The 2020 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

[Art Deco]

This time the pitching came through, as the Reds' excellent young starter Alec McInerney, who started the year as their closer with 18 saves then became a starter and finished the year 16-4, 2.34, held the Rays' bats in check before they finally broke through in the 6th, as Tampa Bay evened the series at 1 with a 2-0 win. Danny Romero and McInerney were locked in a scoreless duel until the 6th when Dan Gregory, Seth Williams and Josh Alexander hit consecutive singles to make it 1-0, and then Eric Phillips' double in the 7th moved Jeff Baez up to 3rd where he scored on Gregory's sac fly. Romero meanwhile was great for 6 but ran up a pitch count, giving way to Chris Williams in the 7th. Williams put 2 on with 2 out and Ken Burgess came to the rescue, getting a strikeout to end the threat and then went full beast mode in the 8th, striking out the side (and all lefties to boot!). Kikuo Kawase made things interesting by putting a pair on in the 9th and with 2 out, the dangerous Nelson Gamez was up. Unlike yesterday when Gamez turned the game around, Kawase got him on a lazy fly ball to center to end the game. Jeff Brockman will go up against his old mates in Game 3 in Cincinnati in two days.

[Art Deco]

The Rays played home run derby tonight in Cincinnati, blasting 5 round-trippers in a 14-3 rout of the Reds to take a 2-1 series lead. Not going to recap the scoring as you can read it all above. Jeff Brockman pitched well if not overpowering in beating his old mates but there was one damper on the night's festivities. Dan Gregory strained his forearm making a throw from the outfield and is done for the series. He was missed in the second half of the season and he'll be missed the rest of the way but now they only need to split the final four games. Jose Mendoza will try to give the Rays a commanding 3-1 series lead tomorrow.

[Art Deco]

TRANSACTION: Placed OF Dan Gregory on the Playoff IL, activated OF Doug Johns.

Johns goes right into the lineup tonight with a lefty on the mound for Cincinnati.



It didn't start out great for the Rays as Jose Mendoza was knocked around for 5 runs in the first 4 innings and they trailed 5-1, but their relentless offense put 5 on the board in the 5th and they never looked back in a 9-7 win. Special mention to Ken Burgess, who came through hugely clutch again in relief. Chris Williams had put two on with one out in the 8th, and the righty Burgess came in with a righty and two tough lefties due. He gave up a single to the righty to load the bases but then whiffed .300 hitter Manny Quintana and Reds slugging superstar Nelson Gamez to preserve an 8-7 lead. Josh Alexander then drilled his 2nd double and 3rd RBI of the game in the 9th to give them insurance and Kikuo Kawase pitched around a 2-out double for the save. Rays pitching, although far from perfect tonight, had 17 whiffs to erase a lot of mistakes. Brad Jackson will look to close it out tomorrow in Game 5.

[Art Deco]

Champions again!



The Rays took their 11th World Series title in 19 seasons after taking today's game 11-6 to win it in 5 over Cincinnati. It looked like it would be a game-long celebration after they went up 8-0 in the 3rd but the Reds stormed right back in the bottom of the 3rd to put 5 on the board with a couple of homers off Brad Jackson, who wasn't at his best this postseason. Jackson still hung around long enough for the win, and today's makeshift bullpen which including big outs from Doug Combs, Chris Toombs and in the end at the bottom of the dogpile, Ed Pretty. The lead was whittled down to 8-6 going into the 9th before Jose Mendoza capped a 4-hit day with a 2-run homer to make it comfortable for Pretty in the 9th. For his efforts Mendez was named World Series MVP after producing 3 HR and 8 RBI over the final 3 games. The emergence of Doug Johns has now given the Rays the ability to field two different outfields of star-caliber players with Mendez, Johns, Jimmy Leonard, Dan Gregory, Andy Ruggles and Mike Willis, so there could be a trade in there somewhere this winter.

The win continues an interesting pattern of ALDS loss or WS win that has marked the franchise over the last 14 seasons with 6 of the former and 8 of the latter. They've been in the playoffs every year of this save but the only time they haven't done one of the two above was to lose the wild card game in 2021 to Toronto, the World Series in 2024 to the Dodgers, and the ALCS to the Angels in 2027.

Final Playoff Stats (batters sorted by OPS and pitchers by ERA because WAR is goofy in these short samples):

[Art Deco]

Before we get into the offseason, let's celebrate 2041:



The boat parade in Tampa Bay off downtown Tampa was a blast for everyone.

We've been allowed a payroll of $170M next season. Right now if everyone comes back who isn't a free agent, we're at $126.7M so we have some room to play with. Here are the salaries of those who won't be making the minimum in 2042:



A few thoughts: I like Ramon Ruiz but I'd like to think I can find a backup middle infielder with a good glove who will make less than $10.2M. Likewise with Tomas Laboy pretty much ready and Jon Callahan around I don't think we need to spend $3.6M on Eric Phillips, whose glove wasn't as great as his 70 rating implied. Jordan Perez remains an intriguing arm and $2.9M isn't that bad, but his inconsistency is an issue and I might shop him. And as mentioned during one of my World Series post, we have one outfielder too many.

