Blue Jays Finally Conquer the Rays at the Trop for First Time Since 2023
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Looking at the Toronto Blue Jays schedule a month ago, it was daunting to see who they were going to have to face, but somehow, some way, this is an entirely different ball club than the team that was 6.5 games back a handful of weeks ago, highlighted by their latest series victory.
It had been since September of 2023 that the Jays were able to go on the road to the Trop to face the Tampa Bay Rays and take home a series victory. But that drought finally ended after the offense came to life down in Florida.
Tropicana Field is not one that teams enjoy going to, mainly because the roof is clear, not very high, and very hard for a defender to read a ball that was low-lighted in their 7-6 loss when left fielder Jesus Sanchez had a huge blunder.
DAZ CAMERON GOES 442 FEET FOR HIS FIRST HOME RUN AS A BLUE JAY! 😱 pic.twitter.com/h4Kq6ziqrt
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 20, 2026
Other than Sanchez's error on Wednesday, the Blue Jays took care of business and looked like they had no problem playing in the daunting dome. There were multiple 3-6-1 double plays, and rookies stepped up monumentally.
Going into this one, the Rays found themselves 20 games above .500 on their home field. Even though Toronto was able to sneak away with a win when they were first down south at the beginning of the season, they were never in control of the series, but it was an entirely different story from the jump this time.
Huge Slugging Power for 3 Days at the Trop
In a year of stagnant offense for Toronto, they were anything but against Tampa Bay as the lineup found its power as the team launched seven home runs during the series, putting up 21 runs against the 76-win ballclub.
With Sanchez's continued struggles, it would be shocking not to see Daz Cameron get more and more reps in the coming week, especially after launching the second-longest home run by anybody on the team this season during their 5-1 victory Thursday afternoon, sending a ball into the catwalks above the field.
Then there is Alejandro Kirk, who might be the hottest bat in baseball right now, as he is demolishing pitching staffs, having launched two homers this series and going 6-for-16 with five RBI. If there is a player that the Jays need to continue giving quality at-bats to, it is Kirk.
The treacherous AL East duels aren't over yet, as Toronto is headed to the Bronx to face the New York Yankees and Cam Schlittler on Friday. They have now won seven series in a row, looking for their eighth, and if the offense keeps the momentum, the Jays will head back to Rogers Centre with another.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.