In the fourth, Russell Martin struck out and had a few words for the umpire as he walked off the field.
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In the next inning, the Rays would give up the lead on a two-run home run from Russell Martin from Kevin Jepsen. 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.
“You need to find ways to stay in a game by grinding out at bats and stringing together good at bats”, Duffy said.
J.A. Happ couldn’t hold that early lead, and needed 85 pitches to get through 2.2 innings, getting yanked after Corey Dickerson’s two-out single in the third put the Rays up 3-1. Tampa Bay 3B Evan Longoria is two homers shy of his career high of 33, set in 2009, but is just 1-for-15 in his last four games. 2. I was just out there and wanted to get outs. Dioner Navarro, who seems to now exclusively hit well against Tampa Bay, hit a two-out dribbler on a 2-2 count to single home Edwin Encarnacion for the game’s first run.
“That’s a huge job by the bullpen keeping us in the game”, Happ said.
Both lineups face tough pitchers on Saturday as the Rays throw rookie left-hander Blake Snell (4-7, 3.56 ERA) and the Jays answer with righty Marco Estrada (8-6, 3.37 ERA).
The Blue Jays tied it at 3 in the seventh on Devon Travis’ two-run single off Brad Boxberger, costing Archer a shot at his ninth win.
METS 5, NATIONALS 1: Rookie Seth Lugo allowed one run and six hits over seven innings, and Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce each hit a two-run homer as NY won at home. He also struck out nine, running his AL-best total to 211. He reached base twice on walks but couldn’t extend his run.
The Blue Jays oddly slashed a line of.207/.295/.378 against Tampa entering Saturday night.
Despite the ability to expand rosters in September, Tampa Bay still had just three position players on the bench on Sunday: C Luke Maile, 1B Logan Morrison and utilityman Nick Franklin. I think the game took a turn from that point.
“That inning got away in a hurry”, noted Blue Jays manager John Gibbons.
Meanwhile, the Rays are 5-1 in their last six game threes of a series, and 4-1 in their last five Sunday games.
A sweep-averting 5-3 comeback win Sunday afternoon eased the tension after 24 innings of frustration at Tropicana Field, sending them off the Bronx for a Labour Day date with old nemesis Masahiro Tanaka in a much better frame of mind. Rays catcher Bobby Wilson, left, looks on. “It started off a little bit shaky, but I feel like that play [in the 1st] that Logan Forsythe made with the shift over to the right a little bit, made a throw across his body and got (Troy Tulowitzki) by a decent amount really settled me down”.
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As big of a pain in the, umm, tail-feather the Tampa Bay Rays have been this season for the Toronto Blue Jays, they’ve so far managed to more than make up for it by beating up on the New York Yankees.
