Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer and Jake Mangum had a two-run single during the Tampa Bay Rays’ seven-run fourth inning in a 7-3 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night.
Yandy Díaz scored a run and drove in another during the decisive inning in Tampa Bay’s third win in 13 games.
Ryan Pepiot (7-9) yielded five hits and two earned runs while pitching into the sixth inning for Tampa Bay, breaking his five-start winless streak.
Jo Adell homered and drove in all three runs for the Angels, who dropped to 6-6 on their 13-game homestand.
José Soriano (7-9) threw three hitless innings before the Rays demolished him in the fourth.
After Díaz led off with the Rays’ first hit, Lowe followed with his 20th homer on a 411-foot shot to center. Four of Tampa Bay’s next five batters got hits, and Díaz added an RBI grounder in his second at-bat.
Adell hit a two-run shot for his 23rd homer in the fifth, and he added an RBI single in the sixth.
The Angels’ fifth inning could have been much bigger, but Logan O’Hoppe was thrown out at home while trying to score from first on Christian Moore’s double before Oswald Peraza got doubled off first on Bryce Teodosio’s sharp lineout to Lowe.
Lowe has 20 homers in three straight seasons and four of his last five.
TAMPA, Fla. — Scoring runs at Steinbrenner Field should not be as hard as the Dodgers made it look this weekend.
The spring training ballpark, which is doubling as the Tampa Bay Rays’ temporary home this season after Tropicana Field was shredded in an offseason hurricane, has small Yankee Stadium-inspired dimensions that played even shorter in this weekend’s sweltering Florida summer heat.
Yet, for 18 innings from late Friday night to midway through Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers put nothing but zeros on the scoreboard.
They couldn’t capitalize on the short porch in right field. They didn’t run into any cheap home runs amid conditions that should have helped the ball fly.
During a 3-0 win over the Rays on Sunday, the Dodgers manufactured offense in different kinds of ways.
In the top of the sixth, third base coach Dino Ebel decided to wave his arm on an aggressive send of Freddie Freeman, who went chugging around third base to score just ahead of a tag at home on Andy Pages’ RBI single to left.
In the seventh, they needed a swinging-bunt single from Shohei Ohtani, a one-out walk from Mookie Betts and a double-steal from both players to set up Freeman for another RBI single.
And in the ninth, they extended their lead with a sacrifice fly from Betts at the end of a 10-pitch battle for a key insurance run.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto throws during the first inning of a win over the Rays in Tampa, Fla.
(Jason Behnken / Associated Press)
Such results will do little to quell the concerns about the Dodgers’ slumping lineup, which has seen a brutal performance in July (when they scored the third-fewest runs in the majors) continue into the early days of August.
But on a day Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered 5 ⅔ scoreless innings and the Dodgers’ bullpen completed a second shutout of the Rays in this weekend’s series victory — despite a bases-loaded scare in the bottom of the ninth — it was nonetheless enough to ensure the team returned home from this nine-game road trip with a winning 5-4 record.
The Dodgers’ ongoing search for offense included another twist on Sunday morning. Two weeks after flipping Ohtani and Betts at the top of the batting order, manager Dave Roberts reversed course by returning Ohtani to the top spot and dropping Betts — who has remained mired in his season-long slump — into the two-hole.
Early on, the results weren’t promising.
Betts grounded into a double-play in the first inning, immediately after Ohtani had led off with a walk.
In the fifth, the Rays intentionally walked Ohtani to put two aboard in front of Betts. But he flied out to center to end the inning, extending his recent hitless streak to 16 at-bats.
“It’s kind of just trying to figure out what’s best short term,” Roberts said of the lineup adjustment, while remaining undecided on how the batting order will look in the coming days. “With [Teoscar Hernández, who got an off day] not being in there, this was the best lineup for today.”
Roberts hinted that more tinkering could happen once Max Muncy returns from the injured list, which could happen as soon as Monday — especially after infielder Tommy Edman left Sunday’s game early with a sprained right ankle, aggravating his lingering ankle injury while rounding first base on a single in the fifth.
Roberts also left open the possibility of Betts, who saw his season batting average dip to .233 despite his seventh-inning walk and ninth-inning sacrifice fly, dropping further down the batting order at some point, as he continues to search for answers to his faltering swing.
“I’ve thought about it,” Roberts said. “I think it’s a totally fair question. I’m just trying to figure out what would be best for him, for the team. But yeah, I’ve thought about it.”
For now, however, the Dodgers are clinging to what positives they can.
Ohtani entered Sunday in a recent skid that included 20 strikeouts in his last 10 games, but managed to reach base four total times to go along with two steals. Freeman stayed hot with his second three-hit performance of the trip, raising his batting average (which had slipped to .292 just a week ago) up to .306. And by the end of the day, even Betts had pitched in, following up his seventh-inning walk by staying alive against reliever Griffin Jax for his sacrifice fly in the ninth.
José Caballero was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays at the start of Thursday’s game against the New York Yankees.
He was a member of the Rays when he turned a double play to end the fifth inning.
He was a member of the Rays when he popped out to second base to start the sixth inning.
He was a member of the winning team when he spoke to reporters after the game.
That team was not the Rays. In a bizarre scenario that played out as the MLB trade deadline came and went, Caballero was dealt to the opposing team during a game in which he was playing.
“I was winning today regardless,” Caballero said following the Yankees’ 7-4 victory. “We won the game, I guess. That’s what I feel right now.”
As part of the deal, the Rays received triple-A outfielder Everson Pereira and a player to be named or cash.
Caballero is tied for the MLB lead with 34 stolen bases this season. He has played in 86 games at six positions (shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield spots) and has a batting average of .226 with two home runs and 27 RBIs.
