TORONTO – Harold Ramirez and Randy Arozerena scored two runs in the fifth inning of a six in the Tampa Bay Rays’ 7-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
The Blue Jays (44-36) lost their third game in a row to the Rays (43-36) to drop a five-game set 3-2 and split their weeklong eight-game homestand 4-4 .
The mood around the home team was already gloomy as the Blue Jays mourned the sudden passing of 17-year-old Julia Budzinski, the eldest of three children to first base coach Ken Budzinski and his wife, Monica.
Toronto announced that Budzinski would take time off from the Blue Jays to mourn with his family.
After dropping eight runners to base, the Blue Jays were tied 1–1 in four innings, with six stuck in the scoring position.
In the fifth inning of 35,757 at the Rogers Center, Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling (4-3) gave Taylor Walls a double lead off, who scored a Yandy Diaz single to right field.
Ramirez drilled a two-run shot in the right field to end the day of stripping. He went on to four runs (three earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and one walk for 4 innings.
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Stripling did not allow more than two runs in five consecutive starts.
Toronto reliever Trent Thornton replaced Stripling and was greeted with a single homer from Ji-Man Choi and the blast of two runs sent two straight batsmen later to Arozena.
The Rays enjoyed a 14-hit offensive outing with Choi leading the way with three hits.
Tampa Bay starter Shane Baz (1-1) got out of a jam in the first four innings, loading bases in the first and fourth frames.
But Baz put on a strong show, facing the last eight batsmen in his 94-pitch, six-innings performance. He scored seven runs, scored two runs and surrendered one run for seven hits.
The Rays snatched a 1-0 lead in the first innings from Toronto third baseman Matt Chapman on a high throwing error.
The Blue Jays stormed the game in the third inning. George Springer doubles down on the left-field line. He moved to third for short on the groundout from Bo Bichet and scored on a left single from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Toronto added a run in the eighth inning and a run in the ninth. Lourdes Gurrill Jr. doubles down the right-field line. He moved to third on the groundout from Raimel Tapia and scored Chapman’s long sacrificial fly to right-center field.
In the final inning, Guerrero doubled from the right-field line to score Cavan Biggio. It was Guerrero’s third hit of the game.
Gossman update: The Blue Jays will wait to see how Kevin Gossman feels following the club’s charter flight to California with an ankle injury before determining if he will make his next scheduled start on Thursday. Gossman felt some stiffness and pain a day after taking a 100 mph drive with his right ankle, forcing him to skip the Blue Jays doubleheader’s opener in the second inning on Saturday.
Answer Next: The Blue Jays travel to the West Coast to open a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics, followed by a four-game set against the Seattle Mariners. Alex Manoh (9-2) will open for the Blue Jays on Monday. Lefty Cole Irwin (2-6) will take the field for the Athletics. The series debut in Oakland will mark the Blue Jays halfway through their schedule, their 81st outing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 3, 2022.
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