We say goodbye to Mike McKee, a fine offensive catcher whose defensive game was mediocre, Jeff Baez, a good all-around Gold Glove SS who is "wrecked", and Danny Romero, a staff ace over the years. Their replacements are Kevin Morley, who's been up before - he won't hit as well as McKee in the contact department, but has power and patience and a 65 glove; Dave Frick, a 75 SS who was named International League MVP, and one of Sean Forbes, Joel Gird, Billy Haroutunian or even Jon Harbour to take Romero's spot in the rotation. The owner of course always wants me to sign one of our departing free agents and this time it's Romero, who wants $31M/year for 6 seasons. No thanks, although I'll see how reasonable his demands are once he files.

November 6: The Gold Gloves are in and our lone winner was Brad Jackson, who hopes to add a Cy Young to put next to it on his mantelpiece.

November 8: Seth Williams (2B), Josh Beckett (3B) and Andy Ruggles (DH) won Silver Slugger awards.

No surprise here, not even in the unanimity:



Also some big contract news, as we have signed Brad Jackson to a 5/105 extension:



Don't normally like handing out long-term contracts, especially for pitchers, but Jackson is rated as "durable" and has of course been excellent in our rotation. Hopefully he pitches well enough that he feels he should exercise that opt out but even he doesn't we're only on the hook for $27M more with the team option in 2046.

And as hoped for and probably expected:



Jackson becomes the team's 11th Cy Young winner. Interesting that someone gave Mendoza a first place vote. Over in the NL, Columbus lefty Juan Rosales won the award for the second time in three seasons but it was a very fractured vote:



November 12: Houston RF Ricky Clark won the AL MVP Award off a .337-28-101 year with Gold Glove defense which saw him earn a Jaiden Hardaway-like 9.3 WAR. Seth Williams was 3rd, Andy Ruggles 6th and last year's MVP Josh Alexander finished 8th in the voting. Colorado's Kevin Erickson (.303-42-111) won the NL MVP in a close vote over San Francisco's Jon Lozada.

[Art Deco]

We have a decent-sized trade to report:



As mentioned in the previous post, we weren't keeping Ramon Ruiz as a backup IF at his projected arb award of $10.2M, so we dealt him along with the enigmatic Jordan Perez and a marginal prospect for Johnny Soland, who has the 2038 NL Cy Young on his resume, although he's struggled a bit the last couple of seasons with ERAs in the low-mid 4s. He was still worth 4.6 WAR last year and is an extreme groundballer, which will be interesting with our team as projected rookie SS Dave Frick is an elite defender but Seth Williams, as brilliant as he is offensively, is a butcher at 2B and Josh Alexander is pretty bad at 1B. Cincinnati is picking up around $9M of Soland's annual salary for the 3 years remaining on his contract, meaning we'll pay him around $13M. He'll take Danny Romero's spot in the rotation and return to the organization which drafted him, as he was a prospect sent to the Reds in the Jon Soranno deal 11 years ago.

November 19: With arbitration here, we've non-tendered Eric Phillips, who was going to make about $3.6M and submitted qualifying offers to Mike McKee and Danny Romero, but not Jeff Baez (who seems a good shot to accept it).

Forgot to mention this, but for once we had a scouting discovery seemingly worth discovering. Usually these guys who get signed are rated as longshots for the bigs or organizational filler, but these time we got a winner:



BNN already ranks him as the #35 prospect overall and his intangibles are good, too.

December 6: The first of big-name free agents signed with former Rays star 3B Bo Angeac inking a 3/54.6 deal with Colorado. Angeac is "wrecked" but managed to play 150 games + the playoffs for Houston last year, hitting 30 HR and 101 RBI but with a 211/314/405 line. He'll hit a lot homers in Coors if he stays healthy.

December 8: Former Rays SP and one-time prized prospect Ron Adams settled for a 1/1.8 deal with the Yankees. The Reds did convert him to relief where he was lights-out late last year but he's listed as a starter with the Yankees.

December 9: Victor Presas, once of the league's best starters with Texas but now just a decent pitcher, went for 3/46.5 to the Angels, while a couple of former Rays relievers signed with Chris Hicks (1/5.2 to the Dodgers) and Chris Crabb (1/1.9 to the Angels) finding new employers.

December 10: Juan Rosales, the stylish lefty who's won 2 of the last 3 NL Cy Youngs with Columbus, went for 6/139 to Atlanta.

