ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ You could take the magnanimous view and say just playing Friday's game amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and the spike in cases locally, and with the plentiful precautions and protocols that had to be followed, was a success for the Rays.
You could applaud the attempts to normalize a most abnormal situation, with no fans in the building and players wearing masks on the field, and the social justice elements build into the night's program.
Or you could rave about the individual accomplishments, noting the successful major league debuts of Yoshi Tsutsugo, the Japanese import who homered his third time up, and Ryan Thompson, the 28-year-old sidearm reliever who allowed one hit in two innings and made a nifty defensive play.
But, ultimately, it's about winning, especially in a 60-game sprint of a season, where every game counts 2.7 times what it would in a normal season, and everyone knows it.
And that's the part where the Rays fell short, on the wrong side of a 6-4 final to the Blue Jays.
Charlie Morton looked like he was in for a good night in the first opening-day start of his 13-year career, zipping through the first three innings allowing just a single. But it turned bad, and then worse, in a hurry.
He gave up three runs softly in the fourth inning on three singles, a walk and two sac flies, the rally starting when Cavan Biggio bunted for a hit against the Rays' three-infielder, four-outfielder alignment.
Then Morton allowed three more loudly in the fifth, giving up singles to Danny Jansen and Bo Bichette, before a homer to Biggio.
Morton, a Cy Young finalist last season, said he felt good but not as ready as usual to start a season stamina-wise. He ended up throwing 80 pitches but getting only 12 outs, allowing the six runs on seven hits.
The Rays had their chances to bail him out.
Down 6-1 in the fifth to Hyun-Jin Ryu, they got two runs when Hunter Renfroe walked and Tsutsugo, who'd grounded out and been hit by a pitch, homered to left. He and Willy Adames exchanged bows when he got to the dugout. Jose Martinez doubled and Manuel Margot walked, but pinch-hitter Brandon Lowe struck out.
They had a prime opportunity in the eighth, getting one run when Margot reached on Bichette's error, Lowe walked and Adames singled. A one-out walk by pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi loaded the bases against reliever Rafael Dolis. But Yandy Diaz swung at the first pitch and popped out, and Renfroe took a called third strike.
There was much different, of course, starting with there being no fans in the stands. (Except Leah Churchill, the Moffitt Cancer Center nurse who threw out the first pitch, and her husband.) Team sponsor banners were stripped across the empty outfield seats.
Some players, such as Rays first baseman Diaz, and coaches wore masks on the field. Jays and Rays who weren't in the game or expected to be sat in seats beyond the dugouts and others behind the bullpens. Hold your Trop jokes here, but you could hear them cheer and applaud.
The Rays, with the help of Major League Baseball, tried to make things seem not so different, most creatively with the fake crowd noise that played usually at a low buzz but would rise to some occasion. (Not nearly as much, obviously, as the last game played at the Trop 289 days ago, the Oct. 8 fourth game of the division series that drew a roaring 32,178.)
At 6:11 p.m., stadium PA announcer Greg Kalil stuck to his usual script, opening the program saying, "Good evening and welcome to Tropicana Field ... " A 2019 highlights video, culminating with the wild-card win was shown, but there was no ceremony to raise the banner, which was already hung.
There was batting practice, a ceremonial first pitch, taped versions of the two anthems, and a seventh-inning stretch, with video of a family of Rays fans singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Players and staff for both teams stood on the field, and some kneeled, in unity, holding a black ribbon as a Black Lives Matter video played and there was a moment of silence.
During the Canadian anthem, two Jays players knelt. When it was time for the U.S. anthem, the stylized Marvin Gaye version from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game to fit into the social justice theme of the night, two additional Jays did, along with Rays coaches Rodney Linares and Ozzie Timmons, Adames standing between them with a hand on each's shoulder.
