The visiting Tampa Rays need to start scoring runs and the Toronto Blue Jays want to keep scoring them Tuesday night when the teams open a three-game series.
The Blue Jays are riding a four-game winning streak after completing a 4-2 road trip on Sunday with a 9-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
They have had trouble scoring for most of the season, but have plated 29 runs over their winning streak.
“Momentum is a funny thing sometimes,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “The guys really swung the bat well, probably the best they’ve swung all year.”
The Rays have a different story after a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers to close a 2-4 homestand. It was simply put by their manager Kevin Cash: “We’ve got to find a way to score more runs.”
The Rays did eke out victories in the first two games of the series, 4-3 and 3-2, but were 3-for-24 hitting with runners in scoring position over the three games.
“It’s definitely been a roller coaster for that stat throughout the season,” said Rays catcher Danny Jansen, a former Blue Jay. “It’s about being aggressive, going after it and simplifying things.”
This will be the first meeting this season between Toronto and Tampa Bay, which are ranked 22nd (156) and 23rd (150) in runs scored, respectively. Each team has played 40 games.
The Rays hope to provide some run support for their scheduled starter, right-hander Shane Baz (3-2. 4.93 ERA) on Tuesday. In three career starts against the Blue Jays, Baz has gone 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA.
Toronto’s expected starter, right-hander Jose Berrios (1-1, 3.86), will be out to continue the Rays’ offensive frustrations. Berrios is 4-6 with a 4.52 ERA in 13 career starts against Tampa.
Cash feels Tampa Bay’s hitters are not “putting enough pressure on opposing pitchers.”
“It’s a struggle to score runs,” Cash continued, “and everybody is putting an added weight on themselves going up to the plate, trying to probably do a little more than they need to do and are capable of.”
“The effort has definitely been there in those situations,” Jansen said. “Obviously, we’re always looking to improve, but I think everybody has the right attitude.”
The Blue Jays recorded their largest margin of victory of the season on Sunday.
“You always prepare for a close game, but when everyone does their job and you swing the bat like that, it’s really nice,” Schneider said.
They did it without Anthony Santander (shoulder), who has missed three straight games, and Daulton Varsho, who had surgery on his right shoulder in the offseason that delayed his start to the season.
That meant Addison Barger batted third, and he responded with a home run, a single and a walk.
“He’s been hitting the ball extremely hard,” said George Springer, who had a long three-run homer and a double on Sunday. “He delivers. He is a big, strong dude and when he hits the ball well, it is loud and hard.”
The Blue Jays lost catcher Alejandro Kirk during the game on Sunday after he was hit on the head in the area of the ear in the third inning on a backswing by Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez. He stayed in the game and hit a double before leaving in the fifth.
The team said that Kirk had a head contusion.
–Field Level Media