December 13: The Reds gave Jordan Perez a 3/27.4 extension after acquiring him from us last month. If Perez can harness his stuff, that could be a bargain, or he could be the guy that only showed flashes with us the last couple of seasons.

December 21: Added C Nelson Bocardo and Ps Joel Gird and Aidan Williams to the 40-man roster.

Gird needs now introduction as one of the top prospects in baseball but Bocardo is a July 2 guy from 2035 who's steadily worked his way up the ladder and is the #83 prospect in baseball, a good hitting catcher but average defensively. Williams is a fine relief prospect.

December 22: For what I believe is the first time in this save (or maybe the second), nobody was taken in the Rule 5 draft.

December 24: Reds fans had a Christmas present under their trees when Danny Romero went for 5/75 to Cincinnati. We of course will receive a comp pick. Also Eric Mora, a minor league reliever of ours who was decent but didn't want a minor league extension with us, apparently made the right call as he signed a 3/9.8 deal with the Cardinals.

[Art Deco]

The Hall of Fame voting is in:



For the second straight year there are no inductees.

We made a decent-sized free-agent signing!



8 years ago we signed another international free agent reliever out of Japan and Kikuo Kawase was everything we hoped for and more, helping us to 5 World Series titles, being named Reliever of the Year 5 times, and going to the All-Star Game every year of his career. As he approaches his twilight and is only under contract for one more season, it's time to find his heir apparent. Here is what Sato looks like under the hood:



Like Kawase, he keeps the ball in the park while still being dominant. The deal is 4/32 but the final year is a team option with a $1.5M buyout in case he's ineffective or injured. For this year he'll be Kawase's primary setup guy and with Chris Williams, Ken Burgess and Ed Pretty, we'll have a lethal bullpen.

It's the guru storyline again:



16 years ago it was Alec Bohm who went to the same guy in India and came back disappointed.

January 9: Old friend Nate Schultz will break camp with his fourth team in as many year as Arizona dealt him to Milwaukee. Schultz, now 36, was 10-17, 4.83 with the Snakes last season.

Oh boy:



Good thing I didn't trade Pat Moyer.

February 4: Former Rays slugging star 1B Daniel Vasquez signed a 4/84 deal with the Phillies after spending the last couple of years in Colorado.

February 11: And there goes Jeff Baez, for 3/60.6 to the White Sox. Good luck and good health!

[Art Deco]

Spring Training came and went without incident or injury. Jimmy Leonard didn't have a great spring after his guru visit, but the scouts upped his ratings so hopefully it didn't have a negative impact. Also interestingly Mike McKee remains unsigned as his demands seemed too high. We did make one big trade right before Opening Day:



Hill was out of options and wasn't making the team and the emergence of Doug Johns made Moyer expendable. In return we get Zamora, who gives us a third elite lefty bullpen arm to go with Chris Williams and Satoshi Sato (who was unscored upon in 6 appearances this spring in his stateside debut). You can see from his career numbers above how good he is (rated 80 stuff). With the acquisition of Zamora, Chris Toombs was optioned to Durham which I'm sure will anger him after being up for the last three years with the big club, and also Doug Combs was sent to Durham. Here's the roster:

C-Morley, Cordova
1B-Alexander
2B-S.Williams
SS-Frick
3B-Beckett
IF-Callahan
OF/DH-Willis, Gregory, Ruggles, Leonard, Johns, Mendez

SP-B.Jackson, Brockman, Mendoza, Soland, Willard
LR-Harbour, Johansen
MR-D.Anderson, C.Williams, Burgess
SU-Pretty, Sato, Zamora
CL-Kawase

A few notes: Johansen is Chris Johansen, who started for the Reds the last few years before we signed him as a free agent after they waived him late in the year, and I never noted it because we were busy with the playoffs. He has 70 stuff in relief and should be useful. If not there are plenty of more options at Durham and we're only paying him $1.3M. Vinny Willard gets another shot at the 5th starter job but if he fails we can either turn to Harbour again or bring up Billy Haroutunian or Joel Gird (who looked good this spring). Meanwhile Jon Callahan takes the utility infield role. I wish he weren't a lefty hitter to give Beckett a semi-platoon partner at 3B but he'll do.

The preseason predictions:



Looks a lot like last year's standings. They don't seem to like our pitching but the bats are elite as usual. The "W.Duran" listed among the top NL hitters is none other than Willie Duran, whom we had at Durham last year but put on waivers to make room on the 40-man last October when we signed Johansen, and he was claimed by the Cubs.

[Art Deco]

First a bit of MLB news: Mike McKee signed a 1-year, $14M deal with the Phillies as the last of our big free agents signs elsewhere. Because it's a 1-year deal, we're only getting a 2nd-round comp pick.

