Great Start From Bassitt, Jays Beat Rays

Blue Jays 6 Rays 2

Someone forgot to hit post (or more likely forgot to hit post twice, stupid ‘comfirm post’ button) last night. Sorry.

For five innings, it looked like another one of those games where the bats just didn’t show up. We had just one walk and one hit.

And then came the sixth:

• George Springer hit a one-out single and stole second (the throw from catcher René Pinto was spiked into the turf and ended up rolling to the shortstop position).
• Bo Bichette followed with a single that went through first baseman Yandy Diaz, which tied the game at 1. Bo also stole second.
• Vlad walked (his second of the game).
• Cavan Biggio took some very close pitches but also got a walk.
• Alejandro Kirk also walked. 2-1 Jays.
• Matt Chapman was hit by pitch. 3-1.
• Daulton Varsho ground one through to center field. 4-1 Jays.
• Unfortunately, Whit Merrifield struck out (not a good at-bat), and Santiago Espinal ground out 5-4 (Varsho made a very heads-up play, not sliding into second but running through the bag. Had he beat the throw, we would have had another run, and running is faster than sliding. He made it a close play).

Tyler Glasnow was terrific for five innings, but he couldn’t find the strike zone in the sixth.

Chris Bassitt was terrific once again. 6.2 innings, 6 hits, 2 earned, no walks and 8 strikeouts. He gave up a home run in the seventh (right down the left field line, into a little cut-out section. Baseball Savant says it would only be a home run in Tropicana and nowhere else).

Jordan Hicks got the last out of the seventh and the first two of the eighth. He gave up a one-out infield single and a weird single two-out single. A slow bouncer towards short. No one could get there in time. Then the runner from first ran past the bag at second. Matt Chapman ran for second, and Santiago Espinal threw to him, but Chapman was a bit off-balance and just missed the tag. It was a Tropicana Field-type play.

That ended Hicks’ night.

The other Jordan came in and gave up a four-pitch walk just to get our blood pressure up. Then he pumped two fastballs right on the outside edge and then got a ground out to third.

We got a couple of insurance runs in the ninth. Daulton Varsho led off with a home run. Then Whit Merrifield doubled but got thrown out trying to steal third (no-out steal attempts of third are just bad baseball). Espinal followed with a double (of course). A wild pitch moved him to third. A Springer single brought him home.

We ended up with 8 hits, which was pretty good when we only had 1 in the first five innings.

Jays of the Day: Bo (.123, for a 1 for 5, with an RBI), Bassitt (.104) and Romano (.093).

The Other Award: Merrifield (-.074, plus the caught stealing and a poor throw from left, which contributed to the Rays’ first run)

Tomorrow is a 4:00 Eastern start. Ryu (3-3, 2.62) vs. Littell (3-6, 4.12). Another win would be great.

And tomorrow, we are flying off to Amsterdam to start a two-week bike and barge trip to Bruges. Bad timing I know. But this was planned a while ago. I’ll still keep up with the games, but I likely won’t be an everyday presence here.