Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays
· Major League Baseball9 - 5
Springer's inside-the-park homer, diving catch and throw lead Blue Jays over Rays 9-5
“He kind of just took the game over for about 25 minutes,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “George this time of year is a good guy to have on your team.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered twice, making an impressive bat flip after the second, and Bo Bichette also went deep for the Blue Jays. Toronto extended its lead for the second AL wild card to two games over Houston and 2 1/2 games ahead of Seattle.
Toronto also won two of three at the New York Yankees during a six-game trip that followed a three-game sweep over Boston at home.
“Awesome road trip,” Schneider said.
Isaac Paredes hit his 30th homer for Tampa Bay, which has clinched at the least the AL’s top wild card and are 2 1/2 games behind AL East-leading Baltimore, which has the tiebreaker. The Rays have five games remaining.
Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz left in the third with right hamstring tightness. Díaz is second in the AL with .328 batting average.
“I think he's fine, going to be fine,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “Sore. Way more precautionary getting him out of the game."
Whit Merrifield had a tying, two-run single before Springer put the Blue Jays up 5-2 in the second on his homer off Taj Bradley (5-8). Center fielder Manuel Margot failed in his attempt at a leaping catch at the wall. The ball ricocheted off the wall and bounced along the warning track to the 404-foot sign in center. Springer slid into the plate headfirst well before a relay arrived.
Springer grabbed Curtis Mead's drive off the right-field wall in the third and made a strong throw on the fly to Bichette, throwing out Mead trying to stretch the hit to a double. Harold Ramirez went to third on the play and Springer then sprinted toward the right-field line to make a sprawling catch on Paredes for the inning's second out, saving a run.
Bradley retired 10 in a row after Springer’s homer before Guerrero Jr. connected on a homer put Toronto ahead 6-3 in the sixth. The rookie allowed six runs and seven hits in a career-high seven innings.
Paredes cut the Rays' deficit to 6-5 on a two-run drive in the seventh that gave him 94 RBI.
Bichette hit his 20th homer and Guerrero got his 26th long ball in the ninth as Toronto grabbed a 9-5 lead.
Twenty-year old rookie Junior Caminero drove in his first run on a 109.2 mph single to left in the Rays’ two-run first.
Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi was pulled after allowing three runs and nine hits over four innings. Trevor Richards (2-1) worked two scoreless innings for the win.
Kikuchi said through a translator that may have been tipping his pitches early on.
CROWD
The announced crowd of 22,472 gave Tampa Bay a final home regular-season attendance of 1,440,301. It’s the Rays' highest since 1,446,464 in 2014 and up from 1,128,127 last year. This year’s total is the major’s fourth lowest.
FOOTBALL FASHION
As part of clubhouse hijinx, Rays reliever Kevin Kelly was in a full Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform, including helmet, of quarterback Baker Mayfield for pregame drills.
AWARDS
Díaz was voted the Don Zimmer Award as the team MVP by the Tampa Bay chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Kelly was selected as the outstanding rookie.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: 1B Brandon Belt (back) could be back Tuesday.
Rays: LF Randy Arozarena (quadriceps) didn't play for the second straight game. Cash opted not to use the All-Star as a pinch-hitter for rookie Osleivis Basabe with two on and two out in the eighth with Rays down 7-5. Basabe struck out… RHP Aaron Civale (illness) had his next start pushed back until next weekend.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: RHP Kevin Gausman (12-9) is to schedule to face the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
Rays: RHP Zach Eflin (15-8) will try to become the AL’s first 16-game winner Tuesday night against Boston RHP Tanner Houck (5-9).
How can I watch Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Rays?
- TV Channel: Blue Jays at Rays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
9th Inning | Caminero grounded out to catcher. | |
9th Inning | Paredes walked. | |
9th Inning | Mead grounded out to pitcher. | |
9th Inning | H. Ramírez grounded out to shortstop. | |
9th Inning | Hicks relieved Swanson | |
9th Inning | Chapman struck out swinging. |
Statistics
TOR | TB | |
---|---|---|
1 | Games Played | 1 |
1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
15 | Ground Balls | 11 |
7 | Strikeouts | 12 |
9 | Runs Batted In | 5 |
0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
11 | Hits | 13 |
1 | Stolen Bases | 0 |
3 | Walks | 3 |
0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
9 | Runs | 5 |
0 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
38 | At Bats | 38 |
4 | Home Runs | 1 |
0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
8 | Runners Left On Base | 18 |
1 | Triples | 0 |
1 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
1 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
1 | Doubles | 1 |
16 | Fly Balls | 15 |
0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
136 | Pitches | 173 |
0 | Games Started | 0 |
0 | Pinch At Bats | 0 |
0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
1 | Is Qualified In Steals | 0 |
26 | Total Bases | 17 |
41 | Plate Appearances | 41 |
648.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
6 | Extra Base Hits | 2 |
8.9 | Runs Created | 6.6 |
.289 | Batting Average | .342 |
.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
.684 | Slugging Percentage | .447 |
.500 | Secondary Average | .184 |
.341 | On Base Percentage | .390 |
1.026 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .838 |
0.9 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.7 |
8.9 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 7.2 |
64.5 | Batter Rating | 38.0 |
9.5 | At Bats Per Home Run | 38.0 |
1.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 0.00 |
3.32 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 4.22 |
.395 | Isolated Power | .105 |
0.43 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.25 |
.073 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .073 |
.211 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | -.158 |
18.0 | Runs Produced | 10.0 |
1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
0.7 | Patience Ratio | 0.5 |
0.3 | Balls In Play Average | 0.5 |
106.5 | MLB Rating | 90.5 |
0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida
Attendance: 22,472 | Capacity:
2024 American League East Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York | 94 | 68 | .580 | - | W1 |
Baltimore | 91 | 71 | .562 | 3 | W3 |
Boston | 81 | 81 | .500 | 13 | W1 |
Tampa Bay | 80 | 82 | .494 | 14 | L1 |
Toronto | 74 | 88 | .457 | 20 | L3 |