Apparently the Rays needed to leave the country to get back on track.
Their offense perked up in their 7-1 win on Monday night, but it caught on fire – in a good, and not a dumpster way— tonight. Every player other than Taylor Walls had a hit, and even Walls still managed to score a run. After running through much of their bullpen, the Blue Jays ultimately brought in outfielder Myles Straw to get the last out.
The Rays started the game with a crooked number — 3 to be precise. Batting in the first against a surprisingly shaky Kevin Gausman, they scored three runs, all with two outs. Junior walked, and after that Cedric Mullins, Johnny DeLuca and Chandler Simpson all got hits account for the three runs.
In the bottom of the first, Rasmussen loaded the bases and I really thought we were back in the nightmare world of the Boston series where the Rays could never hold a lead for more than half an inning. But whatever wasn’t working — either with Rasmussen, or between him and Fortes (they seemed to take a while to get in sync) quickly got set right, and Rasmussen got out of the inning, and rolled through the Jays lineup until the sixth inning.
The Rays also threatened in the second and third innings, as Gausman’s pitch count mounted, although they did not manage to score. But I still want to focus on the third inning, when Chandler Simpson was nearly able to make runs happen. He successfully bunted for a single. The next hitter, Ben Williamson, hit a soft single to centerfield, which centerfielder Varsho bobbled so that Simpson could get to third. We could argue – and Brian Anderson did argue — that Simpson’s speed contributed to that bobble, because Vasho, worried about stopping Chandler at second, was too busy looking to second base to field the ball cleanly. Now Walls wasn’t able to get Simpson home, but nonetheless it’s an example of how his speed can become a weapon in a variety of ways. Unfortunately Simpson has a number of holes in his game; it’s not clear that his speed is enough to merit a starting outfielder role. But speed is a skill that is also so much fun to watch, so let’s enjoy it!
At any rate, the Rays drove Gausman from the game midway through the fourth, after Diaz reached on a single and Caminero on a walk. But the Rays still managed to score another run even with the new pitcher in place; Cedric Mullins, who had reached on a force play, stole second and the Jays (whose defense tonight was…not good!) threw the ball away trying to nab him. That was followed by another DeLuca single to score run number 6.
The Rays, whose offense was on life support a mere two and a half days ago, continued to pile on. Runs 6-8 came courtesy of Nick Fortes’ three-run homer in the fifth inning.
The Blue Jays ended the shut out in the bottom of the sixth inning that to some BABIP magic. Ernie Clement led off with a blooper that fell between DeLuca, Aranda and Williamson (and should have been caught, probably DeLuca needed to call off the others). George Spring hit a legit double, and then Varsho chopped a ball into the ground. It took a long time coming down to Aranda, playing behind first base, but still I think Aranda should have been able to beat Varsho to the bag. But he didn’t, and that chopped infield single ended Rasmussen’s otherwise strong outing.
The Rays bullpen — Sulser, Kimbrell and Cleavinger — were terrific, and the Rays offense continued to roll, adding another four runs in the ninth inning. The big hit there was Yandy’s three run homer, an appropriate way to celebrate his 1,000 major league game:
Of course Yandy’s home run was hit to the deepest part of the park, how emblematic of Yandy’s career.
Overall, the Rays got 21 hits, including four for Simpson and three for Fortes. Savor this dominant win!
