The 2022 (and beyond) Tampa Bay Rays

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Game 1: 3-7 L. LP-Castillo (4-1, 4.1 7 7 7 1 8). HR-Mears (2), Franco (10). Although he piled up the strikeouts Luis Castillo had his first bad start of the year with a 3-run Gunnar Henderson homer doing much of the damage.

Game 2: 11-1 W. WP-Swanda (4-1, 8.2 7 1 1 2 9). HR-Franco 2 (12), DeLoach (4), Wood (4). Massive game by the offense with 20 hits led by James Wood (4-5, HR, 4 RBI) and Wander (2-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI). With the big lead Swanda was allowed to take a shutout into the 9th and missed by one batter, finally losing it with 2 out in the 9th and having thrown 129 pitches.

Game 3: 0-1 L. LP-Ruegger (2-1). Starter-Orze (5 3 0 0 0 3). From feast to famine as the Rays could only get 2 hits off Grayson Rodriguez who fanned 11 and wasted Orze's second straight good start after his lousy beginning to the year. Ruegger gave up a homer in the 8th to the first man he faced to lose it.

Game 4: 8-4 W. WP-Whitlock (4-2, 6 3 4 3 2 4). HR-Caminero (1), DeLoach (5), Cartaya (8). Junior Caminero's first MLB homer was a 3-run shot in the first which got the Rays going after last night's futility and DeLoach's 2-run shot made it 5-0 in the 2nd. Whitlock pitched well outside of one bad inning (the 3rd) when he allowed 4 runs on a pair of homers but the offense picked him up with Cartaya's 2-run 5th-inning shot giving them breathing room again.

Team record: 22-13. Toronto lost 3 of 4 to Philly so the Rays are back in sole possession of first, one game ahead. Next up: Back home for some interleague but intrastate action with 3 against Miami.

MLB News: The White Sox signed star CF Luis Robert to a 7/210 extension coming off nearly 11 WAR earned over the last two seasons.

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Game 1: 8-1 W. WP-McClanahan (4-1, 6 4 1 1 2 11). HR-DeLoach (6), Torkelson (8), Luciano (3). Mac was dominant, DeLoach led off the game with a homer and then Tork and Luciano each hit 3-run homers in a 6-run 3rd to send them on their way to victory.

Game 2: 4-5 L. LP-Castillo (4-2, 4.1 5 5 2 3 5). HR-Cartaya (9), Luciano (4). Rays fell behind 5-0 by the 5th and nearly came all the way back but didn't.

Game 3: 6-1 W. WP-Swanda (5-1, 6 3 0 0 2 8). Swanda moved into second in the AL with 2.0 pitcher WAR after another fine outing, and James Wood was 3-4 with 2 RBI to lead the offense as the Rays have resumed their regular business of taking 2 of 3 in every series.

Team record: 24-14. Toronto also won 2 of 3, so the division lead remains 1 game. Next up: More interleague action as we head to Philly for 3 games.

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Game 1: 4-2 W. WP-Orze (2-1, 6.2 4 2 2 2 3). S-Fairbanks (8). HR-Torkelson (9), Franco (13). Eric Orze has been just as great in May as he was terrible in April and solo homers from Tork and Wander led the way on offense.

Game 2: 7-2 W. WP-Bradley (1-0). Starter-Whitlock (2.2 3 1 1 2 3). HR-Cartaya (10), DeLoach (7), Torkelson (10). Tork was 3-5 with a 2-run homer and RBI single and Mead was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI to lead another impressive offensive performance while Taj Bradley went 6.1 4 1 1 0 4 in relief of Whitlock, who strained a hamstring and will miss 2 months. Bradley will take his spot in the rotation.

Transaction: Whitlock goes to the IL of course and coming up from Durham is Bryce Eldridge, our first-round pick in 2023 who looked like a future ace at the time. He's not quite that anymore but still looks like a pretty good pitcher and had an outstanding 2/32 BB/K ratio in 30 IP with Durham as a swingman. He'll take over Taj Bradley's long relief role with Bradley joining the rotation.

