Game 1: The offense did its part, putting 8 runs on the board, but the pitching was brutal as Josh Carsello was anything but ace-like and the Rays fell 11-8 to the Jays in the series opener. Devin Boatman has a reputation as a defensive wizard but for the second time in four games since being called up he made a costly error in the 1st inning which opened the door for 4 unearned runs off Carsello. Not that Carsello didn't deserve most of the blame and Toronto's 7-run 3rd was largely on him as well as he went 2.1 7 9 5 4 2 in a brutal outing. Speaking of brutal, Tony Rey rhymes with DFA and that's something under consideration as he was terrible yet again, coming in with the bases loaded and walking in a man and then giving up a grand slam. Here are his last 5 outings:
He's out of options so we're stuck with him unless we put him on waivers (or trade him). Jeff Reece mopped up with 3 hitless innings and allowed the team to get within 3 but they fell short. Daniel Malone homered (#8) and Danny Ayala and Will Quintana each drove in a pair.
Game 2: As bad as Josh Carsello was yesterday, Jon Soranno was good today and the Rays routed the Jays 9-2. Soranno was dealing, going 6.2 5 0 0 3 7 to improve to 8-3, 4.59. Jaiden Hardaway had a monster game on offense, 3-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI including a 3-run homer (#12). Jon Jimenez added a 2-run homer in the 1st (#14) to get them going and Daniel Vasquez was 2-5 with an RBI.
Game 3: The Rays squandered a 5-0 lead, fell behind 6-5, but ended up winning it in the 9th on a 2-run homer from Jon Jimenez (#15) 8-6 to take 2 of 3 from the Jays. They built the early lead in part on a 2-run homer from Jaiden Hardaway (#13), who like Jimenez homered for the second straight day, but Tim Gates couldn't stand prosperity and he allowed 4 in the 3rd with some help from a dropped fly ball by Eric Titcombe. He then gave up a 2-run homer in the 5th and finished 5 7 6 5 2 4, but fortunately for the Rays the bullpen held from there thanks to 2 scoreless from Danny Medina, 1 from Tim Siqueiros (who picked up win #5) and 1 more from Kikuo Kawase, who nailed down save #20.
Team record: 67-27. Next up: 3 games in Philadelphia.
MLB News: Gleyber passed the Babe as Torres hit HR #715 today to move into 4th all-time behind Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Mike Trout.