2015 Tampa Bay Rays season

[Tobywan]

The Rays got the scoring started in the first, Sizemore doubled, Longoria singled, Sizemore to third, Forsythe hit by a pitch to load the bases, a wild pitch sent Sizemore to the plate. Cabrera hit a sac fly to score Longo. Rays lead 2-0.



In the second, with two outs, Pillar hit a ground rule double, stole third and scored on a double by Pennington to cut the Rays lead 2-1.

In the third, Donaldson homered to left center to tie the game 2-2.

In the 4th, Pillar led off with a homer to center. Pennington hit a ground rule double, Barney sacrificed Pennington to third, Revere singled, Pennington scored, 4-2 Blue Jays.

It stayed there until the 7th, Kirby Yates pitching for Tampa Bay, Bautista led off with a homer to left, 5-2 Blue Jays.


In the 8th, Mark Lowe pitching for Toronto, Arencibia led off with a homer to left, 5-3. The Rays would get no more baserunners and went down in order in the 9th.Toronto takes the first game.

Odorizzi went five innings giving up four runs on seven hits, three walks and struck out four for the loss.

Dickey went seven giving up two runs on four hits, no walks and struck out two for the win, it was the 100th win of his career. He retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced, including the last 11 straight. Roberto Osuna collected his 18th save. The most by an AL rookie since Addison Reed had 29 for the White Sox in 2012.

Evan Longoria has reached base in 14 consecutive road games after hitting a single in the first inning.

Josh Donaldson's homer in the third was the 40th of the season he is the 9th Jay to reach the mark. He joins Carlos Delgado (2000) and Shawn Green (1999) as the only Toronto players to post 40 home runs and 40 doubles in the same season.


Catch of the night goes to Russell Martin when he caught a pop up off Sizemore reaching into the dugout.

The Blue Jays have 217 home runs this season, marking the fourth-most in club history. They hit 257 in 2010, 244 in 2000 and 221 in 1998.

Toronto's 88 wins and 51 home wins are their most since 1998.


The Toronto lead in the AL East was extended to four games with the Yankees losing to the White Sox, with the Angels win last night the clinch watch is still in effect.





Injury report:

Jake McGee (left knee) is expected to come off the 15-day DL Saturday. McGee has been out since Aug. 18.

[Foster]

This is going well.

[Tobywan]

According to reports the Jays don't need a loss by the Angels to clinch a spot, the remaining head to head matches of the AL West assure them a worst case WC game, they will still be looking to get in via the division title.


Today's Line-up:

Guyer LF

Souza RF

Longoria DH

Forsythe 2B

Cabrera SS

Shaffer 3B

Loney 1B

Kiermaier CF

Rivera C

Archer P

Revere LF

Donaldson 3B

Bautista RF

Encarnacion DH

Smoak 1B

Martin C

Goins SS

Pillar CF

Pennington 2B

Price P

Chris Archer (12-12, 2.92 ERA) seeks to snap a four-start winless streak. He's 3-1 with a 0.93 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays this season. He got a no-decision at Fenway Park, allowing one run over five innings.

David Price (17-5, 2.34 ERA) is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA over his past four starts. He'll face the Rays for the first time since July 28 with Detroit, when he gave up five runs and seven hits in six innings, including two home runs by Rays C Curt Casali.

[Tobywan]

This is going well.

Glad you think so, I bet your giddy, been a long time coming.

When the Rays got the first two runs, I thought they better keep striking while Dickey is shaky or they won't last once the boppers get going, Odorizzi didn't have his best stuff but I thought he battled pretty good against them to keep the score somewhat low. We'll see which Archer we get today.

[Tobywan]

Blue Jays got things going in the first, Revere reached on an infield single, Donaldson walked, Bautista homered to left. Smoak singled, Martin homered to left, Jays up 5-0.


In the third, Kiermaier led off with a ground rule double, Rivera walked, Guyer singled to load the bases. Souza singled, KK scored. Runners advance, Rivera scored on a throwing error by 2B Pennington. Forsythe hit a sac fly, Guyer scored, Cabrera singled, Souza scored, Rays cut the lead 5-4.


In the Jays half, with two outs, Goins doubled, Pillar doubled, Goins scored. Pennington walked, Revere doubled, Pillar scored, Jays take a bigger lead 7-4.


In the 4th, Kiermaier led of with a homer to center 7-5, Jays.

In the Jays half, Bautista walked, Encarnación grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Bautista out at second, Smoak singled, Martin walked to load the bases. Goins hit a sac fly, Encarnación scored. Pillar doubled, Smoak scored, Jays take a 9-5 lead.

