed the sweep with an 11-5 win over Cleveland which featured a 9-run 3rd inning that saw the Rays send 14 men to the plate. Jaiden Hardaway had an RBI single and an RBI double in the inning, Jon Jimenez a 2-run single, and Jeff Baez threw in a 3-run homer (#2). Daniel Vasquez, who also singled in a run during that inning, later hit a solo HR (#7) as did Danny Ayala (#10). Like yesterday the Rays got a mediocre start from a normally reliable starter as Nate Thompson fell behind 2-0 in the 1st and wound up 6 5 4 4 2 6 but still goes to 7-0 as his ERA rises to 2.60. Jose Espinoza went the final 3, allowing a run but whiffing 5 for his first MLB save.

Team record: 32-7. Next up: A west coast road trip starts with 3 in Seattle.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays moved to 33-7 with a 6-2 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Eric Titcombe blasted a pair of homers, a solo shot in the 2nd to make it 3-0 and then a 2-run jack in the 8th (#6) to give us the final score and the Rays some breathing room. Ron Adams turned in another solid start, going 6.1 7 2 2 1 4 to improve to 4-2, 4.36, Jim Golunski fanned 3 in 1 2/3 and now has a 1/31 BB/K ratio on the season, and Willie Bertone made it 18 IP without an ER after a scoreless 9th. Mike McKee contributed a solo HR (#4) as well.

Game 2: A pitchers' duel tonight between Jon Soranno and Seattle's Willie Valdez broke in the Rays' favor tonight 2-1. Soranno was in command, going 7.1 6 1 1 0 7 and upped his record to 3-0, 2.59. Mike Wherry got two big outs in the 8th and like teammate Willie Bertone remains unscored upon, and Kikuo Kawase did his thing with a 1-2-3 9th for save #11. Daniel Vasquez's RBI double in the 2nd and Jon Jimenez's sac fly in the 3rd accounted for the runs, and they did have a couple of squandered chances to expand the lead but it didn't matter.

Game 3: The offense exploded today as the Rays routed Seattle 14-3 to sweep the series. And they did it against a pretty good pitcher in the Mariners' Willie Gutierrez. The lefty bashers came through again as Jeff Hayes had an RBI triple and a 3-run HR (#6) and is slugging a cool .691, Jim Gebers had a 2-run double and Eric Titcombe was 2-4 with an RBI. Everyone in the lineup had a hit, everyone except Jeff Baez scored, and everyone except Dayle Jenkins and Mike McKee drove in a run. This made life easy for Josh Carsello, who seems to be settling down of late as he picked up win #5 going 6 4 1 1 2 5. Jose Espinoza went for the 3-inning save, but gave up a couple of runs in the 9th and was in more trouble, so the recently-struggling Tim Siqueiros got a low-leverage outing and struck out two of three men he faced (although he walked the other).

Team record: 35-7. Next up: We head down the Pacific coast and play 4 games in Anaheim against the Angels.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Josh Hanna took his first loss of the year as the Rays struggled on offense tonight in a 3-2 defeat. They had their chances early against former Tampa Bay ace Christian Little and should have made Little pay for his wildness more than the two they scored when Danny Ayala was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and then Bo Angeac forced a run in with a walk in the 3rd. But that was it for the night and Hanna gave up a go-ahead RBI single to Eloy Jimenez in the 5th and finished 5 7 3 3 1 8. Danny Medina turned in a pair of scoreless innings and Billy Hoyte one to keep it close but the breakthrough never arrived.

Game 2: The Rays bounced back tonight with a 9-2 win although it took half the game for the bats to wake up. Angels starter Keider Montero retired the first 14 batters before Omar Rodriguez doubled, and Daniel Vasquez followed with a 2-run homer (#8) to open the floodgates. Dayle Jenkins broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th with a 2-run shot (#10), Jon Jimenez went back-to-back with him (#7), and Danny Ayala hit #11 in the 8th as 7 runs in the 6th through the 8th blew it open. That was more than enough for Nate Thompson who nearly pitched a complete game, going 8.2 9 2 2 1 10 before Willie Bertone was summoned to get the final out. Thompson is now 8-0, 2.53 with a 9/73 BB/K ratio in 64 innings, leads the AL in pitcher WAR at 2.7 and has to be the Cy Young frontrunner at the moment.

