Rays 3 Jose Bautista 4 (10 innings)
So Jose Bautista gets thrown out trying to tag up from first on a fly ball, in the first inning, a really bad move. Then he goes on to hit 2 home runs, one to tie the game in the 4th, another to tie the game in the 9th. Then he gets a walk-off opposite field single to win the game.
Jose's heroics overshadowed a really good start from Mark Buehrle. Mark went 7 innings, allowed 4 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. He was hurt by a poor play by Maicer Izturis or else he might not not have given up the 2 earned.
Steve Delabar pitched a very impressive 8. Casey Janssen gave up a run in the 9th to give the Rays a short held lead. Aaron Loup threw a nice 10th inning, helped by a Yunel Escobar double play.
Jays of the Day: Bautista (1.045, highest WPA we've had this year), Buehrle (.217) and Delabar (.110)/
Suckage: Janssen (-.295, Longoria is a great player), Edwin Encarnacion (-.193, 0 for 4), Kawasaki (-.143, but a nice bunt in the 10th), Brett Lawrie (-.139, 0 for 4) and JP (-.117, 1 for 4).
I'll add to this later, but right now supper is on the table and I'm starving. And I have to pack. Tomorrow night I'm at the Jays game.
UPDATE (Minor Leaguer)
This was a historic game for Bautista, getting a WPA of +1.045:
List of the THREE other Blue Jays batters with a greater WPA, none greater than Bautista tonight: baseball-reference.com/play-index/sha…
— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) May 23, 2013
Jose Bautista's +1.045 WPA is the 42nd highest in MLB history: baseball-reference.com/play-index/sha…
— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) May 23, 2013
Of course we will forget about Jose's bizarre baserunning in the sixth.