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Tampa Bay Rays embarrass Jeff Hoffman
Photo credit: St. Albert Gazette
The Blue Jays kicked off their longest homestand of the season with a power display, launching four home runs at Rogers Centre after a dominant three-game sweep in Seattle, where they racked up 21 runs in total, including a season-high nine in Sunday's finale.
The momentum seemed poised to carry over as the Blue Jays opened their first series of the season against AL East rivals, the Rays. However, Tampa had other plans, quickly jumping out to a 4-0 lead.
The Blue Jays's four-game winning streak comes to an end on Tuesday.
Frank Zicarelli from the Toronto Sun writes that the Blue Jays mounted a timely comeback, only to suffer a heartbreaking 11-9 loss. Daulton Varsho homered twice, including a dramatic three-run shot to right field that briefly gave Toronto a 7-6 lead.
"The stage was set for Jeff Hoffman to close the deal on what turned out to be one of the wildest nights of the season. Instead, he had his poorest appearance of the season in yielding five runs in the ninth inning punctuated by a Junior Caminero grand slam." -Zicarelli
Here are three takeaways from a night when the Blue Jays scored nine runs for the second straight game but allowed double-digit runs for the fourth time this season.
Zicarelli also writes that there's a lot to appreciate about Daulton Varsho when he's in the starting lineup, his defensive reputation is well deserved.
"When he's producing at the plate, Varsho provides a much-needed power presence. His introduction to the team was ushered in two years ago in St. Louis on opening day when Varsho batted cleanup, a role that took many by surprise. For the fourth time this season, he homered as the Jays cut Tampa's lead to 4-3." -Zicarelli
Signs of trouble emerged almost immediately after José Berrios took the mound. Berrios hasn't been as sharp this season as he has in previous years with the Blue Jays. On Opening Day against Baltimore, he struggled, giving up three home runs. While his ninth start of the season on Tuesday wasn't as rough, there's still room for improvement.
"In the first inning against the Rays, Berrios needed 20 pitches to retire the side, an inning that featured two walks being issued. Berrios would give up five hits, including a homer, and four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings." -Zicarelli
Danny Jansen, the former Blue Jays catcher traded to Boston last season, received a warm and genuine welcome back. Now with the Red Sox, Jansen made a bit of baseball history by playing for both teams in the same game, an unusual scenario made possible when rain at Fenway Park postponed part of the matchup to a later date.
"In the series opener, Jansen played his first game in Toronto as a member of the Rays and hit his second homer of the season. He entered the night batting .160." -Zicarelli
The Blue Jays are back in action on Wednesday afternoon against the Rays. First pitch is scheduled for 3:07pm.
Previously on Blue Jays Insider
| POLL | ||
MAI 14 | 1247 ANSWERS Tampa Bay Rays embarrass Jeff Hoffman Do you think the Blue Jays will beat the Rays again at home on Wednesday afternoon? | ||
| yes | 718 | 57.6 % |
| no | 529 | 42.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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