Game Thread: Hello, old friend
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Today on OTM: The American League is upside down
Not sure if anyone has looked at the American League standings in the past 24 hours, but the following three teams are leading their divisions: Tampa Bay Rays (11-7): winners of six straight Minnesota Twins (11-8): winners of 8-of-10 Sacramento Athletics* (10-9): winners of 8-of-11, tied for first with the Texas Rangers *(I’m calling them […]
Tampa Bay Lightning First Round Schedule against the Montreal Canadiens has been released
With the final regular season games concluding late Thursday night (and having a bearing on the final Western Conference seedings) the NHL’s first round schedule took a little while to complete. In the wee early hours of Friday morning, it finally dropped. Along with the other fourteen teams left competing, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens finally learned exactly when they’ll be competing against each other over the next two weeks. For those of you in the Tampa area who feel...
Melton Making Moves
Jacob Melton was acquired by the Rays as the centerpiece in the Brandon Lowe trade. He brings a high-impact toolset: fringe 70 power, plus defense across all three outfield spots (including center field), and above-average speed. Through his first 15 games with Triple-A Durham, that hasn’t translated to production. Melton is currently running a 74 […]
NHL announces schedule for Montreal Canadiens-Tampa Bay Lightning playoff series
After the Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division on Monday night, the only thing left to determine was where the first-round series between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning would start. With Montreal’s loss on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, Tampa Bay secured the second seed in the division, and gets to play the opening two games, and Game 7 if it reaches that point, at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida. The NHL released the full schedule for the series, ...
Tampa Bay Lightning to begin their quest for 16 wins on Sunday
Despite the match-ups not being entirely set as the Western Conference is coming down to their final game for seedings, the NHL has released the dates (but not all of the times) for the opening games of the first-round playoff series. The 2026 #StanleyCup Playoffs begin Saturday! The one guarantee this year: There will be a new champion. Tune in on /ESPN, /NHL_On_TNT, /Sportsnet and /TVASports. Full schedule to be announced after all First Round matchups are set later tonight. Details...
White Sox find new way to lose to Rays, 5-3
The automatic ball/strike system sure was a White Sox buddy this afternoon. That is, until a time came when even your friends couldn’t help enough. The Rays tried to be friendly, too, leaving 14 runners on base. That is, until the Sox pitching staff decided it was unfair not to let them score. The first […]
Walk this way: Rays 5, White Sox 3
The Rays were hoping that this afternoon’s game would continue their five-game winning streak, and also complete the sweep against the White Sox before they headed to Pittsburgh for their weekend series against Paul Skenes and the Pirates. To get there, they’d have Steven Matz on the mound, squaring off against Jordan Leasure for the […]
Three takeaways from today’s Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners meeting on Rays Stadium funding
Today the BOCC held a workshop where county staff and the consultant who wrote the economic impact report would report to the commissioners. Let’s cut to the chase: My impression is that despite several commissioners seeming very bullish on the idea of this project, we are still a long way from getting a stadium deal, […]
Game Thread: Rays (10-7) at White Sox (6-12)
The White Sox will be trying to salvage a win in a series where they’ve been pretty well thumped in the first two games, and the pitching staff may give a try at keeping the Rays to fewer than eight runs while they’re at it. This will be the first game where there’s no one […]
Game Thread: Takin’ em to the Matz
Go Rays!
Luis Gil’s second outing of the season was a mixed bag
Last week, Yankees right-hander Luis Gil made his season debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing three runs in four innings, with three hits, three walks, and just two strikeouts. He was undoubtedly shaky despite limiting the damage somewhat. On Wednesday, he made his second start, and even though there were some improvements, the results […]
Hillsborough County to hold stadium workshop this afternoon as Rays dial up pressure
Hillsborough County will hold a Rays Stadium workshop this afternoon to consider the funding MOU submitted by the team last week. You can watch the proceedings starting at 1:30 PM. The workshop is largely for commissioners to gather more information, which means it will also be the public’s best opportunity as well. Remember that Florida’s […]
Rangers vs. Lightning: The End
The Rangers won their final game, moved to fourth in draft lottery odds, and gave us one last reminder of why this year was so hard to watch.
Lightning drop season finale to Rangers, 4-2
We could spend the next 1,000 words breaking down the action of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers in the final game of the regular season. However, nothing structurally or strategically from tonight’s defeat will carry forward into the playoffs. Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, J.J. Moser, Ryan McDonagh, and Andrei Vasilevskiy were high-priced fans for the night. The loss didn’t hurt the Lightning and the win didn’t help the Rangers. So, it was meaningles...
“Maybe one day…”: Rays 8, White Sox 3
For the first time in 15 years, the Rays win on Jackie Robinson Day Donning the light blue Burst jerseys for the first time, Tampa Bay took the field with everyone in uniform wearing number 42, celebrating Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier on this day in 1947. Junior Caminero would provide the offense to […]
White Sox spoil back-to-back prospect debuts, lose another to Rays
Tonight’s game felt almost like déjà vu from Tuesday. The Rays (10-7) once again put up eight runs while a prominent Chicago prospect made their major league debut, dealing the White Sox (6-12) back-to-back losses, 8-3. Righthander Sean Burke was doing all right through four innings despite giving up a solo shot to Junior Caminero […]
Game Thread: God’s chosen team
Go Rays!
Game Thread: Welcome to the show, Sam Antonacci
Happy Jackie Robinson Day to all who celebrate! The White Sox (6-11) dropped the first game of a three-game set with the Rays Tuesday behind Noah Schultz in his MLB debut, and righthander Sean Burke will take the mound in an effort to create any form of positive momentum for the team. As it stands, […]
Game #82: New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Open Thread
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Look at us, we made it: New York Rangers at Tampa Bay Lightning Game Preview
Game Eighty-Two : New York Rangers (33-39-9) at Tampa Bay Lightning (50-25-6) Time: 7:00 PM EST Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa – The site of Wayne Gretzky’s final All-Star Game (he had a goal and an assist). Question – who was the Lightning’s All-Star that season? TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, MSG, TVAS2, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App Odds: Lightning -115 Know the Opponents: Blue Shirt Banter Look at that. We’ve made it to the end of the season. It t...
The Panthers draft history shows the perils of drafting a mid-round quarterback
As the Carolina Panthers prepare for the 2026 NFL Draft they do so in the awkward position of not knowing if quarterback Bryce Young is their long-term answer at the most important position in sports. Young enters 2026 on the final year of his rookie contract and Carolina has already picked up his fifth-year option […]
Lightning secure home ice advantage in the first round. Is that a good thing?
With the Montreal Canadiens losing (in regulation) their final game of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have secured home ice in their first-round match-up that starts this weekend. Is that a good thing? After all, this is a team that is 1-7 at home during their last three playoff series. In case you were wondering, yes, they lost all three of those series. What’s been even more frustrating is that the Lightning had been very, very good at home during the regular season. Over t...
White Sox fall flat in Noah Schultz’s debut
It might not have been the perfect performance he hoped for, but Noah Schultz pushed through a rough first frame of his major league debut to finish his 4 1/3-inning outing strongly, despite the White Sox (6 -11) dropping the first game of the series to the Rays (9-7), 8-5. Schultz needed 33 pitches to […]
Very small ball: Rays 8 White Sox 5
The Rays took the first game of this series against the White Sox, with Shane McClanahan picking up his first win in well over a year while his teammates gathered twelve hits and six walks. Every player was on base at least once. This game received national attention because of the White Sox starter: Noah […]
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