Rays 3, Jays 2: Souza Powers Rays To Victory

The Rays collected their fourth straight win and secured a winning road trip with their 3-2 victory of the Blue Jays Tuesday night.

The scoring got started early thanks to Steven Souza's blast to deep centerfield in the first inning. Daniel Norris left a 92mph fastball up in the zone on the first pitch of the at bat and Souza demolished it. Souza came into the game hitting just .158 on the season (though with a .333 OBP) and ended up collecting three hits and scoring the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. He lead off the frame with a bunt single up the third baseline, stole second and advanced to third on the wild throw. Desmond Jennings followed that up with a sac fly.

The rest of the offense didn't show much life. Brandon Guyer added a double in the third but was left stranded, and Evan Longoria walked three times. No other player collected more than one hit and the team continued their trend of not hitting with men in scoring position by going 0-8 in such situations.

Most eyes were on Rays starter Matt Andriese, making his Major League debut. He hadn't cracked the 80 pitch barrier during the spring, so expecting him to go deep into the game was a longshot. The 3.2 innings were about what you could hope from him in that situation. He worked out of a two on, no out jam in the second inning in part thanks to a beautiful sequence to Russell Martin. Three pitches, all strikes, with the last one coming in around Martin's eyes, which he flailed at. Andriese got into more trouble in the fourth after allowing three singles to the first four batters and was pulled shortly thereafter.

He certainly has the stuff to pitch in the big leagues, his battle will be harnessing his control. The command is there. The pitches have the necessary life to them. Whether he ends up in a rotation some day, or, more likely, in a bullpen, he should have a decent career ahead of him if he can add a touch more control.

The bullpen pitched very well again, sans the double Kirby Yates allowed directly after replacing Andriese. Yates, Steve Geltz, Grant Balfour, and Kevin Jepsen combined to throw 5.1 innings, allowing just 3 hits (all by Yates), zero runs,zero walks, and striking out two.

Other observations:

• Why does MLB have replay if calls like the one against Desmond Jennings in the sixth inning. He attempted to steal second but was thrown out even though replays appeared to show his hands touching second well before a tag was placed.
• Kevin Kiermaier made a hell of a leaping catch for the second out of the ninth inning. It's a play he probably makes nine times out of ten, but it's impressive nonetheless.
• Speaking of Jennings running, he's been stealing more than in the past. Tonight's bag was his fourth of the season, tying him for second most in baeball. High career high is 31. It seems like he may surpass that this year.