Blue Jays rout Rays 20-1 as Guerrero Jr. has 6 RBIs, position players give up 10 runs - MLB

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays dugout got a laugh when slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. struck out against a position player. Given a second chance against Luke Raley, Guerrero hit his fourth career grand slam.

Guerrero had six RBIs and the Blue Jays stopped a five-game losing streak with a 20-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays, scoring their last 10 runs off position players.

Guerrero put Toronto ahead with an RBI single off Taj Bradley (3-1) in the first, had a run-scoring single in the fifth that opened a 10-0 lead and hit a 423-foot grand slam in a nine-run ninth against Raley.

“We were all kind of laughing,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Guerrero’s strikeout on a 50 mph pitch. “It’s hard to do against a dude throwing 40, whatever. You kind of take it for what it’s worth. The fact that he was laughing, I loved it.”

“But, you don’t get Vladdy twice on a position player,” Schneider added. “He’s going to get you.”

Guerrero is hitting .300 with eight homers and 33 RBIs. His six RBIs were one shy of his career high.

All 12 Toronto batters in the game had hits, and the Blue Jays finished with 27 hits – their most since getting 29 against Boston in a 28-5 win last July 22.

Tampa Bay entered with the second-fewest runs allowed in the majors at 170 and gave up its most since a 20-8 loss at Boston on Aug. 11, 2021.

“In fairness, it got a little ugly.” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

George Springer had a career-high four hits, and Bo Bichette, Whit Merrifield, Danny Jansen and Guerrero had three apiece. Springer hit his seventh homer, a solo drive in the third.

“It’s good to see some positives on our side,” Springer said. “It’s just a good day. Hopefully spiral into a lot more.”

Raley, an outfielder and first baseman, allowed seven runs and eight hits over 1 2/3 innings. He threw 27 pitches of 47-54 mph.

“It’s something I can honestly say I never thought I would do … at least have one strikeout in the books,” Raley said.

Catcher Christian Bethancourt entered with two outs in the ninth and gave up Daulton Varsho‘s RBI single and Jansen’s two-run homer.

Raley’s ERA is 30.38 after his second mound appearance this season. Bethancourt’s ERA is 81.00.

“It’s not my favorite place to be,” Raley said. “I told them before, I got rocked in high school, so I can’t imagine what these guys would actually do to me if I tried to pitch. So just try to lob it over the plate and save our bullpen.”

Cash said with a smile that Raley needs to add a changeup.

Zack Burdi gave up six runs in the fifth, five of them earned.

José Berríos (4-4) allowed one run, five hits and two walks, striking out five.

Isaac Paredes homered for the Rays, who dropped to 22-5 at home this season. Tampa Bay leads the majors with 95 home runs.

Bradley gave up four runs and nine hits in four innings.

NUMBERS

Merrifield is 7 for 9 in the series and stole his 14th base. … The 27 hits was most ever allowed by the Rays. … This largest margin of defeat in Tampa Bay history.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu and reliever Chad Green, both coming back from Tommy John surgery, came over from the team’s spring training complex in nearby Dunedin and had bullpen sessions.

“They looked good,” Schnieder said.

Ryu and Green are both expected back this season,

RHP Adam Cimber (upper back) was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.

Rays: 2B Brandon Lowe (neck stiffness) was out of the lineup.

UP NEXT

Toronto LHP Yusei Kikuchi (5-1) and Rays LHP Shane McClanahan (7-0) are Wednesday night’s starters. McClanahan is looking to become the major’s first eight-game winner.

LOS ANGELES – Despite battling injuries all season, the New York Yankees are still managing to pick up victories.

With AL MVP Aaron Judge sidelined after injuring his foot on Saturday, the Yankees got strong pitching and were able to use a little bit of small ball to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 Sunday and take two of three games in the weekend series.

“Just a really good all-around effort. A lot of winning things were happening in that game,” manager Aaron Boone said.

New York plated runs in the seventh and eighth innings on soft-contract grounders before Anthony Volpe provided some insurance with a two-run homer in the ninth.

J.D. Martinez homered for the Dodgers, who dropped the final two games in the series.

Clay Holmes (4-2) pitched one inning to pick up the win, and Wandy Peralta got the last four outs for his fourth save.

It was a pitchers’ duel for six innings between the Yankees’ Domingo Germán and Dodgers’ Bobby Miller. The right-handers matched zeroes as the teams combined for only four hits in the first six innings.

Dodgers’ rookie Miller allowed only one hit in his six innings, becoming the first Dodgers’ pitcher since at least 1901 to allow one hit or fewer within his first three big league starts. The 24-year old right-hander struck out seven and walked two in his third start.

Germán went 6 2/3 innings and allowed one run and four hits, including Martinez’s solo shot to tie it at 1-all in the seventh. The right-hander has limited opponents to one run or fewer in four of his last six starts.

Jake Bauers – who was playing right field in place of Judge – scored the game’s first run in the seventh on Kyle Higashioka‘s broken-bat grounder to short.

Bauers got aboard with a base hit then advanced to third when Brusdar Graterol threw the ball away on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s bunt.

After Martinez’s homer, the Yankees retook the lead in the eighth against Evan Phillips (1-1). Oswaldo Cabrera drove in Anthony Rizzo with the go-ahead run with a slow roller that second baseman Miguel Vargas could only throw to first.

“It not being hit well helps when the fielders have to move a little. That’s what you’re selling out for. Good job by the base runners there,” Boone said.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said both balls could not have been placed any better by the Yankees’ batters.

“I don’t think they had a chance on both balls. The base runners had such a good jump. They were jam shots,” Roberts said. “There were a lot of things we did as far as giving away a couple bases on the defensive side.”

Volpe had two hits after being mired in a 3-for-38 slump his last 11 games. He extended the lead by driving Caleb Ferguson’s fastball over the wall in left-center in the ninth. It was Volpe’s ninth homer, which is second among AL rookies.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence,” said Volpe after the Yankees took four of six on the road trip.

BOMBS AWAY

Martinez evened it in the bottom of the inning with a solo shot to left-center. It was his 10th homer in the last 21 games.

Martinez has 20 homers against the Yankees, his third-most against any club. He has 35 against Baltimore and 23 vs. Cleveland. He is four homers away from 300 for his career.

MILLER TIME

Miller – the 29th overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft – looked like he might have a short outing after throwing 27 pitches in the first inning. He struck out three but also walked two.

Miller retired seven straight between the third and fifth innings before Volpe lined a base hit to center field with two out in the fifth.

“It felt really good. Been working on my slider a lot lately.,” said Miller, who threw 86 pitches, including 39 sliders. “They know I have a good fastball so I have to have my other pitches working as well.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: LHP Nestor Cortes is expected to be placed on the injured list Monday or Tuesday due to a shoulder issue. Manager Aaron Boone said Cortes has been slower to recover between starts and is likely to miss one or two starts. … LHP Carlos Rendon (left forearm strain) will face hitters on Wednesday.

Dodgers: OF Trayce Thompson was placed on the injured list with a left oblique strain. OF Johnny Deluca was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

UP NEXT

Yankees: Return home for six games starting Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-5, 5.01 ERA) has gone at least five innings in six of his last eight starts.

Dodgers: Hit the road starting Tuesday against Cincinnati. RHP Tony Gonsolin (3-1, 1.77 ERA) has gone 3-0 in his last four starts.