ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Over the course of six innings Friday, Rays fans witnessed the whole mesmerizing, maddening spectrum of a Tyler Glasnow start.
The good, the bad and the fluky.
Alternately unhittable and unwatchable at Friday evening’s outset, the 6-foot-8 right-hander allowed four Blue Jays runs and struck out four in the first inning (a batter struck out but reached base on a wild pitch) before settling into an efficient rhythm.
The rhythm arrived too late as Toronto held on for a 5-3 victory before a Tropicana Field audience of 5,564.
Brandishing a 90-mph slider and near 100-mph fastball in his first handful of pitches, Glasnow struck out Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette to open the game before the Jays’ eruption.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has safely reached base in all 19 Toronto games, singled and scored on cleanup hitter Rowdy Tellez’s double. After walking Randal Grichuk on four pitches, Glasnow delivered a 97-mph four-seam fastball to Marcus Semien, who sent the 2-1 pitch over the wall in left-center field for a 413-foot home run.
The four first-inning runs doubled the total Glasnow surrendered in his first four starts. The barrage was followed by the bizarre.
Glasnow got Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to swing at an 83-mph curve for the apparent third out, but the ball got away from catcher Francisco Mejia and Gurriel reached first on the wild pitch. He then struck out No. 9 hitter Danny Jansen, becoming the third player in Rays history (joining Alex Cobb and Jeremy Hellickson) to strike out four batters in an inning.
Meantime, the Rays put runners in scoring position in three of the first four innings, but failed to produce a run off Jays left-hander Steven Matz.
Things suddenly changed courtesy of Rays resident phenomenon Randy Arozarena.
In the top of the fifth, the 26-year-old Cuba native raced from left field for a diving snag of a two-out Tellez fly that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier lost in the Tropicana Field roof.
In the bottom of the inning, after Kiermaier led off with a single and Yandy Diaz drew his second consecutive walk, Arozarena sent a 92-mph Matz sinker 445 feet to left center for a three-run home run, cutting the visitors’ lead to 4-3.
Grichuk’s leadoff home run off Glasnow in the sixth gave Toronto a two-run cushion. The Rays, meantime, failed to produce a hit in the final four innings.
Glasnow struck out 10 in six innings, needing only 57 pitches to get through his last five.
