ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As quickly as emotions escalated between Genesis Cabrera and Jose Caballero after they became entangled at third base, a tense situation that cleared the dugouts for the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays diffused just as fast.
The two crossed paths on an unusual play, after a clever bunt single by the speedy shortstop brought home an important insurance run that deflated any Blue Jays hopes of a comeback in what finished as a 5-1 Rays win Saturday.
Things turned spicy when, trying for third on Justin Turner’s errant throw on the bunt, Caballero was tagged by Bo Bichette after George Springer’s strong relay from right field and his momentum carried him into Cabrera. Caballero raised his hands in a what-are-you-doing way, Cabrera did the same and then threw a two-handed shove into Caballero’s jaw.
“It was more the heat of the moment,” Cabrera said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I think kind of overreacted a little bit. He kind of looked at me and I just reacted.”
Said Caballero: “I just asked him, like, ‘Why’d you push me?’ And he didn’t say a word. He just came up to me and pushed me again. That’s all I got. … I was surprised because I gave myself up and it wasn’t a play anymore. And he came up to me.”
Quick thinking by everyone in the area kept the exchange from going any further.
Bichette wisely pulled Caballero away, helped by third-base umpire Corey Blaser on one side. On the other, Rays third-base coach Brady Williams stepped in as a buffer while Cabrera, who turned and walked off after the shove, was wrapped up by Jose Berrios and Alek Manoah.
The benches cleared but no one seemed to be looking for trouble. Once everyone began to separate, manager John Schneider and Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola — minor-league teammates in the Blue Jays system nearly two decades ago — chatted before each returned to their dugout.
“We were just saying hi, he was saying he was winded, I was saying I was winded — it’s tough to run from the dugout, not so much for him, more so for me, he’s in a way better shape,” quipped Schneider. “We were just seeing, kind of, what did you see, what did you see type thing. I like catching up with Chad.”
While Cabrera may very well face supplementary discipline — he was ejected from the game and both dugouts were warned against further retaliation — calm was restored and the Rays closed out a second straight win after the Blue Jays won on Opening Day.
Already trying to get their offence going against a tough pitching staff — the Blue Jays have scored only three times in the two losses since their 8-2 win Thursday — a full-out brawl would have only added problems they don’t need.
“I hope not,” Schneider said when asked if he thought a suspension for Cabrera might be on the table. “It was handled really well by everyone, umpires and Tampa and us. So, I hope not. It was one of those things where it just kind of happened and they issued warnings and everyone was fine with that.”
The Blue Jays had finally pushed a run across the plate in the top of the seventh on a Cavan Biggio RBI single to claw within two runs when Randy Arozarena, who walked and scored in the second and homered in the fifth off Yusei Kikuchi, opened the bottom half with a single off Cabrera and quickly stole both second and third.
Cabrera rallied to strike out Isaac Paredes and pop up Amed Rosario before Caballero dropped a two-out bunt that Turner, just in the game after pinch-hitting in the top half, fielded but threw wide, allowing Arozarena to score and make it 4-1.
“Really good baseball play by Cabby. Picked us up in a big way. We really needed that run. And overall, just really impressed the way he carried himself. He handled himself really, really well,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “Both teams didn’t let it get out of hand.”
Kikuchi didn’t let the game get out of hand, even as the Rays were deliberate and relentless against him through his 4.1 innings.
A two-out walk in the third on a full-count slider that missed outside to Arozarena eventually led to Rosario’s RBI single to open the scoring, while Arozarena poked a fastball to right field with one out in the fifth to make it 2-0. Paredes followed with a single on a changeup — Kikuchi’s revamped offering, which was erratic early but also produced three weak outs — and that was that, a Caballero sacrifice fly off Trevor Richards eventually cashing the third baseman in.
Kikuchi threw 90 pitches to 22 batters and without his put-away slider — he threw 16, got 10 swings and not a single miss — had to rely on a good fastball that the Rays swing through eight times, but also fouled off 11 to really make the lefty work.
“My fastball was coming out really well,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima, “so I wanted to focus on throwing that fastball and throw less sliders.”
It was the type of outing where a crisper changeup would have been ideal. The Blue Jays believe the offering, which he honed with pitching assistant David Howell over the winter, can help him be more efficient while giving him a tool to better control bat speed in counts when hitters are sitting fastball or slider.
He threw some good ones Saturday, but several were balls out of the hand, too.
“If I’m able to locate that better moving forward, I think I’ll be fine with it,” said Kikuchi.
More offence would help, too, as the Blue Jays had rallies against Zack Littell snuffed out in the second and third on double plays. Their rally in the seventh, off Colin Poche, started with a walk by Daulton Varsho before an Ernie Clement single but Turner, pinch-hitting for Kevin Kiermaier, ripped a liner to left that Arozarena snared. Brian Serven struck out before Biggio dunked a single to centre that made it 3-1, but Phil Maton came on and got Springer on a fly-out to centre.
“These guys can pitch. Tough to string some hits together. We hit some balls hard,” said Schneider. “You had traffic and double plays hurt us today. But you give credit to them for making good pitches and then you move on to tomorrow, really.”
Kevin Gausman gets the start Sunday as the Blue Jays seek a split to begin the season, seeking a different set of fireworks than the ones they saw in the seventh inning Saturday.