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| Cavan Biggio was 3-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI as the Blue Jays hung on for a 6-5 victory over the Rays in 10 innings. It was their 6th straight win. |
The Blue Jays and Rays opened up their third and final series of the season tonight at Tropicana Field. The Rays have won 4 of the 6 games between the AL East division rivals. The Blue Jays have climbed back into the Wild card race and were in the 2nd WC spot heading into play tonight after stringing together a 5-game win streak. The Rays, meanwhile, were 1st in the AL East and tied for second in the entire American League, a game back of the surging Oakland A's. The LA Dodgers are the class of the entire MLB with a 19-8 record and a ridiculous +66 run differential. Anyway, back to this series. Injuries have wedged a hole in the rotation. Sunday looks like it might be a bullpen day, with starter Nate Pearson on the shelf with a tight pitching elbow. Tonight, Matt Shoemaker, who may be making his last start in a Blue Jays uniform with the trade deadline just days away, got the start. He and Hyun-Jin Ryu have been the most consistent starting pitchers for tonight. The batting order was seemingly out in a blender for tonight. It's better if I just post it right below the preamble because it's too complicated to write it all out. Could the Blue Jays make it 6 wins in a row? Here is tonight's game recap.
Game Highlights:
- The Rays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st as Brandon Lowe smacked a solo blast to right-cener
- The Blue Jays tied the game in the top of the 2nd as Teoscar Hernandez hammered a solo bomb to dead center
- A batter later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. cranked a solo blast to left
- Five batters later, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled scoring Brandon Drury
- A batter later, Randal Grichuk singled home Cavan Biggio. Gurriel Jr. was called out after a challenge on the play
- The Rays got one back in the bottom of the 3rd as Randy Diaz cracked a solo blast to dead center
- Matt Shoemaker pitching line: 5IP 4H 2R (both earned) 1BB 6K 74 pitches (52 for strikes)
- The Rays tied the game in the bottom of the 6th as Jose Martinez doubled scoring Lowe and Diaz
- Ryan Yarbrough pitching line: 6.1IP 8H 4R (all earned) 2BB 6K 97 pitches (64 for strikes)
- The Blue Jays took the lead in the top of the 10th as Biggio doubled home Drury
- Two batters later, Biggio scored on a sac fly by Gurriel Jr.
- The Rays got one back in the bottom half of the inning as Diaz singled home Lowe
- Jordan Romano pitched the 10th for his 1st save of the season
- Final score: Blue Jays 6 Rays 5 (10 innings)
- Overall a solid night for Matt Shoemaker. A couple of mistake pitches that went over the wall, other than that, 2 other hits and a walk. I would have given him an extra inning or two, but that's just me.
- Too bad the bullpen IMMEDIATELY cost him the win. Ryan Borucki just didn't have his best stuff tonight
- The Blue Jays appear to have figured out how to win in extra innings. That's two straight extra inning wins and 6 straight wins overall
- That was much harder than it had to be. Jordan Romano got caught nibbling and the Rays had the tying run on 3rd with two outs, before Romano induced a soft comebacker
- Up next, the Blue Jays try for 7 in a row for the 1st time since July 2-8. Hyun Jin Ryu starts for the Blue Jays against an unknown Rays pitcher.
