Long ball, small ball boost Shields, Rays
Recap of today’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays by Anthony Chiang of MLB.com:
After back-to-back singles from B.J. Upton and Matt Joyce that put runners on first and third with one out, Sean Rodriguez executed a safety squeeze play to score Upton. Rodriguez reached first on the sacrifice bunt, as pitcher Carlos Villanueva tossed the ball past the catcher in an attempt to prevent a run from crossing the plate.
It didn’t stop there, though. Tampa Bay called another safety squeeze play during the next at-bat, as Robinson Chirinos reached first on a run-scoring bunt single to earn his first career RBI.
With it working so well, the Rays tried once more. For the third consecutive at-bat, a bunt was used. Desmond Jennings laid one down just inside the third base line that stayed fair to load the bases.
Fuck yeah three bunts in a row. Small ball = greatest ball.