The Tampa Bay Rays lost 6-1 on Gary Busey night at the Trop. (Photo Credit: Gary Busey via Twitter)
The Tampa Bay Rays lost 6-1 on Gary Busey night at the Trop. (Photo Credit: Gary Busey via Twitter)
Drew Smyly was good once again, but Toronto righty Aaron Sanchez was better on Friday night, as the Tampa Bay Rays fell 6-1 the Blue Jays on Gary Busey night at the Trop.

The night started on an awkward note when actor extraordinaire, Gary Busey, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqzrSNQ3ZDE”]

Smyly got the start and allowed just one hit over the first five innings. That hit, however, was a 2-1, two-out homer to Michael Saunders ― the second homer the outfielder has hit off Smyly in as many starts, and the first of two Friday night. Smyly didn’t elevate his fastball enough and Saunders didn’t miss, hitting the homer off the top of the centerfield wall and giving Toronto an early one run advantage.

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The lefty surrendered one more hit, a mammoth two-out homer (that hit off the C ring) in the sixth by Josh Donaldson. It was his eighth of the year, and second of the season against Smyly. Donaldson is now 7-14 against Smyly lifetime with three homers.

Still the lefty was effective over his six inning start, allowing just two runs on two hits while fanning eight and walking one — thus keeping his team in the ballgame. To be fair, Smyly did as well as he could even though he was squeezed by home-plate umpire Mark Ripperger, who at times seemed to have a rather minuscule strike-zone. 

Squares represent the Rays, while triangles represent the Blue Jays.
Squares represent the Rays, while triangles represent the Blue Jays.

And because of what appeared to be a rather egregious strike-zone, Rays Manager Kevin Cash was thrown out in the top of the fifth inning. The skipper came out of the dugout to protect Smyly, who the umpire had exchanged words with after the lefty seemed unhappy with several ball/strike calls.

I just didn’t agree with the strike zone too much, Cash said. That’s going to happen. Those guys out there are busting it trying to get it right. We want it right. That’s going to happen. But sometimes we’re not always going to agree.

Smyly appreciated his manager coming out on his behalf.

Yeah, I mean, it was a tight zone tonight. I thought there was definitely quite a few pitches that were inside the strike zone. He didn’t give it to me. Like I said, that’s baseball. There really isn’t anything you can do about it. I just have to keep making the next pitch.

Since being acquired at the 2014 trade deadline, Smyly has made 24 starts. He has allowed two runs or fewer 17 times, one run or fewer 12 times and four hits or fewer 16 times. He also tied the Rays April record for strikeouts with 41, a mark also held by former ace David Price.

Suffice it to say, at 1-9 with runners in scoring position, Tampa Bay had chances against Sanchez. Most of the Rays’ damage was done by the top two hitters ― Logan Forsythe (2-4, 2B, BB) and Brad Miller (2-3, HR, RBI, R). Even so, Toronto’s hurler kept the wolves at bay with a 96 mph fastball (on average), and a sharp upper 70s curveball with a lot of depth.

Forsythe and Miller led off the game with back-to-back singles in the first, yet Sanchez bounced back to fan Evan Longoria and Corey Dickerson on three pitches each, and Steven Souza Jr. popped out to end the threat. Then in the third, Forsythe doubled to right-center, and Miller walked, yet Longoria lined to right and Dickerson went down swinging. Forsythe walked and swiped second with two outs in the fifth, however Miller grounded sharply to short to end the inning.

Entering the series, Tampa Bay scored 16 of its last 19 runs with two outs, while its .510 slugging percentage with two outs is tops in the American League. Though they had opportunities to plate runs with two outs, none would cross the plate Friday night.

Sanchez scattered six hits, walked two and struck out six over seven scoreless innings. Aside from Forsythe, no Ray got into scoring position against the Toronto righty.

Steve Geltz took over for Smyly in the seventh inning and threw a scoreless frame, but Saunders homered for the second time in the eighth off Dana Eveland. Of Saunders’ four home runs this season, three have come against Tampa Bay. Then with two outs in the inning, Justin Smoak came up with a big two-run single against Ryan Webb with the bases loaded, giving Toronto four two-out runs. For a team with a solid bullpen, that statistic isn’t very good.

Tampa Bay prevented a shutout in the bottom of the eighth when Miller homered to right off Drew Storen.

Ryan Goins hit the fourth Toronto homer in the ninth off Jhan Marinez, capping the scoring. In the end, five Toronto’s six runs came with two out. I left the cozy confines of section 143 at that point, bag of sunflower seeds in hand.

The New What Next

The Rays and Blue Jays will square off again on Saturday. Chris Archer gets the start opposite lefty J.A. Happ. Archer has faced Toronto more than any other team in his career, collecting a 5-4 record and a 3.28 ERA in 16 career starts against the Blue Jays. Happy is 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA in his career against Tampa Bay, and is seeking his fourth straight victory this season. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

Rays 4/30/16 Starting Lineup

Forsythe 2B
Guyer RF
Longoria 3B
Pearce 1B
Souza DH
Jennings LF
Beckham SS
Kiermaier CF
Casali C
Archer RHP

Noteworthiness

— Curt Casali will likely catch Archer on Saturday. Jennings is expected to return to the lineup while Brandon Guyer will start for a second consecutive day.

— Per Bill Chastain (MLB.com), Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have faced Archer more than anyone else, but they haven’t enjoyed much success. Bautista is hitting .147 with one homer and five RBIs in 34 at-bats, while Encarnacion is hitting .154 with three homers and eight RBIs in 39 at-bats.

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