Tiny ball for the win: Rays 4 Blue Jays 3
May 5, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda (8) reacts after hitting a double against the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images The Rays have taken small ball to new extremes, winning today on 1 double (a bloop that fell into no man’s land) and 10 singles.
When your small ball is this small it maybe needs a new name: tiny ball? wee ball? But the key point is that 10 singles and a double added up to a come from behind W.
The only big blast today came in the first inning, when the Blue Jays Okamoto put his team up with a solo home run. The Blue Jays scored their second run in the second inning, with a series of singles, one a bunt RBI. The Jays tried yet another bunt to score run number three, but the Rays were able to cut the runner down at the plate and then get out of the inning.
Gausman kept the Rays guessing with his splitter, but they too were able, eventually, to piece together singles to tie the game. In the third inning, Simpson got a 2 out infield hit, Junior walked, and Aranda singled. With Simpson as the runner on second moving with the pitch, that was an easy RBI.
View Link The Rays second run came in the fourth inning, and again without benefit of an extra base hit. The bases were loaded on two singles and a Mullins bunt that was misplayed by Gausman to load the bases. Feduccia grounded into a double play, which is hardly ideal but it did score a run.