ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Toronto Blue Jays don’t put up crooked numbers nearly as often as they used to, but on Friday they were reminded that other shortcomings can be tolerated when a team’s hitting.
Sure, Francisco Liriano couldn’t escape the fourth inning. And no, Chris Coghlan doesn’t look all that smooth playing third base. But on a day that the Blue Jays matched their season-high with eight runs scored, that’s all secondary.
Kendrys Morales crushed two home runs, a game-tying two-run shot in the seventh and a game-winning three-run shot in the eighth, and the Blue Jays improved to 10-19 with an 8-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
“A couple of big shots we needed,” manager John Gibbons said. “We’ve been saying all along, our guys hang around and they make a run at it. They don’t always win, but they always make a run.”
Early on, though, the Rays seemed poised to take the series opener.
For six innings, Chris Archer was in complete control against the Blue Jays’ offence. By combining a fastball that reached 98 m.p.h. with a devastating, swing-and-miss slider, the right-hander struck out 11 of the first 20 hitters he faced while keeping hard contact to a minimum. The Blue Jays managed just one run through six.
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That would change in the seventh, when Morales, a noted Archer masher, stepped in following a Russell Martin walk. The switch-hitter connected for his first home run of the day to tie the score 3-3 and chase Archer from the game. In 25 career at bats against Archer, Morales now has 15 hits, including three home runs, for an astonishing .600/.615/1.160 batting line.
“I truly don’t know how I do it,” Morales said through interpreter Josue Peley. “I just try to stay aggressive. Archer’s one of the best pitchers in the game right now. All his pitches are really hard to hit.
Meanwhile, fourth inning control issues derailed a promising evening for Liriano. The left-hander nearly escaped the frame after allowing back-to-back home runs to Daniel Robertson and Derek Norris, but he hit Kevin Kiermaier on the right wrist before walking Evan Longoria. Without explicitly calling out Liriano, Kiermaier later suggested to the Tampa Bay media that he believed the pitch may have been intentional.
Either way, Steven Souza Jr. then drew a full count against Liriano, fouling off a couple of tough pitches before drawing a bases-loaded walk. That was the end for the 33-year-old, who departed having thrown nearly as many balls (45) as strikes (51).
“I couldn’t throw strikes, couldn’t find my spots, couldn’t find my rhythm,” Liriano said. “Nothing was working. It was just one of those days.”
The Blue Jays’ bullpen has been taxed heavily of late, as spot starters such as Mat Latos and Casey Lawrence have faltered. Tasked with another long night Friday, five Toronto relievers responded with 5.1 innings of excellent relief. The only blemish: one unearned run that gave the Rays a short-lived 4-3 lead in the seventh inning.
“For the most part this year they’ve been really, really good,” Gibbons said. “We hit that stretch in the last two weeks, we had that little rough patch, but it’s a good group down there. And we got some guys that are young enough that they have some durability too.”
While Morales was the offensive star, Justin Smoak and Kevin Pillar both built on their strong starts. Smoak singled and hit his fifth home run of the year, going back-to-back with Morales in the eighth inning. Pillar collected three hits from the leadoff spot, including a crucial game-tying double in the eighth inning.
“He told me he wanted to be the leadoff hitter and ever since he’s got out there, he’s been thriving,” Gibbons said. “There’s a big difference in his approach.”
It added up to plenty of offence and a much-needed win.
