The Tampa Bay Rays traveled to Toronto to take on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays on Monday night. Coming in, the Jays had won 15 of their last 17, giving Tampa a run for their money as the end of the regular-season approaches. Tampa looked to halt this momentum up North, but it was all Toronto in this matchup.
On The Bump
Collin McHugh started Monday and things went well for him to say the least. McHugh pitched 2 1/3 innings while giving up no runs on three hits. Tampa Bay left-hander Ryan Yarbrough didn’t pitch well, however, allowing seven runs and 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings of early relief.
On the opposition, Alek Manoah completely dominated the Rays on Monday night. Manoah allowed only one hit and had 10 strikeouts through eight innings pitched. The only run that Tampa scored in this ball game occurred after Manoah left the outing. The Rays were battered from the beginning and the absolute lights-out performance by Manoah didn’t help whatsoever.
The Sticks
The bats were practically a non-factor for Tampa in this one. There were only two hits in the entirety of this game for the Rays and one of them came in the ninth inning when it was too late. Austin Meadows cranked a home run late in this game, but at that point, the game was over.
Contrary, the Jays put on a clinic. Toronto had a total of 17 hits, with five of them coming from Teoscar Hernandez (it was his first career five-hit game). Also, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his major-league-leading 45th home run. Three costly innings showed why the Jays could make a deep run this year.
What’s Next?
The Rays will stay in Toronto to take on the Jays in the second game of the series. Tampa is likely to start Drew Rasmussen and the Jays will most likely have Jose Berrios on the mound. Tampa looks to bounce back and gain some insurance victories as the race for the division title becomes much closer.