With tough road trip looming, Rays get a much needed sweep of the Blue Jays.
The Rays turned to RHP Wilmer Font for a “bullpen day” ahead of their long road trip. The ballgame began with a 30-minute first inning where Font and Jays starter LHP J.A. Happ threw a combined 58 pitches.
The rest of the game would sit on cruise control for both pitching staffs.
Font would throw a solid 3.1 scoreless innings getting himself in and out of trouble nicely.
RHP Matt Andriese would take over in the fourth. He, too, would shut down the Blue Jays lineup through 3.2 innings of his own.
Rookie RHP Diego Castillo relieved Andriese in the eighth inning of a scoreless ballgame. With a little help from fellow rookie, SS Willy Adames, he manages to keep it that way.
.@willya02 from… right field? pic.twitter.com/yJkHQiCRVu
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 13, 2018
1B Jake Bauers led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single, his second hit of the game. The rookie accounted for two of the Rays first three hits through eight innings.
Bottom of the ninth. CF Mallex Smith hit a one-out double to the left field wall. With two gone, 3B Matt Duffy steps to the plate. With one swing of the bat, Duffy walks it off for the Rays with a single past the dive of Jays third baseman, Gio Urshela.
The “kids” are okay
Today’s 1-0 win was due in huge part to the youth now at the MLB-level for the Rays. It started with Bauers having two of the first three hits. Then there was Adames who, despite struggling at the plate, made a couple highlight-reel plays on defense. Let’s not forget about Johnny Field‘s leaping catch at the wall in left-center in the eighth inning.
Finally, Castillo’s two innings of shutout baseball to get his first big league win.
These “baby Rays” are not just fun to watch – they’re winning. In fact, the Rays are 3-0 in the Bauers-Adames era.
Now, it’s on to New York and the Yankees.
Good luck, kids.
NEXT UP:
Friday – Rays LHP Blake Snell (8-3, 2.30) v Yankees RHP Domingo German (0-4, 5.32)
QUOTABLES:
Bauers on the confidence heading up to New York: “A lot of confidence. The pressure is off at this point. We are starting to roll to a little bit, feeling good and we are going to keep that going.”
