Jays starter Ross Stripling plays the unsung hero in shutting down the Rays’ offence
Ross Stripling #RossStripling
Three things you need to know about the Blue Jays’ 5-1 win over the Rays on Wednesday:
Strip-ly amazing
Ross Stripling had another fantastic start, taking a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning before allowing a solo home run to Tampa Bay’s Harold Ramirez. Stripling walked only one over his 6 1/3 innings and allowed no more than one run for the eighth time in 21 starts.
The right-hander has been the Jays’ unsung hero since stepping into the rotation for the injured Hyun-Jin Ryu in June, compiling a 2.82 ERA as a starter. His 0.94 WHIP as a starter would rank fourth in the major leagues if he had enough innings to qualify.
Century mark
It had been a long time coming, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 100th career home run Wednesday. It came in his first at-bat — a high, majestic drive that just snuck over the left-field wall and into the Blue Jays’ bullpen. The homer extended Guerrero’s hit streak to seven games, over which he has hit .306, but it was his first homer since Aug. 30 and only his second in a span of 26 games.
At 23 years and 182 days old, he is the youngest Jay to reach the 100-homer mark and he is about a year and a half younger than his Hall of Fame father was when he did it.
Double, double
Catcher Danny Jansen came into the game having hit two doubles all season. He doubled that total with a pair of two-baggers Wednesday, coming around to score each time. The Rays issued him an intentional walk in his final plate appearance.
Jansen contributed to a big night for the bottom of the batting order. Santiago Espinal made up for forgetting how many outs there were in the seventh with a three-hit night and the bottom four hitters combined to go 7-for-13, scoring four runs.
Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness SHARE:
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