Blue Jays return home to play final six games of their lost season

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Fittingly, and quite painfully, when reflecting on the team’s 2024 body of work, the Blue Jays wrapped up the road portion of the season with a bullpen day on Sunday.

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Rewind back to opening day on March 28 at the Trop and the Jays used three relievers — Trevor Richards, Nate Pearson and Tim Mayza — who combined for three scoreless innings in support of Jose Berrios for an easy win.

How times have changed, how so much change must be made this winter in the pen for Toronto to return to any semblance of relevance. From the bullpen that opened the season that day, only Chad Green and Genesis Cabrera made it to Sunday’s 4-3 loss as the Rays swept the weekend series.

Decisions await, but any meaningful gains in 2025 will hinge on the strength of the bullpen, a deficiency this season that management was never able to address.

Ryan Burr served as the opener on Sunday, retiring four of the five batters he faced — three by strikeout — before turning things over to lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who tacked on four innings of one-run ball against his former team.

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Zach Pop replaced Yarbrough with one out in the sixth inning and retired his first batter before becoming the latest victim of Jonathan Aranda, who lifted a fly ball into right field for a two-run homer, his third dinger in as many games, to give the Rays a 2-1 lead.

First base was open, but the Jays opted not to issue the intentional walk. Of Aranda’s 10 career homers, six have come against the Blue Jays.

After the teams traded runs in the seventh inning, the Rays went up by two when Brandon Lowe belted a solo homer in the eighth off Swanson.

Of course, the Jays had to make it interesting in the ninth.

Edwin Uceta, Tampa’s fifth reliever of the afternoon, issued a leadoff walk to pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk and a one-out double to Ernie Clement and Toronto had the tying runs in scoring position.

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With first base open, Tampa elected to pitch to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who sent the first pitch he saw into centre for his 100th RBI of the season.

Clement had to hold at third and wound up stranded there as Spencer Horwitz popped out and Luis De Los Santos grounded out to end it.

In the final road game of the season, the Jays would see their record drop to 73-83, while Tampa reached the .500 mark at 78-78 and remains in the American League wild-card chase.

THE PURSUIT OF 200

With Boston in town for a three-game set beginning Monday, Jays fans will at least to get see Danny Jansen and more at-bats from Guerrero as he chases 200 hits.

Tony Fernandez became the first player in Blue Jays history to reach 200 hits in a single season when he recorded 213 in 1986. Vernon Wells holds the team record for most hits when he produced 215 in 2003. John Olerud, Paul Molitor and Shannon Stewart are fellow members of that exclusive Jays club.

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With yet another three-hit effort on Sunday — his fourth in his past six games — Guerrero is now six hits shy of joining the 200 club.

AROUND THE BASES

With two outs in the fourth inning and the bases loaded, Leo Jimenez hit a sac fly into centre field as the Jays had their first lead of the series. The inning ended on a Jonatan Clase fly ball to left field … The Jays resorted to small ball in the seventh inning when Nathan Lukes attempted to bunt home Clase, who was tagged out at the plate. Clement, however. stepped up by driving in the tying run with a single … Clase had his first multi-hit game in his second start with the Blue Jays since his callup from triple-A Buffalo, including a leadoff double in that seventh inning.

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