Advertisement 1

Morales grand slam leads Blue Jays to first win of season

Article content

ST. PETERSBURG — Marcus Stroman was dealing and Kendrys Morales was peeling — the hide off the ball — as the Blue Jays recorded their first victory of the young season on Thursday night at Tropicana Field, a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Morales, who was 1-for-8 after the opening two games in Baltimore, hammered an 0-1 fastball from Tampa Bay lefty Blake Snell over the fence in left-centre with the basis loaded in the third inning, spotting the Jays to a 4-0 lead. It was Morales’ fourth career grand slam and first since Aug.7, 2016 when he hit one against the Jays’ Brett Cecil. He is the ninth Jay to hit a grand slam as his first home run with the club.

“I had a little flash back,” said Jays manager John Gibbons on Morales’ grand slam. “He came up against Cecil last year in Kansas City with the bases loaded, first pitch, boom. But he’s barrelling everything. He just didn’t have much to show for it. I think he’s locked in.”

“That felt really satisfying knowing that we had two defeats already,” said Morales of his bomb. “I’ve been feeling pretty good. I’m just happy it happened on a win.”

Stroman, meanwhile, breezed through the Rays’ lineup through the first four innings. The recent World Baseball Classic MVP got into some trouble in each inning after that, but managed to escape relatively unscathed, using his two-seam fastball as his out pitch for much of the game.

“It feels good right now,” Stroman said. “Feels like me and Russ (Martin) have a pretty good connection as far as exactly what we’re trying to do with it in certain counts, throwing it in and throwing it out, I feel like I have a pretty good feel for it wherever I want to throw it to the zone. When I have that pitch going, all my other pitches kind of play off that.”

In the fourth, he walked Kevin Kiermaier followed by Evan Longoria with one out, but then got second baseman Brad Miller to hit into a double play to end the inning. Stroman dodged a bullet in the fifth inning with one out. With Steven Souza Jr. at third, Tim Beckham hit a grounder to Stroman who fielded it and threw it home to Martin at home plate. The throw was high but Martin was able to jump and field it and then tag Souza out. The play was reviewed but the call stood. The inning ended without any runs scoring.

“It was a terrible throw. Russ made an unbelievable play to leap and then make the tag,” Stroman said. “That just shows the athleticism of Russell. He’s huge, man. He’s kind of the rock of the group.”

Stroman helped his cause in a big way in the sixth. With Corey Dickerson on first and one out, Tampa speedster Kiermaier hit a hard grounder back to Stroman, who wheeled around and threw a strike to Troy Tulowitzki at second who then relayed it on to first for the DP.

The Jays added a run in the seventh when, with one out, Darwin Barney bunted to Logan Morrison at first and Martin standing at third. Morrison looked to have a shot to get Martin at home, but bobbled the ball. No one was covering first so Barney was safe.

Snell left the game with two out in the seventh and was replaced by Tommy Hunter who struck Josh Donaldson. He gave up four hits and five earned runs in 6.2 innings, struck out five and walked five.

The Rays finally got to Stroman in the seventh when Morrison, with one out, hit a single to right to score Longoria from second. Stroman was then pulled for reliever Joe Biagini with runners at second and first. Biagini then got short stop Tim Beckham to hit a grounder to Donaldson at third. Donaldson touched his bag and then threw to first for the inning-ending DP.

Stroman threw 89 pitches, 56 for strikes over 6.1 innings, giving up six hits, one earned run, two walks while striking out five.

Dickerson hit a double off Biagini in the eighth which hit the base of the wall in right with two out. But then the big righthander got Kiermaier to hit a grounder to Justin Smoak at first for the third out.

With Toronto closer Roberto Osuna on the DL, RHP Joe Smith pitched the ninth for the Jays. He walked Brad Miller with one out and then gave up a double to Souza, who had three hits on the night, including two doubles. Smith was then replaced by Jason Grilli who threw a wild pitch with Morrison up, scoring Miller from third. Grilli struck Morrison out with the count full and then rang up pinch hitter

Rickie Weeks Jr for the final out. He picked up the save.

Struggles at the plate continued for a couple of Jays. Tulowitzki went 0-for-4 at the plate and now his hitless in 13 at-bats for the season. Martin also remains hitless this season, though he got a walk and scored on Thursday night.

Right-fielder Jose Bautista didn’t get a hit, but walked twice and scored on Morales’ grand slam. Darwin Barney, playing second for Devon Travis who was given the day off, had a great day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a walk.

The attendance was announced at 12,678, about half of which were Jays fans.

OSUNA GETTING CLOSE

Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna will pitch in a simulated outing on Saturday at Tropicana Field ahead of his expected return to action on Tuesday, Toronto’s home opener.

“His neck and everything has calmed down,” said Jays manager John Gibbons. “He’ll just come out and throw to a couple of our guys (Saturday).”

Osuna was put on the 10-day DL before the start of the regular season with tightness in his neck and upper back.

“I now feel better (because) we have done some exercises to relax the muscle, which was really tight,” Osuna told ESPN (translated from Spanish). “I was having a really hard time pitching toward the end of spring training; starting the last two weeks.”

Osuna, 22, pitched in a career high 72 Major League games last year, recording 36 saves (another high) with an ERA of 2.68.

 

Article content
Advertisement 2
Advertisement
Article content
Article content
Latest National Stories
    News Near Pembroke
      This Week in Flyers