Jays jolt Rays, Buehrle falls just short of 200 innings

ST. PETERSBURG— The spotlight was on Mark Buehrle at Tropicana Field on Friday night as he attempted to reach 200 innings pitched for the 15th consecutive season.

Entering his final scheduled start, he needed to go 82⁄ innings to be

3 come the first pitcher to reach 200 innings for 15 straight seasons since Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton each accomplished the feat in 1980.

The 36-year-old left-hander came up short of his goal, but Buehrle and the Blue Jays won the game 8-4 and have their home field fate in their hands over the Royals. There is a possibility he could pitch two innings in the season finale on Sunday, and the decision will likely be his.

“I don’t know, we’ll see,” Buehrle said when asked about Sunday.

“If the game comes down to mattering for having the best overall record, that’s their decision. If it doesn’t matter and I can go out there and throw slower than I ever have before in my life, then I might lobby for it. I don’t know. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow and again on Sunday.”

The Jays trailed 4-1 going into the top of the sixth but Toronto’s wellrested bats came alive, scoring four in the sixth and three in the seventh. Manager John Gibbons had Mark Lowe ready to pitch in the seventh, but the outburst that gave the Jays a comfortable four-run lead allowed Buehrle to record two more outs in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, he hit Brandon Guyer with a pitch for the third time in the game and Gibbons brought in Lowe. It was the first time in his career Buehrle had hit three batters in a game.

The Jays’ regular lineup had been given two days off in Baltimore after the series with the Orioles. In the sixth and seventh, they banged out seven hits, including homers by Edwin Encarnacion (No. 38) and Russell Martin (No. 23). Chris Colabello hit his first career triple and Ryan Goins added a two-run triple.