Controversial replay costs Blue Jays on final play of the game

Blue Jays 2, Rays 3

We will be talking about the final play of the game for a long time. Luckily the next game is in 15 hours, and luckily there are 159 games left.

When I first saw it, I thought the call was correct. Jose Bautista clearly touched Logan Forsythe when he didn't need to. The worst part is Edwin Encarnacion would have been safe at first anyways, and the game would have at least been tied. But the rule is in place to eliminate all judgement. Now, I don't blame Bautista. It's just unfortunate that Edwin would have been safe anyways, but there's no way Jose could have known that.

Honestly, I feel crappy right now but if the teams were reversed, I would feel pretty vindicated. All in all, it's a lot easier for this to happen in Game 3 of 162 - even to end the game - than the seventh inning of an elimination game. Better to get clarity on the rule now.

The slide rule is really to avoid injuries and this was definitely not that. (The call had nothing to do with the new slide rule) After the game on the Rays broadcast, Forsythe felt it was Bautista's back foot that caused him to push his throw and didn't even know Bautista's hand had hit him until he saw the replay. He said that even he'd have to go back and read the rule.

Onto other things, Aaron Sanchez's first start of the 2016 season went about as well as anyone could have hoped. Sanchez went seven innings, allowed five hits, allowing only one run on a Corey Dickerson homerun. He also struck out eight and didn't allow a walk.

Sanchez also hit 97 into his last inning. Basically it was all positive from the young starter, at least until he left the game. Brett Cecil who was so dominant yesterday, was not tonight. He hit Kevin Kiermaier on a curveball and then allowed a homerun to Logan Forsythe that turned a 2-1 Blue Jays lead into a 3-2 deficit.

Because the Jays weren't going to go 162-0, I think the positives outweigh the negatives just because how good Sanchez was. It is only one start but it could be a huge positive going forward for the Jays.

For Cecil, it was a tough way to end his unbelievable streak that went back to last June. There will be a lot more good coming from Cecil and nobody is perfect.

The Blue Jays opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the fourth. Jose Bautista led off with a triple that was caused by Steven Souza Jr. mis-reading his diving ability. Edwin Encarnacion then hit a ground ball to the pitcher Jake Odorizzi, and caught Bautista in a run down but his throw home went past Hank Conger, allowing Bautista to score.

Then, Michael Saunders singled home Encarnacion after Troy Tulowitzki moved him to third to make it 2-1. In the bottom half of the inning, Dickerson cut the lead in half.

Odorizzi was very good for the Rays and shut down the Toronto offence. He struck out 10 in 5.2 innings, allowing only four hits and walked two. It won't be fun seeing him in the AL East for years to come.

Source: FanGraphs

Jays of the Day: Aaron Sanchez (.345) was incredible. Jose Bautista (.337) as well with a big hit and a great at bat in the ninth. Last play of the game notwithstanding.

Jays Suckage: Hate to do this, but Brett Cecil (-.583) wasn't very good tonight. Edwin (-.503) also gets blamed for the game ending double play.

Tomorrow the Jays and Rays close out their series at 1:10 p.m. with J.A. Happ going for the Blue Jays against Matt Moore for the Rays.