Tampa Bay 4, Toronto 2
When: 7:07 PM ET, Thursday, April 16, 2015
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature:
Indoors
Umpires:
Home -
Lazaro Diaz, 1B -
Chris Guccione, 2B -
Cory Blaser, 3B -
Jeff Nelson
Attendance:
14433
By The Sports Xchange
TORONTO -- The stinginess of right-hander Chris Archer helped the Tampa Bay Rays complete a 5-2 road trip on Thursday night.
With Archer allowing two hits and two walks while striking out 11 in seven scoreless innings, the Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2. Tampa Bay took three of four in the series.
Archer was helped by a two-run, pinch-homer by infielder Tim Beckham in the sixth inning that increased the lead to 4-0.
Right-hander Brad Boxberger allowed a run in the ninth before picking up his fourth save of the season.
It was the second win on the trip for Archer (2-1). He allowed one hit and one walk in seven innings against the Miami Marlins five days earlier.
"It was nice to be in that situation against a good team, against a good lineup, against guys who put up quality at-bats this whole series and succeed," said Archer, who threw 109 pitches. "It's a growth moment. It's the first time I've thrown over 85 pitches in, it feels like, a month. To be still somewhat sharp and to be able to execute, I was happy with that."
Archer did hit two batters.
"I think I did a good job of working all three pitches on both sides of the plate," he said.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said, "Archer, what he provided, the innings, just kept pounding the zone. Tonight he had both sliders working really well, the putaway one and then the one that he could kind of drop in behind in the count.
"When he's got that pitch going, where he can throw the breaking ball behind in the count to pick up strikes, he's going to be very tough, very tough."
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said, "The key to tonight's game was Archer. He's one of the best young pitchers in the game. We've seen that over the last couple of years that he's developed into that. All night long he'd flip that off-speed pitch, whether it was a slider or a change-up, behind in the count."
Toronto right-hander Aaron Sanchez (0-2) allowed five hits, three walks and three runs in 5 1/3 innings in his second career major league start.
It was an improvement over his first start.
"It absolutely was," the rookie said. "I was just more aggressive. I stayed in the zone a lot more. Obviously, my velocity was where I wanted it to be. It was just unfortunate."
Beckham was hitting for first baseman Allan Dykstra after left-handed reliever Aaron Loup replaced Sanchez. There was one out and third baseman Evan Longoria was at third after his franchise-leading 230th career double and a groundout.
Longoria left the game in the eighth inning when reliever Marco Estrada hit him with a pitch in the hip.
"I think there was some intent there," Cash said. "You know, Arch, he pitches in to get outs and I know a couple of balls rode up and in. I do think there was intent."
Cash said Longoria had a bruised hip.
"He's fine. I think he'll be day to day," Cash said.
"It should make for an interesting rest of the year against these guys," said Longoria, who is friends with Estrada.
Right-hander Steve Geltz replaced Archer in the eighth and allowed a leadoff single to second baseman Devon Travis and a walk to shortstop Ryan Goins.
Cash was ejected after a review upheld the call that Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with none out.
"I was shocked it wasn't overturned," Cash said.
Right-hander Kevin Jepsen took over and allowed a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, who was hit by Archer in the seventh.
Travis drove in a run with a double in the ninth.
The Blue Jays lost shortstop Jose Reyes in the first inning after he felt soreness in his left rib-cage area. He seemed to be having some difficulty during his first at-bat when he led off with a groundout to second base. Gibbons said he would not play Friday.
<
Top Game Performances
Hitting
| Tampa Bay |
|
Toronto |
|
Kevin Kiermaier
| Player |
Devon Travis |
|
2 |
Hits |
2 |
|
0 |
RBI |
1 |
|
0 |
HR |
0 |
|
3 |
TB |
3 |
|
.500 |
Avg |
.500 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Tampa Bay
|
8 |
1 |
15 |
.242 |
16 |
8 |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
| Toronto
|
4 |
0 |
5 |
.138 |
17 |
12 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
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