TORONTO — Fresh off his first All-Star selection, Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Nick Martinez held the Blue Jays to one run over six innings, anchoring a 7-1 victory at Rogers Centre that snapped the club’s five-game losing streak.
The win improved the Rays’ record to 15-4 behind the 35-year-old Martinez this season and 6-1 when he starts after a loss. It was his 10th quality start, tied with fellow All-Star Drew Rasmussen for the team lead, and the 18th time in 19 starts he held an opponent to three runs or fewer — matching Yankees ace Cam Schlittler and Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski for the most such outings in the Majors. His ERA dropped to 2.59, third-best in the American League and sixth-lowest in the Majors.
“He’s been huge for us all season long,” manager Kevin Cash said. “We needed a really good start. He gave us one.”
Martinez didn’t record a strikeout against Toronto’s contact-oriented lineup but didn’t need one. The Blue Jays put 23 balls in play against him, but only five were hard-hit with an exit velocity of 95 mph or more, according to Statcast. “I’m not really a stuff guy,” Martinez said, smiling, “so I better be able to pitch.” Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who watched Martinez pitch a clean inning at the All-Star Game last week, offered a straightforward assessment: “The dude made the All-Star Game, and that’s how he pitches.”
The Rays’ offense matched Martinez’s effort against Toronto starter Dylan Cease, who had entered without allowing a home run in six starts since May 24. Victor Mesa Jr. launched a Statcast-projected 412-foot blast to center field in the second inning, his third straight game with a home run. “He’s really swinging the bat well. It did give us a jolt,” Cash said. “Talented kid that is really swinging the bat well, playing with a lot of confidence right now.” Cedric Mullins added his 12th homer of the season in the sixth, as the Rays pushed Cease’s season home run total from five to seven in six innings.
Jonathan Aranda drove in Taylor Walls with a third-inning single. Nick Fortes reached second on a grounder to third base after sloppy defense in the fifth and scored when Yandy Díaz rolled a ball between Gold Glove shortstop Andrés Giménez’s legs. Junior Caminero went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, giving him 62 on the year.
“Good one to bounce back from, right?” Martinez said. “We had a couple heartbreakers in Boston against a really hot team and tried to stop the bleeding. I think it was just switching our mindset to just doing what we’ve got to do to win the ballgame.”
The victory was Tampa Bay’s first since July 11. The Rays continue their series against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, looking to build on the momentum Caminero described in the clubhouse: “We’re together as a team, and I saw the guys around before the game today, I said, ‘Really good energy.’ We’ll just keep it going.”