Blake Snell sharp as Rays beat Blue Jays in series opener
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Blake Snell took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays opened the playoffs Tuesday with a 3-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Manuel Margot hit a two-run homer and Randy Arozarena tripled and scored on a wild pitch to give Snell and a dominant Tampa Bay bullpen all the support needed to begin the best-of-three wild-card matchup.
The AL East champion Rays will try to advance Wednesday in Game 2 at Tropicana Field.
Snell allowed just two baserunners until Alejandro Kirk singled leading off the sixth. The 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed one hit and struck out nine — tying a club postseason record — in 5 ⅔ innings.
Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks followed Snell, limiting the Blue Jays to two singles, two doubles and Bo Bichette’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly the rest of the way.
Fairbanks closed for his first save of the season as Rays manager Kevin Cash kept taking a fresh and innovative approach to using his pitching staff.
Toronto reliever Robbie Ray took the loss, giving up one run and one hit in three innings. Margot hit his homer to left-center field off A.J. Cole to push Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-0 in the seventh inning.
The wild-card Blue Jays broke through in the eighth against Anderson, who didn’t allow a run in 18 of 19 regular-season appearances.
Rowdy Tellez’s pinch-hit single gave Toronto a spark. Cavan Biggio followed with a double before Biggio delivered his sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Fairbanks worked a scoreless ninth to become the 13th different pitcher to earn a save for the Rays this season.
With a league-best 40-20 record, they captured their first division title in 10 years. Tampa Bay also won six of 10 meetings against Toronto despite being outscored 48-44 and...