Ezequiel Carrera Leads Blue Jays To 3-2 Win Over Rays With Pinch-Hit Homer

In their quest to chase a spot in the playoffs on Monday night, the Toronto Blue Jays received their saving grace from an unlikely hero: Ezequiel Carrera. 

Ezequiel Carrera Leads Blue Jays To 3-2 Win Over Rays With Pinch-Hit Homer

Carrera hit a stunning pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Blue Jays to a 3-2 home victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night.

The seldom-used outfielder had merely nine home runs during his six-year career before the series opener against the Rays, but his tenth homer may have been his biggest one yet.

The two teams were locked in a 2-2 tie when Carrera kicked off the eighth with an opposite-field solo homer over the wall in left field. The homer, combined with a two-run blast by Jose Bautista earlier in the game and 6 1/3 strong innings from lefty Francisco Liriano were enough for the Blue Jays to keep pace in the division.

“Zeke hadn’t been playing a whole heck of a lot and he went through some struggles for a short while, too,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of Carrera. “But you look back to when Bautista went down, for a while he became our spark-plug. So I thought let’s give him a shot and maybe he’ll spark us, get on base or something, and then we have the top of the lineup coming up, and he did it in a big way … So yeah, great job Zeke.”

Steven Souza Jr. made the final out of the game when he fired a shot to deep center field that Kevin Pillar chased after.

With the win, Toronto gained a one-game lead over Baltimore, who lost to Boston, for the American League’s first Wild Card. Toronto also stayed two games behind Boston for first place in the AL East.

Evan Longoria and Brad Miller each scored for the Rays in the seventh, though the rest of Tampa Bay’s offense struggled. Reliever Brad Boxberger took the loss while Jake Odorizzi took the no-decision despite holding Toronto’s offense to two runs over seven strong innings.

“What a ballgame,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “That’s about as well-pitched as you’re going to see on both sides. Liriano was very good, very efficient. Odo matched him right there all the way to the end. Not a ton of hitting, but the hits that came were big ones. Very impressive that we came back with the back-to-back homers from Longo and Miller.”

Carrera’s second career pinch-hit homer came at a great time for the Jays. The backup outfielder has primarily been used as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement in the second half of the season. Per Statcast, Carrera’s career-high fifth homer of the season traveled 340 feet and left the bat at 97 mph. It was Toronto’s first pinch-hit homer since Carrera had one on July 25, 2015, against the Mariners.

“I was going in there aggressive,” said Carrera, who picked up his first hit since Aug. 24. “I know the pitchers, when they have a pinch-hitter coming, they’re aggressive, they want to attack the hitter. So from my side, I just tried to be aggressive and look for a good pitch to hit.”

In the fourth, Souza Jr. ranged toward the warning track and made an impressive catch on Troy Tulowitzki’s drive to deep right field, crashing into the wall in the process. Souza crumpled to the field before limping to the dugout.

Odorizzi earned another quality start, allowing two runs in seven innings, but came away with another no-decision– his 15th of the season, thus setting a franchise record.

Tampa Bay challenged the safe call at second when Devon Travis doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Following a 42-second delay, the call on the field was upheld, and Travis later scored on the two-run homer by Bautista.

The two teams will face off again for the middle game of their three-game series at Rogers Centre on Tuesday night. Left-hander Drew Smyly (6-11, 5.05 ERA) will make his 28th start for the Rays (60-83, 5th in AL East), while righty Marcus Stroman (9-7, 4.55 ERA) will take the mound for the Blue Jays (79-64, 2nd in AL East). Smyly has allowed a career-high 30 home runs this season. Stroman most recently faced Tampa Bay on Sept. 2 and allowed four runs — three earned — on five hits over six innings in a loss.

TORONTO, CANADA – SEPTEMBER 12: Ezequiel Carrera #3 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates after hitting a pinch-hit solo home run in the eighth inning during MLB game action against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 12, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)