In the 8th, Kirby Yates pitching for Tampa Bay, Bautista led off with a homer to left, 10-5 Jays.

In the 9th, Ryan Tepera pitching for Toronto, Cabrera led off with a walk, Shaffer grounded into fielder's choice to first, Cabrera safe at second on throwing error by first baseman Smoak, Cecil relieved Tepera. Loney grounded out to advance the runners, Kiermaier safe at second on error by second baseman Barney, Cabrera scored, Shaffer to third, Osuna relieved Cecil. Sizemore hit for Rivera, singled, Shaffer scored. Jaso hit for Guyer, singled, KK scored, they got close with 10-8, but Souza lined out and Longoria grounded into a FC to end the rally.

Jays take Game 2, win the series and go for the sweep on Sunday.


Archer went just 3.2 innings giving up 9 runs on 10 hits, 5 walks and struck out three for the loss. The nine earned runs tied his, which occurred on July 8 in Kansas City. However, Archer lasted six innings against the Royals.

Price went five innings giving up five runs (one unearned) on six hits, one walk and struck out six for the win. Osuna got his 19th save.

Cabrera went 3-for-3 with a an RBI and run scored.

Bautista drove in four runs.

Kiermaier went 2-for-4 with a homer, 2 RBI and three runs scored.

Russell Martin has a career high 22 homers, he hit 21 with the Yanks in 2012.

[Tobywan]

Today's line-up:

Guyer LF

Mahtook CF

Longoria 3B

Forsythe DH

Cabrera SS

Souza RF

Beckham 2B

Shaffer 1B

Maile C

Andriese P

Revere LF

Donaldson 3B

Bautista RF

Encarnacion DH

Smoak 1B

Navarro C

Pillar CF

Goins SS

Barney 2B

Buerhle P

Matt Andriese (3-5, 4.37 ERA) will be making his first start since July 7 and not expected to go deep into the game. His last start at any level came on Aug. 13 vs. Norfolk (Orioles) for Triple-A Durham.



Mark Buehrle (14-7, 3.69 ERA) is 14.2 innings shy of reaching the 200 mark for the 15th consecutive season, but he's starting to run out of time. If accomplished he would be the fourth pitcher to reach the mark joining Warren Spahn, Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry. Reports are that he is fighting fatigue and maybe sent to the pen soon and through the post season.



The Jays will move on to try to win the AL East and the Rays have two chances at keeping their play-off hopes alive, slim and none.

[Tobywan]

The Rays started things off when Guyer led off with a triple, Forsythe singled him home putting the Rays up 1-0.


In the Jays half, Donaldson walked, Encarnación singled, Smoak hit a ground rule double, Donaldson scored game tied 1-1.


In the third, Guyer was hit by a pitch, Mahtook homered to right center, Rays take a 3-1 lead.

In the fourth, Souza singled, Beckham singled, Souza to third. Shaffer hit a sac fly, Souza scored, 4-1 Rays.

in the 6th, Brandon Gomes pitching for Tampa Bay, Encarnación walked, Smoak homered to right cutting the Rays lead to 4-3.

In the 8th, Alex Colome pitching for Tampa Bay, Smoak singled, Pompey pinch ran, Pompey stole second, with two outs, Pillar doubled home Pompey to tie the game 4-4.


Rays set down in order in the ninth by Brett Cecil.

In the Jays half, Steven Geltz pitching for Tampa Bay, with two outs Donaldson hit a homer to left for a walk off win and a series sweep.


It was a bullpen game for the Rays, Gomes gave up two runs putting the Jays within reach, Colome blew the save and Geltz took the loss.


Buehrle went six innings giving up four runs on five hits, one walk and struck out five, he now has 191.1 innings. Brett Cecil took the win.


Mahtook continued his hot streak going 2-for-3 with a walk, homer and two RBI.

Justin Smoak went 3-for-4 with a 2-run homer.

Jake McGee pitched first for the first time since Aug. 18. McGee (left knee) was activated off the DL Saturday.

Josh Donaldson's walk off homer was his 41st of the season and the Jays 222nd of the year, they lead the majors. Donaldson leads the AL with 122 RBI and the majors with 121 runs. He is the second player in Blue Jays history to score 120 runs and drive in 120. Shawn Green did it in 1999.



