The Tampa Bay Rays fell 7-9 in their opening matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals.

September 28, 2025, was the last time the Rays played a regular-season game. That day, they fell to the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 13-4. Fast forward 6 months, and the “St. Pete Nine” started their 2026 campaign the same way they ended their 2025 campaign: losing.

The game started well enough with a Yandy Diaz dribbler that he legged out and slid in to first, head first to earn a safe call. Diaz swung on a first pitch from long, lanky left-hander Matthew Liberatore, and dominantly set the tone for the opening day tussle for Tampa Bay. Last year, the Rays were near the bottom in slash-lines against left-handed pitching, posting a .234/.295/.372 statline. This year, it seemed like maybe fortunes were returning, and proof was in a sluggish 34-year-old who beat out an infield ground ball for the first hit of the season. The Rays stranded Diaz that inning on second, head first was one 16 men left on base yesterday.

Drew Rasmussen took the bump for Tampa Bay. The 30-year-old veteran righty gave the Bay Blue 5 innings with of 1 run ball while striking out two, but did give up one run on a homerun. The homerun? A two-strike snipe that hung for rookie JJ Wetherholt to gift to a member of 45,000-plus fans in attendance at Busch Stadium. Despite the homer, Rasmussen pitched strongly and kept the Cardinals’ offense at bay. The Rays would eventually respond with Jonathan Aranda homer, tying the ballgame at one a piece.

Then the sixth inning happened.

The sixt start out innocently enough with a Nick Fortes base hit. The Rays’ half of the sixth would bear 6 runs, capped off by infield singles by both Ben Williamson and Nick Fortes second hit of the top half of the frame. Then, the Cardinals had a chance. Funky southpaw Ian Seymour was brought into the game and given a 7-1 lead at the time. Seymour didn’t record an out and was charged with 5 runs off five hits. When Seymour left the game, the score was 7-3, Rays. After Garrett Clevenger was marginally better but similarly ineffective as he came on to relieve Seymour, however, the score was 7-5, and he was only able to record 2 out, and Griffin Jax was brought in to calm the storm. After having two strikes on Alec Burleson, Griffin Jax threw him a near center cut fastball that Burleson seemingly saw coming based on the 423 feet that said ball traveled after the Cardinals’ first basemen made loud and violent contact, giving the home team the lead 7-9.

The Rays did have a potential response in the 7th inning, bases loaded with two outs, and 22-year-old phenomenal Junior Caminero came up to bat. It would have been poetry to write about Junior coming up clutch for his team yesterday. The only one who came in clutch was the Cardinals reliever, JoJo Romero, who had Caminero looking at a third strike- squashing a two-out rally.

After Richie Palacios struck out swinging, for the final out, the fate of the Rays was sealed that night; a 7-9 loss for a game that was seemingly in control of the Rays. Despite Tampa Bay’s 17 hits, they. Were 5-15 with runners in scoring position and gave up six hits in the sixth inning, where the batter had two strikes.

Thus, the story of the Tampa Bay Rays’ 2026 campaign begins with frustration and missed opportunities, much like how the 2025 season ended. Go figure.

3 Stars of the Game:

1. Jonathan Aranda; 2-4, 1 HR , 2RBis
2. Drew Rasmussen: 5 IP, 2Ks, 4 hits, 0 BB, 1 ER.
3. Yoendrys Gómez; 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 BB, 1K, 0 ER.

3 Moons of the Game:

1. Griffin Jax; Blown Save, .2 innings, 1 hit, 1 ER, 2 inherited runners scored.
2. Garrett Cleavinger; Loss, .1innings, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1 inherited runner scored.
3. Ian Seymour; 5 batters faced with 0 outs recorded, 5 hits, 5 ER.

Next Game: 3/28 at 2:15 PM EDT.

Minor League Action: Durham Bulls at Charlotte Knights on 3/27 at 7:04 PM EDT