The Tampa Bay Rays limited the Blue Jays to one run on eight scattered hits Tuesday night. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

The Tampa Bay Rays knocked Marco Estrada out of last night’s contest after just 3-1/3 innings, while Jacob Faria collected his second win in as many chances at the big league level. Tampa Bay routed Toronto, 8–1, and start the day three games over .500 for just the second time this season.

Corey Dickerson led Tampa Bay’s 16-hit attack with four hits on the night, including a 450 foot ninth inning moon-shot. All told, the Rays hit three homers off the Blue Jays, and now have hit 102 homers this season in just 67 games — the quickest they’ve reached the century mark in franchise history.

Even though the team squandered a pair of scoring opportunities in the first two innings, they broke through in the third against Marco Estrada. Taylor Featherston started the rally with an opposite field homer to right, his first hit as a Ray.

Then with one out, Dickerson and Evan Longoria went back-to-back with opposite field base hits, bringing Logan Morrison to the plate. Morrison finally came through with a runner in scoring position, crushing a mammoth 443 foot homer to centerfield for a 4–0 lead.

Tampa Bay continued the offensive attack in the fourth inning, consequently chasing Estrada after Mallex Smith and Dickerson hit back-to-back base hits.

Dominic Leone entered the game with runners on the corners, and promptly gave up a two-RBI double to Longoria on the first pitch of the at-bat. That completed the line on Estrada, who was charged with six runs on 12 hits over 3-1/3 innings. He now has given up seven homers and 16 runs to Tampa Bay this season (over 14-1/3 innings).

Tampa Bay tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings (respectively) on Colby Rasmus’ sacrifice-fly, scoring Longoria, and Dickerson’s solo moon-shot into the second deck against Aaron Loup.

Dickerson’s four-hit night

Corey Dickerson records three singles and a solo home run in the 9th inning for a four-hit ballgame against the Blue Jays

Seven runs of support were more than enough for Faria, who became the third Ray to collect back-to-back wins in his first two big league starts. The right-hander didn’t allow a runner past second base over the first six frames, and scattered just four hits and a walk — which should have been a strikeout — while fanning eight over 6-1/3 innings.

FoxTrax had that pitch, and the one to the right of it, in the strike zone.

Faria was lifted with one out in the seventh after allowing a double to Russell Martin, and an RBI single to Ezequiel Carrera to make it a 7–1 contest.

All told, Faria was impressive again. His stuff, especially his changeup, was electric, and he fooled Toronto’s hitters left and right.

Moreover, he was poised and efficient, allowing just three hits on 70 pitches over five innings — calmly taking a shutout into the seventh against the power-laden Blue Jays.

Austin Pruitt got the final two outs of the seventh. Even though he loaded the bases in the eighth inning with two outs, Pruitt got Russell Martin to ground into an inning ending fielder’s choice. Pruitt came back out in the ninth and threw a 1–2–3 inning to complete the victory.

The New What Next

The Rays look to hit a new high-water mark on Wednesday, when they close out a two-game series against the Blue Jays. Jake Odorizzi (4-3, 3.59 ERA, 5.03 FIP) will get the start for the Rays, opposite of left-hander Francisco Liriano (3-2, 5.87 ERA, 4.91 FIP).

Odorizzi battled in the sixth inning of a win over against Chicago, giving up a three-run homer, but was sharp otherwise, striking out a season-high-tying eight. He’s also been sharp over his previous four starts, collecting 22 strikeouts and allowing just 10 earned runs on 24 hits. However, there is something to be wary of, Odorizzi has given up at least one home run in all but one start this season — April 15 vs. Boston, the game he left after just one inning of work.

Liriano struggled before going on the 10-day DL in May with left shoulder inflammation, and hasn’t pitched deeply into games since his return. The left-hander has gone five innings in each of his two starts since returning, but earned a win on June 2 with a two-run effort against the Yankees. He is 1-0 against Tampa Bay this season, yet with a 9.00 ERA over three starts (totaling 9 innings pitched). Key Matchups: Tim Beckham (1-4, 2 BB), Peter Bourjos (9-35, 3 2B, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB), Corey Dickerson (2-7, RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (9-25, 3 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Daniel Robertson (2-4, HR, RBI, BB), Steven Souza Jr. (1-3, RBI, 6 BB), Jesus Sucre (1-2, RBI)

You can read about the series in our preview.