Game 3: 6-3 W. WP-McClanahan (5-1, 6 5 3 3 1 6). S-Fairbanks (9). HR-DeLoach (8), Mead (6), Luciano (5), N.Santana (3). They did it! For the first time this year the Rays actually swept a series, breaking from their metronome-like consistency of taking 2 of 3 in nearly every series (not that there was anything wrong with that, 108 wins will do just fine). Another four homers and although Mac gave up a trio of solo homers he allowed nothing else. Still had to survive Fairbanks loading the bases in the 9th but he got out of it in Don Stanhouse-esque fashion.

Team record: 27-14. Toronto took 2 of 3 from Atlanta so the division lead grew to 2 games. Next up: An off-day then back home for more interleague action with 3 against Washington, who are an absymal 14-28.

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Game 1: 4-2 W. WP-Fairbanks (1-3). Starter-Castillo (8 4 1 1 1 5). HR-Luciano (6). After the Nats tied it in the 9th on a passed ball by Diego Cartaya, the catcher atoned by singling and then scoring on a 2-run walk-off jack from Luciano in the bottom of the inning. Castillo deserved a win but had to settle for the team victory.

Game 2: 3-2 W (10). WP-Ruegger (3-0). Starter-Swanda (8 7 2 2 1 7). HR-Mears (3). Walk-off excitement for the second straight night as Josh Mears, who tied it with a single in the 8th after coming off the bench, won it with a solo blast, saving the Rays from a night of potential frustration as they banged out 14 hits but could only score twice before Mears' winner. Swanda was excellent again and leads MLB in pitcher WAR at 2.4.

Game 3: 1-6 L. LP-Orze (2-2. 4 3 3 3 3 2). HR-Wood (5). Orze wasn't sharp while Washington's Bryse Wilson, who came in at 0-5, 6.08, was, holding the Rays to 4 hits over 7 innings. Only bright spot for Tampa Bay was the MLB debut of 2023 top pick Bryce Eldridge, who went 2.2 1 0 0 1 4 to finish the game, although the hit he allowed was an RBI double scoring Washington's final run. Between Wilson and Eldridge one could say the Bryce was right.

Team record: 29-15. Toronto was swept in Miami so the Rays' division lead has grown to 4 games. Next up: Those same Jays are coming to town for 4 games, so we can end up anywhere from tied to 8 games up on them.

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Game 1: 2-1 W. WP-Bradley (2-0, 6 2 0 0 1 7). S-Fairbanks (10). Taj was excellent in his first start of the year and Luciano was 3-4 with a double and an RBI to help provide the minimal offense that was needed.

Game 2: 9-12 L. LP-German (0-1). Starter-McClanahan (4.1 9 4 4 3 4). HR-Luciano (7), Pinto (3). Mac struggled big-time but the Rays still managed to take a 6-4 lead in the 5th, only for German and Sandy Gaston combining to allow 7 runs in the 6th. A 3-run Pinto (who drove in 4 total) shot got them back in it but it wasn't enough.

Game 3: 2-4 L. LP-Castillo (4-3, 6 7 4 4 0 5). HR-Cartaya (11). A 3-run first including a 2-run Vlad Jr homer sent the Jays on their way. Only bright spot was Bryce Eldridge in long relief going 3 1 0 0 0 4 in his 2nd MLB appearance.

Game 4: 2-1 W. WP-Swanda (6-1, 6 1 0 0 2 2). S-Ruegger (1). HR-Torkelson (11). Tork's 4th-inning solo shot was the game's first run and Junior Caminero singled in the eventual winner as Swanda's remarkable season continues apace with his ERA dropping to 2.54. It was 2-0 going to the 9th when Fairbanks came on and struggled mightily again, allowing a run on 3 walks with the bases loaded and he was pulled for Ruegger to get the final out. Fairbanks has been abysmal this year (negative WAR, 16 walks in 19 IP) and is out of the closer role; it will be a committee for now.

