Tampa Bay 7, Toronto 1
When: 1:10 PM ET, Thursday, August 9, 2012
Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Adrian Johnson, 1B -
Fieldin Culbreth, 2B -
Gary Cederstrom, 3B -
Lance Barksdale
Attendance:
23462
By SportsDirect Inc.
Rays 7, Blue Jays 1: Matt Moore threw six sensational innings for his third win in a row as host Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of Toronto.
Moore (9-7) limited the scuffling Toronto lineup to a run on two hits, walking two and striking out six. The rookie left-hander is now 4-1 with a minuscule 1.47 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break.
He had plenty of help offensively as the Rays improved to 32-10 in their last 42 home games against the Blue Jays. Jose Lobaton singled twice and drove in three runs while Evan Longoria went 3-for-5 with two RBIs in his third game back from a partially torn left hamstring.
The Rays victimized Jays starter Henderson Alvarez (7-9), who lasted just 4 2/3 innings. The second-year right-hander was tagged for six runs - four earned - on 11 hits while walking three and whiffing two.
Tampa Bay spotted Toronto a 1-0 lead before jumping ahead for good with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Lobaton lofted a single to shallow left field to bring home a pair of runs, and B.J. Upton extended the lead on a run-scoring groundout.
The Rays padded the advantage with runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, each coming around to score on singles. Lobaton's second hit and third RBI of the game ended Alvarez's afternoon, and Longoria capped the rout with a run-scoring double in the eighth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Toronto, which scored just four runs in the three-game set, has lost 16 straight series in St. Petersburg dating back to 2007. ... The Blue Jays placed 3B Brett Lawrie on the 15-day disabled list prior to the game. Lawrie has missed five straight games with a strained oblique. ... Moore has yet to allow more than two earned runs in any start since the break. Thursday's strong effort trimmed his ERA to 3.73 - the lowest it has been since his first start of the season. ... Longoria was a surprise starter after manager Joe Maddon had originally planned to give him the day off. Longoria, who missed 85 games with the hamstring injury, went 4-for-12 with three RBIs in the series.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Toronto |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Henderson Alvarez |
Player |
Matt Moore
|
|
Loss |
W/L |
Win |
|
4.2 |
IP |
6.0 |
|
2 |
Strikeouts |
6 |
|
11 |
Hits |
2 |
|
7.71 |
ERA |
1.50 |
Hitting
| Toronto |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
Rajai Davis | Player |
Jeff Keppinger |
|
1 |
Hits |
3 |
|
0 |
RBI |
0 |
|
0 |
HR |
0 |
|
2 |
TB |
3 |
|
.333 |
Avg |
.750 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Toronto
|
3 |
0 |
5 |
.100 |
9 |
7 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
| Tampa Bay
|
13 |
0 |
14 |
.351 |
21 |
4 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
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