Rays 6/14/17 Starting Lineup

Bourjos LF
Dickerson DH
Longoria 3B
Morrison 1B
Souza Jr. RF
Smith CF
Robertson SS
Norris C
Featherston 2B
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

— Wilson Ramos went 2-4 with a homer as the designated hitter for the Triple-A Durham Bulls last night. He is slated to catch tonight, while relievers Brad Boxberger and Diego Moreno are expected to pitch. Matt Duffy is continuing to workout in Florida, although he is expected to go back to see Dr. Bob Anderson, who did the September surgery on the left heel that remains problematic.

2017 MLB Draft update: The Rays selected eight players in the draft yesterday. Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) listed the bios of the eight players selected:

Third Round: Taylor Walls — SS — FSU — Walls may have gone higher, but after being named a first-team All American last year, Walls had a down season offensively this year by his standards (.276 8 HR 47 RBI with more walks than strikeouts and a .421 on-base percentage). That said, he did helped lead Florida State to the CWS. Walls was rated the number 85 prospect by MLB Pipeline, and number 165 by Baseball America. He also played for Team USA last summer. Walls is a switch hitter who MLB Pipeline says might profile best eventually as a super-utility type, but has a chance to succeed as an everyday player up the middle. That profile with his on-base skills will have teams that covet college performers interested.

Fourth Round: Drew Strotman — RHP — St Mary’s (CA) — Strotman was rated the number 165 prospect by Baseball America. As a junior this season, Strotman struck out 75 in 67 innings, going 6–1 with a 4.57 ERA. Strotman started and relieved, making seven starts and 11 relief appearances. The West Coast Conference All-Academic Honorable Mention honoree from a year ago was a starter and reliever throughout his career. Strotman is 6–3 175, which is a projectable frame for a pitcher who is still just 21. Reports through several outlets were that he was throwing up to 96 miles per hour late in the season.

Fifth Round: Josh Fleming — LHP — Webster U (Missouri)— Rated the 210th best prospect by Baseball America. He entered college at 5–8 140 pounds, and now is 6–2 195. Fleming was 8–1 this year at the Division 3 school and led the level in ERA at 0.68 with 115 strikeouts and just 12 walks. Overall he was 19–5 with a 1.92 ERA at Webster, and struck out 251, walking only 29. He topped out at 94 miles per hour this season.

Sixth Round: Zach Rutherford — SS — Old Dominion U — Rated the 101st best prospect by Baseball America, and number 113 by MLB Pipeline. Rutherford was a Cape Cod League All-Star and All-Star Game MVP last summer. He was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and was an all-conference first team member. MLB Pipeline projected that he could go as early as the third round. Rutherford still was the highest infielder taken out of ODU since 2000. He hit .332 with 2 HR and 56 RBI this season.

Seventh Round: Hunter Schryver — LHP — Villanova— Schryver was an anchor for the Villanova Wildcats rotation. Schryver is just the second pitcher in Villanova baseball history to have won the Philadelphia Big 5 Pitcher of the Year award in back-to-back seasons. The senior led the Wildcats staff in ERA this season at 2.44 across 12 starts while striking out 91. Schryver overall was 13–23 with a 3.57 ERA while striking out 249 in his college career. He showed steady improvement across all four years at Villanova, and is only the third pitcher in school history to become a two-time all Big East first-team selection.

Eighth Round: Riley O’Brien — RHP — Col of Idaho — O’Brien primarily served as a relief pitcher for the Coyotes. He served as the College of Idaho’s closer in his junior year and tied for the NAIA West lead in saves at four. He was moved into the starting rotation during the later half of the Coyotes’ season and ended up ranking third in NAIA West in strikeouts with 74 and fifth in ERA at 2.44. O’Brien earned All NAIA West honors this season. O’Brien went to Shorewood HS, the same school that produced Blake Snell, and spent the next two years at Everett CC.

Ninth Round: Andrew Gist — LHP — University of Georgia — was 6–6 with a 4.35 ERA over the last two seasons for the SEC team after playing the previous two years at Walters State in Tennessee. Gist struck out 116 batters in 122 innings at Georgia. This year he was the Friday night starter much of the time, and was 3–4 with a team-best 3.80 ERA in that role. Gist was 1–1 with a 3.46 ERA in his last four starts of the season coming against ranked teams Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina.

Tenth Round: Phoenix Sanders — RHP — USF — The senior sign played his first two years at Daytona State College before joining the Bulls the past two years. Sanders was one of the better starters this year for an NCAA Tournament team, going 6–2 with a 2.78 ERA, striking out 109 in 97 innings. Sanders, a Gainesville native, has been a starter for all but one of his appearances with USF. He often was a Friday night starter in the American, and is from a family where his siblings also were named after cities (Dallas, Hudson and Brooklyn).

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