Time for the traditional Opening Day box:



A nice win, even if we had to take the lead three times from the pesky Pirates before winning. Brad Jackson started and pitched decently, but was left in one batter too long in the 6th and allowed the tying run. Ed Pretty was a disaster in the 7th, loading the bases with nobody out before getting a whiff and with a lefty due Satoshi Sato made his MLB debut. The box says he was charged with a blown save, and that's because he gave up a fly ball which tied the game again, but he went on to get out of further trouble and retire Pittsburgh in the 8th. And he picked up his first MLB win Seth Williams and Andy Ruggles delivered RBI singles in the 8th. Williams drove in Dan Gregory, who had led off the 8th with a double and had a huge 4-hit game including 3 two-baggers. Jose Mendez homered and Kikuo Kawase looked in vintage form by striking out the side in the 9th for the save.

Game 2: Jeff Brockman was solid in a 5-2 win over Pittsburgh, going 6 10 2 2 0 4 and picking up the victory. Freddie Zamora made his Rays debut in impressive fashion with two scoreless innings and Kikuo Kawase made it two saves in two games. Jimmy Leonard showed no guru ill-effects, going 2-4 with a homer, and Josh Beckett had a big 2-run single in a 4-run 3rd which won the game for the Rays.

Game 3: A comfortable day at Publix Park for the Rays turned into a nail-biter as they hung on to sweep the Pirates 5-4. Jose Mendoza was flat-out brilliant at 7 5 1 1 0 8 and with a 5-1 lead Dan Anderson came on for the 8th, but Anderson picked up where he left off late last year by giving up a 2-run homer to make it 5-3. Chris Williams then came to face a lefty and allowed him to homer too before Kikuo Kawase made it a save sweep with a scoreless 9th for his 3rd. The offense came primarily via the longball with Jimmy Leonard hitting his 2nd, a 2-run shot in the 1st which gave them a quick 3-0 lead while Dan Gregory and Andy Ruggles each went deep in the 4th for the first time this season.

Team record: 3-0. Next up: 3 at home vs the Yankees.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 12 years after we drafted him, Johnny Soland won his Rays debut as Tampa Bay downed the Yankees 7-3. It wasn't a thing of beauty as it took him 110 pitches to go 5 5 2 2 3 6 but a win is a win. Jon Harbour went 3 innings in relief and Soland's Reds teammate of last year Chris Johansen also made his Rays debut with a scoreless 9th. The offense was led by Doug Johns, 2-4 with a 2-run HR (#1) and Seth Williams 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Josh Beckett also banged out 3 hits, driving in one.

Game 2: Vinny Willard's first start of the year was a disaster, and he put the Rays in a 5-1 hole in the 2nd. Such a deficit is usually fatal to a normal team, but these are the Tampa Bay Rays and Josh Alexander's two-run walkoff homer (#1) in the bottom of the 9th gave them a 7-6 win. Willard was 2.2 8 5 5 2 2 but Doug Anderson and Freddy Zamora combined for 4 1/3 scoreless while the Rays came back to tie with a 2-run Kevin Morley single the big hit. But Ed Pretty gave the Yankees back the lead with a run in the 8th before Alexander capped a 4-hit, 3-RBI day with his winning blast. Chris Williams went the final 1 2/3 with 3 whiffs to pick up the win.

Game 3: The Rays stayed MLB's only undefeated team with a 9-3 drubbing of the Yankees, sweeping their series. Brad Jackson was a solid 7 6 3 3 0 5 to notch his first win of 2042 and he was backed by a balanced offense. Josh Alexander picked up where he left off last night by homering (#2) in the first, Dan Gregory launched a 2-run shot (#2), Jon Callahan had 2 hits including a 2-run single and Seth Williams was 2-5 with 2 RBI.

Team record: 6-0. Next up: An off-day then our first road trip of the year starts with 3 at Texas.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays tasted defeat for the first time in 2042 as the bullpen let them down in a 4-3 loss at Globe Life Park to the Rangers. Doug Johns' 2nd HR of the year gave them a 3-2 lead in the top of the 7th but Ed Pretty struggled again, allowing the tying run in the bottom of the frame, and Freddie Zamora took the loss by allowing a homer in the 8th. Jeff Brockman turned in a decent start (5.2 6 2 2 2 4) but had nothing to show for it.

Game 2: Tampa Bay bounced back from yesterday's loss with a 7-3 win over Texas behind a fine start from Jose Mendoza. The fireballing lefty went 6.2 6 3 3 2 5 against an almost exclusive righty-hitting lineup and is off to a 2-0, 2.63 start. Chris Johansen went the final 2 1/3 for his first Rays save, staying in when the lead expanded to 4 in the top of the 9th. Seth Williams had the game's big blow, a 3-run homer in the 4th (#1) which put the Rays ahead to stay. Rookie Dave Frick, impressing with the bat, had an RBI double and his first MLB homer, a solo shot, while Dan Gregory banged out 4 hits.

