Rays Rally Late, Take First Game in Series From Blue Jays, 5-2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Just when it looked like Tampa Bay might waste another terrific start from Drew Rasmussen on Friday night, the Rays' bats came alive in the eighth inning at the perfect time.
The Rays, who had frittered away a two-run lead, answered right back with five eighth-inning hits, scoring three runs to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 at Tropicana Field, taking the first game of an important American League East series.
They won with their usual recipe, getting great starting pitching from Rasmussen for the fourth straight outing and more sensational defense, especially from shortstop Wander Franco and Randy Arozarena.
But it was also great that after allowing a tying run in the top of the eighth inning, they bounced right back and blew the game open in the bottom of the frame.
Scoring runs late is just as important as not allowing them
“I don’t want to do it that way, I’d like to get the lead, keep the lead and shake hands with the lead,'' Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "Sometimes you’ve got to credit the opposition, because they’re a good club. You always want to be able to come back. Nothing is easy in this league, but you’ve got to come back and our guys did a good job of that tonight.’’
Tampa Bay (20-13) got another big performance from Rasmussen. He had only one strikeout, but he pitched 5 2/3 innings and got a lot of soft-contact ground ball outs. He allowed just one run and three hits, and left in the sixth with two outs and a 2-1 lead. Ryan Thompson got the final out in the sixth.
Rasmussen credited pregame preparations for having a solid game plan and sticking to it. The Blue Jays lineup is loaded, but he worked through it all just fine.
"Coming in, we knew they were going to be really aggressive. They swing at a lot of strikes, the most in the league'' said Rasmussen, who has allowed only three runs in his last four starts, covering 21 1/3 innings, good for a 1.27 earned run average. "So we talked a lot about it coming in, how can we change shapes and change velocities in the zone early to create weak contact.
"There's a little bit of luck, too, getting them to hit balls at people, but with our defense, it works that way. It's a good formula. We changed speeds in the zone, and I didn't throw nearly as many fastballs as I usually do. We got a lot of quick outs, which is great. When you can make good pitches in the zone, it makes it a lot easier out there, especially against that lineup.''
The Rays got runs for Rasmussen in the second and fifth, and they knew they would be hard to come by against Toronto starter Kevin Gausman, who's been tough of late. Toronto has won all of his last four starts, and he's allowed just four runs in 27 1/3 innings coming in, a 1.32 ERA.
They got a little lucky in the second when Brandon Lowe hit a ball deep to center field that George Springer seemed to have a hard time picking up. He went back toward to wall and jumped up to catch the ball, but it hit off of his arm and then he fell awkwardly onto the wall as Lowe dashed to third base. Springer stayed in the game, but had to leave an inning later with an ankle injury. Lowe scored on a ground ball from Kevin Kiermaier, beating the throw home.
Tampa Bay added another run in the fifth, Kiermaier led off the inning and hit a ground ball that Gausman fielded, but he sailed the throw to first for an error and Kiermaier went all the way to third. Mike Zunino hit a blast to left to bring him in.
Things unraveled a bit for Rasmussen in the sixth. He got the first two outs, but then Raimel Tapia, who came in to play center field for Springer, got an infield hit and then Rasmussen walked shortstop Bo Bichette. (It was his only walk of the game.) Vladimir Guerrero then singled to right field, scoring Tapia and cutting the lead to 2-1.
Rasmussen had only thrown 79 pitches at the time, but Cash opted to go to the bullpen, bringing in Ryan Thompson instead. He struck out right fielder Teoscar Hernandez to end the threat.
“I just felt like at that point in the game, the best decision was to give them a different look,'' Cash said. "It’s a big contrast there with Thompson. I thought Drew pitched great and still had pitches in him, but giving them a different look was important. Thompson did a great job.''
Toronto threatened again in the eighth, getting three straight singles off of reliever Brooks Raley. Tapia's was the third hit, and he tied the game with a single to center.
Cash brought in Andrew Kittredge to face the heart of Toronto's order, and he got Bichette to strike out and Guerrero to hit into a double play.
It was a big moment for Kittredge, who has been very good so far but gave up a game-tying home run last Sunday in a loss in Seattle, and then got tagged for two runs on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels, forcing to win that game in extra innings.
Those were three big outs in the eighth.
"First and second in the middle of their lineup is not a good place to be in, but we’re fortunate that we’ve got a guy like Kitt who will rise to the moment without getting caught up in it,'' Cash said. "He makes a pitch he’d like to have back a few days ago, and bounces right back. He’s got a short memory, and he’s about as dependable as they come.''
Getting out of the jam seemed to inspire the Rays' bats, too, because they put together five hits in the bottom of the inning to blow the game open. Rays catcher Mike Zunino opened the frame with a drive to right that hit off the very top of the wall, and he advanced to third on a Taylor Walls single. Manuel Margot, the current AL Player of the Week who missed two games with a hamstring injury, then singled to left to give the Rays the lead.
“He did come up clutch,'' Cash said of Margot. "We felt like if he was good enough to go up there, that we could still benefit from it. It turned out to be correct, because the way it played out, he was the right guy in the right spot to come through for us.’’
Wander Franco grounded into a double play, but then pinch-hitter Francisco Mejia singled to right, scoring Walls to make it 4-2. Lowe then tripled again, this time to right center, giving the Rays a 5-2 lead. The two triples tied a club record. It's been done 16 times, by 10 different players.
Jason Adam pitched a perfect ninth to get his first save of the year. Kittredge (3-0) got the win. The two teams meet again Saturday at 6:10 p.m. ET. Ryan Yarbrough, who threw five scoreless innings in his last start, will pitch for Tampa Bay. Hyun Jin Ryu, coming off the injured list, will pitch for Toronto, which is now 17-16 on the season.
Related stories on Rays baseball
- JUST FOR STARTERS: For the fourth straight outing, Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen was exceptional on Friday night. He allowed just one run, and in his last four starts, he has allowed a total of just three runs and 11 hits. CLICK HERE
- SPRINGER HURT: Veteran center fielder George Springer crashed awkwardly into the wall in center field at Tropicana Field on Friday night, and was forced to leave the game in the fourth inning. The 32-year-old misplayed a triple by Brandon Lowe, and then landed funny as he hit the wall after the ball bounced off his arm. CLICK HERE
- RAYS SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022 schedule for the Tampa Bay Rays, with results thus far, and dates, locations and game times for the rest of the season. CLICK HERE
Photo gallery
Drew Rasmussen
Drew Rasmussen, Mike Zunino
Brandon Lowe
Brandon Lowe triple
Kevin Gausman
Ji-Man Choi
Charlie Montoyo
Manuel Margot
Jason Adam, Francisco Mejia
Wander Franco
Francisco Mejia, Brett Phillips
Kevin Kiermaier
