Friday, September 23, 2022

Game #151- Toronto Blue Jays (84-67) @ Tampa Bay Rays (84-67) - game recap

 

Raimel Tapia scored a pair of runs and drove in a run in a 10-6 loss to the Rays

After dropping yesterday's game vs. the Rays after a bad game from Jose Berrios, the Blue Jays were looking to snap the 2-game skid. Mitch White was recalled from AAA-ball and made the start. Foster Griffin was optioned back to AAA-ball. Whit Merrifield was at 2B and Raimel Tapia was in LF. Otherwise the lineup was the same as yesterday. Could the Blue Jays snap the 2-game skid? Here is tonight's game recap.

Game Highlights:

  • The Rays opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st on a ground out by Randy Arozarena that scored Harold Ramirez
  • A batter later, Manuel Margot singled scoring Wander Franco
  • The Rays added a run in the top of the 4th as Christian Bethancourt doubled scoring Isaac Paredes
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 5th as Raimel Tapia doubled scoring Teoscar Hernandez
  • Four batters later, Bo Bichette singled scoring Tapia 
  • A batter later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled home Danny Jansen\
  • A batter after that, Bichette scored on a throwing error by Paredes on a groundball hit by Alejandro Kirk 
  • Mitch White pitching line: 4IP 5H 3R (all earned) 1BB 2K 64 pitches (39 for strikes)
  • The Rays retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Arozarrena smashed a 3-run bomb to the opposite field in right; also scoring Ramirez and Franco
  • Jeffrey Springs pitching line: 5IP 6H 4R (3 earned) 1BB 6K 83 pitches (51 for strikes)
  • The Blue Jays got one back in the top of the 6th as Jansen singled scoring Hernandez
  • A batter later, Tapia scored on a sac fly by George Springer 
  • The Rays retook the lead in the bottom of the 8th on a sac fly by Peralta that scored Walls
  • Three batters later, Miles Mastrobuoni scored on a fielding error by Bichette on a ball hit by Ramirez
  • Two batters later, Arozarena singled scoring Jonathan Aranda and Ramirez
  • Final score: Rays 10 Blue Jays 6

My Take:

  • Mitch White battled through 4 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 2. White is definitely more trusted than Yusei Kikuchi as s 5th starter and appears to be the man to start in that spot the rest of the way. The Blue Jays can't really afford to deplete their bullpen too much with playoff baseball around the corner, but they can't afford many more losses either. The Blue Jays need to assume the Orioles/Rays/Mariners will win the bulk of their games.
  • The bullpen had two bad innings. Anthony Bass gave up a three run jack (one of those runs was charged to Tim Mayza) and the Rays plated four against Anthony Bass in the 8th, although one run was unearned thanks to Bichette misplaying a grounder 
  • Offensively, the Blue Jays had two big innings, taking the lead in the 5th inning to get starter Mitch White off the hook and tying the game to erase the 3-run jack Anthony Bass gave up. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays were unable to comeback after spotting the Rays 4 runs in the 8th.
  • Every Blue Jays starter except Alejandro Kirk reached base at least once. All but Kirk, George Springer and Matt Chapman had at least one hit 
  • The Blue Jays were an abysmal 4-14 with runners in scoring position
  • In terms of the WC race, it was mixed results. With tonight's loss, the Blue Jays and Rays are now tied for the 1st WC spot with the Rays currently holding the tie breaker. They are 1.5 games ahead of the Rays for the final WC spot and 4.4 games back of the Orioles, who are 3 games back of the Mariners for the final WC spot 
  • Up next, the Blue Jays try to snap the 3-game skid. Alek Manoah starts against Rays righty Drew Rasmussen