ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Last week when the Toronto Blue Jays returned home riding high after a strong road trip, the Tampa Bay Rays checked in and immediately killed that vibe. Not only did they take three of four in that series, "they stuck it to us, they just outplayed us," said John Gibbons.
No doubt there was some déjà vu for the Blue Jays manager in watching the Rays spank his team 12-3 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game set at Tropicana Field. The visitors were fresh off a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles that salvaged a 5-5 homestand, and rather than building upon it, they instead delivered perhaps their poorest effort of the young season.
R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball didn’t knuckle the way he needs it to, the defence made both mental and physical mistakes on the field, and an offence again without Jose Bautista strung together four straight hits in the fourth but provided little other resistance until Justin Smoak’s solo shot in the ninth.
As Gibbons said of the clubs’ previous meeting, the Rays really stuck it to them.
"They’re good, they play us well, they pitch, you know?" said Gibbons. "They’re very athletic, they make things happen and they’re very confident."
The shame for the Blue Jays, who designated Steve Tolleson for assignment and will activate Michael Saunders from disabled list Saturday, is that they had the chance at a far better outcome in this one.
Devon Travis, the rookie second baseman in the midst of a remarkable month, opened the scoring with a solo shot in the fourth, the first hit after Drew Smyly, making his first start after a bout of left shoulder tendonitis, had retired the game’s first 10 batters.
Consecutive singles by Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Danny Valencia – each cleverly punching the ball into an open spot on the field – made it 2-0, but that’s where things really dried up.
Dickey, who’d been off and on in the first three frames, gave it back in the span of four pitches, as Evan Longoria doubled to open the frame before James Loney, just back from the DL due to an oblique strain, crushed a 1-0 offering over the wall in right to make it 2-2.
With one out Logan Forsythe singled off Dickey’s glove, and an out later Rene Rivera, batting all of .135, cranked a first pitch knuckler over the wall in centre.
"I threw some really bad ones tonight that they hit," said Dickey, who got just three swings and misses in his 86 pitches. "Sometimes those get popped up or not swung at. You get what you got, sometimes it’s great and sometimes you stink. Tonight I stunk."
Things only got uglier in the fifth, when Dickey hit Brandon Guyer to open the frame, Asdrubal Cabrera followed with an RBI triple and Evan Longoria brought him home with a fly ball to centre. After Loney doubled and Desmond Jennings singled, Forsythe hit a potential inning-ending double play ball to Danny Valencia at third, but he failed to field it cleanly, the Blue Jays managed one out instead of two, and another run crossed.
That was it for Dickey, and the night’s valley point came when Jeff Francis induced a weak fly ball from Kevin Kiermaier that both Tolleson in left and Dalton Pompey charged. The two nearly collided as Tolleson settled under the ball, it went off his glove, and two more runs came in to count.
"I’ve been happy with my movement, I haven’t been happy with my walks," said Dickey, who is now 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA and 13 walks in 24 innings over four starts. "Sometimes that’s the product of a lot of movement. My knuckleball the first three starts, I was getting a lot of swings and misses, and striking out guys when I needed to while just walking guys. This game was something totally different, we’ll figure out why between starts and then try to throw up a good one against Boston."
Francis surrendered three more runs in the seventh but did his bullpen another solid with 3.1 innings of mop-up duty. That keeping the club’s core relievers fresh for Saturday is one of the Blue Jays’ highlights underscores just what kind of night it was.
"We didn’t play particularly well and they did," said Gibbons. "No use looking any deeper than that, it’s not rocket science."
Notes: Travis’ homer was his fifth, tying him with Doug Ault for the second most by a Blue Jays rookie in the month of April, behind only Carlos Delgado’s eight in 1994. … Blue Jays second baseman combined for seven home runs in all of 2014. … Reliever Todd Redmond is on waivers with a resolution due by Sunday afternoon, the 10th day of his designated for assignment period.