fridaynightBASH!: Blue Jays hammer Rays, 12-4
It was fridaynightbash! in Buffalo, but instead of fireworks it was the baseball that filled the downtown skies. A game after matching a Sahlen Field record with seven homers, the Blue Jays hit six more out of their home away from home in a 12-4 victory over the Tampa Bay
It was fridaynightbash! in Buffalo, but instead of fireworks it was the baseball that filled the downtown skies.
A game after matching a Sahlen Field record with seven homers, the Blue Jays hit six more out of their home away from home in a 12-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The 13 home runs in a two-game span set a new franchise record for the Blue Jays. Toronto has now scored 28 runs on 14 home runs in their last 22 innings at Sahlen Field.
The hottest bat of the hot bats in the Blue Jays lineup belongs to Bo Bichette and his third home run this week was a three-run shot that snapped a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning. With two on, the shortstop jumped all over a first-pitch sinker from former Blue Jay and Bison reliever Aaron Loup and drove it to the opposite field in right-center to the tune of 411 ft. Bichette has now homered in four straight games and is the first shortstop in 100 years to have an extra-base hit and an RBI in seven consecutive contests.
UnBOlievable 😳
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 15, 2020
Bichette has homered for a FOURTH straight game! pic.twitter.com/c7qoV8yQXg
Bichette’s three-run homer was one of three blasts hit by the Blue Jays in the sixth inning that gave them their first lead of the game. Trailing 4-3, Randal Grichuk led off the frame with a line drive homer into the left-field corner. Two batters after Bichette’s go-ahead bomb, Teoscar Hernandez launched a no-doubt 459-foot blast to left-center that the Rays outfielders just turned and watched.
Is this a home run derby? 👀 pic.twitter.com/JhzgIty7cR
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 15, 2020
Hernandez also homered in the eighth inning, a three-run shot that capped off another wild night for the Toronto bats. The outfielder now has nine career multi-homer games and a team-best seven home runs on the season.
Trailing 3-0 early, Rowdy Tellez got the Blue Jays on the board with a two-run shot in the second inning that just cleared the wall in the right field corner. Cavan Biggio hit his fifth home run of the year in the fourth inning to tie the game at three.
The Blue Jays have used the same lineup in each of their last two games. Eight of the nine starters have at least one home run with the lone exception of Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Once given the lead, the backend of the Blue Jays bullpen nailed down the victory. Former Bison Wilmer Font got the win in relief to improve to 1-1. He faced just one batter but got pinch hitter Jose Martinez to ground into an inning-ending doubleplay with two on in the sixth. Ryan Borucki struck out a pair in the seventh and Anthony Bass and A.J. Cole each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the win.
Winners of three of their last five games, the Blue Jays host the Rays again on Saturday at Sahlen Field (6:37 p.m.).