TORONTO -- After seeing their starters struggle throughout a long weekend in Boston, the Rays sent the right man to the mound on Monday night.
Fresh off his first trip to the All-Star Game last week, veteran right-hander Nick Martinez brought the energy the Rays needed. He paced the dugout, as usual, saying he was “trying to get the boys going.” He stayed on the attack all night. And he did what he’s done best all season for Tampa Bay.
Win.
The Rays’ rotation anchor and clubhouse leader held the Blue Jays to one run over six innings, setting the tone in a 7-1 win over Toronto at Rogers Centre that put an end to Tampa Bay’s five-game losing streak.
“He’s been huge for us all season long,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We needed a really good start. He gave us one.”
The Rays’ first victory since July 11 improved their record to 15-4 behind Martinez this season. Interestingly, they are also 6-1 when the 35-year-old takes the mound for them after a loss. That felt relevant on Monday, as the Rays were looking for someone to help them reset after four straight games up against the Red Sox buzzsaw.
Martinez came through, delivering his 10th quality start of the season, tied with fellow All-Star Drew Rasmussen for the team lead. It was the 18th time in 19 starts this season that Martinez held his opponent to three runs or fewer, matching Yankees ace Cam Schlittler and Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski for the most such outings in the Majors this season. This one lowered his ERA to 2.59, third-best in the American League and sixth-lowest in the Majors.
“Good one to bounce back from, right?” Martinez said. “We had a couple heartbreakers in Boston against a really hot team and [tried] to stop the bleeding. I think it was just switching our mindset to just doing what we’ve got to do to win the ballgame.”
Martinez didn’t record a strikeout for the first time all season against the Jays’ contact-oriented lineup. He didn’t need one. Toronto put 23 balls in play against him, but only five were hard-hit (with an exit velocity of 95 mph or more), according to Statcast.
That is his game. Martinez doesn’t overpower hitters with big-time velocity or nasty breaking stuff. He pounds the strike zone, challenges hitters to make contact and keeps them off-balance with a steady mix of his three fastballs and changeup.
“I'm not really a stuff guy,” Martinez said, smiling, “so I better be able to pitch.”
That he can. Take it from Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who watched from the AL dugout as Martinez pitched a clean inning at Citizens Bank Park last Tuesday.
“He just pitches to weak contact. We had some pitches to hit that we didn't, and that's the difference. You know he's going to stay on the edges,” Schneider said. “The dude made the All-Star Game, and that’s how he pitches.”
Meanwhile, the Rays’ lineup returned to form against the pitcher who started last week’s Midsummer Classic: Jays ace Dylan Cease.
Victor Mesa Jr. set the tone for that in his own right, taking a 2-2 sinker from Cease a Statcast-projected 412 feet to center in the second inning. It marked Mesa’s third straight game with a home run -- Sunday’s was an inside-the-park job -- as he continues to make the most of his increased playing time.
“He's really swinging the bat well. It did give us a jolt,” Cash said. “Talented kid that is really swinging the bat well, playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Cedric Mullins blasted his 12th homer of the season to straightaway center in the sixth. Cease hadn’t given up a home run in six starts since May 24, and the Rays upped his season total from five to seven in six innings.
The Rays found other ways to score, too, getting everyone involved on a night that ended with celebratory music once again playing inside their clubhouse.
Jonathan Aranda drove in Taylor Walls with a third-inning single. Nick Fortes capitalized on some sloppy defense in the fifth, reaching second on a grounder to third base then scoring when Yandy Díaz rolled a ball between Gold Glove shortstop Andrés Giménez’s legs. And Junior Caminero went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, giving him 62 on the year.
“We're together as a team, and [when] I [saw] the guys around before the game today, I said, 'Really good energy,’” Caminero said. “We'll just keep it going.”