[Art Deco]

April 22: vs LA Angels 6-1 W. WP-Bradley (4-0, 5.2 1 0 0 3 11). HR-Paredes (6), T.Hernandez (5). Taj was utterly dominant in lowering his ERA to 0.55 and Paredes and Teoscar belted 2-run homers to back him.

April 23: vs LA Angels 6-8 L. LP-Maldonado (3-2). Starter-Rasmussen (4.1 3 4 4 4 3). HR-Westburg (1). Rays got a rare bad start from Ras and found themselves down 5-1 before Westburg's slam gave them a 6-5 lead in the 6th. Unfortunately Maldonado served up a 2-run homer to Jo Adell and the Rays suffered a rare of late defeat.

April 24: vs LA Angels 7-3 W. WP-Adam (1-1). Starter-Littell (5 4 2 2 2 7). HR-J.Lowe (2). Adam blew a 3-2 lead in the 6th but Jose Siri's 2-run single in the bottom of the inning put them ahead to stay and he added another RBI single afterward.

April 25: vs LA Angels 4-1 W. WP-McClanahan (4-1, 5.2 9 1 1 1 5). S-Fairbanks (6). HR-Caminero (6), T.Hernandez (6), Westburg (2). Rays were outhit 10-4 in this game but they made theirs count with the three homers while the staff stranded 12 Angels.

April 26: at Pittsburgh 4-3 W. WP-Springs (3-0, 6.1 3 1 1 2 6). S-Adam (2). HR-Aranda (2). Josh Lowe hit 3 doubles including one that knocked in a pair and Aranda's 9th-inning insurance homer proved large when Adam gave up a 2-run shot in the bottom of the 9th.

April 27: at Pittsburgh 1-4 L. LP-Bradley (4-1, 5 5 4 4 2 7). Regression came for Taj's ERA as he gave up a 3-run Jack Suwinski homer in the first and the bats were lifeless today.

April 28: at Pittsburgh 0-2 L. LP-Rasmussen (3-1, 6 7 2 2 1 7). Another day of lousy hitting as the bats managed only five hits and a good start from Ras was wasted.

Team record: 19-10. Nobody else in the East is doing much, so they've maintained a 4-game lead over Boston (and now Baltimore also) despite 3 losses this week. Next week: 4 games in Toronto then home for 3 against Kansas City.

Players of the Week:

AL: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), 7-21, 4 HR, 6 RBI
NL: Andy Pages (LA), 8-18, 5 HR, 7 RBI