Team record: 31-17. The split keeps the Rays 4 games up on the Jays. Next up: 3 games in Houston, which sits atop the AL West at 27-22.

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Game 1: 8-3 W. WP-Orze (3-2, 5 5 3 3 0 7). HR-Franco (14), Wood (6). Tork's bases-clearing triple put the Rays up 4-0 in the 2nd and sent them on their way to a fairly easy win. JP Sears had 3 scoreless out of the pen.

Game 2: 2-6 L. LP-Bradley (2-1, 5.1 6 5 4 2 8). HR-Torkelson (12). Tampa Bay was done in by a couple of former Rays as Jorge Lopez held them to 6 2 0 0 1 5 and the guy we traded Lopez to Houston for before he returned there, Kyle Tucker, was 3-3 with a triple, homer and 3 RBI.

Game 3: 8-7 W. WP-McClanahan (6-1, 5.2 5 3 1 1 5). S-Fairbanks (11). HR-Head (2), Franco (15), Torkelson (13), Mead (7). Rays built an 8-3 after Mead's 3-run homer but the pen nearly frittered it away, giving up 4 runs by the 8th. In a twist of recent fate it was Fairbanks who had to bail out Ruegger in the 9th and he got the final two outs to preserve the nail-biter as our Meat Loaf season continues with two out of three again.

Team record: 33-18. Toronto swept its series so they've pulled with 3 games. Next up: 3 games in Minnesota, where the Twins are off to a rough 20-32 start.

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Game 1: 9-8 W. WP-Castillo (5-3, 6 7 4 4 1 5). S-Fairbanks (12). HR-J.Jackson (1), Torkelson (14), N.Santana (4). A wild one with Natanael Santana's 3-run homer in the 7th breaking a 4-4 tie and putting the Rays ahead to stay. Tork was 4-5 with the HR and 2 RBI and Wander was 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.

Transaction: Activated 2B Ozzie Albies from his rehab assignment and returned IF Junior Caminero to Durham.

Game 2: 11-0 W. WP-Sears (1-0). Starter-Swanda (0.1 1 0 0 0 1). HR-Torkelson (15), Franco (16), Albies (5). As you can see Swanda had to leave in the first with a dead arm and will be out 2 weeks, but all the bullpen did was combine for a 5-hit shutout with Sears going 2 2/3 for the win and Sandy Gaston going 3 scoreless with 6 whiffs. It was only a 3-0 game through 6 before they broke it open with Albies returning big from the IL going 2-5 with the HR & 4 RBI while Wander was 2-4 with his HR and 2 RBI.

Transaction: Swanda goes on the IL and Yoniel Curet is called up from Durham. The rookie has good stuff but iffy control but is on the 40-man. When we next need a starter Brian Gonzalez will likely get the call or we could go with Sears or Gaston.

Game 3: 3-1 W. WP-Ruegger (4-1). S-Fairbanks (14). Starter-Orze (4 2 1 0 1 3). HR-Mears (4), Mead (8). Rays were being dominated by Minnesota's Kyle Muller who shut them out through 7 before Mears homered off him in the 8th to tie it and Wander singled in another run later in the inning before Mead homered for insurance in the 9th. Fairbanks now has 3 saves since I said he was out of the closer's role; funny how things work out sometimes.

Team record: 36-18. Toronto lost twice and have been overtaken by the Yankees who sit in second 4 1/2 behind us. Next up: A day off then 3 in Detroit.

MLB News: Former Ray and current Padre Jonathan Loaisiga is done for the year and much of next with a torn UCL, right after he was named NL Pitcher of the Month for May, going 5-0, 2.30. The AL nod went to Texas reliever Carlos Vargas who had 9 saves and 28 whiffs in 16 IP. AL Player of the Month was Seattle's Julio Rodriguez (.387-11-27) and the NL winner was Colorado's Zac Veen (.324-8-26).