Game 3: Ron Adams continued his in-season turnaround and the bats broke a close game open late in a 6-1 win over the Angels in Anaheim. Adams, whose ERA started with a 7 not that long ago, went 7 3 1 1 3 7 to improve to 5-2, 3.93. Tim Siqueiros and Mike Wherry (still unscored upon this year) each pitched a clean inning in relief. Dayle Jenkins hit HR #11 to make it 1-0 Rays in the first as he's on pace for 40, which would shatter his career high of 22, before Eloy Jimenez took Adams deep to equalize for career HR #650. Daniel Vasquez homered for the second straight night (#9) in the 5th to make it 2-1, and then a 4-run 8th with 2-run homers from Omar Rodriguez (#11, his first in 3 weeks after a torrid start) and Mike McKee (#5) put the game away.

Game 4: The Rays took the series with a 4-3 win over the Angels today. And it was a couple of lefty hitters who got to play against a lefty today due to Jaiden Hardaway and Dayle Jenkins needing a rest who came through with the big hits off a tough and familiar lefty in Jon Hayes. Jon Jimenez homered (#8) off Hayes in the 3rd, and Danny Ayala came through with a 2-run double in the 5th to put the Rays ahead to stay before Jeff Baez's RBI double in the 6th proved to be a vital insurance run. Jon Soranno started and went 5.1 6 2 2 1 9 including a HR allowed to Eloy Jimenez, who always kills us. Danny Medina got a big double play to escape a jam Soranno left for him in the 6th and pitched through the 7th, Jim Golunski had a scoreless 8th, and Kikuo Kawase had a little bit of an adventure but got save #12 as he walked the first two men and one of them scored on a throwing error. Soranno improves to 4-0, 2.70 with the win.

Team record: 38-8. Next up: An off-day then back home for 3 vs Oakland.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays ran into a tough customer in Alex Santamaria, one of the league's best, and he and the A's shut out Tampa Bay 3-0 at Publix Park. Josh Carsello started for the Rays and had one of his "all over the place" games, going 4.1 8 2 2 3 7 on 109 pitches and dropping to 5-2, 4.50. Bob Sirna went 2 2/3 scoreless and Vinny Willard gave up a run in his 2 innings of work. Nobody distinguished themselves with the bat tonight, although Bo Angeac at least reached 3 times on a hit and two walks.

Game 2: Tampa Bay's bats came back to life tonight, but the pitching didn't and the A's feasted on the Rays bullpen to take a come-from-behind 9-8 win in 10 innings. Lefty-swinging Joe Allen, who used to torment the Rays when he was with the Yankees, was the hero for Oakland today with a pair of homers off normally reliable lefty relievers. His 3-run homer off Billy Hoyte in the 8th tied the game at 8, and then he took Jim Golunski deep in the 10th for the game-winner. It was a shocking turn of events for a team which can boast of the best bullpen in baseball. Danny Ayala homered (#11) and drove in 3 runs and Daniel Vasquez (#10) also went deep for Tampa Bay while Dayle Jenkins had 3 hits and an RBI and Jaiden Hardaway was 2-5 with 3 runs scored. Josh Hanna started and pitched similar to fellow lefty teammate Josh Carsello yesterday, piling up the whiffs but getting hit hard in between as he finished 5 8 5 5 1 10. Still he was in line for the win before Danny Medina put two men on in his second inning of work and then Hoyte came in and gave up the 3-run homer to Allen.

Game 3: The Rays salvaged a game from their series with Oakland thanks to a 5-2 win behind another strong outing from Nate Thompson. The righty continued his excellent start to the season with a 7 2 1 1 1 6 outing to improve to 9-0, 2.41 and he leads the AL in wins, strikeouts and pitcher WAR. Tim Siqueiros struggled once again, allowing a run in the 8th and needing to be bailed out by Mike Wherry, while Kikuo Kawase handled the A's with a 1-2-3 9th whiffing a pair and getting save #13. The offense was a two-man affair. Daniel Vasquez stayed red-hot, hitting a solo homer (#11) to get the Rays on the board and followed that up with a 2-run triple, while Jon Jimenez added a 2-run shot in the 8th (#9) after the A's had pulled within 3-2.

Team record: 39-10. Next up: Boston visits Publix Park for 3 games.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays took a 7-2 lead but had to hold on to a 7-6 win over Boston at Publix Park as the bullpen continued its recent shaky run. Part of the problem was that it had to be pressed into action early as Ron Adams left after 4 innings with biceps tendinitis and he'll be out a couple of weeks. Billy Hoyte took over and pitched two scoreless innings for his second win, but gave up a pair of hits and walks and wasn't convincing. But after a clean 7th Bob Sirna put a couple on and Willie Bertone, previously unscored upon, put up a stinker, allowing Sirna's runners and one of his own to score, and Jim Golunski came in and gave up a double to score another of Bertone's and 7-2 became 7-6. Kikuo Kawase put an end to the nonsense in the 9th with another 1-2-3 2K inning for save #14. Before that the bats put on a balanced attack with Daniel Vasquez still unconscious with a 2-run triple and Mike McKee adding an RBI double with most everyone else contributing as well.

We have a trade:



The rare trade where the assistant GM is in agreement! Who is Alfredo Vega? A pretty darn good starting pitcher:



Those numbers from this season are good for 2nd in pitcher WAR in the AL. I don't think he's going to keep that up (0.6 HR/9 with 50 movement is due for some regression) but he's a solid starter. I had this deal in my queue for a while and had interest in Vega last year, but the Ron Adams injury (even though it's only minor) got me to pull the trigger. Valdez is an excellent CF prospect, but he's going to be a decent, not an impact, hitter. Julio Cedillo 2.0 as I see it. Champagne was once rated a top 5 prospect, but has failed to live up to billing and has regressed as a prospect and is now ranked about 280 overall by BNN. The problem is that his hit tool never developed. He's a fine defensive 3B (65) and has power (65) but he's a 40 for contact and 35 for gap power. The other two guys were marginal A-ball prospect throw-ins. Vega will slide into the rotation and I have placed Adams on the 10-day IL with biceps tendinitis. We'll see what happens when Adams is ready to return, but he does get hurt a lot.

Game 2: Saturday's game was rained out so this game is the first of Sunday's doubleheader, and the Rays overcame a rough start from Jon Soranno to come back and take an 8-6 win over Boston. Soranno allowed 5 runs in the 3rd and limped his way to a 4.1 7 6 5 2 7 line, leaving the bases loaded and one out for Danny Medina in the 5th. But Medina got a 6-2-3 double play to end the threat and pitched two more innings to nab his first win of the year. That's because Jon Jimenez his the second of his 2-run HRs (#11) in the bottom of the 5th to tie it, and Omar Rodriguez went deep for #12 to give the Rays the lead to stay. Also having big days were Daniel Vasquez (who else?), 3-4 with an RBI double, and Dayle Jenkins, 4-5 with 2 runs scored. Jim Golunski got the Red Sox in the 8th and Kikuo Kawase pitched around a couple of runners for save #15.

Game 3: The Rays completed both the sweep of the doubleheader and the sweep of the series with a 5-2 victory over the Red Sox behind Dayle Jenkins, who had a day to remember with a 5-hit game and a 9-hit day. The Tampa Bay CF raised his average from .316 to .345 in one afternoon and scored two more runs. One of those runs came on Omar Rodriguez's 13th HR of the year and 2nd of the doubleheader which was followed by Bo Angeac's 10th to give the Rays an early 3-0 lead. Eric Titcombe drove in the other 2 with a single in the 8th to provide some insurance. Josh Carsello was excellent today, shutting out Boston until the 7th and finishing 7 4 2 2 2 9 to improve to 6-2, 4.28. Mike Wherry went the final 2 innings for his 2nd save of the year.

