The Toronto Blue Jays dropped another one to the Tampa Bay Rays tonight, falling 4-2. Two runs. Four hits. That’s the whole story right there. This team cannot string anything together, and honestly, it’s brutal to watch. For a fleeting moment, it looked like a big first inning was cooking: Nathan Lukes walked, then Vladimir Guerrero ripped a double high off the wall, putting runners on second and third with one out. George Springer brought one home with a ground out, but then Yohendrick Piñango struck out, and that was it for the early magic.
Where Did the Bats Go?
After that first-inning run, we didn’t score again until the seventh, when Alejandro Kirk finally hammered a solo shot. Kirk was practically the only one who showed up with a bat, going two for four, even crushing a hard-hit fly out to the track in the second. But seriously, just four hits total? Piñango added a single, but overall it was a pitiful display. One walk and eight strikeouts paint a pretty clear picture. Yeah, Vlad crushed three balls over 100 mph , a 108.5 mph ground out, a 106.9 mph ground out, and his 104.5 mph double. Kirk had his homer and a 98.8 mph fly out. But then you look at Lukes, Springer, Clement, Varsho, and Giménez, and it’s nothing but softly hit balls and strikeouts. It is like they cannot connect when it matters.
Defense and Pitching Failures Add Insult to Injury
We ran through a bunch of pitchers, trying to find something that stuck. Braydon Fisher opened well, but then gave up two walks in the second before Kirk bailed him out with a caught stealing. Spencer Miles came in, gave up an RBI single, but then settled down, giving us 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. He was the bright spot on the mound, honestly. But then the sixth inning happened. Jeff Hoffman was on the bump, gave up a fly ball to center, and Daulton Varsho , and this is a *must-make* catch , clanked it off his glove for a two-base error. That opened the floodgates. After a strikeout, a ground ball single that Andrés Giménez couldn’t quite reach, and a hit batter, the bases were loaded. A sac fly and another single plated two. Then Mason Fluharty came in, gave up a bunt single, and followed it up with a bases-loaded walk that wasn’t even close to the zone. Just like that, it was 4-1. Tyler Rogers, Brandon Little, and Louis Varland managed to throw scoreless innings to close it out, but the damage was done. The negative WPA awards say it all: Hoffman, Varsho, Giménez, and Clement all had a hand in this mess.
What’s next? We get to do this all over again tomorrow in a day game. It’s 3:00 Eastern, with Shane Bieber (1-1, 5.70 ERA) facing off against Ian Seymour (6-2, 4.79 ERA). Let’s hope for something, *anything*, different.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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