Unfortunately for Liriano and the Jays, the veteran left-hander couldn’t register an out, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits, including a home run.
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Russell Martin hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Blue Jays overcome a poor start by 17-game victor J.A. Happ and avoid a three-game sweep with a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Rays. And get this: Happ pitched six scoreless innings August 10 against Tampa with seven strikeouts. “Marco was rolling right along and then bam! They piled on right there”.
The Rays (58-77) saw their bullpen spoil a strong start from starter Chris Archer, who struck out nine in six-plus innings and held the Blue Jays to five hits and two runs.
“Typically you’re looking for a pitch out over the middle of the plate and that’s what I got”, said Martin.
Dan Straily (11-7) gave up three hits, including Jedd Gyorko’s homer, and a career-high seven walks in only 5 innings. “I was really, really impressed with the way he competed and executed his pitches tonight, and looked really, really comfortable out there”.
Tyler Thornburg got three outs for his eighth save.
Toronto’s lead in the division was trimmed to one-half game over Boston, which played at Oakland later Saturday.
Bobby Wilson singled to start the inning followed by Logan Forsythe who also singled.
Up six runs in the ninth, the Rays had another wobbly night from their bullpen – Enny Romero faced six batters and four of them scored, with three walks that forced the Rays to use closer Alex Colome in a save situation, the game ending with the tying run on base.
“We had one big inning that we put it together”, Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Kiermaier had a two-run home run in the seventh off reliever Joe Biagini, the first major-league homer given up by Biagini.
Six of Cobb’s seven strikeouts were called and two of them-against Martin to end the third and Tulowitzki to start the fourth-were on three pitches apiece with one foul ball and a called strike three.
The Jays trailed 7-1 going into the ninth and rallied for four runs but could not fight all the way back.
Toronto scored its lone run in the third inning, combining Traviss one-out single with a two-out walk by Jose Bautista and then an RBI-single by Encarnacion. No. 9 hitter Devon Travis singled home a pair of runs to tie the score at 3. Toronto is 6-9 against Tampa Bay and 25-16 against the rest of the AL East this season, and 31-61 at Tropicana Field since 2006.
Who could have? It had been 704 days since Cobb last pitched in a big-league game, after all, and after compiling an 0-3 record and 6.65 ERA in eight minor-league rehab starts, the best the Rays could really hope for was that Cobb walk away from his return healthy and encouraged. “How far do you want to go back?” Gibbons said. “Historically they’ve always played us tough”.
“If he’s seeing the ball good, which I thought he was, I gave the approval for him to take a whack at it”, said bench coach DeMarlo Hale, who filled in for Gibbons. “We have not had much success against Marco Estrada. they’re so unsafe and they wear down pitchers”.
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Blue Jays: RHP Gavin Floyd (strained right shoulder) hopes to throw off a mound soon.
