Catching Some Rays- 5/1-5/7

After getting Monday off, the Rays faced a difficult week as they welcomed the National League's best team by record before a divisional face-off with a hated rival. As great of a story as the Rays have been through April, Pittsburgh has been just as surprising. After one month, Pittsburgh sits atop both the NL Central and the entire National League. They are welcomed into Tropicana Field for a three-game mid-week set. The week ends with the Rays hosting the Yankees for the first time this season. When these two get together, the fireworks come out. We can expect some benches to be cleared and some tempers to be flared up. 

Tuesday 5/2

Rays 4, Pirates 1

WP- Colin Poche (3-0), LP- Roansy Contreras (3-2), SV- Jason Adam (1)

The battle of the league's best began on Tuesday night with the offenses not quite finding their strides as pitching ruled the day. It was a bullpen game for the Rays as Javy Guerra made his season debut with the Rays. Josh Fleming ate a bulk of the innings from there with five other pitchers combining to allow just one run. The Rays didn't break the scoreless tie until the fourth inning when Harold Ramirez drove home the first run on a single. After Pittsburgh tied it in the top of the fifth, Wander Franco drove home another run in the Rays' half before he and Jose Siri perfectly executed a double steal as Siri stole home. Ramirez added the icing on the cake with a solo shot in the sixth. The bullpen shut things down from there as the Rays took the first game, 4-1. 

Player of the Game- Harold Ramirez (TB) (2-for-3, 1 run, 1 home run, 2 RBIs, 1 walk, 1 stolen base)

Wednesday 5/3

Rays 8, Pirates 1

WP- Shane McClanahan (6-0), LP- Mitch Keller (3-1), SV- Chase Anderson (1)

It's always a good day when Shane McClanahan takes the mound and this game was no different. While Andrew McCutchen take him deep to open the scoring in the third, McClanahan was otherwise strong. He pitched six solid innings, allowing just the one home run while Pittsburgh managed just five hits as he struck out nine. As for the offense, they capitalized on some errors early before turning it on late. The Rays scored three in the third inning with Yandy Diaz scoring on an error and Brandon Lowe driving in two on a double. Francisco Mejia added another run in the fifth on an error and Harold Ramirez drove in another run later in the inning on a single. Josh Lowe smacked a 455-foot home run off of the scoreboard in right field in the sixth and Wander Franco drove another home run in the seventh. Luke Raley joined in the fun with an RBI double in the eighth to make it 8-1 and that would be more than enough. Chase Anderson, who'd just been acquired earlier in the day, followed McClanahan by pitching three scoreless innings to record his first MLB save as the Rays clinched a series win. 

Player of the Game- Wander Franco (TB) (2-for-5, 3 runs, 1 home run, 2 RBIs)

Thursday 5/4

Rays 3, Pirates 2

WP- Zach Eflin (4-0), LP- Vince Valazquez (4-3), SV- Jason Adam (2)

When the Rays signed Zach Eflin during the offseason, they needed him to show some of the prowess that helped get the Phillies to the World Series last season. This was easily his best start as a Ray. Eflin went seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out ten Pirates. The offense needed just three home runs as Taylor Walls, Randy Arozarena, and Yandy Diaz each stroked solo shots to get the Rays to the ninth inning up 3-0. Diaz's home run would end up being much more important than expected as Pittsburgh made it close with Carlos Santana smacking a two-run single in the ninth to pull within a run. Jason Adam would not be phased as he closed out the contest, earning the Rays a three-game sweep over the Pirates. 

Player of the Game- Zach Eflin (TB) (7.0 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts)

Series Review

• The Rays sweep the series, 3-0 (6th sweep of the season)
• The Rays outscored the Pirates, 15-4
• 26-6 is the best 32-game start since the 1984 Tigers, tied for the 4th-best since 1900
• Series MVP- Yandy Diaz (4-for-10, 2 runs, 1 double, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 3 walks, .538 OBP) 

Friday 5/5

Rays 5, Yankees 4

WP- Kevin Kelly (3-0), LP- Jimmy Cordero (1-1), SV- Jason Adam (3)

