Jonathan Aranda homered in his second straight game to help Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.
Aranda’s two-run homer off Yariel Rodriguez (1-7) gave his team a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
On Friday, Aranda gave the Rays the victory with another homer in a 1-0 win.
“I’m really excited about him,” Bradley said. “When I played with him at the AAA level, they gave him enough playing time to progress. And it’s showing now.”
Bradley (7-11) allowed one run in five innings for his first win since July 25. The right-hander, who struck out four, was 0-7 with a 7.88 ERA in his previous nine starts.
“I was really proud of him for pitching five innings,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Bradley threw 103 pitches, including 67 strikes. “That’s a lot of pitches in five innings.”
Drew Rasmussen struck out three batters in two perfect innings to earn his first save.
Rodriguez allowed four hits and three walks in four innings. He also struck out three batters in his 20th start of the season, his first in major league baseball.
“I think it was a good year for him in terms of his work routine, his innings and understanding how things work at the major league level,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
“It was good to see that. There’s still a long way to go, but the innings he threw were very important for him.”
The Jays threatened in the first three innings but were unable to score.
They had just one hit in nine chances with a runner in scoring position.
Alejandro Kirk extended his career-high hitting streak to 14 games with a drive-in triple in the seventh. It was the first triple of his career.
The Blue Jays scored their first run on a single by Spencer Horwitz in the fifth.
Vladimir Guerrero has three hits and has a .324 batting average.
2024-09-22 05:14:28