Decided to go ahead and play another series out of my regular rotation since I wanted to see the new guys in action without waiting a couple of days. And they contributed, most notably in the second game as the Rays took 2 of 3 north of the border.
Salvatore Garza didn't play in the first game as he came to us from Detroit fatigued, so he got the day off. He might have helped save us from a 5-3 defeat although his replacement
John Lopez did homer. In fact this one looked like a Rays win most of the way with Lopez (#8),
Jeremy Begley (#26) and
Danny Arroyave (#24) all going deep and
Sergio Espinoza cruising with a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. But it all went bad quickly as Espinoza gave up a pair of singles to start the inning followed by a 3-run homer to tie it, gave up another double and was pulled for
Ken Battle, who let that guy score and one of his own as the game was turned on its head. Espinoza lost for the first time in seven decisions this year and finished 6 9 4 4 0 4.
Both of the new acquisitions played major roles in the second game as
Salvatore Garza was in the lineup for the first time and
Bryce Barnett got the start. And it was such a success that I'm going to provide the box (and there's too much offense to recap):
Not bad when you tie a team record in your debut. Fisher's injury was minor (bruised cheek) and he should only miss a few days.
For the longest time in the finale it looked like the Rays had used up all their offense night before as they scored only once through 8 innings and were tied with the Jays but a 5-run explosion in the 9th gave them a 6-1 win and the series.
Danny Rodriguez went solo in the first (#10) and it looked like another romp might be on. But despite putting men on throughout the game they couldn't get them home. Meanwhile
Ruben Cerrillo had to leave with a minor injury after going 4 3 0 0 2 2 but
Chris Ericson came through with 3 hitless innings and they did take a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th. Unfortunately
Devon Williams gave up his second key homer in only four appearances since coming over to let Toronto tie and it looked like the night might end in frustration. But the bats finally went to work in the 9th with
Willis Ramirez and
Danny Perez singling in runs (the 5th hit of the day for Perez!) and
Danny Rivera put the game away with a 3-run homer (#23) to make it four homers in his last five games. Williams (1-1) ended up vulturing the win.
Team record: 67-36. Next up: A day off then 3 games in Anaheim against the Angels.