Deluca leads Rays to narrow victory

March 31, 2026 general

Tuesday, 4 a.m. Jonny Deluca, game-buster. Deluca, not normally a slugger, turned the game for the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night. Deluca, who had only eight home runs in his previous three seasons with the Rays, took over the game late in a 3-2 win over Milwaukee at American Family Field. In the seventh inning, […]

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Bolts overcome sluggish start

March 30, 2026 general

Monday, 4 a.m. The Tampa Bay Lightning spend much of Sunday afternoon sleep-walking. They were dull and uninspired. They got off only one shot in the entire first period. They won only two face-offs. They were one tick above being comatose. And still, they won. Somehow, they won. Without Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, without Nikita […]

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Rays’ bats highlight season’s 1st win

March 30, 2026 general

Monday, 3 a.m. Offense. Following their first win, the Tampa Bay Rays want you to talk about their offense. They want you to talk about an opening weekend in which they scored 23 runs, and one in which they compiled 41 hits. They want you to talk about Yandy Diaz, who had five hits and […]

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Bolts win in another comeback

March 29, 2026 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. Yeah, they start slow. Yeah, they dig themselves a hole too often. Yeah, they tend to turn games into uphill climbs. But on days such as Saturday, the Tampa Bay Lightning treats slow starts as minor inconveniences. The Bolts fell behind for the fifth straight game, and they fell behind by two […]

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Rays come back, but lose to Cards late

March 29, 2026 general

Sunday, 3 a.m. Another day, another slice of agony for the Rays’ bullpen. The Rays, who gave up an eight-run sixth inning in Thursday’s opener, gave up two runs without recording an out in the 10th inning of Saturday’s game. The result was a blown comeback by the Rays and a 6-5 loss to St. […]

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Bolts can’t dig themselves out of a hole

March 27, 2026 general

Friday, 4 a.m. Maybe the Tampa Bay Lightning should stop giving their opponent a head start. Lately, games of the Lightning have followed a familiar pattern. They start slow. They catch up. And then it’s a coin flip. For the third straight game, the Bolts fell behind 3-1, this time to Seattle in Thursday night’s […]

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Rays let huge lead slip away in opener

March 26, 2026 general

Friday, 4 a.m. If Opening Day can be viewed as an opening statement, there was only one message delivered by the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday. Oops. The Rays dropped their first game, 9-7, to the St. Louis Cardials at Busch Stadium. Along the way, there were several misstatements, and misplays, by the Rays. — Their […]

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Bolts rally to beat Minnesota Wild

March 25, 2026 general

Wednesday, 4 a.m. For a period and a half, the Tampa Bay Bay Lightning looked as if it was still somewhere on the road. The Bolts, after a return from the west coast, were sluggish and sleepy looking. They fell behind 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 midway through the second. Turns out, there […]

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Lightning lets road effort slip away

March 23, 2026 general

Monday, 4 a.m. Spend enough time on the road, and some stretches are going to turn rocky. Ask the Tampa Bay Lightning, who saw their excellence away from home end in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Bolts, who took seven of eight points on their latest road […]

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Kucherov shines again in Bolts’ win

March 22, 2026 general

Sunday, 4 a.m. Are there any adjectives left? Are there any superlatives that haven’t been used to describe the brilliance of Nikita Kucherov? Probably not. If the word is laudatory, then it’s probably been used to describe Kucherov. Once again, Kucherov was dazzling again in Saturday night’s 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at the […]

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