Snell grabs league-leading 21st win; Rays take out Blue Jays, 5-2
TORONTO — Ryan Borucki may have lost Round 1, but he’s already eyeing his next matchup against Blake Snell.
Snell came out on top of a young pitchers’ duel against Borucki, winning his Major League Baseball-leading 21st game as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2, in American League action Sunday.
Snell shut out the Jays (71-85) over 6 2/3 innings of work, limiting them to three hits and two walks with 11 strikeouts.
Fellow lefty Borucki gave up two runs, three hits and four walks across seven innings while striking out seven.
The 24-year-old picked up his 11th quality outing in his
15th start but dropped to 4-5.
“He pitched a really good game,” Borucki said of the AL Cy Young candidate.
“He had all of his stuff working, kept us off balance and did a really good job. I was just trying to keep this thing as close as we could. I had a couple of costly errors that cost me a couple of runs, but, yeah, that’s just how it goes — he’s a pretty good pitcher.
“He’s only going to start getting better. This is just the beginning for him and I’m looking forward to having some more battles with him,” he added.
The 25-year-old Snell was replaced by right-hander Chaz
Roe in the seventh for one out. Andrew Kittredge gave up two earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, Ryan Stanek came in for an out to close out the eighth and Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save.
Joe Biagini spelled Borucki in the eighth, giving up a solo home run in two-thirds of an inning. Jose Fernandez gave up two earned runs in one-third of an inning. David Paulino pitched a perfect ninth for the Blue Jays.
C.J. Cron was 2 for 4 with an RBI double and hit his 28th home run on solo blast, Brandon Lowe hit a two-run shot and Joey Wendle added an RBI double to provide the scoring for the Rays (87-68).
Aldemys Diaz was 1 for 4 with an RBI single and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had an RBI ground out as
the Jays picked up two late runs.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Borucki was “great,” but Snell was just a “little bit better” and commended his starter for his ability to adapt to a left-handed heavy Rays lineup by using his slider and mixing in his changeup.
“Early on, he was attacking pretty good with a really good breaking ball,” said Gibbons.
“Bottom line, he can pitch. He’s got a feel for what he’s doing, so that’ll take him a long way.”
Snell’s 21st victory gave him the Rays’ single-season franchise record, passing David Price’s 20 wins in 2012.
“It means a lot. He’s a great pitcher, very accomplished. To be able to beat it, it’s crazy to me,” said Snell, who lowered his AL-leading ERA to 1.90.