ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays are built around three high-ceiling hitters in Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz, secondary pieces they can mix and match for the need of the moment, and their usual high standard of pitching and defence. On both sides of the ball, their opponents are under constant pressure, a model that’s produced the American League’s best record to this point and one that feels very familiar to the Toronto Blue Jays.
“When we started going real good last year, we were doing that,” said manager John Schneider. “We were advancing on base hits, we were forcing the issue, you put the ball in play you're going to try to make some teams make some mistakes, and they do a really good job. … Tampa, everyone goes to them being pesky, but it’s like you’ve got a dude with 35 homers in the middle of the order, too. You’ve got to defend both.”
The Blue Jays couldn’t do that during their first three series with the AL East leaders this season, losing eight of 10 games. But they out-Rayed the Rays in the opener of a three-game set Tuesday night, riding big nights from Alejandro Kirk, who fell a triple short of the cycle, and George Springer, who had three hits, and contributions up and down the lineup to a 10-5 thumping.
"This is the team, especially the offence, that we've had since the beginning of the year,” Kirk said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “But obviously lately we've been playing good baseball, good offence, good at-bats, clean baseball. Definitely this is who we are, and hopefully we can continue doing that.”
Jose Soriano mostly kept the Rays under wraps through 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits, and was helped out by a pair of 3-6-1 double plays, one off the bat of Aranda with the bases loaded in the third and another off the bat of Liam Hicks with two on in the fifth, which started with a strong pick and throw by Kazuma Okamoto at first.
That allowed the offence to keep the heat on Rays starter Nick Martinez, who allowed six runs and didn’t make it out of the fourth, and a bullpen worn down from a weekend series versus the Baltimore Orioles.
“The first (double play), I got fired up right when I caught the ball. The second one, I was a little tired; I tried to breathe a little bit,” said Soriano. “It's very important, especially with the situations I had today - double plays - I have to cover the base; we need to be able to be good fielders. It's tough to make those plays.”
Pivotally, the Blue Jays paired some slug with the grind-out offence they rode to a 5-2 homestand versus the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, as they hit three homers in a game for only the ninth time this season, getting a two-run shot from Kirk in the third, an Okamoto solo shot to open the fifth and Josh Smith’s two-run shot in the seventh.
Springer’s RBI single in the first cashed in a Kirk double to open the scoring, and he came around when Jesus Sanchez banged a double off the left-field wall, while they went up 6-0 in the fourth when Brett Bateman, continuing to play the catalyst atop the lineup, scored on a wild pitch and Kirk added another RBI single.
Bateman’s RBI single in the fifth came after Okamoto’s 25th homer while Smith’s drive pushed the game further out of reach, as the Blue Jays (62-65) won for the 14th time in 21 games, this time doing it without leverage. They hadn’t put up double-digit runs since a 10-0 win at San Francisco on July 8, and now they’re on the ascent in the wild-card standings rather than trying to pause a slide.
“Kirk is swinging the bat really well; that's a tremendous at-bat with the runner at second trying to move him and then getting on top of a fastball (for the homer),” said Schneider. “But you get three home runs, and you get some timely hits; that's really, really important, especially against a good pitching team. So I liked the way that they kept doing what they're good at. Smitty had a good day, just kept that ball fair. Hit and run, stealing bases, everything was important.”
The Blue Jays anticipated nights like this on the regular coming into the season, behind high-ceiling production from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Springer, Kirk and Okamoto with support from Daulton Varsho, but things haven’t played out that way.
While Okamoto has provided more than expected – at 25 homers, he moved past Eric Hinske’s club rookie record of 24 – Guerrero’s season is an enigma; Springer’s production has understandably slid while Kirk broke his thumb a week into the season and struggled initially when he returned June 10.
Over his last 29 games, though, he’s batting .393/.455/.589, providing vital production when it’s been badly needed.
“After an injury like that, it wasn't easy,” said Kirk. “You're trying to help the team right away. I believe those first two weeks I was maybe trying to do too much. But I got my rhythm, and I'm feeling good at the plate, and I can contribute to help our team win some games.”
Springer, fighting through a left shoulder issue for roughly two weeks now, had just two hits during last week’s homestand but two singles, a double and a walk, perhaps helped by a full day off Monday.
Guerrero, meanwhile, is making progress in his recovery from a concussion suffered Friday night, hitting in the cage and running on the field, and could progress to live at-bats at the club’s complex in nearby Dunedin if his symptoms continue to ease.
If he can find his form, combined with what the additions of Bateman, Smith, Charles McAdoo and the intriguing Daz Cameron bring to the lineup, the Blue Jays offence could really start resembling the initial vision for it heading into the season.
“We've got to adjust around what you have a little bit; ideally, you can do a little bit of both,” said Schneider, referring to both creating runs and slugging for them, the way they did against the Rays during a productive night at the Trop.
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