Blue Jays takeaways: Rays take advantage of their break with win over Toronto

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/04/2021 (1662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The view from Deep Left Field on Saturday’s Blue Jays-Rays game:

• They opened the door a crack . . . : The Blue Jays got a huge break in the top of the first inning, and took full advantage.

There were runners on first and second with two out when Randal Grichuk hit a pop foul on the right side. Rays first baseman Yandy Diaz chased it towards the stands, but couldn’t secure the ball despite getting a whole lot of glove on it. Diaz never actually camped under it, and was still moving towards the seats when the ball hit his glove, but it was a pop-up that most infielders will catch. It appeared as though he thought he was a lot closer to the netting that covers the seats than he was.

Given a second opportunity, Grichuk hammered the next pitch, driving it 407 feet to Deep Left Field for a three-run homer.

Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, they didn’t score another run, and the Rays beat them at the same game in the eighth inning when Jordan Romano, fresh off the injured list after missing 10 days with right ulnar neuritis, didn’t have his control.

The big righty came in to start the bottom of the eighth in a 3-3 tie and couldn’t find the strike zone, walking the first two batters he faced on a total of just 10 pitches.

Anticipating a sacrifice bunt, the Blue Jays played the corners in and Manuel Margot ripped a hard ground ball — 109.1 miles per hour off the bat — that went right through the legs of Cavan Biggio and all the way into the left-field corner. The leadoff walk came around to score what proved to be the winning run, as the Rays went on to win 5-3.

• Getting ahead early: Robbie Ray was trying to bounce back from a start in which he threw five shutout innings in Kansas City. He may have put up five zeroes, but he had to work hard to do it, walking six in the game and stranding eight runners over just the first three innings.

The lefty had no such issues on Saturday night, walking no one in throwing six innings — his longest outing since joining the Blue Jays at the trade deadline last season.

Ray did it by having great success throwing strike one. He missed with his first delivery of the night, but then threw a first-pitch strike to each of the next 11 batters who stepped in.

There was only one mistake over the first five innings, a second-inning solo shot by Mike Zunino but in the sixth, Ray got away from what had made him so successful.

The portsider got behind Randy Arozarena 3-1 before the Rays’ outfielder crushed a 110 mile per hour single to lead off the inning. He then got behind Brandon Lowe before striking him out. Mike Brosseau was next, and the clean-up man belted a 1-0 curveball 390 feet down the left field line for a game-tying home run.

• Stay within yourself: After the Rays’ two-run rally in the eighth, the Blue Jays went to the ninth inning trying to get Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. to the plate.

The young slugger was due up fourth, which meant that if he got an at-bat in the final frame, it would be as the tying run at the very least.

When Biggio doubled against the shift with one out — his third hit of the game, as he raised his batting average 40 points on the night — that brought the tying run to the plate in Bo Bichette, who grounded out to short.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Dan Lett | Not for Attribution

Tuesdays

A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world.

Sign up for Dan Lett | Not for Attribution

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

With two down, it was up to Guerrero, who was 0-for-4 to that point. Coming in, he had reached base safely in every game this season.

The 22-year-old knew the game was on the line in the at-bat, and swung right out of his shoes on each of the first two pitches, both of which were sliders that were nowhere near the strike zone. You could almost see how much he wanted to be the hero, but he badly came out of the approach that has led to him having so much success early in the season.

He then fouled off a hanging slider before grounding out to end the game.

It’s only natural for Guerrero to be feeling the pressure in that situation, with a chance to tie the game or go home, and he’ll learn how to slow down his heartbeat in those spots.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness