Walking eight batters in a single game is never ideal, and that was the reason the Tampa Bay Rays managed to plate three out of their four runs and ultimately beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2.
Blue Jays SP José Berríos had command issue all night, walking six batters total. In the second inning, Randy Arozarena walked to reach 1st base. Arozarena would steal 2nd base, then later score on a double from Josh Lowe. The speedy outfielder would take advantage of the extra 90 feet to score Tampa’s first run, making it 1-0 Rays at the time.
The theme of walks would continue as Richie Palacios reached base via the outcome to lead off the fifth inning. Palacios stole a base, repeating what Arozarena did in the 2nd inning. However, the way he would score was different as Brandon Lowe homered, putting the Rays up 3-0.
A big reason the Rays were being aggressive on the basepaths was their lack of offence this season. Tampa is 27th in MLB for runs total on the year (397) and 24th in batting average (.234). Both of those stats are worse than the Toronto Blue Jays for offence.
Tampa Bay, like Toronto, is also having a disappointing season, with an even 50-50 record before today’s game and 5.5 games behind the final Wild-Card spot.
Berríos was pulled shortly after, only going 4.2 innings and surrendering nine base runners on three earned runs. Berríos is needed now more than ever for the Blue Jays, considering Toronto SP’s Yusei Kikuchi, Chris Bassitt, and Kevin Gausman could potentially all be gone over the next week.
Toronto would get within one run from two straight home runs from the least surprising batter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Justin Turner in the sixth inning. Guerrero Jr. has now hit a home run in four of his last five games.
Guerrero Jr. has also been linked to trade discussions with the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Early rumors last week suggested Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays were not close to signing an extension.
The final run scored from Tampa also started with, you guessed it, a walk. Taylor Walls walked to begin the seventh inning and stole another base for Tampa Bay. Walls moved to third later and scored from a groundout.
The Rays held on to the 4-2 victory, and funny enough, a well-known face for Toronto fans got the win for Tampa. Tyler Alexander made headlines for going nearly eight innings against Toronto without allowing a hit back in May. Alexander went 3.0 innings and allowed no runs on three hits. Tampa Bay went with a bullpen game after their SP Ryan Pepiot went on the 15-day IL with a knee infection.
It’s safe to assume Toronto will see a hungry and desperate Rays team over the next two days as Tampa pushes to be near the playoffs come the July 30th deadline.
Toronto SP Yariel Rodriguez, who’s only allowed three earned runs over his last 16.2 innings (3 starts total), heads to the mound for the Jays tomorrow.
