March 9, 2020

By Lukas Weese

Canadian Baseball Network

DUNEDIN, Fla-- As Blue Jays pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu began his start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday afternoon, fans got a glimpse of how an ace can impact a team.

The Blue Jays have possessed aces in the past — Dave Stieb and Roy Halladay come to mind. But the younger generation of Blue Jays fans is yearning for that solid arm at the top of the club’s rotation.

After his latest performance - 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the Blue Jays’ 8-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday afternoon - Ryu, who signed a four-year, $80-million contract in the off-season, is looking like the ace the club signed him to be.

“It’s not the same on TV,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo on Ryu’s performance. “When you see him live, now you know why he has success. No one knows what’s coming.”

Before the game, Montoyo stated that Ryu’s pitch limit would be between 65 and 70 over four innings. The left-hander would throw 64 pitches in his second spring start, 44 of them for strikes. He struck out four batters on the day.

The veteran southpaw threw a variety of pitches, including a 72-mph curveball and a 90-mph fastball.

Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que.), Travis Shaw, Danny Jansen, Riley Adams, Alejandro Kirk and Vinny Capra scored for the Blue Jays (8-6-2) who have now won two in a row.

Michael Smith, Taylor Walls and Joey Roach responded with runs for the Rays (9–6-4) who are now 1-1 against Toronto in Grapefruit League action.

The Blue Jays started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Rays lefty Blake Snell walked Shaw with the bases loaded, which brought home Bichette. Jansen then followed with a grand slam to left field. It was catcher’s third home run of the spring and continues a stellar stretch for him. He leads the Blue Jays in batting average (.429), home runs and has driven in a run in four consecutive games.

Adams, who took over for Jansen behind the plate for the Blue Jays, hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning that scored Kirk and Capra and widened his club’s lead to eight runs.

Shaw went 1-for-2 in Monday’s game to extend his hit and RBI streak to four games. After recording zero RBIs in his first six spring games, the Blue Jays first baseman now has five in his last four contests.

The Rays scored their three runs in the ninth inning. Joey Roach recorded an RBI single with a ground ball to first base that plated Smith. Dalton Kelly then followed with a line drive single to right field that brought home Wells. Brett Sullivan, the next batter, socked an RBI-double to left field that scored Roach, but Kelly was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the frame.

Travis Bergen was then summoned from the Blue Jays’ bullpen and he got Miles Mastrobuoni to fly out to left field for the game’s final out.

The Blue Jays out hit the Rays seven to six in the contest.