When Martin turned a couple times to dispute the call while walking toward the dugout, Gibbons took over the argument from the dugout and got tossed. The Blue Jays were shut out in both games on May 24 and August 15 while Dickey allowed five runs and nine hits in 11 2/3 innings.
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Martin said he was just looking for a pitch over the plate and luckily for him it was in his “happy zone”. Chasing Toronto for the division lead are Boston and Baltimore, and the Rays have seven games against the Orioles in the next two weeks, then have their final home series of the season against the Red Sox, giving them a chance to impact an AL East pennant race they aren’t otherwise a part of. They tied the game in the third, taking advantage of Devon Travis’s error on what could have been a double play ball hit by Kevin Kiermaier.
DODGERS 7, PADRES 4: Jose De Leon struck out nine while winning his major league debut, and pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal drove in three runs as Los Angeles rallied to win at home and increase its NL West lead to three games over the Giants.
“I felt good”, Archer said.
“We’re not getting a lot of hits, that’s for sure”, he said after his team was held to three singles entering the ninth inning Saturday. His second strikeout, coming against Evan Longoria, was the 1,000th of his career.
Stroman gave up four runs and five hits in six innings.
“We definitely needed to get this one before we got out of here, so it was a huge job by the bullpen keeping us in the game”, Happ said afterward.
LHP J.A. Happ lasted only 2 2/3 innings Sunday at Tampa Bay before leaving following 84 pitches.
Rays starter Alex Cobb, pitching in the majors for the first time in almost two years as he returns from Tommy John surgery, ran into trouble early but got into rhythm, leaving after five innings with a 2-2 tie against a potent first-place lineup. With two outs and runners at first and third, Gibbons went to Biagini who got Wilson to ground out to end the inning and keep it a four-run game.
Chris Archer struck out nine for Tampa Bay, running his AL-best total to 211. We booted one ball and then (Logan) Morrison hit the home run late.
What is more hard to grasp is why the Blue Jays’ team ERA versus Tampa is 4.87 with a scary.273 batting average-against. I think the game took a turn from that point.
Forsythe had three of the Rays’ 13 hits and scored twice. The 7-5 loss on Saturday night puts Toronto’s record at 6-9 versus Tampa in 2016. Matt Andriese will face off against Ubaldo Jimenez in St. Pete as the Orioles look to make up ground in the home stretch.
Alex Cobb went five solid innings during his first start in two years and Logan Morrison hit a go-ahead two-run homer for Tampa Bay.
“He just looked great, ” Rays catcher Luke Maile said of Cobb.
The 5-3 victory also prevented the Jays from absorbing their first three-game losing streak in two-and-a-half months, sending them to NY for a three-game series against the Yankees on a high note. But the bullpen picked him up, as Danny Barnes and Scott Feldman kept the Rays in check until the Jays could tie it up and then the high-leverage trio of Joaquin Benoit, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna saw the victory through.
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That’s about all it would have taken for Blue Jay Russell Martin to get rinsed by home plate umpire Pat Hoberg for arguing over a third strike in the fourth inning of Sunday’s series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays.
