Rays belt three homers to beat Blue Jays 7-1

sportsJul 21, 202627454

Victor Mesa Jr., Cedric Mullins and Nick Fortes each hit solo homers as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1 in the series opener at Rogers Centre. Mesa hit his eighth home run with one out in the second, Mullins led off the sixth with his 12th, and Fortes opened the ninth with his third. Dylan Cease (6-5) allowed the first two homers and lasted six innings, 101 pitches, three earned runs on seven hits, one walk and seven strikeouts; reliever Brendon Little took the loss after surrendering Fortes’s blast. Nick Martinez (9-2) went six innings for the Rays, allowing one run on six hits with a walk and no strikeouts; Tampa Bay halted a five-game losing streak in front of 40,837 fans. Toronto’s only run came on Alejandro Kirk’s two-out single in the fourth, which ended a 16-inning scoreless stretch, and defensive errors by Kazuma Okamoto and Andres Gimenez produced two unearned Tampa Bay runs. The victory left Tampa Bay 57-42 and American League-leading, while Toronto fell to 46-54, eight games under .500; Kevin Gausman will face Drew Rasmussen in Tuesday’s second game of the four-game set.

kat, ghost of helenruthsghost

@chaoskat.bsky.social

May have found out why the Blue Jays are struggling

7444d ago

kat, ghost of helenruthsghost65

You: unrolls a list of advanced stats and metrics explaining why a baseball team is bad Me: unrolls an ancient parchment showing all the ways they have angered the baseball gods

Yolanda1

Went to a Celtics game 🏀 and learned they have an artist-in-residence program and every game they hand out posters or the big screen graphics from the artist. Every pro team should do this, promote artists from the community, one of a kind art.

thewalkingjohn.bsky.social1

Even if AI wasn’t a plague on society, that still looks stupid.

Shawn Micallef

@shawnmicallef.bsky.social

Guys I haven’t talked about this publicly but last year I got bamboozled. I got emotionally involved w something that had a lot of promise but has been, frankly, deeply depressing & I’m looking to lash out. Is there any way I can blame the state of the Toronto Blue Jays on Rogers?

7444d ago

Shawn Micallef13

People are telling me they’ve spent a lot of money. So rogers most have done something else v bad. Something else that made God smite the team.

Andrew Wahl 🇨🇦4

I’m feeling like a genius (rare!) for hedging my bets and not dropping bags of money on the now very expensive SportsNet+ just to watch them. Silver lining on the garbage heap. It will be a downer to see some great players go.

mlongfield.bsky.social4

They didn't even cheap out last postseason. Made some big moves to (in theory) improve the roster. And it's not like Bichette is lighting it up with NYM.

Kevin Stewart3

Honestly no, they’ve invested a ton in the team and they have one of the highest payrolls in the league. It’s absolutely not Rogers’ fault

Jess 🌙3

yes. absolutely. telecom monopolies are bad for baseball.

LoriLori253

I wouldn't even ask you to prove it. It sounds about right.

Acting the Fulemin

@actingthefulemin.bsky.social

my suggestion is Carney picks a random blue jays game, we collectively drink all the American booze left in the country while watching them ground into nine double plays, and then we drunkenly sing O Canada at midnight in a moment of national unity. vote Fulemin for more great ideas like Spite Night

6645d ago

sens, eh?3

“what do you mean they attacked the very next day?? how did they know we’d all be too hungover to mount a defense??”

Sheryl2

I'm American, and I'd make the drive to Toronto for that party.

Stephen Randle 🍁🍁🍁1

I'm in favour of Spite Night, but any plan requiring the 2026 Jays to put enough runners on base to ground into nine double plays might be a problem

Frinkiac Reply Guy1

This is the hard hitting analysis I’m here for.

Quoting this

Rick4

@avilewis.ca Hire Fulemin as campaign director. Remember, Doug Ford won on buck a beer....

Keegan Matheson

@keeganmatheson.bsky.social

After tonight's 0-for-4, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is now batting .259 with a .695 OPS. Even as we watch it all happen, I can't believe that it keeps stretching on. Baffling season. #BlueJays

5345d ago

Chuck 🍁2

It's inconceivable that it's been almost a year since he's hit a regular season home run at Rogers Centre.

Ryan B2

Think we gotta fire the hitting coach

Kerry 🇵🇸2

Maybe he's actually left handed? Worth looking in to

Horn Slack1

Is he battling an injury?

