The Rays' Way with Marc Topkin
5/5/202650 min
Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker kick off today's show breaking down the Blue Jays' 5-1 loss to the Rays including Eric Lauer's issues in the first inning and how Tampa Bay shut down Toronto's bats. Marc Topkin (16:15) of the Tampa Bay Times checks in with his evaluation of the Rays' season so far. The boys ask Marc about Tampa's place in the American League East, Bryan Baker's strong 2026, the recent changes at Tropicana Field, and what Jonathan Aranda brings to the lineup. After the break (29:50), Jeff and Kevin share today's trivia question, before discussing the approach change behind Kazuma Okamoto's power surge and who the odd man out might be once Addison Barger is ready to return.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Marc Topkin· Guest0:19
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Speaker 00:22
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Jeff Blair· Host0:29
[upbeat music] All right, welcome to Blair and Barker, brought to you by Capital One. Capital One, giving credit to over four million Canadians and counting. How you doing, Mr. Barker?
Kevin Barker· Host0:56
Hi, buddy.
Jeff Blair· Host0:57
I'm doing- I've had a good one today. What?
Kevin Barker· Host1:00
I've had a good one today.
Jeff Blair· Host1:01
[laughs] Why would today be any different than any other day?
Kevin Barker· Host1:04
[laughs] Jeez.
Jeff Blair· Host1:05
Were you talking about us or the Jays?
Kevin Barker· Host1:07
No, both.
Jeff Blair· Host1:08
Oh.
Kevin Barker· Host1:08
Well, me. I, you know, right now I don't, until the game starts, I really care about the Jays, but, you know, I care about myself. I tried to, uh, take the train in. I can't even find a parking spot, so I went to another train station to, to try and find another tr- uh, parking spot that I could get on a train. I found the spot, but no train.
Jeff Blair· Host1:26
Yep.
Kevin Barker· Host1:27
So, [laughs] I had to get in the car- Did you- ... and