The Tampa Bay Rays took the second game of a three-game set against the Toronto Buffalo Blue Jays on Saturday, 4-1, thanks to a fantastic start by Ryan Yarbrough, and a three-run eighth-inning rally. They look to win the series this afternoon.
Source: FanGraphs
Yarbrough got the start went 5-1/3 innings, scattering four hits, and just a walk while striking out one. Leaning on his fastball, cutter, and changeup — with a handful of curveballs sprinkled in for good measure — the left-hander threw 49 of 69 pitches for strikes (71% strike rate). Yarbrough did what he is wont to do: miss barrels and induce weak contact.
Toronto Buffalo had a golden opportunity to break things open in the fourth inning after Cavan Biggio singled to right, and Willy Adames elected to go to first on Lourdes Gurriel Junior’s ground ball out to short — putting a runner in scoring position with just one out. After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. flew out to center for the second out of the frame, Travis Shaw walked and Randal Grichuk reached on an infield single that deflected off Yarbrough’s glove. Still, the lefty was able to coax a fly ball out from Teoscar Hernandez to end the threat.
And because of it, it would be Tampa Bay, not Toronto Buffalo, that took the initial lead in the sixth inning after Matt Shoemaker matched Yarbrough pitch-for-pitch through the front five. Michael Perez got things started by earning walk in an eight-pitch at-bat. Mike Brosseau entered the game as a pinch pinch-runner, a gambit that quickly paid off when Ji-Man Choi lined a double to the left-center gap, scoring a stumbling Brosseau from first. With two out and a runner in scoring position, Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a bullet to first that Travis Shaw made a diving stop on, consequently preventing another run from scoring.
Yet, the Blue Jays answered immediately in the top of the seventh when Reece McGuire turned on a middle-middle offering from Pete Fairbanks, sending it 379 feet into the right-field stands, tying the contest. Then with two outs, Bo Bichette singled off Choi’s glove, and Biggio walked on four pitches. Kevin Cash had seen enough and called on Nick Anderson to extinguish the fire. Anderson threw all of one pitch — the height of efficiency — to Gurriel, who popped out to Mike Zunino between the plate and the mound. Anderson came back and threw a 1-2-3 eighth, setting the table for Tampa Bay’s rally in the bottom of the frame.
Zunino, who had entered the game after Perez was pinch-run for, lined a single to left-center off Sam Gaviglio with one out. With three catchers on the roster, Cash called on Hunter Renfroe to pinch-run for Zunino before Choi walked. Brandon Lowe was next. While the lefty-hitting Lowe had been 0-for-9 against Gaviglio, he scolded a 107 mph triple to right-center, plating the pair and putting Tampa Bay up by two. Gaviglio capped the scoring when he balked home Lowe, making it a 4-1 contest.
Oliver Drake, the Rays’ fifth pitcher of the day, worked a scoreless ninth for the save. And while his awkward mechanics are nightmarish to watch, the effectiveness of his stuff — not to mention his mustache — are the things dreams are made of.
The New What Next
The Rays wrap up the Opening Series against Toronto on Sunday with Blake Snell on the mound. He will start opposite of Thomas Hatch, who will be making his MLB debut.
Blake Snell wasn’t very effective in his final tuneup during an intrasquad game on Tuesday, a two-inning outing where he was unable to record the final out of each frame. The southpaw walked four — two free passes to Yandy Díaz — while striking out two on 47 pitches (23 strikes, 49% strike rate).
After the game, Snell said he felt really good physically, yet he conceded he isn’t “100 percent ready” and it may take him a handful of starts to get to five or six innings stamina-wise. Ultimately, that decision will come down to pitching coach Kyle Snyder.
Frustrated today, for sure. It’s frustrating because I know how good I wanna be and how good I am, but I have to learn these things a lot quicker. A lot to learn from and a lot to break down. I’ll make sure to do that tonight and tomorrow and we’re going to start to get this thing rolling here and try our best to get a World Series season here.
— Blake Snell
Still, he’ll take the mound for the Rays’ third game of the season. In spite of his struggles, Snell isn’t expected to have any workload restrictions in his first regular-season start.
Cash has yet to use Trevor Richards or Andrew Kittredge, both of whom could provide length behind Snell. For what it’s worth, Toronto’s Buffalo’s hitters have not had much success against Snell: the active roster is 9-for-65 against him with 32 strikeouts. As Neil Solondz (Rays Radio) writes, “Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 1-for-8 with the only homer of Snell among current Toronto players.”
Thomas Hatch will make a spot start for Toronto since Nate Pearson — one of the organization’s top prospects — is expected to round out the rotation next week. Hatch has never pitched above the Double-A level, although he posted a 2.80 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, and 17:1 K:BB across 35-1/3 innings (six starts) after being acquired from the Cubs last July. Per Solondz, “It’s not clear how long he will go, as the Blue Jays have not used Anthony Kay, Jacob Waguespack, and Shun Yamaguchi, all of whom could provide length.”
You can read about the series in our preview, while the starting lineup and Noteworthiness are below.
Rays 7/26/20 Starting Lineup
- Choi 1B
- B. Lowe 2B
- Diaz 3B
- Martínez DH
- Kiermaier CF
- Margot LF
- Renfroe RF
- Adames SS
- Zunino C
Noteworthiness
— the Rays have plated four runs in each game despite going just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position (.125 BA wRISP).
— The bullpen has given up just one run across 8-2/3 combined innings to start the season.
— Per Solondz, Nick Anderson yesterday went 1-1/3 innings, the second time he’s done so with Tampa Bay. It was just the third time in 24 outings he didn’t earn a strikeout.