ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Once again, Chris Archer made it look easy against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The young Tampa Bay pitcher improved to 3-0 this season against the Rays' AL East rivals, limiting the high-scoring Blue Jays to three hits over eight innings in a 4-3 victory Tuesday night that extended the 26-year-old's personal-best winning streak to six straight decisions.
The Blue Jays lead the major leagues in runs scored by a wide margin, but have had an especially tough time stringing together hits against Archer, who is 6-1 in 12 career starts against them.
In three games against Toronto this year, the right-hander has allowed two runs and seven hits while striking out 25 over 22 innings. He walked one and struck out seven Tuesday night, and only one of Toronto's two runs off him was earned.
"With a pitcher like that, I feel like I'm bored because he's striking out everybody. Nobody's hitting ground balls to the shortstop," Tampa Bay's Asdrubal Cabrera said. "I'm enjoying it when he's on the mound."
No wonder.
The first-place Rays have won eight of Archer's past nine starts. This was the 10th time in 16 starts this season he has allowed one earned run or fewer.
"He just continues to go out and impress, especially against that lineup," manager Kevin Cash said. "That's an extremely difficult lineup to have that many at-bats against. They just pick up on your mistakes. It doesn't matter how good your stuff is. They're going to get you eventually, and Arch just kept pumping fastballs and sliders and they just couldn't quite time him up."
Archer agreed.
`It's tricky because they're smart. ... They remember each time you face them, so you try to execute every pitch to your fullest capability," Archer said. "You know you can't slip because if you try to throw a slider, you hang it, it's going to get banged."
Brandon Guyer and Joey Butler had RBI singles for the Rays, with a wild pitch and passed ball setting up both runs off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (3-7). The Rays scored a third run off the Toronto starter with help from center fielder Kevin Pillar's throwing error and, Cabrera hit a solo homer off Steve Delabar for a 4-2 lead in the eighth.
Edwin Encarnacion's solo homer off Brad Boxberger, who earned his 19th save, trimmed Toronto's deficit to one run in the ninth.
Archer (9-4) limited the Blue Jays to no runs and two hits over seven innings each of the first two times he faced them this year. He held them hitless this time until Dioner Navarro homered with one out in the fifth.
Navarro went deep against his former team for the second straight night, ending the Blue Jays' string of consecutive scoreless innings against Archer at 18. Pillar singled leading off the sixth for the second hit off the Rays starter, and Navarro singled in the seventh to set up a Blue Jays run that scored on first baseman Jake Elmore's error.
Archer's winning streak is the longest of his career. It spans nine starts since his last loss at home against Texas on May 7.
"Chris is going to be good for a very long time. He's one of the best pitchers, not just in the American League, but the whole league," Dickey said. "You know it's going to be a tight game. You can bend a little bit, but you better not break or you're going to be out of it real quick with a guy like that on the other side."
Dickey, who is 0-3 against the Rays this season, allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. He walked two and hit two batters, while striking out two in his first start since returning from the bereavement list following the death of his father.
"I'm not ready to re-live any of that," Dickey said. "The organization and my teammates, the support I've received from those guys, some of the classiest moves I've ever been associated with in baseball. It made me feel really good."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (strained lat) has resumed playing catch.
Rays: LHP Matt Moore (elbow ligament replacement surgery) could make his final minor league rehab start Friday night for Triple-A Durham and return to the rotation next week. "If all goes well, he'll be with us," Cash said. ... RHP Erasmo Ramirez (groin) will have a bullpen session in the next few days and may be back for a start June 30.
BATTER UP: Steven Stamkos and four other members of the NHL's Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning -- Ben Bishop, Alex Killorn, Brian Boyle and Braydon Coburn -- took batting practice before the game. Bishop caught the attention of early arrivals in the crowd of 11,474, hitting four home runs. He joined Stamkos, Killorn and Coburn in throwing ceremonial first pitches. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Lightning in the Stanley Cup finals in six games.
BULLPEN SHUFFLE
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said LHP Brett Cecil is out as closer, which could lead to RHP Roberto Osuna taking over the role. Osuna struck out five over two innings in Monday night's 8-5 win over the Rays, picking up his first career save. Cecil has allowed 10 earned runs over his past 5⅔ innings.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP Marco Estrada (5-3, 3.92 ERA) will face Rays RHP Nathan Karns (4-3, 3.53) in Wednesday's series finale.
The young Tampa Bay pitcher improved to 3-0 this season against the Rays' AL East rivals, limiting the high-scoring Blue Jays to three hits over eight innings in a 4-3 victory Tuesday night that extended the 26-year-old's personal-best winning streak to six straight decisions.
The Blue Jays lead the major leagues in runs scored by a wide margin, but have had an especially tough time stringing together hits against Archer, who is 6-1 in 12 career starts against them.
In three games against Toronto this year, the right-hander has allowed two runs and seven hits while striking out 25 over 22 innings. He walked one and struck out seven Tuesday night, and only one of Toronto's two runs off him was earned.
