- Kevin Tall
- Stock photo
In a game ruled by the long ball, the Tampa Bay Rays came up short.
On the first leg of a ridiculous north-south-north-again road trip, the boys from the Bay area dropped the second half of a double-shot in Toronto. Having barely hung on the night prior, the Rays fell to the Blue Jays 3-2.
Toronto and Tampa Bay traded home runs in a tightly-pitched game. Rays starting pitcher Wade Davis had a Cliff Lee-like pitch count going into the later innings. He had allowed a home run to Juan Rivera in the second inning but B.J. Upton answered back in the top of the fifth.
The difference in this one was not a home run, but the walk yielded just prior.
Rivera got a free pass from Davis in the seventh inning. J.P. Arencibia went deep on the next pitch Davis threw for the deciding two-run homer.
It was the first walk Davis issued, one of four.
It was the only one that mattered.
Kelly Shoppach got one back in the top of the eighth with a shot off of Jays reliever Marc Rzepczynski. The Rays catcher’s second home run of the year came on the 2-2 pitch.
Davis notched three Ks in his seven and two-thirds innings of work. He allowed three runs on seven hits.
Generally, winning numbers.
The Rays’ two homers accounted for half their hits.
Generally, not winning numbers.
When your pitching staff holds slugger Jose Bautista hit-less, you have to reward that performance with more than two runs on four hits.
