If I was a betting man, given the current state of the Blue Jays ballclub, I would have predicted that the Rays would take this game to lead the series 2-0. Alas, I would have wrong! With most of their infield hobbled, Bautista and Morales slumping and Liriano coming into the game with an ERA over 4.00, the lineup fielded today looked nothing like the playoff-bound squad from 2015 and 2016.
The offence was lead by Justin Smoak with his two-run shot in the 6th. Russell Martin also had strong two hits, which helped to pull him up over the Mendoza Line, earlier in this season than last year.
While Liriano was pretty solid over 5+ innings, the story of the evening was how dominant the bullpen was. The trio of Biagini, Smith and Osuna shut down the Rays and helped them on their journey out of the absolute basement of major league baseball.
The scariest moment of the game was when Steven Souza Jr. got hit with a pitch in the hand. From where I was sitting it looked at first like it may have hit him in the head, which it luckily didn’t.
— Attended by Warren Wilansky
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