*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
On Roberto Clemente Day, the Tampa Bay Rays did something special. Yandy Diaz homered, Isaac Paredes homered and drove in a pair of runs, and the Rays routed the Toronto Blue Jays with a 11-0 victory on Thursday afternoon in Toronto.
After losing the first 4 games of the series, the Rays were able to avoid a 5 game series sweep with a convincing victory on Thursday. Diaz and Paredes drove the offense, providing 5 of the 11 RBI's, and Manuel Margot added a trio of RBI's on his own.
The starting lineup for the Rays had players from Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. It was the first time in MLB history that an entire starting lineup were players born from Latin America countries, and it happened on Roberto Clemente Day.
Rays infielder Harold Ramirez said of the historic feat "That's very good for the team and for every Latin player, and on this day it's more special because it's Roberto Clemente Day. That happened on the right day. Everyone enjoyed it right after the game, because nobody knew."
The Rays jumped ahead in the second inning, when Rene Pinto singled home David Peralta to put the Rays up 1-0. Diaz then came up and ripped a 3 run home run to left field, quadrupling the lead to 4-0 after two innings. There was no scoring again until the 7th inning, when Paredes hit a solo home run to make it a 5-0 game.
It was the 9th inning where the Rays really broke it open. Paredes started it with an RBI single to increase the lead to 6-0. Pinto then scored on an RBI single from Randy Arozarena, making the Rays lead 7-0. Wander Franco added an RBI single to make it 8-0, before Margot hit a 3 run double to make it an 11-0 ballgame.
Rays manager Kevin Cash spoke to his all-Latin lineup, saying "It's pretty cool. I didn't know that 'til halfway through the game; somebody mentioned it to me. But it's very surprising, at the same point, just because of the Latino community and the impact they've had on Major League Baseball for so many years, and extremely fitting to be on Roberto Clemente Day."
Shane McClanahan returned from the IL and made the start for the Rays, pitching 5 shutout innings while striking out 5 hitters. JT Chargois got the first two outs of the 6th inning before Jason Adam pitched the next 1 1/3 innings. Javy Guerra and Kevin Herget finished the game with an inning each.
Starting for the Blue Jays was Kevin Gausman, who did not match McClanahan. Gausman allowed 5 runs on 6 hits and one walk in 7 innings. Zach Pop pitched a scoreless 8th. Trevor Richards allowed 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning, requiring David Phelps to finish the game, allowing one run.
Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider said of the shutout loss that it was a "Tough day today. You gotta just flush it and move on. Tough day today, obviously. But you move on and open up another big series. They're all going to be big going forward."
Up next, the Rays head home to face the Texas Rangers on Friday night, with Corey Kluber drawing the start. The Blue Jays welcome the Baltimore Orioles to town on Friday, with Richards lined up as the starter.
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