Game 3: Josh Alexander battered Texas pitching to lead the Rays to an 11-5 win over the Rangers as they took the rubber game of the series. Alexander blasted a 3-run shot in the first (#3) and added a 2-run double in the 8th to give him a 5-ribbie day. Dave Frick continues to rake, tripling and doubling in a 3-hit, 3-RBI day, and Seth Williams was 3-4 with 2 RBI. Johnny Soland started and was great through 4 but couldn't get out of the 5th, finishing 4 6 4 3 0 3. Dan Anderson came on to rescue Soland from his jam, and ended up going 5 2 1 1 0 3 to finish out the game and more than earn his first win of the year.

Team record: 8-1. Next up: We head east for 3 games in Boston.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays played a rare (for them) 1-0 game tonight in Boston and came out on the wrong end. Vinny Willard, who was awful in his season debut, was great tonight at 6 4 1 1 0 4 but got zero support from his teammates with bats. They did seem to have a runner on in nearly every inning but couldn't string hits together or get a big one when they needed it. Satoshi Sato, who had only made two appearances this year, pitched 2 perfect innings.

Game 2: The bats struggled again, and this time the pitching wasn't there as the Rays dropped their second straight to the Sox 5-1. It looked like a different day when Josh Alexander doubled in Seth Williams in the first, but that would be all they'd get while Brad Jackson was lit up to the tune of 2.2 10 5 5 1 3. They did leave 13 runners on base as they banged out 12 hits, but couldn't get the ones they needed with Andy Ruggles the biggest offender going 0-5 with 7 LOB.

Game 3: The Rays were staring down the barrel of a sweep when Boston jumped on Jeff Brockman and took a 5-2 lead. But a 4-run 7th put them back in front and they held on to take an 8-6 win to salvage the series finale. Seth Williams had a massive day, blasting a 2-run homer in the first and then launching a 3-run shot in that 7th inning to put them in front to stay, tripling his homer total for the year. Dan Gregory added a solo shot in the 8th (#3) for some insurance. Freddie Zamora, used a closer in Minnesota but who has 60 stamina, went 2 2/3 scoreless in relief of Brockman (who was a brutal 3.1 6 5 3 2 2) for his first Rays win and Kikuo Kawase picked up save #4, his first since saving the opening three games of the season. Side note: Josh Beckett is hitting .500 in the young season (17-34).

Team record: 9-3. Next up: 4 games in Cleveland.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Jose Mendoza supplied the pitching and Seth Williams the hitting in a 4-1 win over the Guardians in the series opener at Progressive Field. Mendoza went to 3-0, 2.08 with an excellent 8 4 1 1 0 7 outing and Kikuo Kawase picked up save #5. Williams meanwhile continued his hot streak by hitting a 2-run homer in the 3rd (#4) and adding an RBI single. Josh Beckett was 2-4 with his first longball of the year to keep his average at .500.

Game 2: The Rays played their second 1-0 game of the week tonight but won this one behind Johnny Soland and the bullpen. The lone run came in the 8th on a Cleveland error, and that made Soland a winner after a 7 4 0 0 1 5 performance. Freddie Zamora struck out the side after the leadoff man reached second in the 9th for his first Rays save.

Game 3: The good run of pitching continued as Tampa Bay comfortably beat Cleveland 7-2. Today's fine start was courtesy of Vinny Willard, who has done quite the 180 in his last two outings after a disastrous season debut. Willard was 7 3 1 1 2 6 to notch his first win of the season, and he was supported by Seth Williams (who else?) and Josh Alexander. Williams was 4-5 with a steal and an RBI while Alexander was 3-5 with two doubles and 3 RBI. Jimmy Leonard added a 2-run shot in the 3rd, his 3rd of the year.

Game 4: The Rays completed the sweep of Cleveland with yet another outstanding pitching performance as they allowed only 4 runs total in the 4-game series with today's 5-1 win. It was Brad Jackson's turn to dominate as he went 7 4 1 1 0 8. Jackson is now 2-1, 4.84. Satoshi Sato recorded his first MLB save when Ed Pretty made yet another mess in the 9th and Sato had to get the final out. Josh Beckett's 2-run double in the 5th broke a 1-1 tie and Doug Johns was 2-4 with a ribbie.

Team record: 13-3. Next up: Back home for 3 vs our closest peer and newest rival, the Houston Astros.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: The Rays dropped a 6-4 decision to Houston at Publix Park today, with a 4-run 5th for the Astros decisive. Jeff Brockman started and hung in there until that 5th inning, when he was left in a batter too long to face lefty Houston slugger Kevin Kane, who took him deep for 3 runs and he finished 5 8 6 6 2 5. The slumping Andy Ruggles hit his 2nd homer of the year and they mounted a desperation rally with 2 out in the 9th which saw Jon Callahan hit a 2-run homer (#1) and then two more men reach before Josh Alexander flew to deep center.

