The Tampa Bay Rays, amid a three-game losing streak and losers of nine of their last 11, were back at Steinbrenner Field Wednesday to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in game three of their four-game series.
With the Rays’ playoff hopes on life support and just 13 games left in the season, Tampa sent Ian Seymour to the mound to match up against Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays.
Before the first pitch was even thrown, the Rays were busy making news off the field as Presidents Matt Silverman and Brian Auld turned in their resignations. This is all related to the Rays’ pending sale, which is expected to be approved in the next two weeks.
After a brief 15-minute rain delay, the Rays and Blue Jays were finally ready to play ball at Steinbrenner Field.
Ian Seymour retired the Blue Jays in the first, before we had another 15-minute delay, when the home plate umpire Bryan O’Nora left the game with a stomach issue.
When the game resumed, Chandler Simpson led off the bottom half of the inning with a double, followed by a Yandy Diaz single to give the Rays a 1-0 lead after the first inning.
The Blue Jays would get on the board in the third. Davis Scheider would walk to start the inning. Carson Williams misplayed a grounder by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as he went to turn the double play, putting runners at second and third with one out. Alejandro Kirk then hit a long fly ball to the wall in center, which Simpson caught. Guerrero tagged and scored from third to tie the game 1-1.
The Rays threatened in the fifth with two on, two out, and Junior Caminero at the plate. However, Camienero struck out, ending the Rays’ threat, and the score remained tied 1-1 after five innings.
In the bottom of the seventh, Williams doubled with two outs. Simpson then singled to center, his third hit of the night, scoring Williams to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.
Seymour was outstanding in the start against Toronto. He went seven innings, giving up just one run on four hits with two walks, six strikeouts, while throwing 100 pitches to pick up the win. This was Seymour’s longest outing of the season as he picked up his fourth win.
Rays manager Kevin Cash talked about Seymour’s outing: “Today, he competed really well and had good stuff and navigated through that lineup. He was getting ahead, putting them on the defensive, making them swing early on, and inducing a ton of soft contact, really happy for him.”
Edwin Uceta worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Pete Fairbanks set the Blue Jays down in order in the ninth to earn his 28th save of the season and give the Rays the 2-1 win.
Simpson had another productive night at the plate with two doubles and a single, and also took a home run away from Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk.
Cash talked about Simpson’s defense: “Yeah, I mean we’ve talked a lot about Chandler’s defense and how hard he works at it. And anytime you get those rewards like that, that’s game-changing play. That inning had a chance to kind of unravel, and that would have been a huge hit for them.”
The Rays are 74-78 after the win and will wrap up the series with Toronto Thursday afternoon. Shane Baz will get the start for the Rays.
—Caminero left the game in the sixth with a mid-back strain and is listed as day-to-day. Caminero is two home runs shy of tying Carlos Pena for the franchise record in home runs with 46.
—Pete Fairbanks is the Rays nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. This award is presented to the player “who best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”
—Diaz continues to chase the Rays record books. With two hits on Wednesday night, Diaz is now in fifth place on the all-time Rays hit list with 874. BJ Upton is fourth all-time with 910 hits. Diaz has also set a career high in home runs with 24, and RBI’s with 81.