Game 1: Rookie Josh Alexander led the Rays to an 8-3 win over the Angels in the first game back after the break at Anaheim Stadium. Alexander doubled his HR total with a 3-run shot in the 1st and a solo blast in the 3rd. Jeff Baez picked up where he left off before the break with a 2-run double and the Rays had a 7-0 lead in the 3rd. Nate Thompson rolled for the win, going 7 5 3 3 2 7 to improve to 8-3, 3.80.
OK here's the deal with the Cubs I was alluding to in the previous post, completed as Chicago's demands for an additional player were much less than anticipated (36-year-old Billy Thompson):
Balladares is a rental but someone I've always liked with premium stuff. I plan to use him in the rotation and move Jon Harbour into Cotton's long relief role. Tillman has spent the last few years at Durham and has a great contact tool as he's hit over .300 each of those seasons but it's an empty .300 as he draws few walks and has no power to speak of.
Game 2: For 7 innings it was a taut pitchers' duel between Tim Gates and LA's Kevin Epperly, a former Rays prospect traded 10 years ago to St. Louis as part of the Victor de Jesus deal. Epperly's carved out a decent career and today was stifling the Rays through 7 as it was 1-1. But Tampa Bay erupted for 8 runs in the 8th off Epperly and the Angels' pen and walked away with a 10-1 win. Danny Ayala broke the 1-1 tie with an RBI single and Pat Moyer, on the trading block, drilled a 3-run homer to break it open and Daniel Malone capped the inning with a grand slam (#12). Moyer then added his second of the game (#8) in the 9th, a solo shot. Unfortunately for Gates he had to leave with two out in the 7th after going 6.2 4 1 1 5 3 so he ended up with no-decision as Ken Burgess notched his 2nd win in relief.
Game 3: Similar to yesterday's game today's affair was a low-scoring game with the Rays up 2-1 after 7, but they scored 4 times in the 8th to take a 6-2 win over the Angels and sweep the series. Jimmy Leonard was the hitting star with an RBI single in the 3rd and a solo homer leading off the 8th (#21) to break the ice. Meanwhile Ron Adams was outstanding, going 7.2 5 1 1 2 4 to improve to 9-6, 3.91. Pat Dorminy made his Rays debut getting Adams out of the 8th and then stayed on, and allowed a solo homer while fanning 3 in total in 1 inning of work.
Team record: 63-30. Next up: 3 games in Oakland.