Toronto's regular season finale was the 27th sellout of the season and 12th straight. The Blue Jays sold out 20 of their final 21 home games. Total home attendance was 2,794,891, the most since 1995. The Blue Jays drew 2,375,525 last year. I am getting kind of tired of hearing from stupid TB Rays fans about the Toronto bandwagon, the Rays haven't seen 2 million in attendance since their first season. Talk about being Raytarded.

[Tobywan]

The Marlins had a shake up in their system in May, they fired Mike Redmond as the manager, replaced him with GM Dan Jennings (Devil Rays scouting director 1995-2002). They have been without their $325 million dollar man, Giancarlo Stanton since June 26th due to a hand injury. The Citrus Series stands at 48-48, the Rays took 2-of-3 from them during a 3-game set in April. The Rays are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays, Miami just swept the Braves and have a 5 game winning streak.



Tonight's line-up:

Gordon 2B

Yelich LF

Prado 3B

Bour 1B

Ozuna CF

Dietrich DH

Realmuto C

Suzuki RF

Solana SS

Conley P

Guyer DH

Mahtook LF

Longoria 3B

Forsythe 2B

Cabrera SS

Souza Jr RF

Loney 1B

Kiermaier CF

Maile C

Moore P

Adam Conley (4-1, 3.93), allowed just five earned runs over 22 .1 innings during his four starts in September. The rookie has also recorded 25 strikeouts over that time, including a career-high eight strikeouts in his last outing vs. the Phillies on Wednesday. He is making his first career start against the Rays.

Matt Moore (2-4, 6.48 ERA) beat Boston in his previous start to win for the first time since July 12. He is 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts against the Marlins. Ichiro Suzuki is hitting .444 (8-for-18) against Moore.

Justin Bour is in line to become the third rookie in more than 100 years to homer in four straight games twice in a season. He homered in four consecutive games from June 30-July 3, tying a franchise record. Since 1914, Minnesota's Jimmie Hall (1963) and Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers (2015) are the only rookies to do it twice in a season. He went 7 for 12 with four home runs and eight RBIs in three-game home sweep of Atlanta over the weekend.

Miami, an MLB-best 17-8 since Aug. 31, hit .385 and totaled 27 runs during its sweep of the Braves.

[Tobywan]

Miami got the scoring started in the first, Gordon led off with a double to right, Yelich doubled him home, 1-0 Marlins.


In the third, with two outs, Mahtook homered to left, game tied 1-1.


In the 4th, Cabrera and Souza walked, Loney singled to load the bases, Kiermaier hit a sac fly to score Cabrera, Ray stake a 2-1 lead.

In the 8th, Xavier Cedeno pitching for Tampa Bay, Yelich reached on an infield single, Colomé relieved Cedeño, Yelich to second on a wild pitch. Prado singled, Yelich scored, game tied 2-2.

In the Rays half, Bryan Morris pitching for Miami, Jaso (hit for Beckham who had come in at the top of the third after Forsythe left the game hurting from a HBP in the first) was safe at first on a error by Gordon. Franklin ran for Jaso, Cabrera homered giving the Rays a 4-2 lead.


Boxberger retired the Marlins in order in the 9th for his 39th save.



Conley went six innings giving up two runs on five hits, two walks and struck out five.

Moore went seven innings giving up one run on seven hits, one walks and struck out three, Colome took the win.

Martin Prado tumbled into the picnic area to retrieve Mahtook's foul ball for an out in the seventh.

Logan Forsythe left the game being replaced in the top of the third by Tim Beckham, he was hit by a pitch off his foot in the first, X-rays were negative, he is day to day.

Justin Bour went 0 for 4 and had his streak of homering in three consecutive games end.

Evan Longoria was hitless in 14 at-bats before getting a fifth-inning single.

Marcell Osuna singled in the fourth and has at least one hit in all 11 career games against Tampa Bay.

Ichiro Suzuki was hitless in four at-bats and remains one hit from tying Barry Bonds (2,935) for 34th place on the MLB list.

Dee Gordon went 1 for 3 and is three hits from joining Juan Pierre (2003-04) and Hanley Ramirez (2007) as the only Marlins' players to reach 200 hits in one season.

The Rays are 12-6 in interleague play this season. Ray take first game of the 3 game set.

Injury Report:

Giancarlo Stanton has been shut down for the rest of the season. Adeiny Hechavarria (left hamstring) might return this week.

Curt Casali is expected to return to the line-up before the week is out.