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Game 1: 5-14 L. LP-Bradley (2-2, 4 10 7 7 0 2). HR-Luciano (8), Cartaya (12). An ugly game all around from the staff with Taj getting hit hard including a pair of homers, one of which came from Detroit's Elly De La Cruz, who hit for the cycle as part of a 5-hit game. Yoniel Curet made his MLB debut and pitched two scoreless before putting a man on to lead off his next inning before leaving and of course that man came around to score.

Game 2: 6-1 W. WP-McClanahan (7-1, 7 5 1 1 0 4). HR-DeLoach (9), Wood (7), Albies (6). Three early solo homers gave Mac all the support he needed as the Rays got back in the win column.

Game 3: 1-2 L. LP-Moran (1-2). Starter-Castillo (8 4 1 1 1 7). A great start from Castillo was wasted when the Rays couldn't take advantage of their 9 hits, with two double plays hit into and a caught stealing. Then the unclutch Moran put the first two men on in the 9th, and the equally unclutch Fairbanks walked a man to load the bases and gave up a sac fly to lose it.

Team record: 37-20. The Yankees took 2 of 3 to move within 3 1/2. Next up: 4 games in Boston.

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Game 1: 8-2 W. WP-Sears (2-0, 5 4 2 2 2 5). HR-Mead (9). Mead was 2-3 with 2 walks, the homer & 3 RBI while Albies was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBI to lead another fine game from the offense. JP Sears acquitted himself well in his first start after nearly 80 relief appearances over the past few years.

Game 2: 6-4 W. WP-Orze (4-2, 6 2 0 0 2 2). S-Fairbanks (14). HR-Mead (10), DeLoach (10). Zach DeLoach was 2-5 with a double, homer & 4 RBI and backup C Rene Pinto was 4-4 to provide the offense. Orze had his best start but we had to survive a shaky pen which almost lost a 6-1 lead including Fairbanks allowing a homer in the 9th.

Game 3: 7-4 W. WP-Bradley (3-2, 5.1 6 3 3 0 5). S-Fairbanks (15). HR-DeLoach (11). Zach DeLoach is having himself a season and after today's solo homer he's third in the AL in WAR at 2.8, trailing the leader and teammate Wander Franco at 3.0. Wander and Tork each knocked in a pair and today the pen fared well as Fairbanks had a 1-2-3, two-whiff 9th.

Game 4: 9-0 W. WP-McClanahan (8-1, 5.1 2 0 0 5 8). HR-N.Santana (5), Mead (11). Tampa Bay completed the sweep in emphatic fashion with Mac and a pair of relievers combining on a 5-hit shutout although they walked 7 in total. Sandy Gaston fanned 6 in his 2 1/3 innings of work while Mead was 3-3 with 2 walks, the homer and 2 RBI, Santana 2-5 with the homer & 3 RBI, and Josh Mears added a 2-run double as the offense put 30 on the board in the 4 games in a modern "Boston Massacre".

Team record: 41-20, now 5 up on both the Jays and the Yankees. Next up: A return home for 3 against the Rockies.

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Game 1: 1-12 L. LP-Castillo (5-4, 3.1 4 7 4 5 5). Sometimes you just take it on the chin and that's what happened tonight with the Rays. Luis Castillo was unusually wild and it caught up to him while the bats were held in check.

Game 2: 3-2 W. WP-Dohy (1-0). Starter-Sears (5 4 2 0 2 7). High drama at the Trop as we went to the bottom of the 9th with Colorado holding a 2-0 lead on a couple of unearned runs due to JP Sears' own throwing error. But a rally loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th and brought home one run with two out before Joshua Mears singled to tie it and Jeremiah Jackson's infield dribbler to 3rd went for a single and the Rays walked it off.

