Rays 2, Blue Jays 5: Civale struggles continue
Alek Manoah dominates Rays to hand them their only loss of the series.
The Rays fell to the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 to drop their record down to 25-23. The loss marks the end of a four game win streak
It was a battle of the struggling pitchers today, as the Rays put up Aaron Civale, sporting an ERA of 7.53 in the month of May. Meanwhile the Jays put Alek Manoah on the mound, who’s been struggling the last couple of years to get back to the pitcher he was in 2022.
It would be Manoah with the premiere start today though, pitching seven innings allowing just one hit and one walk striking out seven. Civale on the other hand pitched 5 1⁄3 innings allowing four earned runs on six hits and four walks.
The Jays would get the scoring started today, with Daniel Vogelbach hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the second to give Toronto an early 1-0 lead.
They would follow this up two innings later when Vogelbach scored off a George Springer double to extend the lead to two. The double was Vogelbach’s second run of the day.
A groundball just past the glove of Isaac Paredes would then bring in Springer to make it 3-0. It’s the first error of the season for Paredes and a costly one as the Jays made it two two-out runs in the bottom of the fourth.
A walk and hit-by-pitch in the following two at-bats would elongate this nightmare inning as the Jays loaded the bases with Davis Schneider up to bat. Civale would get the strikeout though to end the onslaught.
After two more pathetic offensive attacks by the Rays, Toronto would put another threat up in the bottom of the sixth with runners on second and third with one out. This would be where Aaron Civale’s day would end and the Rays would send Manuel Rodriguez to eliminate the threat.
Rodriguez would give up a two-run double to Alejandro Kirk on the following at-bat, making it 5-0 Blue Jays.
It wouldn’t be until the top of the ninth with two outs and two strikes that we see the offense pull something together, with Paredes crushing a two-run home run to make it 5-2. A single from Richie Palacios would put some last minute thrill in this game, with the Jays putting in Jordan Ramano to seal the game.
A Jonny Deluca strikeout would finally seal the Rays fate and end their four game winning streak. The Rays head home for a series against the Boston Red Sox following this game, first pitch tomorrow is set for 6:50.