MLB: Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays

Recap: Rays 6, Blue Jays 3; Dickey Joins the Bats in Struggling Against Tampa Bay

After giving up 25 runs in the first two games of the series, the Blue Jays sent R.A Dickey to the mound to try to contain the Tampa Bay hitters. The Blue Jays tried to salvage the series without Josh Donaldson, who was given the night off, despite the fact that the offense is only averaging 4.02 runs per game. Coming off his last start, where he went eight scoreless innings, Dickey got off to a clean beginning, but gave up back to back homeruns in the fourth inning to Logan Morrison and Desmond Jennings. The Blue Jays seemed poised to answer back in the bottom of the fourth when the first two hitters walked, but were again unable to cash in any runs. The Jays continued to struggle with men on base, but managed to hit three solo-homeruns. However, it wasn’t enough to keep the Rays from sweeping the Jays, handing them their fifth straight loss.

Top Play of the Game by WPA

With Logan Morrison on first base and one out in the sixth inning, Kevin Kiermaier hit a home run to right field which extended the Rays lead to 5-3. This advanced their cause with a WPA of .191, the highest play total of the game.

Bottom Play of the Game by WPA

Kevin Pillar stepped up to the plate in the fourth inning with two runners on and one out. Justin Smoak and Troy Tulowitzki walked to start the inning, and after Jimmy Paredes grounded out to move them over, it was up to Pillar to try to score them. Instead, Pillar saw just two pitches, and grounded the second one to third baseman Evan Longoria who tossed it over to first for the out. This play had a WPA of -.103.

Josh Thole, Catcher?

There were plenty of moments in tonight’s game that made Blue Jays fans want to turn off the TV, but none more so than Josh Thole’s defense in the late innings. The first infraction came in the eight inning, after Steven Souza Jr. reached base via a single. Two batters later, Souza took off for second base, and Thole threw one of the weakest throws you’ll see from a catcher down to second. Souza was safe by a mile.

Next, in the ninth inning, with a runner on second base and Gavin Floyd pitching, Thole let a ball go by him. The wild pitch should have just allowed Tim Beckham to advance to third base, but instead, Thole could not find the ball, and Beckham scored all the way from second base. This gave the Rays an extra run, which they didn’t end up needing, but you never know what could have been had it only been a two run deficit in the ninth instead of three.

Up Next

The Blue Jays will head to Minnesota to face the struggling Twins (10-29) for a four game series starting tomorrow night at 8:10 pm. Marco Estrada, 1-2 with a 2.89 ERA, will face off against Ervin Santana, who is 1-2 on the year with a 3.38 ERA.

Lead Photo: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

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