And with it, so did the game.
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The Toronto Blue Jays would prefer to avoid developing a bad habit when it comes to J.A. Happ’s starts against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Plating runs for Happ has been a bit more generous in his two starts since that loss. Conley (3-2) gave up 1 run and 8 hits, striking out 5. His 30 strikeouts heading into Monday’s game were fifth best on the team, but Happ has always been a groundball specialist. Smyly is 1-4 with a 3.63 ERA this year, but he has also been able to hold opposing hitters to a low.
“It was cutting on me instead of fading or sinking”, Happ said. He ended up walking Smoak to load the bases and went from 0-and-2 to 2-and-2 on Troy Tulowitzki but got him to chase strike three to get out of the inning. After Jennings lined out to third, Casali drilled a three-run homer. The Rays outhit the Blue Jays 17-8.
“He’s human, you know?” manager John Gibbons said. He’s on a nice little roll. “Chuck it out, move on”. The left-hander entered play with a 5-0 record and 2.05 ERA, but allowed eight earned runs on seven hits in just two innings of work. The Rays offence dominated all night, outhitting the Blue Jays 17-8.
“We’re close”, the veteran right-handed said. “A lot of balls were hit with authority”.
Smyly (2-4) allowed one run and four hits in five innings to win for the first time in four starts. Steve Geltz, Ryan Webb, Dana Eveland and Enny Romero allowed only one run over four innings of relief. Happ’s outing snapped a streak of 19 straight outings of Toronto starters going at least six innings. With Logan Forsythe being sidelined for at least the next three weeks, Pearce should stay in the lineup the majority of the time, whether it be at first, second, or third base. After Kevin Kiermaier’s sacrifice fly, Beckham made it 6-0 with a one-out drive in the second, his first. Tampa Bay shortstop/outfielder Taylor Motter, making his major league debut, hit an infield single for his first career hit with one out in the first, and he scored on the sixth homer of the season by Pearce.
Motter is just the third player in club history to start at shortstop in his major league debut, joining Reid Brignac on July 4, 2008 and Ben Zobrist on August 1, 2006, and just the fourth player to hit that high in the order, joining Desmond Jennings on September 1, 2010, Joey Gathright on June 25, 2004 and Rocco Baldelli on March 31, 2003.
The battering of Happ by the Rays was swift and unrelenting, beginning when Steve Pearce ambushed a 92-mph sinker with a runner on in the first inning, hitting the ball so hard that Happ didn’t even bother watching it leave the yard.
INDIANS 15, REDS 6: Yan Gomes hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had four RBI, and host Cleveland rallied from an early four-run deficit to beat Cincinnati. But Tulowitzki was called out on strikes behind him, the third one scraping along the very bottom of the zone, which drew the ire of the Blue Jays dugout.
Jose Bautista singled in Darwin Barney in the fifth inning to break Toronto into the run column. The Jays scored again on an RBI single by Edwin Encarnacion. Evan Longoria singled and continued to second on an error by left fielder Michael Saunders.
Ezequiel Carrera, subbing for Bautista in right field, hit a ground-rule double to lead off the eighth. Kipnis’ two-run single broke a 4-4 tie and helped the Indians take a three-run lead in the fourth.
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Jennings crushed a pitch from Chavez into the second deck of Rogers Centre in the ninth inning, bringing the score up to 13-2.
