TORONTO — Running out of bullets in their pitching staff, Tampa Bay was forced into a new plan on Monday, throwing a few no-name pitchers at the Toronto Blue Jays in hopes of survival.
The plan worked perfectly, right up until the didn't. Two guys even the biggest of Rays fans knew little about — righties Cooper Criswell and Javy Guerra — were excellent, and JT Chargois and Colin Poche did their jobs too, with the Rays taking a one-run lead into the bottom of the eighth.
But then the face we know, Jason Adam, let it all slip away. He's been the Rays' best relief pitcher all year, but the Jays didn't care about his flashy 1.26 earned run average. And when Bo Bichette hit a two-run run homer, the Jays had stolen themselves a 3-2 victory in the first of a five-game series at Rogers Centre.
It was a brutal loss, one that was hard to swallow for the Rays, mostly because Criswell and Guerra, two huge unknowns, were great. And Adam, who has been so good, failed to come through with the game on the line.
“I was really mad. I kind of blacked out a little bit,” Adam said. “I knew the weight of it, that I just potentially lost the game for the guys who battled so hard tonight, so that sucks. And two, there was some doubt in my mind about whether I should go [with a] changeup there, so that's on me. … Those ones hurt.
“They're talented over there. I think we match up well to them. I didn't show that well tonight, but the rest of our pitching staff did.”
Slider or changeup, it might not have mattered to Bichette right now, He is baseball's hottest player, having hit six home runs since last Monday. It was only the second blown save of the season for Adam.
It spoiled what was looking like a Disney-esque kind of game, too. Criswell, who had only pitched 1 1/3 innings in the big leagues, was forced into a start after coming up from Triple-A Durham. But he was terrific, retiring the first nine batters he faced.
His night ended in the fourth, when he walked George Springer, allowed a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and then an RBI single to Bichette. He got Alejandro Kirk to pop up, but then Rays manager Kevin Cash went to JT Chargois out of the bullpen, and he coaxed and inning-ending double play out of Teoscar Hernandez.
Holding the Jays to one run in that inning was huge, because it kept the lead at 1-1. (The Rays had scored first on a Jonathan Aranda RBI single). Tampa Bay took the lead in the sixth when Randy Arozarena singled and was, once again, a pest on the base paths, getting to third on a bad throw by Toronto catcher Danny Jansen. He scored on a Manuel Margot ground out to make it 2-1..
It stayed that way, too. Javy Guerra, who was just called up from Durham as well, pitched a scoreless sixth inning, allowing just one hit, and Colin Poche did the same in the seventh.
Bichette's homer in the eighth flipped the wild-card standings as well. The Rays, who have lost three straight games, are now 78-61, and a half-game behind both Toronto and Seattle. dropping from the fourth seed to the sixth.
Tampa Bay is still 5 1/2 games ahead of Baltimore for the final playoff spot. Baltimore starts a two-game series with Washington on Tuesday night.
The busy Rays are going to get even busier on Tuesday, playing a doubleheader with the Blue Jays. Jeffrey Springs (7-4, 2.54 ERA) is going to start the 1:07 p.m. ET afternoon game, with a starter TBA for the nightcap. Springs will be facing Toronto ace Alek Manoah (14-7, 2.42).
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