Kikuchi takes step in right direction but Jays still lose in Tampa Bay

Here are the three things to know about the Blue Jays’ 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field:

Losing grip

Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi retired the first seven batters he faced, but his season-long command problems resurfaced in the third. With one out, Kikuchi hit Roman Quinn and then allowed a bloop single before walking Yu Chan to load the bases. Kikuchi did an admirable job of limiting the damage from there, holding the Rays to a sacrifice fly, but he allowed another run in the fourth and didn’t come back out for the fifth. It was a step in the right direction for the struggling lefty, but two earned runs across four innings still equates to a 4.50 ERA.

Teo Time

Teoscar Hernández was one of the only bright spots in the Jays’ lineup for the series finale. In the first inning, Hernandez opened the scoring with an RBI double to left. In the fourth, the 29-year-old sent a 1-0 offering from Ryan Yarbrough over the wall in left for his 15th homer of the season. Hernandez has eight doubles with eight homers and 23 RBIs with 38 hits over his last 32 games.

Still no Springer

The Jays offence remained quiet for the second consecutive day, and it didn’t help that George Springer was forced to miss another game because of his wonky elbow. Springer has missed each of the last three games because of soreness, which has been lingering since well before the all-star break. The Jays have yet to place him on the injured list and remain hopeful that he’ll return soon but his presence was missed in Tampa. The Jays were limited to five runs across the mini two-game series, and they finished with just four hits on Wednesday.

SHARE: