You can see it’s football’s preseason. Even the Tampa Bay Rays got beat by a touchdown Wednesday night.
The Rays returned to the cellar against Toronto, losing 7-0 to the Blue Jays, who took over first place with the victory.
Tampa Bay managed only five hits against Toronto’s J.A. Happ, whose 16 victories lead the major leagues. Kevin Kiermaier had two of the hits and Richie Shaffer two more. Shaffer was immediately sent down to make room for newly acquired Matt Duffy.
Rookie Blake Snell lasted only five outs and allowed five runs. It didn’t help when right-fielder Steven Souza dropped a fly ball in the right-field foul territory, quickly followed by a three-run homer by Troy Tulowitzki. Snell had made five straight starts in which he allowed two runs or fewer.
“It was unfortunate that happened,” said Rays’ manager Kevin Cash. “That changes at least that inning. We’ve got to be able to overcome that as pitchers. He just misplayed a ball. Blake’s going to learn he has to pick up the other guy. We’re going to make errors behind some pitchers.
The Rays are off tonight, then start a three-game series against the Yankees. Chris Archer pitches for the Rays against C.C. Sabathia.