The first game of the season between the Rays and the Yankees brought exactly what we thought we'd see. There were home runs, hit batters, and tempers flaring. It was also a very good game. The Rays dominated the early portion of the contest, scoring a run in each of the first four innings. Randy Arozarena got it going early with a solo shot in the first. Jose Siri drove in a run on sac fly in the second. Yandy Diaz drove another solo home run in the third and Wander Franco scored on a groundout by Harold Ramirez in the fourth. With the Rays up 4-0 in the fifth, Arozarena was hit by a pitch for the second straight at-bat and both times the HBP was on the first pitch. The umpires came together and issued warnings to both teams and Kevin Cash didn't like that. While he would later state that he didn't think Arozarena was intentionally hit, it didn't keep him from speaking his mind and getting ejected from the game. The Yankees pushed back in the sixth inning with Gleyber Torres driving home a run on a double before Harrison Bader tied it on a three-run shot. With the game tied, Franco would smash a ball to left field, forcing former Ray Jake Bauers to make a tough play. Ultimately, he wouldn't as the ball hit his glove and fall to the ground. It didn't help that he kicked it away too. Diaz put on the jets and tried to score the go-ahead run. The Yankees would put together a solid relay to try and get Diaz at the plate and they would get the call at home plate. The Rays would ask for a review and it was determined that Diaz wasn't tagged before touching, giving the Rays the lead once again. This would be enough for the Rays as the bullpen once again shut things down, earning the first win of the series. 

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

Saturday 5/6

Yankees 3, Rays 2

WP- Ron Marinaccio (1-1) LP- Kevin Kelly (3-1), SV- Ian Hamilton (1)

Feeding off of the momentum gained from their win on Friday night, the Rays wasted no time jumping ahead of the Yankees in the second game. Manuel Margot blasted a ball right through the legs of DJ LeMahieu that would get all the way to the wall to score two runs. Unfortunately, this is all the offense would muster as Domingo German settled into the game. While the offense went cold, Drew Rasmussen was dealing. He went 5.2 innings in this start, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out six. The Rays' 2-0 lead stood through eight innings but New York would finally strike. LeMahieu started it by driving in New York's first run on a double before Harrison Bader drove in two with a single. For the second game in a row, the Rays' bullpen blew a lead and this time, the offense wasn't able to get it back. Despite the strong start from Rasmussen, the Rays would drop the game 3-2 to set up an important rubber match on Sunday. 

Player of the Game- Harrison Bader (NYY) (2-for-2, 2 singles, 2 RBIs as a PH)

Sunday 5/7

Rays 8, Yankees 7 (10)

WP- Jalen Beeks (1-2), LP- Albert Abreu (1-1)

After allowing two multi-run leads to slip through their fingers in the first two games, it felt like the Rays had decided they were just going to give up all of their runs early and play from behind. Through the top of the fifth inning, the Yankees held a 6-0 lead with home runs by Anthony Rizzo and Harrison Bader highlighting the strong start. The Rays started chipping away at the lead as Jose Siri took Gerrit Cole deep and Yandy Diaz took advantage of a throwing error from Gleyber Torres to score all the way from first base on a single by Wander Franco. Isaac Paredes made it 6-3 on a ground-rule double down the left-field line and Christian Bethancourt completed the comeback with a three-run shot to dead center to tie it 6-6. Not satisfied with just tying the game, Siri got on his horse and scored all the way from second on a ground ball to the pitcher to give the Rays their first lead of the game. Jose Trevino didn't allow the good times to last as he drove in a run on a groundout to tie it at seven and the score would remain that way after nine innings. After the Yankees ran themselves out of a run in the top of the 10th, Paredes blooped a soft liner into right field to walk it off as the Rays came back to take the series over the Yankees. 

Player of the Game- Isaac Paredes (TB) (2-for-5, 1 run, 1 double, 2 RBIs, Walk-off 1B in the 10th)

Series Review

• The Rays beat the Yankees, 2-1
• The Rays outscored the Yankees, 15-14
• 32,142 fans were in attendance for Sunday's game, the largest crowd at Tropicana Field in 7 years
• A multi-run lead was erased in all three games
• Series MVP- Yandy Diaz (3-for-10, 4 runs, 1 home, 2 RBIs, 2 walks, 1 HBP, .462 OBP)

Injury Report & Other News

Peter Fairbanks was put on the 15-day IL (retroactive to 4/30) with right forearm inflammation after leaving an appearance during the Pittsburgh series. Garrett Cleavinger left early in Sunday's game after an awkward fall during a rundown and while he recorded the out, he needed some help off of the field. 

In positive injury news, Tyler Glasnow made a rehab appearance in Durham on Friday night, throwing 2.1 scoreless innings. He's expected to make a few more rehab starts before re-joining the team. My hope is that we'll see him by the end of the month.  

The Rays also made a trade earlier in the week, acquiring Chase Anderson from the Reds for cash. He made an immediate impact, recording a three-inning save on Wednesday. 

The Week Ahead

The Rays are about to begin a huge road trip that will last for three series. This week, they will begin with a three-game set at Camden Yard as the top two teams in the AL East square off for the first time this season. Baltimore has been one of the surprises of the first month and they come into the series with a 22-12 record, 5.5 games behind the Rays. They'll then travel up north to face both New York teams, starting with a four-game weekend series with the Yankees. The Rays will likely have to deal with Aaron Judge this time around after he missed this past weekend.