We need an exorcism. I don't know what it is about that stupid arena, but the Jays are now 6-19 there against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rays 3, Jays 2. Evan Longoria's return to action is a success, despite Jo-Jo Reyes' strongest showing of the year. Reyes allows six baserunners over six innings and leaves with a 2-1 lead. It's not enough to snap his Pitcher Winless streak, though. Not at the Trop. Ben Zobrist leads off the ninth with a single off Jon Rauch, B.J. Upton homers, ballgame.
On the bright side, Edwin Encarnacion doubled twice. He put the Jays ahead with a Vlad Guerrero special, one-arming a breaking ball at his ankles and sending it off the wall in dead center for an RBI double. Marc Rzepczynski pitched a spotless eighth and K'd Evan Longoria; he's posted positive WPA in 13 of his 15 games. Adam Lind had two hits and a walk. I'm sure there were some less bright developments, but my attention last night was focused mostly on Celtics/Heat, and I didn't notice anything egregious. I guess Rauch is under the microscope after this blown save. He definitely hasn't been overpowering anybody, and his fastball is down a couple ticks. Whatever, it's still early. And although I'm more confident with Francisco or Rzepczynski on the mound, I'm happy with Rauch as the ninth-inning guy who nails down the easy saves, so long as his K rate ends up considerably north of 15.6% (or alternatively he maintains that rate while not falling behind any hitters).
The last three games have been painful, but Arlington, the Bronx and St. Pete is just about the toughest ten-day, ten-game road trip possible, and 4-4 over the first eight is nothing to sneeze at, especially with Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero lined up to pitch the last two. Morrow takes on tall righty Jeff Niemann tonight – probably want to win this one, since it's David Price tomorrow and the Jays have never beat him. Rays -120 tonight (I'll take the underdog), first pitch 6:40.
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