TORONTO — The Rays rolled off 13 straight wins to start the season, tying the major league modern-era record shared by the 1982 Braves and ‘87 Brewers, by playing extremely well in all aspects of the game.
They lost the chance to stand alone Friday by playing quite badly, arguably their worst game in their 14th try.
Poor pitching, costly defensive mistakes and a lack of timely hitting all contributed to a 6-3 defeat to the Blue Jays, as the Rays walked off the field without shaking hands for the first time since the March 30 opener.
The 13 wins to open the season matched the second-most all time, behind only the 20 by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons. They also eclipsed the Rays’ previous franchise record of 12 straight at any point in a season.
Drew Rasmussen, who didn’t allow a run in his first 13 innings over two starts, gave up one Friday on his second pitch, a homer to George Springer.
Rasmussen wasn’t sharp, working only into the fifth, allowing eight hits and four walks. He faced 23 Jays, needing 93 pitches to get 13 outs.
He didn’t get much help.
The Jays got a run in the second when ex-Ray Kevin Kiermaier singled with two outs, then moved to second on an errant pick-off throw by catcher Christian Bethancourt. Kiermaier scored as the inning continued with a walk and a double.
With the Rays down 2-1, Rasmussen loaded the bases to open the fifth, allowing singles to Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (which Wander Franco whiffed on) and a walk. He was lifted after striking out Matt Chapman.
Manager Kevin Cash went with lefty Colin Poche, which turned out to be a bad move. Poche walked pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk on four pitches to force in one run and Santiago Espinal on five (a first-pitch strike, followed by four balls) to add another.
Things got worse when Danny Jansen hit a grounder to Franco that should have been an inning-ending double play, but second baseman Brandon Lowe missed the throw, allowing two more runs to score.
The Rays got within 6-3 in the seventh when Josh Lowe and Bethancourt hit back-to-back homers, continuing the team’s streak of at least one home run in each game this season.
Kiermaier said before the game he was “not surprised” that the Rays ran off a long streak given their overall talent and especially the quality of their pitching, but he was hoping his new team would be the one to end it.
“I would love to,” he said. “We show up to the field each and every day to win, and that’s our goal. They’ve been getting a lot of pub, lot of headlines, rightfully so, well deserved, but we’re going to do everything in our power for them to keep that a three- or four-way tie, whatever it is, for all the 13-0 teams out there.”
