“We have not had much success against Marco Estrada. they’re so risky and they wear down pitchers”. The Rays’ overall pitching ranks fourteenth in the major leagues.
Advertisement
Francisco Liriano‘s first outing as a reliever with the Toronto Blue Jays was one to forget. Jepsen was unable to retire a batter as he departed after giving up a single to Troy Tulowitzki. Kiermaier later scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Duffy to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead after the first inning.
Cobb, recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw five effective innings in Friday night’s 8-3 victory over Toronto.
Yadier Molina had two of the Cardinals’ five hits as they avoided being swept in Cincinnati for the first time since July 2012. He got Devon Travis swinging on a 86.3 miles per hour splitter.
As for the Boston Red Sox, the only team with a realistic chance at this stage of the season of knocking the Blue Jays off their American League East leading perch, they will continue their West Coast trip on Labour Monday afternoon (5:30 pm Atlantic/4:30 pm Eastern) when they open up a three game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park (September 5, 6 and 7) before they too will be allotted an off day in order to travel to Rogers Centre in Toronto for their all-important three game series against the Toronto Blue Jays next weekend.
There were also times on Friday, a lot of them in fact, when Cobb looked every bit like the staff ace he was slated to become before his elbow fell apart on him on a mound in Port Charlotte in the spring of 2015. Logan Forsythe is 5-for-11 with a homer versus Estrada, who is 1-2 (0-1 in 2016) lifetime with a 1.24 ERA in eight appearances against the Rays.Snell saw his streak of eight straight games having allowed two or fewer earned runs end last Saturday, when he gave up five runs – four earned – in three innings. The 32-year-old left-hander served up a home run to the very first batter he faced, as Luke Maile took him deep, and then he allowed all three batters he faced to score.
Blake Snell pitches for the Rays today.
Meanwhile, Estrada was about as economical as could be imagined. That illusion would soon be shattered.
Logan Forsythe finished the game 12-for-3 with a walk. With two outs, Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson reached base, putting the unsafe Encarnacion at the plate.
In the sixth, though, it all came apart on Estrada. By the third, though, Cobb was in command of both his fastball and his changeup and his command of the game soon followed. Kiermaiers attempt at a sacrifice turned out to be a flawless bunt that Estrada fielded but his throw pulled Travis off the bag at first base, loading the bases.
BREWERS 10, PIRATES 0: Domingo Santana had his first career two-home run game, Jonathan Villar hit his first grand slam and Chris Carter hit his 32nd homer as visiting Milwaukee finished a three-game sweep.
Gsellman (2-1) pitched out of trouble for six innings, and inexperienced center fielder Michael Conforto made a diving catch that thwarted a potential Nationals rally in the seventh. Brett Cecil entered the game to relieve the Jays starter. Morrison walked, Nick Franklin doubled and Corey Dickerson’s ground ball out to second base plated Morrison.
Advertisement
The Blue Jays will have to win their remaining four games against the Rays to win their season series for only the second time in the last 11 years.
