Fuld and Bautista show ends in McDonald walk off

April 22, 2011

A: Toronto Blue Jays

Attendance: 23, 192

W: Marc Repczynski(2-0) 4.00 ERA

L: Adam Russell (1-1) 3.38 ERA

Summary:

The Rays and the Jays were making their first of many acquaintances of 2011 tonight and it was a memorable match-up. In fact, it was made possible because of two players: Sam Fuld for the Rays and Jose Bautista for the Blue Jays. Fuld singled, stole second, moved to third on a grounder and scored on a sac fly by B.J. Upton in the first. Bautista scored after doubling in the bottom of the first on a single by Adam Lind.

Fuld singled in the third, moved up to second on a ground out and this time stole third. Upton knocked him in again.

In the Blue Jay fourth, Bautista tripled and scored on a Lind double. The Rays took the lead in the fifth when Fuld tripled home a run and scored another. Not to be outdone, Bautista homered to bring the Jays within one.

Jeremy Hellickson who started the game for the Rays had another good, not great outing. He danced in and out of trouble through seven innings, allowing three runs. Joel Peralta gave a run in the eighth by allowing a rare walk to Bautista who eventually came in to score on an Edwin Encarnacion double.

The game stayed tied until the bottom of the eleventh. James McDonald homered to win the game for the Jays. He was only in the game because the starting second baseman Jayson Nix was spiked by Sean Rodriguez on a double play attempt and had to leave the contest.

It was a disappointing loss for the Rays, who certainly could have won the game. Outside of Fuld, though, they weren’t able to generate enough offense. For example, Johnny Damon doubled to lead off the eighth, but his teammates couldn’t score him, which proved would have proved to be a very important insurance run.

Player of the Game: Jose Bautista. He went three for three with two walks and scored four runs. He showed in this game why he’s a possible MVP candidate. He was a destructive force not only at the plate but on the base paths.

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