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The Blue Jays faced the Rays for the rubber match of their series this afternoon, and it was decidedly a laugher for the Jays.
Marco Estrada had an okay start, nothing special: 8.2 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, 10 strikeouts. Not all that impressive considering he went 7 innings of 1 run ball the last time out against the Orioles. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't a good enough outing to earn him a win.
The offense, on the other hand, was firing on all cylinders. The Best Lineup In Baseball exploded for 1 (!!!) run over 12 frames, on the strength of 6 hits (with a HR) and 4 walks. The batters truly came through in the clutch, combining for a team WPA of -.543. Truly an incredible showing.
The game also featured spectacular defense overall, except for one moment in the 8th:
... I don't even know what to say. Just a horrifying misplay from Josh Donaldson, a 3B who is supposedly known for his defense. Not a surprise that he hasn't even won a gold glove yet in a weak AL 3B pool. And to add to insult, he absolutely clobbers a young fan in the stands with his legs. What a punk.
Relief pitching was also quite the bright spot of this game, as the bullpen shut down the Rays batters over 3.1 innings allowing just 2 hits and 3 walks. Brett Cecil looked like the Cecil of old, allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks in a scoreless, stress-free inning. He needed one of those, after those mildly troubling outings of recent.
There was never a doubt the Jays had this win in the bag. It was a nice change of pace after the nail-bitingly close games over the past few. Hopefully a sign of things to come from the Blue Jays.
WE Graph
Source: FanGraphs
JOD: Estrada (.529), Delabar (.173), Cecil (.121), Schultz (.121), Osuna (.100), Encarnacion (.227), Carrera (.119).
Suckage: Bautista (-.227), Martin (-.213), Pillar (-.183), Goins (-.155)
Y'all know this is a joke, right?