Game 2: Jose Mendoza had his way once again and the Rays took a 6-2 win over Houston. The lefty made it 4 wins in 4 starts with a 6 6 1 1 1 6 outing and now sports a 1.95 ERA. Jimmy Leonard's 2-run homer (#4) in the first got the Rays going, and a 2-run single in a 3-run 8th from Josh Beckett broke it open. Kikuo Kawase picked up a 4-out save (#6) when he came on at 3-1 in the 8th.

Game 3: The Rays fell again to Houston 6-4 despite a big game from Josh Alexander, who homered twice to give him 5 on the year and drove in 3. Johnny Soland (4 9 4 4 1 3) was knocked around in the middle innings, with Jon Harbour not helping much in relief. Jose Mendez (#3) went deep for the other Rays run.

Team record: 14-5. Next up: An off-day then Toronto visits for 3.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Vinny Willard didn't have it today and Toronto scored 8 times in the first 4 innings to take an 8-4 win at Publix Park. Willard went 2.2 9 6 6 0 3 and Chris Johansen wasn't much help, allowing a couple of Willard's runners to score and then a couple of his own. Doug Johns' 2-run pinch-single was the offensive highlight of the day.

Game 2: When Brad Jackson allowed a first-inning run it seemed like "here we go again" as Rays pitching has always had a tough time with Toronto hitters, but Jackson was exceptionally stingy after that and the Rays took a 3-1 win. The lefty was an outstanding 7.2 4 1 1 0 7 to improve to 3-1, 3.90 and he sports an impeccable 1/28 BB/K ratio over 30 innings this season. Kikuo Kawase recorded save #7 with a 2-whiff 1-2-3 9th. The offense came via single runs in each of the first three innings with Dave Frick's RBI fielder's choice sandwiched between homers from Dan Gregory (#4) and Josh Alexander (#6).

Game 3: Once again a Rays starter couldn't escape the first inning unblemished against Toronto as Jeff Brockman was hit for 4 runs, but the offense battled back and eventually took a 7-6 win in 12 innings on Doug Johns' walk-off homer, his second of the game after coming on as a sub in the 7th. Andy Ruggles answered Toronto's 4-spot in the top of the 1st with a 2-run shot (#3), Josh Alexander's 7th of the year tied it up at 5 in the 5th and after Toronto went up 6-5 in the 7th Johns stepped off the bench to swat one out to tie it once again. And on we went until Johns went deep again with his 4th of the year to win it. Ed Pretty, the 8th Rays pitcher of the day, wound up with his first win of 2042.

Team record: 16-6. Next up: 4 games in Houston, which isn't going to be fun for our pitchers either.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Jose Mendoza had to leave in the 2nd inning and Astro pitching held the Rays bats in check in a 4-1 loss at Minute Maid Park. Mendoza had a mild hamstring tweak which fortunately will not cause him to miss his next start and he, Jon Harbour and Chris Williams all gave up runs but it hardly mattered because the offense could only muster four hits.

Game 2: The Rays were looking at another loss when Johnny Soland was touched for 5 runs and they trailed 5-1 after 5, but they fought all the way back to take a 6-5 win in 10 innings. Josh Alexander's 8th homer helped them get back within 5-3 in the 6th, Mike Willis singled in a run in the 8th to make it 5-4, and Doug Johns drilled an RBI double in the 9th to tie it up. This set the stage for Alexander, whose two-out RBI single scored Tony Cordova with the winning run. Freddie Zamora ended up with win #2 and saved it for himself with some tough lefties due in the 10th.

Game 3: The former Rays contingent on Houston the last couple of seasons hadn't done that much damage against them but that changed tonight when Danny Ayala slugged a pair of 3-run homers to lead Houston to a 13-7 rout of Tampa Bay. Vinny Willard was dreadful, giving up 5 in the first including the first of Ayala's shots and finished 3.1 8 6 6 4 0, pushed that far because we had gone to the pen early the last couple of nights. The Rays fought back to within 6-5 and 9-7, but Ayala's 2nd 3-run blast off Jon Harbour (who allowed 4 more runs) was the dagger. Dave Frick doubled and drove in 3 while Andy Ruggles had a 2-run double to pace the offense, which did its job.

Game 4: The Rays are surely glad they're done with Houston until at least the playoffs as the Astros took 3 of 4 in this series and 5 of 7 in the season series with a 4-3 win today. Danny Ayala was a thorn in his old team's side once again, following yesterday's 2 homers with a 2-run shot in the 1st off Brad Jackson, who wasn't sharp today at 5 4 4 4 3 3 with a pair of longballs allowed. Seth Williams was 3-4 with HR #5 and Dave Frick hit a 2-run shot (#2) off another former Ray, Ted Hadley, but that was all he gave them over 8 innings and Jeff Hecker struck out all 3 Rays he faced in the 9th.

