By The Tampa Bay Rays needed someone to stop the bleeding following a difficult weekend in Boston, and Nick Martinez answered the call.
Martinez delivered six strong innings, while Victor Mesa Jr., Cedric Mullins and Nick Fortes each homered as the Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1 Monday night at Rogers Centre.
The victory snapped Tampa Bay’s season-high five-game losing streak and improved the Rays to 57-42. It was their first win since July 11 and their sixth victory in seven games against Toronto this season.
“We needed a really good start,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He gave us one. He’s been huge for us all season long.”
Martinez allowed one run on six hits and one walk over six innings, improving to 9-2 and lowering his ERA to 2.59. He did not record a strikeout, but generated soft contact and consistently kept Toronto’s hitters off balance.
It was his 10th quality start and the 18th time in 19 outings that he held an opponent to three runs or fewer. Tampa Bay is now 15-4 in games started by Martinez and 6-1 when he pitches following a Rays loss.
“Good one to bounce back from, right?” Martinez said. “We had a couple heartbreakers in Boston against a really hot team. I think it was just switching our mindset to just doing what we’ve got to do to win the ballgame.”
The Rays gave Martinez an early lead when Mesa drove a 2-2 sinker from Dylan Cease an estimated 412 feet to center field in the second inning. It was Mesa’s third consecutive game with a home run and his eighth homer of the season.
“He’s really swinging the bat well,” Cash said. “It did give us a jolt. Talented kid that is really swinging the bat well, playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Tampa Bay extended its lead in the third. Taylor Walls doubled, advanced to third on Cease’s throwing error and scored on Jonathan Aranda’s single.
Toronto pulled within 2-1 on Alejandro Kirk’s fourth-inning RBI single, but the Rays took advantage of two Blue Jays errors to score twice in the fifth. Fortes scored when shortstop Andrés Giménez misplayed Yandy Díaz’s grounder, and Díaz raced home on Caminero’s single.
Mullins restored Tampa Bay’s momentum by opening the sixth with his 12th home run, driving Cease’s first-pitch breaking ball over the center-field wall. Caminero added an RBI double in the seventh before Fortes completed the scoring with a ninth-inning homer.
Caminero finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and two RBIs, raising his season total to 62. The Rays collected 13 hits and received contributions throughout the lineup after struggling to generate consistent offense during their losing streak.
“We’re together as a team,” Caminero said. “When I saw the guys around before the game today, I said, ‘Really good energy.’ We’ll just keep it going.”
Cam Booser, Casey Legumina and Bryan Baker combined for three scoreless innings behind Martinez, ensuring there would be no late comeback.
After losing five straight and being swept in four games at Fenway Park, the Rays responded with the type of complete performance that carried them to the top of the American League East: dependable starting pitching, power throughout the lineup and a bullpen capable of finishing the job.
The Rays and Blue Jays meet tonight in game two of the four-game series. Drew Rasmussen will get the start for the Rays.
