Catching Some Rays: 4/3-4/9 Review

After opening the season with a perfect sweep of the Detroit Tigers, the Rays looked poised to continue their hot start against two of the league's worst teams. I always hate series against Washington and Baltimore since they are blacked out in North Carolina, so I had to rely on social media and the highlights on the MLB YouTube page to tell the story of that series. We would get to see the final two pieces of the rotation make their season debuts for an interleague battle in the nation's capital. They would then return home to begin a homestand against the Oakland Athletics as the rotation got their second turn. Overall, it's hard not to like what we saw this week from the Rays. The bats were buzzing and the pitching staff continued to dominate. The Rays were looking to make history and they did so in spectacular fashion. 

Monday 4/3

Rays 6, Nationals 2

WP- Drew Rasmussen (1-0), LP- Trevor Williams (0-1)

The Rays took the show on the road and it got started early. Luke Raley mashed an early two-run home run to hand the Rays the lead in their first time up. A sac fly from Francisco Mejia pushed the lead to 3-0 before Isaac Paredes unloaded on a pitch in the fourth inning to make it 4-0. The lead would hold steady for Drew Rasmussen in his first start of the season as he followed the three starts before him by putting in a marvelous start. He pitched six shutout innings, allowing just two hits, and striking out seven. Washington would push across an unearned run following an error from Brandon Lowe in the seventh but Raley took one the other way and cleared the fence for his second him run of the night to get it back. A late sac fly from Manuel Margot added to the lead and Jeimer Candelario would get one over the fence for the Nationals but the Rays would prevail 6-2 to take the first game and start 4-0 for the first time in the franchise's history.

Player of the Game- Luke Raley (TB) (2-for-3, 2 home runs, 3 RBIs, 1 walk)

Tuesday 4/4

Rays 10, Nationals 6

WP- Ryan Thompson (1-0), LP- Kyle Finnegan (0-1)

With Minnesota losing earlier in the day, the Rays were officially the final undefeated team in the league entering this game. For a split second, it looked like they would fall in short order. Everything the Rays did, the Nationals seemed to have an answer for. The Rays jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI double from Randy Arozarena, an RBI groundout by Wander Franco, and a sac fly by Jose Siri, but Alex Call drove in two runs with a single in the bottom of the first. Jose Siri hit his second home run of the season in the top of the second, but Lane Thomas drove in two more runs with a double in the bottom half. Thomas would give the Nationals the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single, chasing Rays starter Josh Fleming from the game after allowing five runs and ten hits in just three innings. Washington would add to the lead on a double by Luis Garcia in the seventh, making it 6-4 with the Rays six outs away from their first loss. With two strikes and two outs in the top of the eighth, Arozarena would record his second RBI double of the game to cut the deficit to one run before the Rays came up for their final turn in the ninth. Kyle Finnegan would come in to try and close it out for Washington but on the first pitch of the inning, Luke Raley slugged his third home run of the series to tie it up. Three pitches later, Josh Lowe would do the same thing, giving the Rays the lead once again. They didn't stop there, getting two runners on before Yandy Diaz mashed a three-run shot into the Rays' bullpen and blowing the game wide open. Despite 16 hits, Washington would manage just six runs as the Rays closed out the game to win their fifth game of the season in comeback fashion. 

Player of the Game- Yandy Diaz (TB) (2-for-4, 3 runs, 1 walk, 3-run home run in the 9th)

Wednesday 4/5

Rays 7, Nationals 2

WP- Shane McClanahan (2-0), LP- Patrick Corbin (0-2)

With their undefeated start on the line, the Rays turned to their ace as they aimed to complete their second sweep to begin the season. The two sides traded runs in the second inning on a sac fly from Jose Siri and an RBI double by Victor Robles. Wander Franco put the Rays back ahead with a two-run home run in the top of the third and the Rays would control it from there. Michael Chavis would get a run back for Washington in the bottom of the fourth but a three-run sixth, highlighted by Harold Ramirez's first home run of the season would push the lead to 6-2. McClanahan, while not as dominant in his second start, still looked very good, pitching six innings and allowing two runs while walking four and striking out six. Randy Arozarena added one more run in the seventh before the bullpen shut it down, pitching three scoreless innings to complete the sweep in D.C. The Rays continue their franchise-best start to a season as they head home for a weekend series with Oakland. 

