{"id":667835,"date":"2026-04-07T06:44:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/667835\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T06:44:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:44:47","slug":"rays-defeat-cubs-in-return-to-tropicana-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/667835\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays Defeat Cubs in Return to Tropicana Field"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"submission-link-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=St.+Petersburg%2C+FL&amp;city=St.+Petersburg&amp;type=Update+Existing+Story&amp;headline=Rays+Defeat+Cubs+in+Return+to+Tropicana+Field&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Ffl%2Fst-petersburg%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F07%2Frays-defeat-cubs-in-return-to-tropicana-field%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69d49336acf77.jpg\" alt=\"A cubist, geometric painting depicting a baseball game broken down into overlapping planes of bright colors, capturing the dynamic energy of the Rays' homecoming.\" width=\"1344\" height=\"768\" class=\"news-image\"\/>The Rays&#8217; return to their home stadium brings a renewed sense of energy and community to Tampa Bay baseball.St. Petersburg Today<\/p>\n<p>The Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Monday in their first game at Tropicana Field in 561 days. Cedric Mullins, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero each hit home runs to power the Rays to victory.<\/p>\n<p>      Why it matters<\/p>\n<p>The Rays&#8217; return to their home stadium after over a year and a half is a significant milestone, as the team looks to build momentum and fan engagement after playing most of their recent home games elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>            The details<\/p>\n<p>Mullins, Aranda, and Caminero each hit solo home runs to account for the Rays&#8217; scoring in the game. The win marked the team&#8217;s first game back at Tropicana Field since the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to play the majority of their home games elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>      The game took place on Monday, April 7, 2026.The Rays had not played at Tropicana Field for 561 days prior to this game.<\/p>\n<p>        The players<\/p>\n<p>        Cedric Mullins<\/p>\n<p>Outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays who hit a home run in the game.<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan Aranda<\/p>\n<p>Infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays who hit a home run in the game.<\/p>\n<p>Junior Caminero<\/p>\n<p>Outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays who hit a home run in the game.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=St.+Petersburg%2C+FL&amp;city=St.+Petersburg&amp;type=Upload+Story+Photos&amp;headline=Rays+Defeat+Cubs+in+Return+to+Tropicana+Field&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Ffl%2Fst-petersburg%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F07%2Frays-defeat-cubs-in-return-to-tropicana-field%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>      <\/p>\n<p>        The takeaway<\/p>\n<p>The Rays&#8217; return to Tropicana Field after over a year and a half is an important milestone for the team and its fans, as they look to build momentum and engagement in their home market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The Rays&#8217; return to their home stadium brings a renewed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2377],"tags":[5,4,297,2550,68,2551,2549],"class_list":{"0":"post-667835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-rays","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-rays","11":"tag-tampa-bay","12":"tag-tampa-bay-rays","13":"tag-tampabay","14":"tag-tampabayrays"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116362080078780345","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}