(Saint Petersburg) ST. Strikes from newcomers Jose Siri and David Peralta led to a 3-2 victory for the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Siri started at the bottom of the sixth inning hitting a single against Adam Cimber (8-4). He stole second base, then crossed home on a single Peralta, breaking the tie at 2-2.
Peralta hit two of the Rays’ six hits (55-49), all singles. They had just two hits in a 3-1 loss on Tuesday.
Peralta was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, while Siri was acquired from the Houston Astros in a three-team trade on Monday.
“I felt a lot of pressure,” said Peralta after driving in his first race with the Rays. “I arrived here on Sunday. We lose. Yesterday (Tuesday) we lost and I was like, ‘Let’s go. You have to do something. We had to start winning.” »
“But I was trying not to overdo it. I knew it was going to happen, but it happened today. »
The victory went to Ryan Thompson’s record (3-2), who didn’t allow a hit in two innings into the mound. Jason Adam worked ninth and added a fifth defense to his record.
Teoscar Hernandez drove in both Blue Jays races with a double in the first inning against Jalen Beeks and his 15and homer of the season in the fourth inning, against Ryan Yarbrough.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s single in the eighth inning was the Blue Jays’ only hit against Thompson, Pete Fairbanks and Adam in four innings.
The Blue Jays only sent four runners to base after the first inning, and one of them got stuck in the tracks after a field pitch caught by a Rays player.
“The Blue Jays have possibly one of the best batting roles in the league, and whenever you can hold them like that, it’s a huge win for us,” Adam said.
Blue Jays starting pitcher (58-46), Yusei Kikuchi, allowed two runs and three hits in four innings. He knocked out five hitters.
He played 74 in his second game after a three-week hiatus with a neck injury.
“Overall, I felt good,” Kikuchi said through an interpreter. “My three shots were effective, so I feel like I’m going to keep improving. »
Stripling in the infirmary
Ahead of the game, the Blue Jays announced they will be without the services of leading scorer Ross Stripling, whose name has been on the injured list for 15 days.
The registration was made retroactively to 31 July. Stripling is suffering from an injury to his right leg.
In 23 games this season, including 15 as a starter, Stripling went 5-3 with an ERA of 3.16. He knocked out 67 hitters and walked 16 in 82 2/3 innings.
To replace him, the Jays called Matt Peacock from the Buffalo Bisons, their AAA farm club. The right-hander was dropped from the waivers for the Kansas City Royals on July 6 and was immediately assigned to the Bisons. With the Royals, Peacock pitched just seven and a third inning, all in relief, compiling an ERA of 4.91.
The Jays also traded right-handed Mitch White to the Bisons.
Additionally, the Jays’ new acquisition, infielder Whit Merrifield, has once again caused an uproar at Queen City over his vaccination status. Merrifield was among several Royals players unavailable for the Missouri club’s recent visit to Toronto as he was not vaccinated.
Called in for comment on Wednesday ahead of an early afternoon meeting against the Tampa Bay Rays, head coach John Schneider said Merrifield must have discussed the matter with his relatives, but the team left him free to choose.
Athletes playing in the United States cannot cross the Canadian border without having been properly vaccinated against COVID-19. The reverse is also true: Jays players traveling to the United States must have received accepted vaccines south of the border.