Game 3: 8-7 W. WP-Moran (2-2). S-Fairbanks (16). Starter-Orze (5 4 1 1 2 2). It was nearly the polar opposite of yesterday as the Rays took a 7-1 lead into the 8th before Yoniel Curet loaded the bases and allowed a run and then the hapless Jovani Moran gave up a pair of homers including a grand slam and it was suddenly 7-7. Fortunately in the bottom of the frame Luciano led off with a double and came home on Wander's sac fly to put Tampa Bay back on top. It still wasn't clear sailing though as Fairbanks loaded the bases with nobody out only to strike out the next three batters to hang on, taking ten years off all our lives.

Team record: 43-21. The Yankees swept their series and moved within 4 games. Next up: More action against the NL West as the Dodgers roll into town for 3. LA has started a rough 28-36 this season.

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Transactions: Yoniel Curet was sent back to Durham after his disastrous outing and lefty Brian Gonzalez was recalled from the Bulls. Also Curtis Mead suffered a strained oblique in yesterday's game and will miss a couple of week. Junior Caminero is back up and will hold down the 1B job in Mead's absence.

Game 1: 13-6 W. WP-Gonzalez (1-0). Starter-Bradley (2.1 7 6 6 2 3, 3 HR). HR-Torkelson 3 (18), Wood (8). A remarkable game which saw the Dodgers get 3 off Taj in the top of the first only for the Rays to respond with 8 in the bottom of the inning, including a 3-run homer from Tork which was the first of his three on the day, all hit in his first 3 at-bats, and a bases-clearing double from Wander. They kept tacking on with Tork driving in 5 total and Albies going 3-6 with 2 RBI as the team banged out 21 hits in all. The just-recalled Brian Gonzalez took over for Taj in the 3rd as the Dodgers got within 9-6 and finished the game with an outstanding 6.2 1 0 0 1 5 performance.

Game 2: 0-6 L. LP-McClanahan (8-2, 5 8 6 6 1 5, 3 HR). What a difference 24 hours makes. After being unable to stop scoring the night before the Rays could only eke out two hits against Trevor Rogers and a couple of Dodger relievers.

Game 3: 3-2 W. WP-Castillo (6-4, 7 5 2 2 1 4). S-Fairbanks (17). HR-Cartaya (13). Castillo was excellent and Cartaya homered off the guy he was traded for, Luis Patino, to tie the game before Albies' 5th-inning single brought home the winner. Fairbanks gave us the typically shaky save, putting a couple of men on in the 9th. Wander was 0-4 and his 53-game on-base streak came to an end. I had no idea he was on one as OOTP doesn't let you know these things until they're over.

Team record: 45-22, now 5 up on the Yankees who lost 2 of 3 to San Diego. Next up: An off-day then a weekend in Cleveland.

MLB News: Milwaukee's Christian Yelich and Boston's Nick Castellanos each recorded their 2000th career hit.

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Game 1: 0-4 L. LP-Swanda (6-2, 5 6 4 4 2 5). Rays were held to 4 hits by Joey Cantillo and friends.

Game 2: 5-2 W. WP-Orze (5-2, 5.2 3 0 0 1 7). S-Fairbanks (18). HR-Franco 2 (18). Wander had a 2-run homer in the 1st and a solo shot in the 3rd to lead the attack and Orze pitched perhaps his best game as a Ray in the win.

Game 3: 4-5 L. LP-Bradley (3-3). Starter-Gonzalez (5 5 2 2 0 1). Zach DeLoach dramatically tied the game with a 2-run single with two out in the top of the 9th, but Taj gave up the walk-off winner in the bottom of the inning. Brian Gonzalez was effective in his first start and Junior Caminero was 2-4 with a ribbie.

Team record: 46-24. Despite dropping 2 of 3 the Rays expanded their division lead as the Yanks were swept; the lead is now 6 on both them and Toronto. Next up: 4 games with Atlanta, 2 at the Trop and then 2 at Truist. Atlanta's off to a tough start at 33-37.

