Overview
The Toronto Blue Jays made it interesting in the last inning of Monday’s matchup, but the Tampa Bay Rays held out just long enough to secure a win.
Game Recap
Toronto took the lead early in this one with a solo shot to center field off the bat of Teoscar Hernández. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth inning where the Rays closed the gap on the offensive side of the ball. Yandy Díaz launched a homer to left field which drove in both Kevin Kiermaier and Taylor Walls. Until the top of the ninth, it was all Tampa; the Rays scored a run in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to increase their run total to six. However, in the ninth inning, Toronto woke up. Marcus Semien cracked a home run to drive in George Springer. This cut the Rays lead to just two. Luckily, Dietrich Enns found the strike zone and got the Rays out of a jam and into the win column.
Shane Baz’s Debut
Monday night saw the first outing of top pitching prospect Shane Baz. Baz, 22, didn’t walk anyone while striking out five through five innings. The right-hander gave up only two hits but unfortunately, both hits were solo home runs.
Overall, Baz’s stuff was pretty excellent.
AL East Standings
Now, Tampa Bay holds a seven-game lead over second-place Boston with just 11 games remaining. On the contrary, Toronto, who held an edge over the Yankees, had it cut down to just half a game over the Bronx bombers.
Next Up
The Rays will stay in Tampa to take on Toronto on Tuesday night. Blue Jays RHP Alek Manoah (6-2) and Rays RHP Drew Rasmussen (3-1) are Tuesday night’s starters.