Aaron Sanchez was in the zone in his season debut, but he wasn’t alone, and the Jays wound up losing to the Rays in 11.
Biagini blows save, while rookie Lawrence takes loss in his major-league debut
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.— A battle of aces here Saturday night couldn’t have been farther from the Francisco Liriano fiasco the night before.
Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez and Tampa Bay Rays righty Chris Archer went toe-to-toe until Sanchez left after seven stellar innings.
But the outcome was decided long after their departures.
Casey Lawrence, called up from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons after a bullpen-taxing Friday night, took the loss after walking in the winning run with two out in the bottom of the 11th inning. Lawrence nearly got out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation, striking out Evan Longoria before running the count full against Brad Miller. His fastball was high and outside, forcing in Mallex Smith, who had led off the inning with a double to right field.
The Rays, with the 3-2 win, lead the weekend series two games to one heading into Sunday afternoon’s finale. Right-hander Marco Estrada will try to earn the Jays a split against Jake Odorizzi.
Sixteen batters stepped up to the plate before one reached base. Rays left-fielder Mallex Smith broke the deadlock in the third with an infield single. The ground ball deflected off Sanchez’s glove, dropping near Devon Travis too late for the second baseman to throw out Smith.
Smith stole second, but a pop out from shortstop Tim Beckham and a groundout by DH Corey Dickerson kept the Rays from capitalizing.
With Archer unflappable early, the Rays were also next on base.
Brad Miller walked in the fourth, beginning Sanchez’s first spot of trouble. Steven Souza Jr. followed with a single, but Sanchez got out unscathed thanks in part to striking out Logan Morrison.
Kendrys Morales earned Toronto’s first hit of the game, but Archer swiftly forced a Troy Tulowitzki fly out to right field before a crisp 5-4-3 double play, off a Steve Pearce grounder, ended the Jays’ fifth-inning rally.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the fifth. A single by catcher Derek Norris and four-pitch walk to Smith came off the top. The Jays then botched a double play, getting only one out when an off-balance Travis sailed a throw past first baseman Justin Smoak. The extra out contributed to Norris scoring when Sanchez failed to sneak a curveball past Dickerson, who delivered a RBI single.
Archer had a shutout going until the seventh, which he started by walking both Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista. After Morales hit into a double play, Tulowitzki picked him up with a two-out run-scoring single for his fifth RBI in two games.
Sanchez overcame a throwing error on a pickoff attempt in the seventh. His game was done by the eighth, when Joe Biagini took over.
Archer started the eighth inning, which proved his undoing. Russell Martin’s leadoff walk turned into the go-ahead run. Smoak singled to move Martin to third, before Donaldson delivered the Jays’ second two-out RBI of the night.
Biagini was unable to preserve the lead, giving up a first-pitch single to Evan Longoria, who moved up after a four-pitch walk to Brad Miller. Souza Jr. came through with a single to re-tie the game 2-2.
Jason Grilli worked a scoreless 10th inning before Lawrence came in. Reliever Erasmo Ramirez (1-0) was credited the win after working 12⁄
3 scoreless innings.