Team record: 17-9, only one game up on the Yankees who have played good ball this year. Next up: Back home for 3 against Kansas City.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Well we started off the series with an insane game:



Josh Alexander's walk-off homer in the 19th won us a game we should have won easily in regulation, and after coming back for the third time in extra innings. Things got so bad on the mound we had to use tomorrow's starter Jose Mendoza in relief and he picked up the win despite allowing a run. Obviously Chris Johansen was the culprit here, entrusted with a 7-1 lead in the 7th only to give up 3 homers in 5 batters, then Ken Burgess made a further mess in the 8th. Dan Anderson twisted his ankle badly enough to send him to the IL, which is a bit of blessing in disguise since it gets us a fresh pitcher for tomorrow.

April 26: Placed P Dan Anderson on the 10-day IL with a twisted ankle, recalled P Joel Gird from AAA Durham.

Anderson will be back when his IL time is up, and we needed a starter for today with Mendoza used in relief last night. So we will get the MLB debut of Gird, ranked as baseball's 20th-best prospect.

Game 2: It wasn't quite as dramatic as last night but dramatic nonetheless as Andy Ruggles hit a 2-run HR (#4) in the bottom of the 8th to give the Rays a 5-4 win over the Royals at Publix Park. Joel Gird made his MLB debut starting for Tampa Bay, and was impressive despite being BABIP-unlucky. He went 5.2 7 4 4 0 9 with the 0 walks and 9 whiffs particularly impressive, and kept them in the game. KC's Matt McGhee was his personal nemesis, singling three times and driving in a run each time. Last night's goat Chris Johansen relieved him as one of the few rested pitchers and went 2 1/3 for the win, and the other goat, Ken Burgess, held the Royals in the 9th for save #1. Seth Williams had a bases-clearing double for the first 3 Rays runs.

April 27: Optioned P Joel Gird to AAA Durham, recalled P Doug Combs from AAA Durham.

Game 3: It was the Jimmy Leonard and Johnny Soland show at Publix Park today as the Rays swept the Royals with a 5-1 win. Leonard homered three times, tying the club record set by many, with a 2-run shot in the first and solo blasts his next two times up in the 3rd and 5th to give him 7 for the season. Soland meanwhile no-hit the Royals through 6 before giving up a leadoff double in the 7th which came around and scored as he finished 7 2 1 1 2 8 in his best outing as a Ray to improve to 3-1, 4.26. Satoshi Soto went the final two perfect with 3 whiffs and he's been everything advertised with an 0.63 ERA in 14.1 IP with a 4/17 BB/K ratio.

Team record: 20-9. Despite sweeping Kansas City we can't shake the Yankees as they did likewise with Cleveland and remain only a game out. Next up: 3 at home against those same Guardians.

[Art Deco]

April 28: Placed OF Dan Gregory on the restricted list, recalled P Chris Toombs from AAA Durham.

Forgot to mention in the previous post that Gregory was ejected in a brawl with Kansas City yesterday and received a 4-game suspension. Toombs had 7 saves already at Durham and should help us with Cleveland's lefties.

Game 1: For the second time in four games the "B" bullpen blew a large lead, and for the second time in four games the Rays won anyway on a walk-off homer. Thankfully unlike last Friday night against Kansas City it didn't take 19 innings as Jimmy Leonard's 2-run HR (#8 and his 4th in 2 days) in the bottom of the 9th gave Tampa Bay a 9-7 win. It looked like a romp when Andy Ruggles (#5), Tony Cordova (#1) and Seth Williams (#6) homered and VInny Willard went a solid 5.2 6 2 2 2 6 to create a 7-2 lead. But the just-recalled Chris Toombs didn't make a case for staying up after giving up a run on 3 hits to the first 3 batters and then a 3-run homer to the 4th to make it 7-6. And just like last Friday Ken Burgess allowed the tying run to score in the 8th. Leonard's walk-off homer made a winner of Kikuo Kawase for the first time this year.

Game 2: The Rays won yet another crazy game on a walk-off homer today 10-8 in 12 innings. Josh Beckett was today's hero, launching his 2nd homer of the year and it was off a lefty, a rare occurrence indeed. This time it was Cleveland blowing a big lead as they were up 4-0 and 8-4 at times during the game. The four came in the 1st inning off Brad Jackson, who had a rough game at 5 9 7 7 1 4. Doug Johns hit a bases-clearing double in the 1st to get 3 right back and finished the day 4-6 with 4 RBI. A four-run rally in the 8th capped by Mike Willis's RBI single got the Rays level before they took it in extras. Jon Harbour went the 11th and 12th scoreless with 5 whiffs for his first win of the year.

