TORONTO – Two breaking balls aside, Robbie Ray kicked ass. Really, there’s no other way to describe what he did to the Tampa Bay Rays over six innings Saturday evening, beating them down with a fastball that sat 95.1 m.p.h. and topped out at 98.3 they simply couldn’t counter.
A sloppy slider that Mike Zunino yanked over the left-field wall in the second and a bite-less curveball that Mike Brosseau hooked to a similar spot, only deeper, in the sixth were his only blemishes, but they erased the 3-0 lead provided to him by Randal Grichuk’s first-inning homer.
That shouldn’t take away from the left-hander’s impressive display of raw power, although it did prove costly when the Toronto Blue Jays unravelled in a messy two-run eighth that secured a 5-3 victory for the Rays.
Jordan Romano, fresh off the injured list, couldn’t locate his fastball a lick and walked the first two batters he faced in the eighth inning. Then, with the Blue Jays playing in on the corners anticipating a sacrifice bunt, Manuel Margot ripped a fastball at 109.1 m.p.h. right through Cavan Biggio’s legs at third base, cashing in the go-ahead run.
A strong relay from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to Bo Bichette to Alejandro Kirk cut down Brosseau at the plate, but Margot was cashed in by a Kevin Kiermaier groundout for a 5-3 lead.
The two-spot came without the help of a hit, as Biggio was charged with his fifth error of the season. Why he was playing in when Margot hasn’t sacrifice bunted since joining the Rays last season is fair to ask, but that made it an incredibly difficult play given the velocity off the bat.
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Adding to the frustration is that the Blue Jays squandered an opportunity in the top half of the frame, as Marcus Semien popped up with men on first and second, and after Gurriel Jr.’s infield single loaded the bases, Ryan Thompson struck out Kirk to end the threat.
Andrew Kittredge stranded a one-out Biggio double in the ninth to end the game.