[Tobywan]

Tonight's line-up:

Gordon 2B

Yelich CF

Prado 3B

Bour 1B

Ozuna RF

Dietrich LF

Realmuto C

McGeehee DH

Rojas SS

Cosart P

Jaso LF

Souza Jr RF

Longoria 3B

Sizemore LF

Cabrera SS

Loney 1B

Arencibia C

Kiermaier CF

Franklin 2B

Smyly P

Jarred Cosart (2-4, 2.15 ERA) is 3-1 with a 1.24 ERA in four starts against Tampa Bay. He got hit by a comeback liner on the left forearm in his last start, which caused him to be lifted after four innings.


Drew Smyly (4-2, 3.26 ERA) has a 4-0 record and 2.70 ERA in his last seven starts, with 44 strikeouts and 12 walks in 40 innings of work.

[Tobywan]

This game was scoreless until the fourth, with two outs, Bour doubled, Ozuna singled, Bour scored, giving the Marlins a 1-0 lead.

In the Rays half, Jaso led off with a single, Souza singled, a wild pitched advanced them both, Longo walked to load the bases. Cabrera hit a sac fly, Jaso scored, game tied 1-1.

In the 5th, with two outs, Frankling homered to right. Jaso walked and went to second on a wild pitch, Souza walked, Longo reached on a fielder's choice, Sizemore doubled scoring Jaso, Souza and Longo. Hand relieved Cosart, Rays take a 5-1 lead.

In the 7th, Brandon Gomes pitching for Tampa Bay, Realmuto doubled, Suzuki hit for McGehee and flied out sending Realmuto to third, Rojas singled him home,McGee relieved Gomes. Rays lead 5-2.


In the Rays half, Jose Urena pitching for Miami, Longo doubled, Sizemore singled, Cabrera singled, Longo scored, Narveson relieved Ureña, 6-2 Rays up.

In the 8th, Enny Romero pitching for Tampa Bay, Yelich doubled, Prado singled, Bour grounded into a double play, Yelich scored, Prado out at second, 6-3 Rays.


In the 9th, Brad Boxberger pitching for Tampa Bay, with two outs, Rojas singled and went to second on indifference, Gordon singled, Rojas scored, Gordon to second on indifference, Yelich grounded out to end the game. Rays win 6-4, take the series go for a sweep.

Cozart went 4.2 innings giving up five runs on five hits, four walks and struck out 4 for the loss.

Smyly went 6 giving up one run on three hits, three walks and struck out 8 for the win. Boxberger collected his 40th save, putting him fifth among Ray's closers and one shy of tying Danys Báez.His eight strikeouts gave him 45 for the month of September, which tied the left-hander with Scott Kazmir (2007) for the Rays' September record for strikeouts.

Sizemore went 2-for-4 with three RBI a bases clearing double in the 5th. The Rays loaded the bases on two walks and Evan Longoria's infield single, which came about because an out call at second base was overturned after a Tampa Bay challenge.

Kevin Kiermaier took an extra-base hit away from Derek Dietrich in the seventh with a leaping catch into the wall.

The announced crowd was 9,431, which was the eighth home turnout under 10,000 this season for the Rays. Tampa Bay has an MLB-low home attendance of 1,186,565.


Injury Report:

SS Adeiny Hechavarria, sidelined by left hamstring tightness since Sept. 3, is available in an emergency situation.

Logan Forsythe was out of the lineup one day after his right foot was bruised when he was hit by a pitch and is day to day.

[Tobywan]

Tonight's line-up:

Gordon 2B

Yelich LF

Prado 3B

Bour 1B

Ozuna CF

Realmuto C

Telis DH

Rojas SS

Suzuki RF

Fernandez P

Jaso DH

Souza Jr RF

Longoria 3B

Sizemore LF

Arencibia C

Loney 1B

Beckham SS

Kiermaier CF

Franklin 2B

Odorizzi P

Tampa native and Alonso High grad, Jose Fernandez ( 6-0, 2.91 ERA) will be on the hill for the Marlins. His second career start at the Trop, he gave up seven runs over 3.1 innings on May 27, 2013. On the road, Fernandez is 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA.



Jake Odorizzi (8-9, 3.49) is 0-1 with a 10.00 ERA in two starts against Miami. He has allowed multiple home runs in three of his five September starts, after doing so only twice in his first 22 starts this season. Eight of his 18 home runs allowed this season have come in September.

[Tobywan]

The Rays got things started in the first with two outs, Longoria homered to left putting the Rays up 1-0.

In the third, Jaso and Souza singled, Sizemore singled, Jaso scored, 2-0 Rays lead.

