Prior to the series opener against the White Sox on Tuesday night, manager Charlie Montoyo mentioned one of the keys to success for the Blue Jays’ 13-game stretch was their starting pitchers going deep in games.
Well, it seemed like left-hander Robbie Ray heard his skipper loud and clear. Ray logged 6 1/3 innings and 13 strikeouts in Toronto’s 6-1 loss at Guaranteed Rate Field. It didn’t result in a win, but it was the best Ray has looked all season. Montoyo’s pride in his starter was palatable during the postgame Zoom call.
“I just think he was outstanding. It was almost like watching a no-hitter. Kind of just 'let him go, let him go,' and face whatever, whoever,” Montoyo said. “It was fun watching Robbie pitch. He was on, he's been great.”
Ray was tasked with setting the tone for a vital two-week span that will see the Blue Jays go up against their American League East rivals. They'll need to create distance between themselves and the Yankees, but also zero in on the Red Sox in divisional play. It was a tall task for any starting pitcher, especially going up against one of the best teams in baseball, but Ray made it look easy against the AL Central-leading White Sox.
He worked with an early 1-0 lead on Jonathan Davis’ sacrifice fly that scored Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the second inning. Ray mowed down Chicago hitters with his four-seam fastball and slider, as the two pitches accounted for all of 20 swings-and-misses, while also retiring five consecutive batters as he dialed in.
As the game unfolded, Ray became more dominant.
He didn’t walk a batter among the 25 he faced as he racked up over a dozen strikeouts for the fourth time in his career. Ray has made drastic improvements to his walk rate that soared to 17.9% in 51 2/3 innings last season, while he’s worked to below 6% this season in over 60 innings. The improvement to his command in the zone can be attributed to his confidence in his slider, which topped 92 mph against the White Sox, according to Statcast.
"It's just continued comfortability with it. I think I'm just feeling better and better with it each outing,” Ray said. “So I think it's just trusting it, trusting when I throw it, it's gonna do what I want it to do. I think that's kind of added into the velocity, it's just having that trust.”
But the long ball and facing the lineup for a third time bogged him down once again. After Ray recorded his 13th strikeout for the first out in the seventh inning, Chicago’s Andrew Vaughn hit a solo homer to tie the game and put a dent in Ray’s final line.
"I made my pitch, guy put a really good swing on it and hit a home run, and I think that's gonna happen,” Ray said. “I felt like my stuff was great all night. You know, make a good pitch and hitters are gonna hit good pitches sometimes, so in that situation you tip your cap. I don't regret anything that I did tonight.”
Montoyo echoed the same sentiment.
“I wouldn't call 97 miles per hour in the outside corner a mistake,” Montoyo said. “You just got to give the guy credit for going the opposite way.”
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Toronto’s bullpen labored in a decisive five-run eighth as Trent Thornton loaded the bases with two singles and a walk -- he was charged with three runs -- before Carl Edwards Jr. came on and was tagged for two more.