(Photo: Jays Journal, MLB)
On Wednesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3–1 at Rogers Centre, evening the series with there division rival at one game apiece. The victory is the fifth in the last six games for the Blue Jays, leaving them with a season record of 21–21. The Jays will have ANOTHER chance at getting over the .500 mark lets see if they can do it tonight.
The game’s turning point occurred in the sixth inning when catcher Alejandro Kirk smacked a three-run homer off Rays starter Ryan Pepiot, turning a 1–0 deficit into a 3–1 lead. It was Kirk’s third homer of the season. The inning started off from singles by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger. Kirk had two hits in the game, with Guerrero Jr. reaching base three times and also scoring a run.
On the hill, Blue Jays‘ right-hander Chris Bassitt pitched well, allowing just a single run in 5 2/3 innings. Brendon Little was given the win after the Jays took the lead after he started to pitch. The Jays got 4 good innings of relief from there bullpen who has been struggling as of late. Yariel Rodríguez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Yimi García closed out the ninth for his third save of the season. Each relief pitcher picked up at least 1 strike out giving the Jays a total of 9 strikeouts if you include Chris Bassitt averaging 1 strikeout per inning.
For the Rays, Ryan Pepiot took the loss after a pretty solid effort, giving up only three runs over six innings. The Rays’ only run came in the fourth inning when Brandon Lowe scored on a sacrifice fly by Jonathan Aranda.
The Blue Jays triumphed after a gritty 11–9 loss to the Rays on Tuesday, when Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero launched a ninth-inning grand slam. A much needed rest was given to Jays closer Jeff Hoffman after he has had a rough couple of games. Toronto will attempt to clinch the series in Thursday’s game. The Jays will have Right hander Kevin Gausman on the mound Thursday night he has a 3-3 record this year 3.97 ERA even he will be looking to break the .500 mark. The Jays will be facing Right handed pitcher Zach Littel, Littel is 2-5 this year with an abysmal 4.40 ERA. The Jays have a great chance to finally get pased the .500 mark and be just a half a game back of a Wild Card spot.