The old bats, and a new closer, prevail
TAMPA, FLA.— Manager John Gibbons was asked why the Jays have such trouble handling the Tampa Rays whenever they step foot into Tropicana Field.
Gibbons, like most managers, steered clear of dissecting his team’s woes in Tampa. Instead, he praised the Rays, which is something a lot of baseball people are doing this season.
Gibbons’ team, however, is also deserving of high praise —at least its offence. The Jays’ bats were on display again in an 8-5 win before just 10,324 fans.
The win, the 500th of Gibbons’ career, came a day after a hugely disappointing, ninth-inning meltdown to the Orioles to close out a homestand. It also came with some of the Jays’ finest regulars watching from the bench after Gibbons gave Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin a rest day.
Donaldson, though, was still in the news, with the gap in the voting for the American League’s all-star third baseman dropping from about 1.5 million to just 33,000. Donaldson benefitted in large part to a campaign spearheaded by Don Cherry and amplified by Stephen Amell, imploring fans to even up the vote with Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas.
A “beat up” Donaldson, as Gibbons put it prior the game, needed a rest, but that didn’t prevent the Jays from storming back on the division-leading Rays after falling behind 3-1 after two innings.
Jose Bautista absolutely crushed a homer, his 15th of the season, in a four-run sixth inning that put the Jays up 7-3.
Ezequiel Carerra, Danny Valencia, and Chris Colabello, with his second RBI of the game, also chipped in key hits for the Jays, who were upbeat in their clubhouse before the game despite Sunday’s miserable loss.
Roberto Osuna work the final two innings with ease, recording his first career save. The appearance may also have ushered him in as the Jays’ next closer.
The win wasn’t a good bet. Toronto sported a 141-161 all-time record against Tampa before the game, and was 60-81 at Tropicana Field. The Jays have lost their last three series here and have won the season series here only twice in team history.
“They do things the right way here; they pitch and they play defence with the best of them,” Gibbons said prior to the game. “You know, everyone kinda thought they’d be in trouble a bit when they lost (starters Alex Cobb, Drew Smyly and Matt Moore), but they’re division leaders, they’ve kind of surprised people. And they got a new manager (Kevin Cash) and he’s a great baseball mind; he’s done a great job and we (baseball insiders) all knew he would.”
The Jays face a tough test Tuesday — even with a full-strength lineup — when they face Chris Archer, one of the finest in the game this season. But Toronto’s offence remains the most dangerous in the.
The seven runs by the Jays Monday gave them 400 for the season; 19 of 30 teams in the major leagues have yet to score 300.
Toronto’s four-run inning in the sixth marked the 28th time the team has scored four or more runs in an inning, another major-league high.
Toronto appeared headed for a loss in the early going Monday, with starter Drew Hutchison giving up those three runs in the first two frames.
Hutchison , who has a 9.46 ERA on the road compared to 2.38 at home, settled down nicely after that. He didn’t give up a hit over the next 3.1 innings, and bowed out of the game with one out in the sixth.