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Game 1: 3-7 L. LP-McClanahan (8-3, 6.1 8 5 5 1 6). In the first time the clubs have met since last year's World Series won by Tampa Bay, the Rays had a 2-1 lead with Mac dealing. Then it all went wrong in a 6-run Atlanta 7th which saw him give up a 2-run homer, put 2 more on before departing and saw those men score when Luis German gave up an Austin Riley grand slam.

Game 2: 8-1 W. WP-Castillo (7-4, 6 4 0 0 0 9). HR-Luciano (9), Albies (7). Castillo was dominant and Albies tormented his old team with a 2-run homer and RBI single while Wander and Luciano knocked in a pair.

Team record: 47-25. The Yankees and Jays split two games with each other so the lead remains 6 over both. Next up: The return leg with two games in Atlanta.

MLB News: Cincinnati's Trevor Bauer announced his retirement, which was welcome news to most everyone in baseball.

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Game 1: 5-6 L. LP-Ruegger (4-2). Starter-Swanda (0.2 4 3 3 0 1). HR-Luciano (10), Torkelson (19). The game started and ended badly for the Rays, who lost starter Swanda in the first with a tender elbow and fell behind 5-1 after 3. They fought all the way back to tie in the 8th but lost when Ruegger allowed a run in the bottom of the 9th. Swanda will only be shelved a week so we may not put him on the IL for 15 days.

Game 2: 5-4 W. WP-Sears (3-0). S-Fairbanks (19). Starter-Orze (5 4 4 4 3 4). HR-Torkelson (20). This time the Rays' comeback resulted in a win as they trailed 4-2 going into the 8th before Tork drilled a 3-run homer off last year's AL Reliever of the Year Will Vest. With the staff depleted from yesterday's bullpen game Fairbanks went 2 innings for the save and was excellent. The win was costly though as Zach DeLoach strained a hamstring and will miss 5-6 weeks. He was hitting 298/376/500 and had earned 2.9 WAR in less than half a season.

Team record: 48-26. Once again the Jays and Yanks split their games with each other so the lead remains 6 games. Next up: More interleague fun with 3 games in St. Louis where the Cards are a very good 44-30.

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Game 1: 6-7 L (11). LP-Dohy (1-1). Starter-Gonzalez (5 4 2 2 2 5). HR-Pinto (4). A tough one for the Rays as Charlie Ruegger blew a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the 9th with Fairbanks unavailable after going 2 the night before. Kyle Dohy put a man on to start the 11th and then had to leave with turned out to be a stretched elbow ligament, so his season is over, and Sandy Gaston gave up 3 hits to let Dohy's man score.

With Dohy headed to the 60-day IL, we needed another lefty reliever:



Andrews is a decent lefty reliever (65/55/45 with a 1.50 ERA in 18 IP) Milwaukee had on the block and cost us practically nothing as Bara is organizational filler with a slight chance of being something.

Game 2: 5-4 W (11). WP-Fairbanks (2-3). Starter-McClanahan (6.1 6 4 4 3 4). HR-Torkelson (21). Rays turned the tables on St. Louis as after the Cards scored 3 in the 7th against Mac to go up 4-3, Caminero tied it with a double and Luciano's 2nd RBI double in the 11th won it. Fairbanks had another 2-inning outing, saving his own win.

Game 3: 8-4 W. WP-German (1-1). Starter-Castillo (5 9 4 4 2 8). HR-Cartaya (14), Mears (5). Another back-and-forth game as after St. Louis BABIPed Castillo to death with infield hits and took a 4-2 lead in the 4th the Rays tied it up in the 5th and went ahead for good on Cartaya's homer. Luis German earned the win with 3 scoreless with 6 Ks in relief.

Team record: 50-27. Yankees took 2 of 3 as well but then lost on our Monday off-day so the lead is 6 1/2 games. Next up: That off-day followed by return home to face the mighty Arizona Diamondbacks, holders of MLB's best record at 53-25 in a showdown of 1998 expansion teams.