After entering Thursday’s game in the bottom of the fifth inning, Caballero could be seen in the Tampa Bay dugout during the top of the seventh, giving hugs and saying his goodbyes. Shortstop Taylor Walls looked particularly stunned by the development.
Caballero, who was acquired by the Rays in a trade with the Seattle Mariners before the 2024 season, bid his final farewell Friday on his Instagram Stories.
“Grateful for every moment, every game, every memory, every person,” he wrote. “Y’all made it special. Forever part of my journey. Thank you Rays!!”
Caballero also had a message for his new team.
“Honored to join such a legendary organization,” he wrote. “Thank you, Yankees, for the warm welcome. Let’s get to work! #NewChapter”
The Panama native is now a member of the team he grew up rooting for (Derek Jeter was his favorite player, Caballero told reporters). He is also now teammates with Gerrit Cole, the Yankees pitcher who famously wagged his finger in annoyance at then-Seattle Mariners rookie Caballero during a June 2023 game.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters he spoke briefly with Caballero after the trade.
“I said, `We’ve had some battles but I like your game,’” Boone said. “So I think he brings a lot to the table and I think he’s going to be a very useful player for us, just a lot of different things he can do on a diamond and provide a lot of position flexibility.”
Because that’s how the Dodgers started their trade deadline activity late Wednesday night.
On the eve of MLB’s annual trade deadline (which is Thursday at 3 p.m. PDT), the Dodgers were the tertiary party in a three-team trade with the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays.
While the biggest piece in the deal — starting pitcher Zack Littell — went from Tampa Bay to Cincinnati, the Dodgers were included in a swap of some lesser-name players.
Minor league catcher Hunter Feduccia, a longtime Dodgers farmhand having a nice season with triple-A Oklahoma City, was sent to Tampa Bay.
In return, the Dodgers received pitching prospect Adam Serwinowski from the Reds, as well as reliever Paul Gervase and catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Rays, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.
Serwinowski is the most intriguing name the Dodgers acquired. A 21-year-old left-hander who was ranked as the No. 10 prospect in the Reds’ farm system by MLB Pipeline, the former 15th-round draft pick has been a favorite of Dodgers’ evaluators for a while, according to another person with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
While Serwinowski has a 4.84 ERA in high-A this season, the Dodgers are excited by his potential and add him to a farm system that is lacking the depth of impact pitching prospects it usually touts.
Gervase is a 25-year-old reliever who debuted in the majors this year with the Rays, posting a 4.26 ERA in five outings this year.
Rortvedt is a 27-year-old journeyman catcher who will help provide organizational depth in Feduccia’s absence, alongside current triple-A backstops Chris Okey and Chuckie Robinson.
For a team that has been linked to some of the bigger names on this year’s trade market, it was far from the blockbuster many fans have been waiting on.
Granted, the Dodgers are still expected to be active on Thursday.
Their need for a reliever remains, even though they remained idle on Wednesday as other top options, from Jhoan Durán to Ryan Helsley to Tyler Rogers, were dealt elsewhere.
The club is still hoping to add another hitter to their lineup too, with an upgrade in the outfield (especially defensively) seen as a priority, according to a person with knowledge of the club’s thinking.
Whether the Dodgers can land the impact additions they seek, in what has been a seller’s market defined by high acquisition costs to this point, remains to be seen.
But at least they won’t go into deadline day without having made any deals, with Wednesday night’s late-night transaction expected to be the first of several moves they make ahead of Thursday’s trade cutoff.
PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic — Wander Franco, the suspended Tampa Bay Rays shortstop charged in a sexual abuse case, was found guilty on Thursday but received a two-year suspended sentence.
Franco was arrested last year after being accused of having a four-month relationship with a girl who was 14 at the time, and of transferring thousands of dollars to her mother to consent to the illegal relationship.
Franco, now 24, also faced charges of sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor, and human trafficking.
Judge Jakayra Veras García said Franco made a bad decision as she addressed him during the ruling.
“Look at us, Wander,” she said. “Do not approach minors for sexual purposes. If you don’t like people very close to your age, you have to wait your time.”
Prosecutors had requested a five-year prison sentence against Franco and a 10-year sentence against the girl’s mother, who was found guilty and will serve the full term.
“Apparently she was the one who thought she was handling the bat in the big leagues,” Veras said of the mother and her request that Franco pay for her daughter’s schooling and other expenses.
Before the three judges issued their unanimous ruling, Veras orally reviewed the copious amount of evidence that prosecutors presented during trial, including certain testimony from 31 witnesses.
“This is a somewhat complex process,” Veras said.
More than an hour into her presentation, Veras said: “The court has understood that this minor was manipulated.”
As the judge continued her review, Franco looked ahead expressionless, leaning forward at times.
Franco, who was once the team’s star shortstop, had signed a $182 million, 11-year contract through 2032 in November 2021 but saw his career abruptly halted in August 2023 after authorities in the Dominican Republic announced they were investigating him for an alleged relationship with a minor. Franco was 22 at the time.
In January 2024, authorities arrested Franco in the Dominican Republic. Six months later, Tampa Bay placed him on the restricted list, which cut off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.
He was placed on that list because he has not been able to report to the team and would need a new U.S. visa to do so.
While Franco awaited trial on conditional release, he was arrested again in November last year following what Dominican authorities called an altercation over a woman’s attention. He was charged with illegally carrying a semiautomatic Glock 19 that police said was registered to his uncle.
That case is still pending in court.
After the ruling, Major League Baseball issued a brief statement noting it had collectively bargained a joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy “that reflects our commitment to these issues.”
“We are aware of today’s verdict in the Wander Franco trial and will conclude our investigation at the appropriate time,” MLB said.
Adames writes for the Associated Press. Associated Press writers Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Ron Blum in New York contributed.
