2 hours ago 1

Jays Hang On To Beat Rays

Jays 6 – Rays 5

That should have been easier than it was. It was also one of the weirder games of the year. The Jays went up 4-0 early in the game, but a strange fan interference but still valid three run shot by Brandon Lowe which is likely to inspire a fair amount of baseball pundit talk cut the lead to one. The Jays answered with three more runs, making it 6-3 and then the bullpen bent, and bent, and bent… but somehow didn’t quite break to hold on to the lead for a nail biting 6-5 win.

Barger drove in the first run in the first, bringing in Springer who reached on an error. Pepiot walked the bases loaded in the second, and Springer made him pay with a 1 out double to score two. Guerrero followed a batter later with a single to make it 4-0.

In the bottom of the third, it looked like Brandon Lowe hit a three run home run, but Straw was clearly interfered by a fan in trying to get to the ball. On review, they agreed it was fan interference but somehow let the home run stand.

The MLB rules state the definition of Spectator Interference as follows: ‘In every case of spectator interference with a batted or thrown ball, the ball shall be declared dead and the baserunners can be placed where the umpire determines they would have been without the interference. When a spectator clearly prevents a fielder from catching a fly ball by reaching onto the field of play, the batter shall be ruled out.’

The next inning, Lukes hit a ball that bounced off Lowe’s glove and off a fan’s hands and the throw back went through the infield and into the Blue Jays dugout. On review, the ball was ruled a home run. In the 5^th, Loperfido crushed a ball into right for a home run.

In the 8^th, Tampa got another run following a walk to Lowe, a swinging bunt to advance him, and an RBI single to left by Gray. The Jays made it interesting in the bottom of the 9^th, with a walk to Simpson to lead off the inning. Predictably, Simpson went for second and the Jays bounced a throw into the outfield to allow him to third. Lowe singled him home to cut the lead to one. Hoffman came in to walk Caminero but struck out the next two batters for the save.

Berrios wasn’t great, having a similar issue of being able to get to two strikes and not being able to put away batters. With a proper call on that home run, he doesn’t give up a run, but with it, it’s an ugly line of 4.0 innings with 4 hits, 3 ER, 2BB and 0 strikeouts. While I think he gets his next start, I think it’s clear Berrios is at the bottom of the list of starters for the postseason.

The Jays dipped deep into the bullpen with mixed results:

Nance pitched 0.2 innings with a couple of strikeouts.
Lauer gets the win with 1.1 innings, working around a couple of hits and getting two more Ks.
Rodriguez pitched a bit of a shaky inning control-wise but didn’t give up a hit and got a strikeout.
Little didn’t have it, retiring just one Rays hitter while walking two, and giving up a hit and a run.
Dominguez walked Simpson, the one player in baseball you do not walk under any circumstances, and he ended up on the hook for the run when Lowe singled of Hoffman.
Hoffman picked up his 31 save the hard way, allowing a run to come in on a single and walking Caminero but got two strikeouts to close out the game.

Jay of the Day: Dominguez gets the number with (.149) but I think Springer deserves it for his couple of RBIs on the day at (.130)

The Other Award: Little (-.167) remains a bit of a question mark in high leverage.

The Jays will start their third game against the Tampa Bay Rays in this series tomorrow, Wednesday, Sept 17^th at 7:04PM EST. Kevin Gausman (10-10, 3.44 ERA) looks to build on his excellent second half against Ian Seymour (3-2, 3.16 ERA).