Team record: 42-10. Next up: 3 games in Toronto.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Omar Rodriguez hit a pair of 3-run homers in a pair of 5-run innings for the Rays in the 2nd and 3rd tonight as they blasted the Blue Jays 10-3. O-Rod was 4-5 on the night with the 2 HR (#s 14 & 15) and 6 RBI, while Jeff Hayes added a solo shot (#7) and the piping hot Dayle Jenkins drove in a pair with a single and a sac fly in a 2-hit night. Josh Hanna wasn't his sharpest, giving up a couple of homers including one to former Ray Jud Fabian, but went 6 5 3 3 4 4 to go to 8-1, 3.80. Willie Bertone picked up his 2nd 3-inning save of the year in keeping Toronto off the board.

Game 2: Nate Thompson was hit for 5 runs in the 2nd inning but it didn't matter in the end as the Rays came back to take a 6-5 win over Toronto. Thompson allowed a run and then had 2 on and nobody out before he loaded the bases and gave up a grand slam to Henry Quintana, but he gave Toronto nothing after that and went 7 5 5 5 3 4. And Danny Ayala's pinch-hit homer in the 7th (#13) broke a 5-5 tie to make Thompson 10-0, 2.77. Jim Golunski pitched the 8th and Kikuo Kawase gave up 2 singles, wild pitched them to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, but got a strikeout and popup to end the game and secure save #16. Dayle Jenkins stayed ludicrously hot by going 4-4 with a pair of doubles including one to tie the game in the 6th, and he's now 15 for his last 18. Also hot has been Omar Rodriguez and he drove in a pair with a single and a sac fly.

Game 3: The Rays continue to run roughshod on the American League, winning their 7th straight 8-2 over the Blue Jays. Dayle Jenkins continues to be on the hottest stretch I've seen any player have, doubling and scoring in the 1st and hitting a 3-run homer (#12) in the 2nd inning, his 17th hit in his last 20 at-bats. Jenkins did single later in the game as well. Daniel Vasquez (#12) and Bo Angeac (#11) homered in the 3rd, and Jaiden Hardaway added a solo shot (#6) later as part of his own 3-hit, 2-RBI day. The game marked the debut of Alfredo Vega for the Rays and he was OK in his first start, going 5.1 8 2 2 0 5 and picking up the win. He also benefited from a runner thrown out at the plate. Danny Medina got him out of a jam in the 6th with a double play after 2 pitches and was so efficient he went the final 3 2/3 on only 37 pitches for his 2nd save.

Team record: 45-10. Next up: An off-day then a weekend at Fenway.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays rolled on to their 8th straight win with an 8-3 win at Fenway over the Red Sox. Danny Ayala (#14) and Jon Jimenez (#12) homered early, and Jeff Baez drove in 3 with a 2-run double and a sac fly while Jaiden Hardway was 3-5 with 2 RBI. Not getting a hit was Dayle Jenkins, 0-5 after his ridiculous 5-game run. Josh Carsello was solid, 7 4 1 1 3 6 to raise his record to 7-2 and drop his ERA below 4 at 3.97. Vinny Willard went the final two, allowing a 2-run homer.

Game 2: It looked to be a great pitching matchup on paper (or electrons) as Jon Soranno went up against Boston ace Sean Nelson, and it turned out that way as the Rays took advantage of Nelson's wildness to score twice in the 2nd despite getting only 3 hits on the night in a 2-1 win with Soranno turning in an exceptional performance. How exceptional? He had a no-hitter into the 6th and a one-hitter through 7 before finishing 7.1 1 1 1 1 12 with the run scoring primarily thanks to Tim Siqueiros' continued struggles. Nelson walked four Rays in the 2nd with the runs coming on a Jeff Baez sac fly and a bases-loaded walk to Jaiden Hardaway. The offense was stifled from there but it didn't matter thanks to Soranno, who is now 5-0, 3.17. He walked the leadoff man in the 8th then Siqueiros gave up a hit, another walk and a sac fly before Jim Golunski got the final out. Kikuo Kawase had a 1-2-3 9th with 2 whiffs for save #17 to complete the combined 2-hitter. Fun stat: since joining the Rays last July Golunski has walked only one batter in the 44 1/3 innings he's pitched for us and has struck out 66, including the playoffs.

