Jordan Romano released a long breath before missing with his eighth consecutive ball.
An out away from victory, but a hit from defeat, the Blue Jays hopes for a needed win dipped for a brief moment in the ninth. Toronto's shutdown closer walked the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the inning, after quickly dispatching the first two Tampa Bay batters. But, on Romano's 25th pitch of the night, he earned an exhale, inducing a game-ending fly ball off the bat of Joey Wendle.
The Jays teetered on the edge of a loss all evening, walking 11 Tampa batters, but ended Tuesday with a 4-2 win. Here are four takeaways from the series-evening victory over the Rays:
1. Pre-Game Controversy
It appeared a meaningless play on Monday. Kevin Kiermaier was out by six steps, Alejandro Kirk tagged him in the chest, and the inning ended with an unnecessary sliding out at the plate. But here we are, talking about it on Tuesday.
At second glance, Kiermaier scooped a dropped scouting report card at home plate, returning it to the Rays bench. When the Jays sent over a batboy to ask for their card back, Tampa Bay “scoffed,” per Sportsnet’s Arash Madani. The Jays were not happy, per Madani's report, and both teams’ managers and general managers spoke Tuesday morning. The dramatic ordeal lingered into Tuesday's pregame, overshadowing Toronto’s loss the night before and setting the stage for the rematch.
After Tuesday's game, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said the Rays skipper Kevin Cash apologized to him, pitching coach Pete Walker, and GM Ross Atkins pregame.
"It's agua under the bridge," Montoyo said.
2. Manoah Battles Through Wild Six
Yandy Diaz swung through a high fastball in the second inning and Alek Manoah exhaled deeply as he spun off the mound. The whiff earned Manoah out of a draining second inning without a run against, stranding the bases loaded.
All night, Toronto’s starter worker himself in and out of trouble, earning few chases with the slider and missing with fastball and changeup deliveries. Manoah watched several pitches in for strike three, but umpire Joe West disagreed on the placement of several, further frustrating and inflating the pitch count. Toronto’s starter finished with seven strikeouts, six walks, five hits, but just two earned runs.
"I don't think it was a battle of command," Manoah said. "I was around the zone, nothing was sporadic, nothing was crazy, that's just a really good ballclub."
As Manoah entered the dugout after blowing a fastball by Brett Philips to end the sixth, Montoyo met him with a crisp high-five. After the game, Montoyo said pitching on two days extra rest may have impacted Manoah, but despite the shaky command and early baserunners, the starter managed to deliver the Jays a needed six innings before a bullpen day Wednesday.
“What I learned tonight again," Montoyo said. "was that this kid competes. He doesn’t meltdown when he gets in trouble.”
3. Blue Jays Lineup Scrapes Out Four
It seemed like one of those games. Some questionable early strike calls, line shots right into Rays’ gloves, and baserunners stranded in scoring position — the recipe for a missed opportunity; a loss.
"Anytime you beat the Rays you gotta play your A-game," Montoyo said.
At one point Tuesday, the Blue Jays had the 10 hardest-hit balls of the contest, but led by just a run. The Jays had had two pieces of contact with expected batting averages over .600 turn into outs.
But, like the pitching Tuesday night, the Blue Jays lineup didn't wilt — finishing with four runs on eight hits and two walks. Teoscar Hernández cashed a George Springer insurance run in the eighth, and the Jays overcame the early batted-ball bad luck to provide just enough offense for a win.
4. Scoreboard Watching
There are days left in the 2021 MLB regular season and the Blue Jays find themselves right in the middle of a wildcard race. At end of Toronto’s game Tuesday, the Blue Jays sat a half-game up on a playoff spot, but the teams around them all won:
- Owning the first wildcard spot, the Boston Red Sox dropped four runs on former Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman to beat the New York Mets.
- The New York Yankees kept pace with a dominant seven-run victory over the Texas Rangers, their second straight win over Texas.
- Outside the wildcard race looking in, the Mariners and Athletics began play against each other at 9:40 ET.
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