This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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| Rays celebrate the 6-5 win over Jays |
Jesse Litsch Has Two Rough Innings While Jays Make Five Errors in 6-5 Loss
Coming into last night’s game the Toronto Blue Jays were the hottest team in baseball with the longest active win streak in the majors with six. However, that came to an abrupt end on Tuesday night against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays in a 6-5 loss at the Rogers Centre.
The Jays (21-21) could not overcome disastrous second and third innings where starting pitcher Jesse Litsch (3-4) had trouble with his control giving up all six runs to take the loss. In those two innings, he had two errors, a wild pitch, hit two batters, and gave up a homerun as well as two walks. The right-handed pitcher eventually settled down before giving way to the bullpen in the sixth inning.
The bullpen, one of the best in baseball, did a great job shutting down the Rays (25-18) for the rest of the game while giving the offence a chance to chip away at the lead. The Jays fought back and had the opportunity to even the game in the ninth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate. But in the end it was too little, too late.
“I think we battled our way back into this one tonight,” said Jays Manager, John Farrell. “Bullpen once again kept the game in check, to give us an opportunity to potentially tie it late, but obviously too many early miscues to overcome this one here tonight.”
Jeremy Hellickson (5-2) earned the win for the Rays, lasting 5.2 innings while giving up five hits, three walks and four runs, three of them earned. The right-hander also struck out six batters.
Litsch wasn’t the only Jay who had a tough night – Edwin Encarnacion had another rough game in the infield with two errors but he made other mistakes as well that were not counted as errors. It’s obvious that Encarnacion’s troubles are growing thin with fans that have become impatient with his play in the infield as he drew boos as well as mock cheers and applause from the 14,415 fans in attendance. He hasn’t impressed at the plate this season either, where he normally excels.
“Yeah he (Encarnacion) had a rough night at first base tonight. That’s apparent, we all saw that,” said Farrell. “It’s somewhat inexplicable. We’ve been playing pretty good baseball.”
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| Jays starting pitcher Jesse Litsch |
“But once again tonight, it didn’t deter us. It didn’t cause us to rollover by any means. We continued to play right to the final out of the game and that was evident again tonight. So the effort and concentration is there yet we made some physical errors tonight.”
The American League East leading Rays continued their torrid pace in the past few weeks as the club has been the hottest team in baseball since April 11 with a record of 24-10. Toronto continues to struggle with its division rivals, with a record of 2-5 against Tampa Bay this season. All seven games have been decided by either one or two runs.
“All losses are missed opportunities. Those are games that you want to win,” said Litsch who gave up five earned runs, seven hits, three walks and a homerun.
“It’s one of those games. You can’t have your best stuff every game. You got to go out there and battle with it. Those are the games that make you a better pitcher. I gave up two three-run innings and put my team down early. You got to battle back from there. We got a great hitting team, we came within one run.”
With a single in the first inning, Jose Bautista extended his streak to nine games and has safely reached base in 23 consecutive games dating back to April 17. He has reached base in 33 of his 34 games this season and has the highest OBP in the league just ahead of Canadian Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds.
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| Eric Thames gets ready to hit his first major league hit |
Eric Thames, who was called up to the Jays from its Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, made a successful MLB debut as the designated hitter. With each at-bat things got better for the young prospect. He struck out looking in the second inning before drawing a walk in the fourth and would later score his first run. Then in the sixth inning, Thames singled for his first hit, scoring a run to earn his first RBI as well. All in all it was a great debut for the rookie.
“The whole day actually was nerve-racking,” said Thames. “Still on the bench my heart was just pounding. In (Las) Vegas the crowds aren’t like that. It was nice.”
“I was trying to keep my heart rate slowed down. It was good to get the first one out of the way and I’m glad it happened in a timely situation for the team. That worked out pretty well.”
When asked what he would tell his family, he replied, “I’ll tell them I was just nervous, the lights are a lot brighter on that field, so it was a fun experience.”
Rays Hang On
Litsch struggled with his control early on and the troubles started in the second inning. After walking leadoff batter Matt Joyce, he then hit B.J. Upton with a pitch. Then Aaron Hill bobbled a ground ball and instead of a double play, he settled for the out at first, advancing both runners. Elliot Johnson then hit a bases clearing single to put the Rays on the board 2-0. He advanced to third base after consecutive throwing errors by Bautista and Litsch and later scored when Encarnacion botched an out at first base.
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| Jays’ Edwin Encarnacion completely misses throw from Litsch leading to an error |
In the third inning, with the leadoff runner on, Joyce hit a first-pitch homerun to right-centre field, increasing the Rays lead to 5-0. Upton singled next but advanced to third on a throwing error by Litsch who was trying to keep the runner in check. However, the error should be equally shared by Encarnacion who missed the ball entirely. Later, both made mistakes again as Encarnacion was unable to get an easy out while Litsch threw a wild pitch. Eventually, Upton scored on a broken-bat sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.
The Jays did battle back, slowly chipping away at the six-run lead. Corey Patterson hit a leadoff triple in the fourth and scored on a fielder’s choice. Then in the fifth, with Thames drawing a leadoff walk, Rajai Davis hit the ball up the middle but it was mishandled by Rays’ second baseman Ben Zobrist. Thames advance to third on the error and eventually scored on a double play.
With the score 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Patterson led off with another extra-base hit, this time a double. Hill doubled Patterson home by drilling a pitch off the wall in left-centre field. After catcher J.P. Arencibia earned a walk, Thames lined a single high up the middle that scored Hill from second base, closing the gap to 6-4. The hit chased Hellickson from the game, forcing the Rays to go to their bullpen.
The Jays had a great chance to score again in the seventh. With runners at first and second, Hill sliced a pitch down the first base line but right fielder Joyce made a nice running catch to end the inning. If the ball dropped, the Jays could have scored at least one run on the play, perhaps more if a rally was started.
The Rays loaded the bases in the ninth inning but reliever Jason Frasor was able to get out of the jam to keep the score close. In the bottom half, Davis led off with a double and then stole third base. Davis eventually scored on a ground out but with the tying run at the plate, Patterson struck out looking for the final out of the game.
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| Rays’ B.J. Upton scores in the 3rd inning, narrowly avoiding the tag from J.P. Arencibia |
The Jays will look to bounce back and even the series tonight.
“It’s always on to the next one,” said Litsch. “You got to have a short memory in this game. Tomorrow is a new day. Next game is a new game. You got to go out there with that mentality all the time.”
The two teams conclude the mini two-game set tonight with the first pitch scheduled at 7:07pm. Right-hander Wade Davis (4-3, 3.47 ERA) takes the hill for the Rays while the Jays counter with Ricky Romero (3-4, 3.35 ERA).
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