Blue Jays quick hits: Tampa bandbox isn't so hitter friendly for visitors at the 50-game mark

Hamilton Spectator

24-05-2025

The Blue Jays
might have won the Grapefruit League title earlier this spring, but wins in Florida are a lot harder to come by during the regular season.
With Tropicana Field still not operational
following damage to the roof during last year's hurricane, the Jays made their first trip this season to
nearby George Steinbrenner Field
for a series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The minor-league park is known as very hitter friendly, but someone forgot to tell the Jays, who had their three-game win streak snapped
with a 3-1 loss on Friday night.
That dropped the Jays' record to 25-25 and moved them back into a tie with the Boston Red Sox for second place in the American League East.
Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen struck out three across six scoreless innings to earn the victory. The loss went to Jays lefty Eric Lauer, who surrendered three runs on six hits and a pair of walks during his second official start of the season.
Here's everything you need to know about the game:
The Jays appeared to have something going in the top of the third when
Jonatan Clase
hit a one-out double off Rasmussen.
Nathan Lukes
followed with a single to left that was hit too hard to score the speedy Clase. That should have put runners on the corners for the top of the order, but Lukes made an ill-advised decision to make a run for second. Catcher
Danny Jansen
threw a strike to second baseman Brandon Lowe for the easy out.
Bo Bichette
then stepped into the box and flew out to right, which ended the inning without
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
getting to the plate.
Lauer escaped a couple of early jams but got into more trouble in the third. Lowe, who homered twice in last week's series against the Jays, went deep again on a 2-and-1 slider. The two-run shot was Lowe's ninth of the season and put the Rays in front by two. Curtis Mead added a solo homer in the fourth when he lifted a 2-and-0 cutter over the wall in left. Lauer has made five appearances for the Jays this season and has yet to complete five innings in any of them.
The Jays had opportunities to score in almost every inning; they just didn't do anything with them. In the fourth,
Addison Barger
struck out to strand a pair of runners. In the fifth, two runners were on when Bichette hit a scorching 110-m.p.h. grounder to third. Junior Caminero made a highlight-reel grab, then started a double-play to end the inning.
In the seventh, Rays reliever Mason Montgomery walked the bases loaded with nobody out and yet the Jays settled for just one run, after Clase hit into a double-play and Lukes flew out to centre. In the eighth, they had two runners on before
Alejandro Kirk
grounded out to second. The Jays finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners.