Rays 4, Blue Jays 3: Nearly perfect, but still a winner!

Tyler Alexander flirts with perfection in series-opening win against the Jays.

The Rays are in the Great White North to begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Continuing on their seven-game road trip, the Rays will sent out Tyler Alexander to face off against Jays’ starter Chris Bassitt.

Bassitt set down the Rays pretty quickly in the top of the first, but Tyler Alexander replicated Bassitt’s inning with a 1-2-3 inning his own, with both pitchers striking out a batter in their respective frames.

Isaac Parades was able to draw a one-out walk in the top of the second, but that was the only baserunner for the Rays after two outs on five pitches for the Jays starter. Alexander followed up his first perfect frame with a second one, recording his second strikeout on the night in the process.

With two outs in the top of the third, Yandy Diaz singled to right on a sharp liner. He didn’t stay on first for long, as Josh Lowe grounded out for the third out. On the pitching side, Tyler Alexander needed only seven pitches to set the Blue Jays down in order for a third-consecutive inning.

Isaac Paredes walked for the second time on the night with two outs in the fourth, but he became the third Rays baserunner to be stranded after Richie Palacios grounded out. Alexander kept the perfect start rolling in the bottom of the fourth, keeping his efficient outing going with a 12-pitch hitless frame.

The top of the fifth looked like the first opportunity for the offense to strike. Amed Rosario started things off with a single to right, and he moved up after Ben Rortvedt grounded out. Jonny DeLuca moved Rosario up to third with an infield single, bringing Yandy Diaz up to the plate. Yandy smoked a 107 mph grounder straight to the second baseman for an inning-ending double play.

Tyler Alexander’s fifth inning was a continuation of his previous for innings of work, a perfect 1-2-3 inning, needing 14 pitches to put the ball back in Chris Bassitt’s hand. Bassitt bent but didn’t break until this point, but in the top of the sixth, he just couldn’t bend any futrther.

Randy Arozarena shot a line drive to left field with one out, putting him on second for Jonathan Aranda. Aranda hit a grounder to the second, and as soon as the throw was made to first baseman Vlad Guerrero Jr, Arozarena took off for third, forcing Guerrero Jr to react quickly and throw to third base. That throw sailed over Ernie Clement at third, and Arozarena was able to score thanks to the pressure that aggressiveness applied.

With the first run of the game on the scoreboard, the Rays looked to keep their foot on the gas. Isaac Paredes drew his third walk of the game, bringing Richie Palacios to the plate. Palacios saw a 73 mph slider hang right down the middle of the plate, and he sent it to the right field seats at 103 mph to extend the Rays lead to 3-0. That home run ended Bassitt’s day, and it provided some run support for the dealing Tyler Alexander.

Bassitt’s replacement was Zach Pop, and he struck out Amed Rosario on three pitches to stop the damage for the Blue Jays. Alexander returned to the mound with five perfect innings under his belt, and he walked off the mound with six perfect innings. A great catch by Josh Lowe for the inning’s second out preserved Alexander’s stat line, and it helped move this game to the seventh.

Vlad Jr’s defensive struggles continued in the seventh, as he misplayed a routine grounder to first and allowed leadoff hitter Ben Rortvedt to reach first. Jonny DeLuca recorded his second hit of the day and moved Rortvedt up to second. A passed ball moved both runners up, making it two runners in scoring position for Yandy Diaz.

Diaz hit a liner up the middle and it landed for a single to score Rortvedt, making it 4-0 Rays. Former Rays prospect Genesis Cabrera relieved Zach Pop, and he was effective in getting the next three outs to prevent the Rays from adding on to that lead.

That lead made things even more comfortable for Tyler Alexander, who’s perfecto bid sent alerts to MLB At Bat apps everywhere. George Springer was his first test, and he popped up for the first out in the seventh. Bo Bichette flew out for the second out, bringing up Vlad Jr, who looked to make up for his defensive mistakes. A nine-pitch battle made things tense, but Alexander threw a good enough slider to induce a flyout and make it seven perfect innings with 93 pitches under his belt.

Erik Swanson was brought in to face the middle of the Rays order in the top of the eighth. A Jonathan Aranda single would be the only hit in the inning, giving Tyler Alexander his next opportunity to inch closer to history.

Alexander got Justin Turner to fly out for the first out in the inning, and that would be the final out recorded by Alexander. Danny Jansen lined the second pitch he saw into right field, and that ball landed, breaking up Alexander’s perfect game. Davis Schneider was next up, and he ended Alexander’s shutout, launching a two-run home run into the left field seats.

After 7 ¹⁄₃ innings from Tyler Alexander, and one additional hit against him after the home run, his day was done. The near-historic performance will go down in the record books as just another start, but it was an impressive one, striking out four and throwing 105 pitches.

Manuel Rodriguez was brought in to relieve Alexander, and he wasn’t able to immediately slow down the Blue Jays offense. Daniel Vogelbach reached first to put two on for Cavan Biggio, and Biggio delivered with an RBI single to reduce the Rays lead down to one. Isaac Paredes stopped the bleeding by making a fantastic stop at third to start an inning-ending double play, sending this 4-3 ballgame to the ninth inning.

Nate Pearson entered for the Blue Jays and looked like the top prospect he once was, setting down the Rays in order on nine pitches. Pete Fairbanks was brought in to try and close out this series opener with a save.

Bo Bichette swung at the first pitch he saw and lined out for out number one. Vlad Jr watched strike three on a perfectly located slider for the second out, and Justin Turner wasted no time recording out number three, flying out to left on the first pitch he saw and wrapping up the win for the Rays.

Tyler Alexander was a superstar tonight, and thanks to good run support, once he finally did start to falter, his teammates were there to pick him up. The Rays picked up their 24th win and secured the win against a division opponent to open up the series. Zach Eflin will take the ball tomorrow afternoon against Kevin Gausman, with first pitch scheduled for 3:07 pm.