In the first game the Rays played Sunday, Brandon Lowe delivered the big hit they needed, belting a ninth-inning homer to lead them to a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays in the completion of Saturday's suspended game in Buffalo, N.Y.
In the second game the Rays played Sunday, they _ eventually _ got another, as Willy Adames hit a two-run homer for a 7-5 win as the regularly scheduled contest that was shortened to seven innings as part of the coronavirus protocols to limit time at the field ended up going into an extra eighth inning.
The first game featured Lowe homering for the fourth straight game, and seventh time overall this season. He now has 16 extra-base hits, most in the majors, with at least one in seven straight games. Nick Anderson closed it out for his third save of the year.
In the second, the Rays rallied from 2-0 and 5-3 deficits to tie it in the seventh, when Yandy Diaz's mishandled single in right-center scored Austin Meadows, then take the lead in the eighth. With Ji-Man Choi placed on second to start the inning under another new league rule for extra innings, Adames stepped up with one out against former Ray Wilmer Font and launched a blast to center.
The Rays had fallen behind early in right-hander Yonny Chirinos' return from the injured list on a two-run first-inning homer by Randal Grichuk that glanced off the glove of leaping centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier.
They got one of those big hits when Yoshi Tsutsugo slugged a three-run homer in the fourth to put them ahead 3-2, but two of their new and less-experienced relievers gave the lead right back. Rookie Ryan Thompson allowed a leadoff homer in the fourth to Vlad Guerrero Jr. and then a walk. John Curtiss replaced him with one out, and on his first pitch allowed a two-run homer to No. 9 hitter Anthony Alford.
The Rays got one back in the fifth when Kiermaier led off with a single and came around to score on a sac fly, but they wasted the chance for more, leaving the bases loaded when Choi, batting left-handed against lefty Anthony Kay, grounded out to second. Though Choi has not fully committed to switch-hitting, that was a notable decision since he had homered batting right-handed against Kay on July 26.
They wasted another chance in the sixth with two on and no outs as Kiermaier struck out and Hunter Renfroe grounded into a double play.
But the Rays got a break in the seventh to tie the score at 5. Austin Meadows singled with one out and was able to score from first when Diaz singled with two outs and Jays rightfielder Teoscar Hernandez mishandled the ball.
The first game was resumed in the bottom of the fourth with a 1-0 lead from Saturday. After some early action Sunday, the score was tied at 2 by the fifth and stayed that way until the ninth.
The Rays opted to start the day with Jalen Beeks on the mound to protect their lead, but it didn't last long.
Grichuk blooped a ball down the rightfield line that dropped in between first baseman Ji-Man Choi and rightfielder Manuel Margot. He went to third on a passed ball by catcher Mike Zunino, his major-league-most fifth. Grichuk then scored when lefty swinger Rowdy Tellez bounced a grounder through the Rays' shifted and drawn-in infield.
Tampa Bay went back ahead in the fifth with a two-out rally aided by a Toronto error. Yandy Diaz singled and later came around to score when Choi doubled to right and second baseman Cavan Biggio mishandled the incoming throw. The Rays had a chance for more after Mike Brosseau walked, but Willy Adames grounded out.
The Jays came right back to tie it. Joe Panik, who stepped in when shortstop and Lakewood High product Bo Bichette was sidelined with a right knee issue, singled with one out in the fifth off Beeks. With two outs, Teoscar Hernandez slashed a ball to left that got by leftfielder Austin Meadows, allowing Panik to score from first.
Both teams had opportunities to go ahead.
Two Jays singles and a bunt to open the sixth ended Beeks' afternoon, but Pete Fairbanks provided some key relief. He got a ground ball from Brandon Drury that Diaz made a good stop on at third and started a rundown play, then struck out Biggo.
The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the seventh on a double by Lowe _ his 15th extra-base hit, tying him for the major-league lead _ an intentional walk to Diaz (after Ryan Borucki fell behind 3-1) and a walk by pinch-hitter Jose Martinez.
The Jays switched to hard-throwing right-hander Rafael Dolis, who struck out pinch-hitter Joey Wendle and got Adames to fly out.
Right-hander Yonny Chirinos was activated off the injured list to start the regularly scheduled game, which was shortened to seven innings as a result of the league coronavirus protocols, similar to doubleheader games. The Jays were starting Matt Shoemaker.
Saturday's game was suspended after 3{ innings due to heavy rain in Buffalo, with the Rays leading 1-0 thanks to a third-inning homer by Meadows. The teams sat through a nearly two-hour delay before the decision to call it at 9:56 p.m.
The Rays gathered in the stadium's first-base concourse and suites area as there was lightning in the area and the visitor's clubhouse at Sahlen Field, the Triple-A stadium that was renovated to host the Jays, is in a metal-framed tent structure.
"Today's not that big of a deal," Cash said Sunday morning. "It was more last night was a little unique that we're sitting up in the suites in the stadium. Today just feels like a normal doubleheader that's going to be a little bit shortened. We've got a 1-0 lead. I guess you don't get to start many games like that, so that's a good thing."
Ryan Yarbrough, who had two good starts and two not-so-good, worked the first three innings for the Rays on Saturday, allowing four hits but no walks.
"I thought he was good," Cash said Saturday night. "I thought he was better at getting in the zone, established strikes early on and throughout. He made some big pitches with some guys on base, got out of a first-and-third jam. It's always unfortunate when you're counting on hopefully between 80-100 pitches and that gets shaved off. But he'll be that much fresher next time we call on him.
It was the third suspended game in Rays franchise history.
The most recent was April 16, 2010, at Boston. Play was suspended due to rain with the score tied at 1 in the ninth, then resumed the next day, with the Rays getting a two-run homer in the 12th from Pat Burrell and the win.
The other was a little more memorable, as Game 5 of the 2008 World Series in Philadelphia was halted with the scored tied at 2 in the sixth due to miserable weather, then resumed two days later. The Phillies won the game, after just 1 hour and 18 minutes of play, and the championship.