Game 3: Things were a bit calmer at Publix Park today as the Rays swept the series and made it 6 straight wins with a 6-2 decision over the Guardians. Dave Frick and Seth Williams had big games with the former going 3-4 with a 2-run triple and the latter 3-5 with 3 RBI. Jeff Brockman started and won with a decent 6 8 2 2 0 5 outing while Ed Pretty got Chris Williams out of a jam in the 8th with a double play and stayed on in the 9th to pick up his 1st save of the year. Brockman is now 2-1, 4.50.

Team record: 23-9. The Yankees never lose either as they won Tuesday and Wednesday after being off Monday so the lead is 1 1/2 games. Next up: We head out west to play 4 games in Oakland.

With the month ending, a couple of Rays were honored by the league:

[Art Deco]

Game 1: Jose Mendoza didn't have it tonight and the Rays fell 5-2 in Oakland to open their 4-game series. He went 4.1 8 5 5 1 7 and allowed a pair of homers. The only bright spot tonight was Chris Johansen, who went 3 1/3 of 1-hit long relief with 6 whiffs.

Game 2: Johnny Soland was brilliant as the Rays evened up the series with Oakland thanks to a 6-0. Soland went 8 4 0 0 1 7 to improve to 4-1, 3.40 with Doug Combs taking care of the 9th to complete the shutout. 2-run homers from Jimmy Leonard (#9) and Andy Ruggles (#7) were all they needed but Josh Alexander added a 2-run double later.

Game 3: Vinny Willard's always-shaky grip on a rotation got even more tenuous tonight as he was terrible in a 7-3 loss at Oakland. Willard was hit to the tune of 3.2 7 4 4 2 1 and now has an unsightly 1-4, 7.84 record with Joel Gird lurking in Durham (and Jon Harbour in the bullpen).

Game 4: Kikuo Kawase blew his first save of the year but as so often happens when the blown save results in a tie, the Rays still go on to win and that was the case today as Dan Gregory's 3-run HR (#5) in the 11th gave them a 7-4 win. Brad Jackson started and was decent (7 8 3 3 1 5) and the Rays came back to go ahead 4-3 in the 7th on a 2-run Mike Willis double while Dave Frick doubled and added the other 2 RBI. But Kawase gave up a 2-out single to let Oakland equalize, so the win went to Satoshi Sato, his 2nd, with 1 2/3 scoreless in relief as he saved his own win.

Team record: 25-11. The Yankees remain 1 1/2 back after taking 2 of 3 in their series. Next up: An off-day then we head to Chicago for 3 against the White Sox.

[Art Deco]

May 6: Activated P Dan Anderson from the 10-day IL, optioned P Doug Combs to AAA Durham.

Game 1: The Rays were outhit 16-8, but managed a 7-6 win over the White Sox in their series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field. They took a 7-3 lead mainly on the bat of Josh Alexander, who had a 2-run HR (#11) and a 2-run double. Dave Frick added a 2-run shot (#3) as well. Jeff Brockman got the start and wasn't very good (5.2 10 4 4 1 2) as he wasn't fooling anybody, but the run support got him to 3-1. It took 5 relievers and 2 runs allowed to navigate the final 3 1/3 but Kikuo Kawase locked things down with a 1-2-3 9th for save #8.

Game 2: The Rays won another game they probably didn't deserve to as they scored 3 times in the 9th to shock the Sox 4-3. They came into the final frame having managed only 1 run on 2 hits (a 1st-inning solo homer by the nuclear Josh Alexander, #12) and Chicago should have had more than 3 runs on their 10 hits, especially with a rough start from Jose Mendoza (3 6 2 2 4 2 on 89 pitches). But Chris Johansen bailed him out of the 4th with 3 whiffs and had another 3-inning, 6-strikeout long relief outing and they kept it close. That set things up for the 9th with Andy Ruggles' 2-run single tying it and Jimmy Leonard's RBI double winning it. Freddie Zamora handled the 9th tonight for save #2, and Dan Anderson recorded his 2nd win.

Game 3: A little more of a conventional win for the Rays as they swept the series from the White Sox, a team which had an almost identical record to Tampa Bay's coming in (23-11 vs 25-11), with a 4-2 win. Johnny Soland has been the team's most consistent starter this year and he didn't disappoint tonight, going 6.1 7 2 2 0 3 and improving to 5-1, 3.33. He did have to leave early with a tender shoulder but it's a "minimal" injury for 6 more days. We don't have any off-days coming up so I'll have to decide whether to skip his next turn. Kikuo Kawase notched save #9 in relief. The offense came mainly in a 3-run 4th inning with a Doug Johns solo homer (#6), a Kevin Morley RBI single and a Dave Frick run-scoring double.

Team record: 28-11. The Yankees dropped 1 of 3 so the Rays are now 3 up (2 in the loss column). Next up: We return home to play Texas for 3 over the weekend.