Tampa Bay Rays edge past Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 – MLB news
Tampa Bay Rays continued to impress the critics as they secured a tight 4-3 win against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario to level up the two match series of the 2013 Major League Baseball regular season.
It was an important win for the Rays who dominated the inform Baltimore Orioles in almost all aspects of the game in their previous series. Right now, the Rays are sitting fourth on the American League East Division standings table with a decent 24-21 record
but Joe Maddon and company will have to bring significant improvement in their game play to have any chance of replacing the New York Yankees at the top of AL East standings table. It will be exciting to see if the Rays can extend their winning streak to snatch
the first position before the All Star Break.
“A lot of groundballs is always what you want to see out of him,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said in a post game interview. “If you're seeing the ball on the ground, you know that everything is working right.”
Rays’ starting pitcher Alex Cobb produced another magical performance, playing a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash. The right hander showed just what he is capable of as he allowed just three hits and one run in six plus solid innings to grab
his fifth win of the season. Cobb used his fastballs and sliders brilliantly to create all sorts of problems for the Blue Jays’ batting lineup.
“The changeup wasn't as sharp as I'd like it but it was good enough to get a good amount of groundballs,” Cobb said. “That's what was key to my success tonight.”
“I really think Escobar's game was outstanding,” Maddon said. “That was a big part of our win.”
Relief pitchers Jake McGee, Joel Peralta and Fernando Rodney also made useful contributions as the Rays held on to their slim lead to start the series on a winning note. Kelly Johnson and Desmond Jennings hit back to back home run to stretch Rays’ lead to
3-0 in the third inning.
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