When the hitting for the Tampa Bay Rays flickers off, it is a terrible sight to see.
The Rays were shut out for the second time in four games Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field, losing 1-0 to the Toronto Blue Jays on a day when they flirted with being no-hit. The Rays are ranked 13th out of 15 American League teams in runs scored.
This time, it was the Blue Jays’ Marco Estrada who carried a perfect game into the eighth inning, the second straight game he had done that. It is the first time since Dave Stieb in 1988 that a pitcher had lost back-to-back no-hit bids after the eighth. For the Rays, Logan Forsythe broke up the perfect game by beating out an infield hit.
The Rays’ Nathan Karns was also pretty good, throwing no-hit baseball until the sixth. Toronto ended the day with six hits, Tampa bay with four. Rays’ batters struck out 15 times.
However, Toronto scored the only run it would need when Chris Colabello hit a home run in the top of the 12th inning of the game off Brandon Gomes.
The Rays have today off, but return to the Trop Friday night against the Boston Red Sox. Alex Colome (3-3) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay.