MLB News: Milestone news as one-time Red Sox teammates Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts recorded their 300th homer and 2000th hit respectively

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Game 1: 1-4 L. LP-Orze (5-3, 5 3 2 2 0 4). Not much doing on offense as Orze deserved a better fate.

Game 2: 2-1 W. WP-Swanda (7-2, 5.1 4 1 1 2 5). S-Fairbanks (20). HR-Cartaya (15), Luciano (11). Back-to-back jacks from Cartaya and Luciano in the 4th were all the offense needed in another low-scoring game between these teams as Swanda and the pen were excellent.

Game 3: 3-2 W. WP-German (2-1). Starter-Gonzalez (5 4 0 0 0 6). S-Fairbanks (21). Luciano's 2-run single in the 8th turned defeat into victory as another nail-biter between the top two teams in MLB went the Rays' way. Brian Gonzalez really has been something else since replacing the injured Whitlock in the rotation.

Team record: 52-28. With the Yankees and Jays both splitting their games the lead is now up to 7. Next up: Off to Cincinnati for 3.

MLB News: Houston C Yasmani Grandal hit his 300th career homer.

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It's been a great year so far for the Rays, who have the top record in the AL in defense of their World Series title after an often frustrating 2026 regular season.





Unlike last year when they underachieved their Pythagorean record by 10 games or so, this year's team has been solid and remarkably consistent as they've seemed to win 2 out of 3 in almost every series they've played. Only weakness I can see is their record against lefties, which is odd since they're a primarily right-handed hitting lineup. Excellent on the mound and at the plate and even pretty decent in the field, a rarity for one of my teams.



It's been a bit of a weird offense with three major contributors (Franco, DeLoach, Cartaya) and a lot of other guys doing OK and filling in where needed. Some of the regulars have missed time with injury (Albies most notable) and there have been a couple of underachievers. Most notable in Natanael Santana, who was so good for us last year and helped turn the season around after coming over from San Francisco but has been dreadful this year and might start losing some playing time, at least when DeLoach comes back. Speaking of DeLoach, we've missed him offensively the last week or so since he went out and we'll have to make do without him for the next month. Also while Tork has hit his homers he hasn't done much else.



As you can see we've gone through a lot of pitchers this season mainly due to injuries and especially in the bullpen. The 5th starter spot has also been a carousel after Whitlock got hurt but Brian Gonzalez has really taken the job and run with it lately. The pen has been a bit of an adventure with late-inning stalwarts Moran and Fairbanks having their struggles but Fairbanks has been actually pretty good since "losing" the closer job a few weeks ago. Moran has been the victim of a bloated BABIP in a small sample size but still appears to have his stuff (the walks aren't helping though).

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Friday's game was rained out so we played a doubleheader on Saturday.

Transaction: Curtis Mead was activated from the IL and Junior Caminero sent back to Durham. Caminero hit .303 (mostly singles, only 1 HR) and will be heard from again.

Game 1: 7-4 W. WP-McClanahan (9-3, 6 5 4 4 0 6, 3 HR). S-Fairbanks (22). HR-Cartaya (16), Mead (12), Chin (1). Rays trailed 4-2 after Mac gave up his 3rd homer by the 4th, but fought back for the win with Fu-Chi Chin's first MLB homer a huge one, a 3-run shot in the 7th that put them up 6-4. He also stole a pair of bases and scored 3 runs in his big game.

Game 2: 7-9 L. LP-Sears (3-1). Starter-Castillo (0.2 5 3 3 1 1). HR-Head (3), Albies 2 (9). We lost more than a game in the nightcap as you might have surmised from seeing Castillo's abbreviated line as he'll be out 6 weeks with an elbow strain. Poor pitching today (18 hits allowed in 8 innings) wasted a monster day from Albies, who drove in 6 with a 3-run homer, 2-run homer and sac fly.

