The Toronto Blue Jays couldn’t miss a second win in as many days against the Tampa Bay Rays. John Schneider’s men combined their efforts to eliminate their opponent by a score of 9-5 on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
This triumph greatly benefits John Schneider’s men’s cause in this relatively tight American League playoff race.
• Also read: One last fatal inning for the Blue Jays
• Also read: WATCH: George Springer achieves a very rare feat
In fact, it was a dream day for them as the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners also lost. The Blue Jays now have a two-game lead over the Astros, who are ranked second among teams drafted in the United States. The Seattle team is currently eliminated from the playoffs, half a game behind the Houston team.
After the Rays took a two-point lead in the first round, the Queen City team quickly responded with a five-point lead in the next round.
Whit Merrifield first tied the game with a double to center field that allowed Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho to score.
George Springer gave his team the lead with a three-run infield home run.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also scored two shots during the game.
However, the crowd favorite closed the gap in the seventh inning thanks to a two-run slap from Isaac Paredes.
Daulton Varsho and Bo Bichette scored the insurance runs for Toronto in the eighth and ninth innings.
However, Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi had a rather difficult outing. The left-hander gave up three runs and nine hits in four complete innings of work.
Toronto will have an off day before entering the home stretch of the season on Tuesday. To mark the occasion, they will be visited by the New York Yankees for a series of three games. Then, still at home, they face the same Rays in their final series of the regular season.
Édouard Julien and the twins take revenge
The day after a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, the Minnesota Twins got revenge with a 9-3 win on Sunday. Quebec’s Édouard Julien failed to score in three at-bats. However, he managed to take two walks and cross the plate once.
The Twins’ next game is Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics.