TAMPA, Fla. — When Toronto Blue Jays players entered the visitors’ clubhouse on Friday afternoon, they were greeted by a massive photo of Tropicana Field’s damaged roof. The picture, hanging on the wall and featuring a U.S. flag waving in the foreground, served as reminder of why MLB regular-season games are taking place here in a minor-league ballpark.
Of course, the Trop’s roof was ripped to shreds by Hurricane Milton last October, forcing the Tampa Bay Rays to play this season at George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring-training home of the New York Yankees.
“Pulling up to the stadium, it just felt like it was spring training all over again,” said Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes. “And then, the fact that it’s the Rays as opposed to the Yankees, it was a little weird, but it’s still a baseball field.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the club expected it to be hot — the temperature at first pitch was 30 C— and knew the ball would travel well to right field. He also expressed confidence that plenty of Blue Jays players had familiarity with the ballpark from spring visits over the years, with several even playing in night games, as well. Schneider also noted that some on his club had experience with playing out of their comfort zones due to the 2020 and ’21 pandemic campaigns that caused the Blue Jays to play home games in Buffalo and Dunedin, Fla.
In the end, though, the unfamiliar-familiar stadium and its quirks didn’t factor into Friday’s result, a 3-1 Rays victory over the Blue Jays in front of a sellout crowd of 10,046. The loss snapped Toronto’s three-game win streak as the club fell back to the .500 mark (25-25).
The Blue Jays had several chances to score, but just couldn’t push across runs in key situations.
Jonatan Clase doubled in the third and Nathan Lukes followed up with a single but was gunned down at second by catcher Danny Jansen as he tried to advance on the throw home. That was the second out of the inning and hurt a potential rally. The Blue Jays had runners on first and third against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen in the next frame but Addison Barger struck out during a nine-pitch at bat.
In the fifth, the first two runners reached before Bo Bichette ripped a 110.1-m.p.h. shot that third baseman Junior Caminero scooped with a nice pick before firing to second to start an inning-ending double play. In the seventh, the Blue Jays loaded the bases with none out on three walks from Rays reliever Mason Montgomery but reliever Manuel Rodríguez induced a double play from Clase that plated a run but halted the visiting side’s momentum.
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Left-hander Eric Lauer started for the Blue Jays and surrendered homers to Brandon Lowe and Curtis Mead that counted for all the Rays’ scoring. Lauer was making his second start of the season, with his first coming last week against the Detroit Tigers — a three inning, one-run performance.
He allowed the three runs on six hits, walking two and striking out two over 4.1 innings. Ideally, Lauer would have lasted longer into the game as Schneider lifted starter Bowden Francis early on Thursday and had to use seven relievers in an eventual 11-inning win over the San Diego Padres.
Braydon Fisher retired all five hitters he faced, four via strikeouts, while Chad Green and Jose Urena contributed scoreless frames in Friday’s loss.