The Tampa Bay Rays hope their chaotic 11-9 victory over the host Toronto Blue Jays can serve as a catalyst for success heading into the middle game of the teams’ three-game series Wednesday night.
The Blue Jays had a 92.6 percent chance of victory on Wednesday, leading 7-6 with closer Jeff Hoffman on the mound and one out in the ninth. The Rays went on to score five runs off Hoffman, capped by Junior Caminero’s first career grand slam.
“It definitely can be a momentum starter,” said Rays left-hander Mason Montgomery, who came on in the ninth to retire Daulton Varsho to end the game with two runners on base. “It’s going to be exciting to see where it goes.”
Varsho had hit two home runs in the game, including a three-run shot in the eighth to give Toronto a 7-6 lead in the opener of the three-game series.
“It felt like it turned into a must-win as the game evolved,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “It could have been a really frustrating night for us, and the guys stayed at it. Give them a ton of credit for not getting overly frustrated in the ninth inning to come back against a really good pitcher.”
On Wednesday, the Rays will count on right-hander Ryan Pepiot (2-4, 3.86 ERA) to keep the momentum going. He has never faced the Blue Jays.
Toronto will counter with right-hander Chris Bassitt (3-2, 3.35), who is 1-5 with a 3.65 ERA in eight career appearances (seven starts) against Tampa Bay.
Both teams have had trouble scoring runs but bunched a total of 10 in the final 1 1/2 innings on Tuesday. The big surprise is that five came off Hoffman, who has struggled after a strong start.
Toronto manager John Schneider does not seem concerned — yet.
“His stuff has been consistent all year,” he said.
Schneider talked about the pitch to Caminero, a slider that was up and in and out of the strike zone. Caminero turned on it and drilled the homer to left.
“He has done more than his fair share of helping us win games,” Schneider said of Hoffman. “I’ve got nothing but trust in him going forward.”
Hoffman, however, allowed three runs in each of two consecutive games against the Los Angeles Angels last week during Toronto’s road trip before rebounding with two saves in the weekend sweep in Seattle. The blown save on Tuesday was the second of the season for Hoffman, who closed April with a 1.17 ERA.
His ERA in May is 24.75 over six appearances, ballooning to 6.05 overall.
Rays catcher Danny Jansen, a former member of the Blue Jays, hopes to keep the momentum going in his return after a productive series opener, in which he went 2-for-3 with a home run on Tuesday. He has reached base in 18 consecutive games.
The Rays are without one of their better hitters for the series in Toronto. Yandy Diaz was put on the restricted list for what Cash said was a passport renewal issue. Infielder Coco Montes was promoted from Triple-A Durham to take Diaz’s roster spot.
Diaz is expected to rejoin the team for its next series, which will begin Friday at the Miami Marlins.
–Field Level Media