"With a pitcher like that, I feel like I'm bored because he's striking out everybody. Nobody's hitting ground balls to the shortstop," Tampa Bay's Asdrubal Cabrera said. "I'm enjoying it when he's on the mound."
No wonder.
The first-place Rays have won eight of Archer's past nine starts. This was the 10th time in 16 starts this season he has allowed one earned run or fewer.
"He just continues to go out and impress, especially against that lineup," manager Kevin Cash said. "That's an extremely difficult lineup to have that many at-bats against. They just pick up on your mistakes. It doesn't matter how good your stuff is. They're going to get you eventually, and Arch just kept pumping fastballs and sliders and they just couldn't quite time him up."
Archer agreed.
`It's tricky because they're smart. ... They remember each time you face them, so you try to execute every pitch to your fullest capability," Archer said. "You know you can't slip because if you try to throw a slider, you hang it, it's going to get banged."
Brandon Guyer and Joey Butler had RBI singles for the Rays, with a wild pitch and passed ball setting up both runs off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (3-7). The Rays scored a third run off the Toronto starter with help from center fielder Kevin Pillar's throwing error and, Cabrera hit a solo homer off Steve Delabar for a 4-2 lead in the eighth.
Edwin Encarnacion's solo homer off Brad Boxberger, who earned his 19th save, trimmed Toronto's deficit to one run in the ninth.
Archer (9-4) limited the Blue Jays to no runs and two hits over seven innings each of the first two times he faced them this year. He held them hitless this time until Dioner Navarro homered with one out in the fifth.
Navarro went deep against his former team for the second straight night, ending the Blue Jays' string of consecutive scoreless innings against Archer at 18. Pillar singled leading off the sixth for the second hit off the Rays starter, and Navarro singled in the seventh to set up a Blue Jays run that scored on first baseman Jake Elmore's error.
Archer's winning streak is the longest of his career. It spans nine starts since his last loss at home against Texas on May 7.
"Chris is going to be good for a very long time. He's one of the best pitchers, not just in the American League, but the whole league," Dickey said. "You know it's going to be a tight game. You can bend a little bit, but you better not break or you're going to be out of it real quick with a guy like that on the other side."
Dickey, who is 0-3 against the Rays this season, allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. He walked two and hit two batters, while striking out two in his first start since returning from the bereavement list following the death of his father.
"I'm not ready to re-live any of that," Dickey said. "The organization and my teammates, the support I've received from those guys, some of the classiest moves I've ever been associated with in baseball. It made me feel really good."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (strained lat) has resumed playing catch.
Rays: LHP Matt Moore (elbow ligament replacement surgery) could make his final minor league rehab start Friday night for Triple-A Durham and return to the rotation next week. "If all goes well, he'll be with us," Cash said. ... RHP Erasmo Ramirez (groin) will have a bullpen session in the next few days and may be back for a start June 30.
BATTER UP: Steven Stamkos and four other members of the NHL's Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning -- Ben Bishop, Alex Killorn, Brian Boyle and Braydon Coburn -- took batting practice before the game. Bishop caught the attention of early arrivals in the crowd of 11,474, hitting four home runs. He joined Stamkos, Killorn and Coburn in throwing ceremonial first pitches. The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Lightning in the Stanley Cup finals in six games.
BULLPEN SHUFFLE
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said LHP Brett Cecil is out as closer, which could lead to RHP Roberto Osuna taking over the role. Osuna struck out five over two innings in Monday night's 8-5 win over the Rays, picking up his first career save. Cecil has allowed 10 earned runs over his past 5⅔ innings.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays RHP Marco Estrada (5-3, 3.92 ERA) will face Rays RHP Nathan Karns (4-3, 3.53) in Wednesday's series finale.
