Jays beat Rays 6-3 to end Tampa’s streak
Global News
The Toronto Blue Jays wanted to set an early tone in their series opener against the surging Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.
TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays wanted to set an early tone in their series opener against the surging Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.
George Springer did just that with a leadoff homer and the Jays never looked back in a 6-3 victory, ending the Rays’ season-opening win streak at 13 games.
Bo Bichette had five hits and Jose Berrios threw five strong innings in his best start of the year as Toronto (9-5) won for the eighth time in 10 games.
“I thought the approach was great and defence was on point,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “These are things we talk about. When you play good teams like this, outs need to be outs.
“Between that and the way we pitched too, it was a very satisfying win.”
The Blue Jays took advantage of a pair of bases-loaded walks and a two-run error in the fifth inning. Josh Lowe and Christian Bethancourt cut into the lead with back-to-back homers off Yimi Garcia in the seventh.
Erik Swanson pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Toronto and Jordan Romano of Markham, Ont., worked the ninth for his fifth save.
The loss prevented Tampa Bay (13-1) from setting the modern-day Major League Baseball record for most consecutive wins at the start of a season.
