IAN HARRISON
Associated Press
TORONTO (AP) — The scoreboard said Tampa Bay lost on Saturday. Rays manager Joe Maddon wasn’t buying it.
Jose Reyes singled home the winning run in the 10th inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay 5-4 in a game the Rays played under protest following a contentious replay review.
Maddon protested in the fourth, claiming the umpires granted Toronto a replay challenge after the next play had begun.
“I’d be really surprised if the protest is not upheld,” Maddon said.
Tampa Bay designated hitter Wil Myers reached on a one-out single and was called safe by first base umpire Bill Welke on Mark Buehrle’s pickoff throw.
After Yunel Escobar stepped back into the batter’s box and Buehrle returned to the rubber, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons came out and asked to challenge Welke’s call.
Maddon came out to speak with crew chief and third base umpire Bob Davidson about the timing. After Myers was called out following a video review, Maddon spoke to Davidson again and indicated he was playing the game under protest.
“It was inappropriate for Bob to do what he did and permit that to happen,” Maddon said. “I’m trusting that they’re going to interpret the rule properly and get us back to that point in the game.”
Baseball’s replay rules state that any challenge must be made before the next play or pitch, which is said to begin “when the pitcher is on the rubber preparing to start his delivery and the batter has entered the batter’s box.” The rules also say, however, that the crew chief has “the final authority to determine whether a Manager’s Challenge is timely.”
Davidson told a pool reporter that he saw Gibbons emerging from the dugout just as Escobar was stepping back into the box.
“(Escobar) was just about getting in, but I’m looking at Gibbons and he’s coming out and he’s not a speed merchant, and I thought, it’s on time,” Davidson said. “We want to get the play correct. That’s what we’re out here for.”
Maddon said he considered his protest to be “pretty cut and dried.”
The San Francisco Giants on Wednesday became the first team since 1986 to win a protest after Major League Baseball ruled that the tarp at Wrigley Field had not been properly put away after its previous use. The Giants were able to resume Tuesday’s rain-shortened game that the Cubs thought they had won 2-0, eventually beating Chicago 5-3 on Thursday afternoon.
The Rays are hoping to become the second team in a week to win a protest.
“We’re hoping that we get the call to go our way and we can play it over and try to win this game over again, as weird as that may sound,” outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said.
Rasmus reached on a bunt single to begin the 10th against Joel Peralta (2-4) and stole second as Munenori Kawasaki struck out for the second out.
Left-hander Jeff Beliveau came on to turn around the switch-hitting Reyes, who grounded a single between second and third.
Dustin McGowan (5-3) worked one inning for the win.
Toronto took a 4-3 lead in the seventh when Dioner Navarro hit a two-run homer off Brad Boxberger.
“He did what he should have done with that ball,” Boxberger said. “It was right down the middle.”
Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen couldn’t hold on, though. Pinch-hitter James Loney singled home the tying run with one out in the ninth, handing Janssen his fourth blown save.
STREAK SNAPPED
The Rays allowed more than three runs on the road for the first time in 20 games, ending their AL-record streak. Tampa Bay came within two games of matching the major league record, held by the 1908 Chicago Cubs. The Rays hadn’t allowed more than three runs away from home since an 8-1 loss at Detroit on July 3.
BIG Z
Rays OF Ben Zobrist got his 500th career RBI when his bunt single scored Sean Rodriguez in the third. Zobrist made a leaping catch against the right-field scoreboard to retire Adam Lind for the first out of the seventh.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rays: C Ryan Hanigan (left oblique) went 2 for 3 in a seven-inning stint with Class A Charlotte on Friday, the first game of his rehab assignment. OF David DeJesus (broken left hand) went 1 for 2 in five innings. DeJesus and Hanigan were both set to play for Charlotte again Saturday night, with Hanigan starting at DH.
UP NEXT
Rays RHP Chris Archer (8-6) faces RHP Drew Hutchison (8-11) in Sunday’s series finale. Archer is 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in six career starts against the Blue Jays, and 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA in three starts at Rogers Centre. Hutchison has a 7.78 ERA in four career starts against the Rays.
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