7:10PM,EDT,June 23,2015
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Toronto - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Reyes grounded out to second. | 0 | 0 |
| Donaldson grounded out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Bautista flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Kiermaier lined out to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Butler grounded out to shortstop. | 0 | 0 |
| Longoria hit by pitch. | 0 | 0 |
| Forsythe grounded out to third. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Encarnación lined out to left. | 0 | 0 |
| Navarro flied out to right. | 0 | 0 |
| Martin struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Souza Jr. struck out swinging. | 0 | 0 |
| Cabrera singled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Cabrera to second on wild pitch by Dickey. | 0 | 0 |
| Guyer singled to left, Cabrera scored, Guyer thrown out at second attempting to advance on play. | 0 | 1 |
| Elmore flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Carrera flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| Pillar struck out looking. | 0 | 1 |
| Goins flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Rivera grounded out to third. | 0 | 1 |
| Kiermaier doubled to left. | 0 | 1 |
| Butler walked. | 0 | 1 |
| Longoria grounded into double play, third to second to first, Butler out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Reyes grounded out to pitcher. | 0 | 1 |
| Donaldson struck out swinging. | 0 | 1 |
| Bautista lined out to second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Forsythe singled to left. | 0 | 1 |
| Souza Jr. popped out to third. | 0 | 1 |
| Cabrera flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| Guyer walked, Forsythe to second. | 0 | 1 |
| Elmore grounded into fielder's choice to third, Guyer out at second. | 0 | 1 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Encarnación flied out to center. | 0 | 1 |
| Navarro homered to right center (374 feet). | 1 | 1 |
| Martin popped out to first. | 1 | 1 |
| Carrera struck out swinging. | 1 | 1 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Rivera grounded out to third. | 1 | 1 |
| Kiermaier singled to center. | 1 | 1 |
| Kiermaier to second on passed ball by Martin. | 1 | 1 |
| Butler singled to right, Kiermaier scored. | 1 | 2 |
| Longoria walked, Butler to second. | 1 | 2 |
| Forsythe flied out to center, Butler scored on throwing error by center fielder Pillar. | 1 | 3 |
| Souza Jr. reached on infield single to second, Longoria to third. | 1 | 3 |
| Souza Jr. stole second. | 1 | 3 |
| Cabrera popped out to shortstop. | 1 | 3 |
| 2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Pillar singled to left center. | 1 | 3 |
| Goins sacrificed to third, Pillar to second. | 1 | 3 |
| Reyes lined out to right. | 1 | 3 |
| Donaldson struck out swinging. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Guyer flied out to center. | 1 | 3 |
| Elmore struck out swinging. | 1 | 3 |
| Rivera lined out to center. | 1 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Bautista walked. | 1 | 3 |
| Encarnación popped out to second. | 1 | 3 |
| Navarro singled to right center, Bautista to third. | 1 | 3 |
| Martin fouled out to catcher. | 1 | 3 |
| Carrera safe at second on error by first baseman Elmore, Bautista scored, Navarro to third. | 2 | 3 |
| Pillar grounded out to first. | 2 | 3 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 1 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| R.A. Dickey pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Kiermaier grounded out to second. | 2 | 3 |
| Butler grounded out to third. | 2 | 3 |
| Longoria singled to right. | 2 | 3 |
| Longoria to second on passed ball by Martin. | 2 | 3 |
| Forsythe hit by pitch. | 2 | 3 |
| Souza Jr. grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Forsythe out at second. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Chris Archer pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Smoak hit for Goins. | 2 | 3 |
| Smoak struck out swinging. | 2 | 3 |
| Reyes grounded out to shortstop. | 2 | 3 |
| Donaldson struck out looking. | 2 | 3 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Steve Delabar pitching for Toronto | TOR | TB |
| Kawasaki at second base. | 2 | 3 |
| Delabar relieved Dickey. | 2 | 3 |
| Cabrera homered to right (342 feet). | 2 | 4 |
| Guyer walked. | 2 | 4 |
| Elmore grounded into double play, third to second to first, Guyer out at second. | 2 | 4 |
| Rivera flied out to center. | 2 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Brad Boxberger pitching for Tampa Bay | TOR | TB |
| Boxberger relieved Archer. | 2 | 4 |
| Bautista struck out swinging. | 2 | 4 |
| Encarnación homered to left center (416 feet). | 3 | 4 |
| Navarro grounded out to second. | 3 | 4 |
| Martin struck out swinging. | 3 | 4 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Toronto Blue Jays | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Reyes SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .278 | .305 | .394 |
| Donaldson 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 | .298 | .358 | .540 |
| Bautista RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | .257 | .399 | .536 |
| Encarnación 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | .236 | .318 | .455 |
| Navarro DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | .270 | .315 | .413 |
| Martin C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | .276 | .359 | .498 |
| Carrera LF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | .295 | .346 | .379 |
| Pillar CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .270 | .304 | .393 |
| Goins 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .230 | .277 | .333 |
a-Smoak PH
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .245 | .325 | .455 |
Kawasaki 2B
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .294 | .333 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 115 | |||
| a-struck out swinging for R Goins in the 8th | ||||||||||
| BATTING HR: Navarro (2, 5th inning off Archer 0 on, 1 Out); Encarnación (14, 9th inning off Boxberger 0 on, 1 Out) RBI: Navarro (8), Encarnación (42) S: Goins Blue Jays RISP: 0-5 (Pillar 0-1, Martin 0-1, Donaldson 0-1, Carrera 0-1, Reyes 0-1) Team LOB: 3 | ||||||||||
| FIELDING E: Pillar (2, throw) DP: 2 (Donaldson-Goins-Encarnación, Donaldson-Kawasaki-Encarnación). PB: Martin 2. Outfield Assist: Carrera (Guyer at 2nd base). | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL |
| Attendance | 11,474 (37% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:14 |
| Weather | indoors |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Rob Drake, First Base - Ben May, Second Base - Joe West, Third Base - Kerwin Danley |
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