Tampa Bay Rays beaten by Toronto Blue Jays 0-2 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays were beaten by the Toronto Blue Jays 0-2 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario on Thursday, August 30 in the opening game of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Blue Jays used their home conditions brilliantly to create all sorts of problems for Rays’ powerful batting line-up. Manager John Farrell will be very pleased with what he saw from his team in a game that was played on an extremely competitive note.
Rays, on the other hand, were unable to take advantage of the scoring opportunities and they will be looking to learn from their mistakes to put up a better offensive show in Game 2 of the series.
Manager Joe Maddon will be disgusted with the fact the Rays were unable to score more than two runs and it will be interesting to see if they can turn the tables on their American League East Division rivals to get back into the playoff race.
Rays’ starting pitcher Matt Moore showed some great throwing skills but ended up with his eighth loss of the season. Overall he gave up just two runs in six solid innings while striking-out seven batters.
"Moore has got a good fastball and I was just looking for the first one I could handle," said Kelly Johnson, who put the Blue Jays 2-0 ahead in the first inning.
"I quit what I was doing the first two hitters," Moore said in a post game interview. "I don't know what it was, it just felt like I was getting a little giddy, kind of jumping at the glove a little bit."
His counterpart from Blue Jays, Carlos Villanueva grabbed his seventh win of the season after allowing just five hits.
"Carlos was fighting a low-grade fever all afternoon and through the six innings he pitched tonight," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. "But he was outstanding again."
Rays’ relief pitcher Wade Davis, J.P.Well and Burke Badenhop delivered three scoreless inning but the Blue Jays managed to hold on to their two run lead to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
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