MLB News: From the "What year is this?" department San Diego's Kevin Turnbull pitched a 1-hit shutout in which he walked only one and struck out only two, and threw only 79 pitches. Forget a "Maddux" that was an Addie Joss.

Monthly awards time:





You may recall Daniel Malone was our return from the Mets in the Luis Corpus deal the winter before last. .244-7-23 isn't the most incredible month for 2032's overall #1 pick, but I guess it was good enough. Malone has a real chance of taking over in CF after Dayle Jenkins leaves via free agency this winter, although we could simply move Omar Rodriguez to the position and go with a corner guy like Jeff Hayes or Eric Titcombe.



I don't think I mentioned it at the time but back in April we signed veteran P John Rizzo to a minor-league deal and the 33-year-old has responded by dominating the International League. Rizzo has always had great stuff (65 as a starter, 70 as a reliever) but has been held back by 35 control. He's an insurance policy and a possible trade chip.

Game 3: The win streak reaches 10 games as Bo Angeac's 9th-inning homer (#12) broke a 2-2 tie to give the Rays a 3-2 win at Fenway Park. Before then Mario Candelaria had shut the Rays down on 1 run and 3 hits through 6, much as he did in last year's playoffs and the Rays trailed 2-1. But Omar Rodriguez tripled in the 7th and scored on Daniel Vasquez's single against his old team, after Mike McKee had given Tampa Bay its other run on an RBI double. Josh Hanna started and was very good at 6 6 2 2 1 8, Mike Wherry and Tim Siqueiros (bouncing back) had scoreless innings, and Kikuo Kawase did his high-wire act tonight with men on 1st and 3rd and 1 out but he got an infield pop and then a diving, sliding catch from Omar Rodriguez in right to preserve the win, his 18th save. Siqueiros was credited with his 2nd win.

Team record: 48-10. Next up: Our annual interleague series with Columbus starts with 2 in Ohio where we check in on old friend Victor de Jesus.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Nationwide Ballpark has been a tough place for us to win the last few years, but not for the 2036 Rays as they took consecutive win #11 in a 9-4 romp over the Lightning. Nate Thompson went to 11-0 in his 12th start although he labored to make it through 5 innings despite a big lead, finishing 5 4 2 2 4 9 on 109 pitches. Willie Bertone chucked a pair of scoreless innings but Bob Sirna's struggles continue this year as he allowed 2 runs in his 2 innings. On offense Dayle Jenkins resumed his hot run by having a Noah's Ark night, 2-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBI, Bo Angeac was 2-4 with 2 RBI and Jaiden Hardaway had another 3-hit game, driving in a run.

Game 2: Alfredo Vega was decent in his Rays debut last week, but tonight he was dazzling, 1-hitting the Lightning over 7 innings in a 4-2 Rays win, their 12th straight. Vega allowed a homer to the second batter he faced but gave up nothing after that, finishing 7 1 1 1 2 8 in a dominant performance. Jim Golunski gave up a homer in the 8th, only the 2nd since he first donned a Rays uniform last year, and with Kikuo Kawase and Tim Siqueiros fatigued and 3 righties due, Danny Medina got the call in the 9th and picked up his 3rd save with a 1-2-3 inning, his first of the non 3-inning variety. The offense was largely held in check tonight except for one fateful inning, the 5th. With the bases loaded and 2 out, Lightning pitcher Jordan Perez balked in a run to tie the game at 1, and apparently was rattled enough to serve up a 3-run homer to Omar Rodriguez (#16) on the next pitch and that would be all they'd need thanks to Vega.

Team record: 50-10. Next up: We all hop on a plane to Tampa and do this again with the Lightning for 2 games at Publix Park.

[Art Deco]

A quick look at our picks:

Hayden: A 17-year-old high school pitcher out of California who has potential 60 stuff, 55 movement, 50 control, a groundball guy.

Webb: College junior from Wichita State projected for mid-rotation with "a feel for pitching".

Bowers: A 6'5" high-school SS from Virginia with big-time power potential, sounds like a future 3B to me.

Medina: Florida high-schooler who projects to have plus-plus control to go with decent but not spectacular stuff.

Christensen: Starter from Vanderbilt who projects at the back end of a rotation or in middle relief.

Busing: Yet another starting pitcher, a high schooler from Iowa who could have above-average stuff but his command is iffy.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The win streak reaches a baker's dozen as the Rays took a 6-1 win over Columbus at Publix Park. They scored 3 times in the 2nd on a Will Quintana single, a bases-loaded walk to Jaiden Hardaway and a Dayle Jenkins sac fly, and then picked up 3 more on the 4th on Jon Jimenez's 13th HR of the season. Josh Carsello went to 8-2, 3.79 with a 5.2 4 1 1 2 8 outing and he was relieved by Danny Medina in his more customary 6th/7th inning role, and Billy Hoyte went the final 2 innings perfect.

Game 2: Thought for sure I'd be writing about how the Rays' win streak ended today when they trailed 4-1 in the 7th against one of the NL's best pitchers in Josh Doyle, but these are the 2036 Rays we're talking about and sure enough they scored 5 times in the 7th to take a 6-4 win and make it 14 on the trot. This time the winning run scored on a bad pickoff throw to first after RBI hits from Jim Gebers, Jeff Baez and Jaiden Hardaway tied it up. That rally overcame a rough start from Jon Soranno, who gave up a bases-loaded double to one-time Rays farmhand Jorge Perez in the 1st and finished 4.1 3 4 4 6 5 as he couldn't find the plate today. Bob Sirna snapped out of his funk with 2 2/3 scoreless to notch his first win of the year, Tim Siqueiros took care of the 8th (but not after walking a pair) and Kikuo Kawase recorded save #18 with a perfect 9th.

Team record: 52-10. Next up: Seattle visits for a 4-game weekend wraparound series.

[Art Deco]

June 6: Activated P Ron Adams from the 10-day IL, optioned P Vinny Willard to AAA Durham.

Adams comes back to find Alfredo Vega in his rotation spot, so he'll pitch long relief. Willard will be used as a starter at Durham.

Game 1: The Rays' 14-game win streak came to an unceremonious end tonight as Seattle got the best of them 4-2 at Publix Park. Josh Hanna had a very similar start to Josh Carsello yesterday, putting up a full house line of 4 8 4 4 4 8 which dropped him to 8-2, 4.01. Ron Adams, just off the IL, was excellent and finished the game 5 2 0 0 1 6. Unlike yesterday when they overcame a rough outing from their starter, the bats couldn't mount a rally against 4 Mariners pitchers, getting 11 hits but all of them went for singles. Omar Rodriguez was 3-3 with an RBI.

News from Durham: Vinny Willard did not pout about his demotion as he went out and pitched a 9 5 0 0 0 8 shutout in Buffalo.

Game 2: The Rays have started a streak of the wrong kind after losing again to Seattle at home today, 8-7 in a back-and-forth affair which saw a trio of former Rays come back to haunt their old team. Devon Tuley (a Rays prospect whom we traded for Kevin Kerstetter) delivered the game-winning hit, a 2-out double in the 9th off Danny Medina after Danny Ayala had tied the game in the 8th with his 15th HR of the year. Things started well for the Rays - although Nate Thompson gave up a couple of early runs and Seattle was up 2-1, they scored 4 in the 4th thanks primarily to Jeff Hayes' 3-run HR (#8) and looked good with a 5-2 lead behind Thompson. But Michael Valdez, just traded a couple of weeks ago for Alfredo Vega, delivered a 2-run double to cut it to 5-4 in the 5th and in the 6th former Rays star Wander Franco doubled in a run which helped put the Mariners up 7-5. Thompson finished a rough 5.1 9 6 4 2 5, and Billy Hoyte gave up Seattle's go-ahead hit in the 6th. Eric Titcombe earlier hit HR #7 for Tampa Bay, and the loss was compounded when our best hitter this year, Omar Rodriguez, had to leave in the 4th with a strained MCL and will miss 6-7 weeks.

