ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ For much of Sunday, it seemed the two most notable things that happened for the Rays were starter Blake Snell lasting only two innings while throwing 46 pitches and Ji-Man Choi providing the offensive highlight by hitting a solo home run _ right-handed.
But that was before the Rays rallied for two runs in an odd ninth to send the game into extra innings _ and the new 2020 rule with a runner starting on second base _ then scoring a wild 6-5 walkoff win on a double by Kevin Kiermaier.
The ninth-inning rally started after two quick outs. Joey Wendle doubled off Jays closer Ken Gile, then Willy Adames and Yoshi Tsutsugo walked. Giles went to a 3-1 count on the lefty-swinging Choi, then left the game with an apparent injury. The Jays then opted for their only lefty reliever, Brian Moran. Choi switched to batting right-handed, and he drew a walk forcing in a run to make it 4-3.
Brandon Lowe then got the tying run home by hustling down the first-base line after grounding to second and sliding head-first, the safe call upheld after an instant replay review.
The Jays took advantage of the new rules in the 10th, using pinch-runner Santiago Espinal at second. That paid off as he stole third _ an original out call reversed by replay this time _ and scored on a sac fly by Lourdes Gurriel to left. Tsutsugo was running to his left and made the catch in front of centerfielder Kiermaier, who might have gotten off a better throw.
The Rays had no choice but to start the home half of the 10th with catcher Kevan Smith as their runner at second since their others two catchers were already out of the game. Jose Martinez worked a great at-bat for a walk off Shun Yamaguchi to put runners at first and second. Kiermaier then laced a ball to the rightfield corner and both Smith and Martinez scored.
Snell was scheduled to have a reduced workload for his first outing, the product of not feeling built up enough after the abbreviated three-week training camp and wanting not to rush the process. But needing that many pitches for two innings wasn't encouraging. The left-hander allowed three hits and walked two while striking out five, with 26 strikes.
Manager Kevin Cash said before the game that they were expecting two to three innings and hoped to see some efficiency and consistency in Snell's delivery.
"We'll judge the workload," Cash said. "(Pitching coach) Kyle (Snyder) will talk to him in-between his innings. We're not going to stretch him out too far. He's been, for various reasons, kind of slowed down a little bit in his buildup, and we'll hopefully get a good outing (Sunday) from him where we can kind of start getting a little bit more aggressive with the buildup moving forward after this one."
The game was scoreless until the sixth when the Jays scored four by rapping six straight hits off Rays relievers Trevor Richards and Andrew Kittredge, with an error by leftfielder Manuel Margot contributing.
The Rays got their first run in the home sixth, and it was memorable. Choi, usually a lefty hitter, sampled hitting right-handed during some Spring 2.0 simulated games, but both he and Cash downplayed the possibility that Choi would do so in a game. Choi had experimented with switch-hitting at times earlier in his career, going 6-for-14 in 2015 with the Mariners' Triple-A team.
With the Jays switching from righty starter Thomas Hatch to lefty Anthony Kay, Choi switched batter's boxes first in the third inning, striking out on four pitches. He came back up in the sixth hitting right-handed again and crushed a 90 mph fastball from Kay, estimated at 429 feet with an exit velocity of 110 mph.
But the Rays didn't do much else.
Margot led off the seventh with a double, and Willy Adames added a one-out single. Cash turned to Tsutsugo to pinch-hit for catcher Mike Zunino. Tsutsugo got one run home with a ground out, but Choi, hitting lefty against righty Rafael Dolis, grounded out.
The Rays (2-1) continue their first homestand of the delayed and abbreviated season on Monday, hosting the Braves for a two-game series.