Player of the Game- Wander Franco (TB) (2-for-4, 2-run home run, 1 walk)

Series Review

• Rays sweep the Nationals, 3-0
• The Rays outscored the Nationals, 23-10
• 9 home runs in the series (Raley- 3, Siri, Diaz, Lowe, Franco, Ramirez, Paredes- 1 each)
• The Rays have won all six games by 4+ runs, the longest such streak to open a season in the modern era
• Series MVP- Luke Raley (3-for-6, 3 home runs, 5 RBIs, 3 runs, 1 walk)

Friday 4/7

Rays 9, Athletics 5

WP- Zach Eflin (2-0), LP- Ken Waldichuk (0-2)

The Rays returned home after a successful trip in Washington and picked up right where they left off. After Oakland scored the first run of the game in the second, the Rays responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run by Harold Ramirez, a bases-loaded walk drawn by Taylor Walls, and a grand slam hit by Isaac Paredes. Ryan Noda got one back with a solo home run in the top of the third but the Rays mashed two more home runs in the bottom of the third courtesy of Manuel Margot and Christian Bethancourt. Oakland tried to mount a small comeback, scoring two runs to draw within four runs over the next few innings. Wander Franco hit the team's fifth home run of the game with a solo shot in the eighth and after Oakland scored in the ninth, the Rays were able to close the game out to take the first game of the series and push the perfect start to 7-0. Zach Eflin pitched well in his second start, going six innings and striking out seven while allowing three runs on nine hits. 

Player of the Game- Isaac Paredes (TB) (3-for-5, 2 singles, Grand Slam in the 2nd, 4 RBIs)

Saturday 4/8

Rays 11, Athletics 0

WP- Jeffrey Springs (2-0), LP- Shintaro Fujinami (0-2)

The Rays continued to chase history as they looked to expand their win streak and secure their third win in three series. They made it look very easy as it was all Tampa Bay once the runs started pouring in. They didn't get to Oakland starter Shintaro Fujinami until the fourth inning when Isaac Paredes knocked a two-run single to open the scoring but the dam soon broke open from there. Randy Arozarena would pick up two more with a two-run single in the fifth, then Paredes was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in another run. The home runs would begin to flow in from there. Manuel Margot hit his second in as many games in the sixth and Brandon Lowe added a three-run home run a few batters later to make it 9-0. Arozerena added insult to injury with a two-run blast in the eighth as the Rays cruised to an 11-0 victory. After pitching six no-hit innings in his first start, Jeffrey Springs took the mound for his second start and was just as good the second time around. He shut down the A's over seven innings, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out seven to begin the season with 13 scoreless innings. 

Player of the Game- Jeffrey Springs (TB) (7.0 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts) 

Sunday 4/9

Rays 11, Athletics 0

WP- Drew Rasmussen (2-0), LP- James Kaprielian (0-1)

The Rays closed out another series dominantly and similarly to how they did it yesterday. The long ball was key and the pitching was on point all day for Tampa Bay. Wander Franco got it going almost immediately by turning on an inside pitch and lining it over the fence in right field for his fourth home run of the season to give the Rays the early 1-0 lead. The score would remain that way until the fourth inning, which would end up being a very weird inning for the Rays. It was all because of the work of Harold Ramirez. To start, he would step up with a runner on first base and hit a high chopper to third. Jace Peterson opted not to throw it to second but didn't take into account how quickly Ramirez was getting down the line as he beat the throw to first. Later in the inning, his hustle would be on display again as he beat out a throw to second base with two out on a chopper to the shortstop to load the bases. On the very next pitch, Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam to bust the game wide open. Ramirez would follow that up by mashing a two-run home run of his own in the fifth. The Rays would add runs in the later innings courtesy of an RBI single by Randy Arozarena, an RBI single by Lowe, and a bases-load walk and RBI single from Josh Lowe. This was more than enough run support for Drew Rasmussen as he threw seven scoreless innings and allowed just one hit while striking out eight. The pitching staff as a whole would allow two base runners the entire game as the Rays posted another 11-0 shutout win over Oakland to sweep their third series of the season. 

Player of the Game- Harold Ramirez (TB) (3-for-4, triple shy of the cycle, 2-run home run, 3 runs, 1 walk)

Series Review

• Rays sweep the Athletics, 3-0
• Outscored Oakland, 31-5
• +57 run differential through 9 games, third-best in MLB history (best since 1900)
• 11 home runs in the series
• 24 home runs this season, most in the league
• Drew Rasmussen and Jeffrey Springs each have opened the season by throwing 13 scoreless innings
• The 9-0 start matches the 2003 Kansas City Royals for the best in the Wild Card era
• Series MVP- Brandon Lowe (3-for-6, 6 runs, 2 home runs, 8 RBIs, 4 walks)

Injury Report

Jose Siri was placed on the 10-day IL before Saturday's game. The team activated Vidal Brujan, who saw some action in Sunday's game. Also, Taylor Walls looked to be having some work done, so Jonathan Aranda was brought up to the taxi squad. 

The Week Ahead

The Rays will continue their homestand by welcoming their first division opponent to Tropicana Field as the Boston Red Sox come to town for a four-game set. The series is set to feature games against both Chris Sale and former Ray Corey Kluber. The Rays will then hit the road for three games over the weekend with another division opponent as they make their first trip north of the border to face the Toronto Blue Jays.