June 8: Placed OF Omar Rodriguez on the 10-day IL with an MCL sprain, recalled OF Jeremy Glasson from AAA Durham.

Game 3: The Rays snapped their mini 2-game losing streak today, holding on to best Seattle 7-5. Jaiden Hardaway had the game's big hit, a grand slam in the 2nd inning (#7) which put them up 5-0. But Seattle chipped away at former teammate Alfredo Vega, and pulled to within 6-5 after 6. Vega still got the win, making him 3-for-3 in his Rays starts as he went 6 6 5 4 0 5 today. Tim Siqueiros had a 1-2-3 2K 7th, Jim Golunski fanned a pair in the 8th, and Kikuo Kawase got save #20 despite putting two men on in the 9th. Jim Gebers hit HR #8 in the 8th to give the Rays some insurance, and the Jeffs (Baez and Hayes) each had RBI hits earlier in the game.

Game 4: The Rays will be glad to Seattle go, even though they won today to split the 4-game series. The final was 13-8 Tampa Bay and just like yesterday they raced out to a big lead (7-0) before the Mariners clawed their way back in the middle innings (8-6). Even after the Rays were putting the game away, Seattle had a rally going in the 9th. So yeah, another big grand slam today for the Rays with Jeff Hayes (#9) supplying it, and Danny Ayala hit #16. Eric Titcombe, Bo Angeac and Jim Gebers each had 3 hits with the first two driving in a pair, as did Jaiden Hardaway and Dayle Jenkins. Josh Carsello was given the huge lead and shut out Seattle through 3, but he gave up 3 in the 4th and 3 more in the 5th and couldn't make it through the inning for the win (4.2 10 6 6 0 6), which went to Bob Sirna, his second. Sirna then ran into all kinds of trouble in the 6th, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate, but Willie Bertone got him out of it and went 2 2/3 before running out of gas in the 9th with Billy Hoyte mercifully getting the final two outs.

Team record: 54-12. Next up: Some interleague action as the Cardinals visit for a pair.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The bats came out to play today in an 11-4 rout of the Cardinals at Publix Park. Leading the charge were Bo Angeac, 3-3 with a HR (#3) and 2 RBI, Jeff Hayes, 2-5 with 3 RBI on a pair of doubles, and Daniel Vasquez, who had a 2-run double and a bases-loaded walk. They supported Jon Soranno, who didn't a lot of it thanks to an excellent 8 4 2 2 3 8 outing which upped his record to 6-0, 3.41. Mike Wherry pitched the 9th and gave up his first runs of the year when Aiden Meola took him deep for a 2-run homer.

Game 2: An almost identical score to yesterday, but it unfolded a bit differently as the Rays took the two games from St. Louis with an 11-5 win tonight. Josh Hanna was not very good at all tonight, allowing a 3-run homer in the first to former Red Sock Eric Knatz and limped through 5 to go 5 12 5 5 1 2. Thanks to the offensive onslaught, he went to 9-2 but his ERA jumped to 4.32 and he hasn't pitched well at all of late. Ron Adams, though, pitched very well, going 4 2 0 0 0 8 to pick up his first save of the year. Leaders of the bats: Jon Jimenez, 3-5 with a HR (#14) and 3 RBI; Dayle Jenkins, 2-3 with a steal, HR (#13) and RBI; Daniel Vasquez 3-5 with 2 RBI; and Jaiden Hardaway, 4-5 with 3 runs scored. Eric Titcombe also chipped in HR #8.

Team record: 56-12. Next up: An off-day, then we head to Houston for 3. They started off an incredible 22-3, went into a big swoon losing 8 straight, and now have won 13 of their last 14 and sit at 47-20 so it'll be an interesting series.