Yandy Díaz hit a three-run residence run and the Tampa Bay Rays — beginning an unprecedented 9 Latin American players on Roberto Clemente Day — routed Toronto 11-0 on Thursday to drag inside a half-game of the Blue Jays within the wild-card chase.
Clemente, the late Hall of Fame outfielder from Puerto Rico, was a two-time World Series winner and NL MVP who performed 18 seasons with Pittsburgh. The Blue Jays’ Latin American starters are from 5 international locations: Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
“Very happy, especially on a day like today,” Díaz mentioned. “I think the Latinos are really putting a stamp on the game of baseball.”
All 9 Rays starters, in addition to bases coaches Chris Prieto and Rodney Linares, wore No. 21 to honor Clemente. The 9 starters posed for a photograph on the sphere after the sport.
Díaz mentioned he hoped to place his jersey and a lineup card in a body to recollect the historic day.
Rays supervisor Kevin Cash mentioned the lineup was based mostly on the batters he needed to face Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman.
“Gausman we’ve bought as a reverse-split man, so load up the righties,” Cash mentioned. (*9*)
Shane McClanahan returned from the injured checklist to pitch 5 shutout innings.
“I’ve been dying to get back and help this team any way I can,” McClanahan mentioned.
Isaac Paredes hit a solo residence run and added an RBI single because the Rays (80-63) gained the fifth and closing sport of the sequence. Toronto (81-63) will play a four-game sequence at Tampa Bay, beginning subsequent Thursday.
Seattle (80-62), which holds one of many three AL wild-card spots, was idle Thursday, however moved share factors forward of Toronto.
Díaz homered in a four-run second inning, his ninth. Paredes made it 5-0 with a leadoff blast within the seventh, his nineteenth.
Randy Arozarena had three hits, together with an RBI single within the ninth, and Manuel Margot added a three-run double later within the six-run body as Tampa Bay piled on in opposition to right-handers Trevor Richards and David Phelps.
Activated off the injured checklist after lacking 15 video games due to a left shoulder impingement, McClanahan (12-5) allowed three hits, struck out 5 and walked one.
“We’re better with him than without him, no doubt about it,” Cash mentioned. He’s such a proficient pitcher.”
The left-hander pitched round a pair of singles within the first inning, then retired 14 of the ultimate 16 batters he confronted. He lowered his ERA to 2.13.
“Today he was so nasty,” Rays catcher René Pinto mentioned. “We are not machines but he looks like one.”
JT Chargois bought two outs within the sixth, Jason Adam labored 1 1/3 innings, Javy Guerra pitched the eighth and Kevin Herget completed the six-hitter, Tampa Bay’s tenth shutout.
Gausman (12-10) allowed 5 runs and 6 hits in seven innings, snapping a streak of 4 straight profitable choices. He struck out seven and walked one.
“Too many mistakes and mistakes magnified with guys on base,” Gausman mentioned.
After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette hit back-to-back singles within the first, the pair executed a double steal. McClanahan escaped by hanging out Matt Chapman and getting Teoscar Hernández to fly out.
Bichette doubled off JT Chargois within the sixth and superior on Chapman’s infield single however Hernández struck out earlier than Adam got here on to strike out pinch hitter Cavan Biggio.