In the fifth, Ozuna led off with a single, Telis singled, Rojas grounded into a fielder's choice, Ozuna to third, Telis was safe at second on an error by Arencibia, Suzuki hit a sac fly, Ozuna scored cutting the lead 2-1.

In the 7th, Kyle Barraclough pitching for Miami, Souza led off with a single, Longoria doubled him home. Arencibia singled, Longo scored, Rays up 4-1.

Boxberger retired the side in the 9th for his 41st save.


Fernandez went six innings giving up two runs on eleven hits (a career high), no walks with 9 Ks for the loss.

Odorizzi went seven innings giving up one run on four hits, two walks and struck out seven for the win.

The Rays sweep.

Longoria went 2-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and two RBI, both Loney and Kiermaier went 3-for-4 but were stranded all three times.


The announced crowd was 9,657. All three games of the series had attendance under 10,000, giving the Rays nine such games at home this season.




Suzuki tied Barry Bonds for 34th place with his 2,935th hit, a two-out liner in the seventh that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier threw out J.T. Realmuto as he tried to score from second. Kiermaier's throw was clocked at over 100 MPH.

Marcell Ozuna got the Marlins' first hit leading off the fifth with a line single to right. He has at least one hit in all 13 of his games against Tampa Bay.

The Marlins went 0-10 in road games against the AL this season.



Marlins 2B Dee Gordon is a finalist for Marvin Miller Man of the Year award, named in honor of the player union's first executive director and given annually to the player who inspires others through his on-field performance and contribution to his community. The other finalists are Baltimore OF Adam Jones and Chicago White Sox closer David Robertson.

Thursday night's game held historical significance as it was the first time a National League and an American League team played each other in a regular-season game in October. The Astros and D-backs will play a three-game series over the weekend to close out the Interleague schedule.


Injury Report:
Logan Forsythe (bruised right foot) was out of the lineup for the second straight game but was available off the bench.

On Deck:

[Tobywan]

Tonight's line-up:

Revere LF

Donaldson 3B

Bautista RF

Encarnacion 1B

Colabello DH

Martin C

Tulowitzki SS

Pillar CF

Goins 2B

Buehrle P

Guyer Cf

Mahtook RF

Longoria DH

Cabrera SS

Butler LF

Beckham 3B

Shaffer 1B

Franklin 2B

Maile C

Ramirez P

Forsythe was in the original line-up posted earlier in the day but was a late scratch, foot still sore.

Mark Buehrle (14-7, 3.76 ERA) needs 8.2 innings of work to reach 200 innings in 15 straight seasons.

Erasmo Ramirez (11-6, 3.65 ERA) allowed a 2 run homer by David Ortiz in the first on September 24, then held Boston scoreless the next 6 innings.

Tulo was originally expected not to return until Saturday, but was ready to start tonight. He has not played since he cracked his left shoulder blade during a collision with center fielder Kevin Pillar on Sept. 12.

The Jays took the AL East division title, now hope to secure home field advantage.

[Tobywan]

The Jays started the scoring in the second, Colabello led off with a single, Martin singled, runners advanced on a wild pitch during Tulowitski's at bat, who lined out. Pillar grounded out, Colabello scored, 1-0 Jays.


In the 5th, Shaffer led off with a double, Frankiln sacrificed him over to third, Maile singled, Shaffer scored. Guyer hit by a pitch, Mahtook homered, Rays take a 4-1 lead.


In the 6th, Martin singled, Tulo singled, Pillar doubles, Martin scored. Romero relieved Ramírez. Goins tripled, Tulo and Pillar scored. Jays retake the lead 5-4.


In the 7th, Andrew Bellatti pitching for Tampa Bay, Encarnacion homered to center, Colabello tripled, Martin homered to left. Riefenhauser relieved Bellatti. Jays strengthen their lead 8-4.

Neither team had many opportunities to score late, the Jays take the first game 8-4.


Buehrle went 6.2 innings giving up four runs on six hits, one ball and three strike outs for his 15th win. Buehrle got his 102nd pickoff, which moved him within one of tying the all-time leader Andy Pettitte.

Ramirez went 5.1 innings giving up four runs on 10 hits, one walk and struck out three, but a no-decision, Romero took the loss.


Tulowitzki back from the DL doubled and singled.

Brandon Guyer tied a major league record by getting hit by a pitch three times. All were by Buehrle.

Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson (41) and Jose Bautista (40) tied the team record -- set by Jose Canseco (46), Carlos Delgado (38) and Shawn Green (35) in 1998 -- for most homers by a trio in one season.