DJTaxman771

At least we didn't sign Bo for 43 million a year. Not doing any better than Vladdy.

shad3sofyesterday.bsky.social1

Can he see the baseball? Is he hurt? Why are you playing through injury if you're hurt in a lost ass season. Why is jon continuing to bat him 2nd or 3rd in the lineup? Anyone else gets pushed down the lineup. Vlad keeps his spot... this is as much on jon than it is on vlad sucking.

Ben Nicholson-Smith

@bnsbaseball.bsky.social

some loud boos at Rogers Centre as Nick Fortes homers again & the Blue Jays fall behind 8-0

2444d ago

Gabriel D. Brodeur1

A season to soon forget. Coming so close to winning the world series takes a toll.

Rick City

@rickcity.bsky.social

I'm now getting mad at the 2025 Blue Jays for making me care about the 2026 Blue Jays. I was perfectly fine being a casual fan. Now I'm watching this garbage regularly

1945d ago

Reylinn1

I think after months of injury nonsense it's not surprising that the team is meh. I'm waiting on 2027 at this point.

Vanessa 🍁1

As a life long fan, I can confirm - they are playing like dog shit

Bob Johnsonnnnohwait.1

Everything went right in 2025, except those final games. This year feels like cease and Ernie and varland are the only things going right

Minor Leaguer

@minorleaguer.ca

On the bright side, the Blue Jays missing the Postseason may mean money for an extra vacation for me.

1645d ago

Paul Frank4

Trip to Spain bought and paid for. Zero regrets.

Rivers1

WestJet has some really reasonably priced flights to Costa Rica

LoriLori251

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. (??!!) 😉

D.M. Fox

@dmfox.bsky.social

The good news is that Parker, King, and Nimmala will still be Blue Jays for a while.

1444d ago

Mike Wilner

@wilnerness.bsky.social

In a clear case of #Bluejays not leaving well enough alone, Brendon Little is coming back out for top9. #Jays trail #Rays 6-1.

1645d ago

Craig Needles2

Ball goes over the fence immediately.

Asher

@skydome.bsky.social

Definitely fascinating to watch my entire feed, fanatic and casual, local or distant follower alike, decide en masse TONIGHT that the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays are done-zo.

944d ago

TSN

@tsnofficial.bsky.social

At the 100-game mark, the Blue Jays have 13 less wins in 2026 than they did in 2025... 😬 Toronto's on pace to finish with a 75-87 record.

1244d ago

Your pal, Andrew (2009 Remastered) [2015 Expanded US Edition]

@yourpalandrew.bsky.social

BASEBALL FACT: The Toronto Blue Jays have a winning record if you include last year.

545d ago

Gourmet Spud

@gourmetspud.bsky.social

I am emotionally divesting from the Blue Jays for the next two weeks til I get to watch call-ups.

844d ago

natty poe1

I might be there with the O’s depending on how the rest of this Boston series goes

Stable-ish genius1

Did I ever tell you that I played against Ernie Clement and his mom in a paddle tennis tournament?

Gerkinov 🌻🍉1

Being a fan is pain internet potato ... it's what I taught my children, and it's what they'll teach their children.

Chris Turner

@theturner.bsky.social

A core lesson of the 2025 Blue Jays’ delirious run is that many many things have to break just right to get to the World Series. The lesson of the 2026 team is that when very little breaks right — but especially this — the result from basically the same crew can be pretty dismal

445d ago

neongrey

@neongrey.bsky.social

I have often said that I like depressing stories. My brain has now demanded I prove it, by hyperfixating me on the Toronto Blue Jays.

744d ago

Quoting this

neongrey5

what a terrible baseball team. just awful. i love these terrible baseball players.

3 sources

cp24.comRays belt three homers to down Blue Jays 7-1 to open four-game series podcasts.apple.comUnveiling Joe Carter's Statue, celebrating the '92-'93 Blue Jays champions and remembering Duane Ward mlb.comMartinez dominates Blue Jays to help halt five-game skid

Tour de France Stage 16, Evenepoel wins time trial; Lipowitz crashes outsports Trea Turner hits two homers as Phillies beat Dodgers 10-7sports Cal Raleigh hits first‑pitch grand slam after Reds load basessports Red Sox extend win streak to 14 after Caleb Durbin's 8th-inning homersports

Rays belt three homers to beat Blue Jays 7-1

Related