Marco Estrada has been stellar this season. I’d be comfortable saying he hasn’t had one game where he has been truly terrible. Until tonight. It just wasn’t working for him. The final line doesn’t look too bad. Five innings pitched while only giving up three runs is fine. However, the process to get to those numbers were ugly, as he walked four batters and allowed seven hits.
The Blue Jays got on the board in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a sacrifice fly by Melvin Upton Jr. and an RBI base hit from the red hot Devon Travis. They were unable to add more at the time as Jose Bautista hit into a double play with runners on first and second.
Estrada left after five innings, giving way to Danny Barnes, who finally looked hittable, allowing four of the six batters he faced to reach, leading to two Tampa Bay runs. However, the Blue Jays were intent on getting those runs back, hitting back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning followed by a walk drawn by Russell Martin. Unfortunately, Troy Tulowitzki popped out, Michael Saunders struck out, and Justin Smoak fouled out to end the threat, and keep the score at 5-2.
After that, Scott Feldman came in and the Rays decided they didn’t want this game to be close anymore, scoring four runs in the seventh inning. From there, it was just another blowout, with the final score being 9-2 in favor of the Rays. If you didn’t watch this game, you are very lucky, unless you’re a Rays fan, then congratulations on the victory!
Top Play of the Game by WPA
The top play of the game came in the top of the sixth inning with one out and a runner on first base. Evan Longoria stepped up to the plate to face Danny Barnes, and promptly hit a long double to centre field to score Kevin Kiermaier. This extended the Rays’ lead to 5-2, and increased their chances of winning by 13.4 percentage points.
Bottom Play of the Game by WPA
The Blue Jays had already put two runners across in the fifth inning when Jose Bautista stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second. Bautista was not able to cash in, hitting into a double play and lowering the Blue Jays’ chances of winning by 13.3 percentage points.
Feldman Gives up Four, but Not Six Runs
Scott Feldman blew this one open for the Rays, allowing four runs in two innings pitched. However, it was almost a lot more, as in the top of the seventh inning, Mikie Mahtook hit a soft dribbler in front of the plate that Russell Martin fielded. Mahtook proceeded to run outside of the base line, meaning that when Martin threw the ball away and two runs came into score, he was called out and the runners were sent back to their respective bases.
Trend to Watch
The Blue Jays offense scored seven runs on Monday night, but despite many declaring that they had broken out of their slump, they fell right back into it tonight. They registered just six hits and took just three walks, leading to a total of two runs, obviously not enough to win many ballgames. They will be fine, just like they were fine after struggling for most of the first two months of the season, but with the AL East race so tight, it would be ideal if they could get it together sooner rather than later.
Up Next
The Blue Jays will look to bounce back and win the series tomorrow night at 7:07 PM ET behind LHP J.A. Happ (15-3, 3.09). On the mound for the Rays will be rookie LHP Blake Snell (3-4, 2.95).
Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports