With the Toronto Blue Jays taking on the Tampa Bay Rays this week, I thought it would be a good time to break out some photos of the last time these teams played at the Dome in September.
September 26
The Blue Jays beat the Rays and nemesis Chris Archer 10-8 in David Price‘s final regular season start in a Toronto uniform. The Jays learned they were heading to the postseason well after beating the Rays in the series opener on the Friday night. MLB was slow on the ball to declare this and I guarantee if it were any of the 29 other teams, they would have been able to celebrate the fact immediately after winning. Instead, the delayed celebration took place in the clubhouse after the game.
The Jays built leads of 5-0 and 10-5 but the Rays would not give up. 2012 C’s pitcher Roberto Osuna managed to lock it down as the drive for the AL East championship continued. Jose Bautista homered twice and Russell Martin went deep as well.
September 27
Mark Buehrle got the start as he was hoping to go deep enough to give him a realistic shot at another 200-inning season. The Rays grabbed a 4-1 before Justin Smoak smoked a two-run shot in the sixth to bring the Jays closer. Smoak was pinch-run for by 2012 C’s outfielder Dalton Pompey and the Mississauga, Ontario native scampered home on a hit by 2011 C’s outfielder Kevin Pillar to tie the game at 4-4 in the eighth. Then Josh Donaldson put the capper on his MVP campaign with a walkoff homer to give the Jays a 5-4 win and a three-game sweep.
I was glad Donaldson homered when he did because I had a flight to catch. Hopefully, the Jays rediscover the magic of 2015 and find a way to defend their AL East title.
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