Transaction: Luis Castillo goes on the 15-day IL and rookie Bryce Eldridge is called up from Durham. Eldridge earlier was up in relief before going on the IL but was brilliant in two starts at Durham on rehab (a combined 16 3 0 0 2 16 line) and will get a shot at starting in Castillo's stead.

Game 3: 6-4 W. WP-Gaston (2-0). S-Ruegger (2). Starter-Orze (4 6 3 3 1 4). HR-Mead (13), Albies (10). Marco Luciano had a pair of RBI singles and his second put the Rays ahead 5-4 in the 6th after Albies tied it with his third homer in two days, giving the Rays two wins out of three in a series for the 16th time this year in 21 3-game series (they've swept twice, lost 2 of 3 three times and have yet to be swept).

Team record: 54-29. Next up: They remain 7 games up on the Yankees and that's where they're headed for the next 4.

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Game 1: 4-2 W. WP-Eldridge (1-0, 5 4 1 1 2 5). S-Fairbanks (23). HR-N.Santana (6). Bryce Eldridge picked up his first MLB win in his first MLB start, and Santana drilled a 3-run homer in the 2nd to provide all the necessary scoring.

Game 2: 4-1 W. WP-Swanda (8-2, 6 2 1 1 3 6). S-Fairbanks (24). HR-N.Santana (7), Luciano (12). Swanda's great season continues and Santana and Luciano hit solo shots in the 3rd to send the Rays on their way. Unfortunately after breaking out of his season-long slump to homer in consecutive games, Santana strained his oblique and will miss the 10 days he'll spend on the IL.

Transaction: Santana to the IL and Junior Caminero back up from Durham, where he was only hitting .390 after hitting .303 in his earlier big league stint, including a 5-hit game over the weekend. Caminero will take over as the full-time DH and Tork will grab his glove and play some LF.

Game 3: 1-4 L. LP-Gonzalez (1-1, 3 4 3 3 5 2). HR-Wood (9). Brian Gonzalez finally proved human after his first lousy Rays outing, and the offense was a study in frustration as they left 13 men on base including 5 from Mead who struck out with the bases loaded to end the game.

Game 4: 2-1 W. WP-McClanahan (10-3, 6 4 1 1 2 5). S-Fairbanks (25). HR-Wood (10), Franco (19). Homers by Wood and Wander in the 2nd and 3rd provided just enough offense thanks to a great Mac outing and the Rays opened up a 9-game lead in the AL East over the Yankees and Toronto.

Team record: 57-30. Next up: The road trip concludes with 3 games in Pittsburgh before we hit the All-Star break.

MLB News: The Red Sox were busy wheeling and dealing, signing free agent Dylan Cease to a pro-rated 1/15 deal as the righty is recovering from shoulder inflammation and won't pitch until late August. They also dealt longtime staff member Tanner Houck to the Mets for prospects.

[Art Deco]

Game 1: 11-5 W. WP-Orze (6-3, 5 1 0 0 4 3). HR-Albies (11). Rays banged out 15 hits in taking a 10-0 lead before the bullpen coughed up a few runs. Albies' 2-run shot got them going and Luciano drove in 4 on 3 hits including a double while Junior Caminero was 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Game 2: 7-2 W. WP-Eldridge (2-0, 6.2 3 2 2 1 6). Bryce Eldridge was excellent again in his second start, taking a shutout into the 7th. Luciano made it 6 RBI in 2 games with a 2-run double, the game's biggest hit.

Game 3: 3-4 L. LP-Ruegger (4-3). Starter-Swanda (4.1 7 3 3 3 6). HR-Franco (20). Rays fought back to tie in the 8th only for Ruegger to give up the winning run courtesy of an RBI single from former Ray Royce Lewis as they ended up taking their customary 2 of 3 games in a series.

Team record: 59-31, now the top record in MLB. Toronto swept its series to move into second, 8 games back. Next up: The All-Star break then we return to action against those Blue Jays with 4 in Toronto starting Thursday.