Apparently the Rays had to cross the border to find their swing again.
After waking up a little in Monday night’s 7-1 win, Tampa Bay’s offense came out fully alive Tuesday and never really let up in a 12-2 rout of the Blue Jays. Everybody in the lineup except Taylor Walls picked up a hit, and even Walls managed to score. By the end, Toronto had burned through most of its bullpen and was forced to turn to outfielder Myles Straw for the final out.
The game got away from the Blue Jays almost immediately. Tampa Bay put up a three-spot in the first inning against Kevin Gausman, and all of it came with two outs. Junior walked, then Cedric Mullins, Johnny DeLuca and Chandler Simpson followed with hits to bring in the runs.
For a moment, though, the night threatened to tilt in the other direction. Ryan Rasmussen loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, and it felt briefly like the nightmare version of the Boston series might be back, the one where the Rays couldn’t protect a lead for even half an inning. Instead, Rasmussen and Fortes settled in, got through the jam, and Rasmussen went on to cruise through the Jays lineup until the sixth.
Tampa Bay kept pressuring Gausman in the second and third, pushing his pitch count up even though the runs didn’t come right away. The third inning still offered a nice snapshot of what Chandler Simpson brings.
He bunted his way on for a single, then Ben Williamson followed with a soft hit to center that Daulton Varsho bobbled, allowing Simpson to reach third. Brian Anderson argued that Simpson’s speed helped create the mistake, with Varsho so focused on keeping him from taking second that he couldn’t field the ball cleanly.
Walls couldn’t cash Simpson in, but the play was another reminder that Simpson’s speed can change the shape of an inning. He has holes in his game, and it’s not clear that speed alone is enough to lock down a starting outfield job, but it’s still a weapon worth watching.
The Rays finally chased Gausman in the fourth after Diaz singled and Caminero walked. Even after the pitching change, Tampa Bay kept scoring.
Cedric Mullins reached on a force play, stole second, and then benefited from a Toronto throwing error on the attempted throw to get him. Johnny DeLuca followed with another single to make it 6-0.
From there, the offense just kept stacking damage. Nick Fortes broke it open in the fifth with a three-run homer, pushing the Rays’ total to eight.
Toronto finally got on the board in the sixth, and it took some bloop-and-bounce luck to do it. Ernie Clement opened with a soft hit that dropped between DeLuca, Aranda and Williamson, a ball that probably should have been caught.
George Springer then doubled, and Varsho followed with a chopper that took a long time to get to Aranda behind first base. Aranda still seemed like he should have beaten Varsho to the bag, but didn’t, and that infield single ended Rasmussen’s otherwise strong outing.
Tampa Bay’s bullpen handled the rest. Sulser, Kimbrell and Cleavinger were excellent, and the Rays kept piling on against Toronto’s relief corps. They added four more in the ninth, highlighted by Yandy’s three-run homer, a fitting way to mark his 1,000th major league game.
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That is why the trade market around San Franciscos Luis Arraez has started to draw attention from some analysts as the deadline approaches. Arraez would fit the kind of contact-driven profile Tampa Bay often values, and with his contract situation putting him on the move radar, the price may not be prohibitive. For now, though, it remains one of those names that makes sense on paper while the Rays sort out how aggressive they want to be. [Read more 🡒]