Rays 8 Blue Jays 3: Who says baseball is hard?

Just when you are thinking this team doesn’t have it, when you’ve been complaining to your friends that we’d seen the best of Kameron Misner, that Brandon Lowe was yesterday’s news, that the return of Josh Lowe would add nothing, you have a game like this one.

It had everything you’d want to see as a Rays fan. You like good pitching? Well, I bring you Zach Littell. The least heralded member of the Rays staff pitched a gem. Sure he gave up three runs, because it wouldn’t be a Zach Littell start without a solo shot here and there. But he got into the eighth inning (who does that any more?) on just 84 pitches of which 60 were strikes.

You like good defense? The Rays were sparkling, with great plays from Misner in center field, the usual sharp fielding from Taylor Walls at shortstop but also some crisp plays from all around the infield. The infield also turned three double plays, which nipped any Toronto rally in the bud.

And most surprising, perhaps, if you like a good, balanced offense then the Rays, today, were your team. Eight of the nine position players got hits (with Jonathan Aranda, probably the Rays best hitter this year, the only one who struggled). Five players had runs batted in.

You like the long ball? Lots of Lowe homeruns, two from Brandon and one from Josh, with one from Misner thrown in for good measure. These weren’t cheapies either, three of the five home runs surpassed 400 feet.

Here are just a few:

You like small ball? Let me walk you through the Rays third run, in the second inning. Jose Caballero singled to open the inning. Taylor Walls then moved the runner AND reached base on one of the prettiest bunts I’ve seen. The kind of bunt where the third baseman and catcher are standing there watching it trickle down the third base line. The Mona Lisa of bunts. (It’s a sign of the disrespect for small ball that I can find plenty of video clips of the home runs but none of the bunt).

With speed on the bases, the Rays decided to push things a little, pulling off a double steal to move runners to second and third, and Danny Jansen then singled home Caballero (Walls was thrown at at the plate, the sort of thing that would be aggravating had the Rays lost by one, but as they won by five we don’t have to think about it). A beautiful bunt and a double steal are enough to make this small ball girl smile all day.

Special shout out to Josh Lowe, activated after going ton the IL on Opening Day; he went three for five with a home run. He was in the DH spot, a sign that the Rays are still cautious about his recovery.

Photo by Colton Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images

Given that Zach Littell is the guy who always seems to pitch in 2-1 losses, he probably felt giddy with all that run support.

Overall a fun game for the good guys, and nice to get a series win against a team that the Rays have to beat if they are going to compete in the American League East.