A wind-whipped thunderstorm punished Sahlen Field on Saturday night, suspending the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays after a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours. The Rays led, 1-0, in the middle of the fourth inning when was play was stopped at 7:59 p.m.
The teams will pick up that game Sunday at 1:07 p.m. and then play the regularly scheduled game to a seven-inning conclusion after a 30-minute break. The twinbill will conclude the Jays' first homestand in Buffalo.
The teams had played for the previous two innings with dark clouds approaching the ballpark and groundskeepers had visited the umpiring crew with an iPad to discuss the incoming weather multiple times. The skies opened after the Blue Jays retired the side in the Tampa Bay fourth, and heavy rain pelted the ballpark for nearly a half-hour, causing major pools in the outfield and flooding in and around both dugouts.
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Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo said he tried to come back to the field to check the conditions a couple of times during the delay but was blocked by the water in the dugout.
Montoyo said Thomas Hatch will be on the mound to resume the game for Toronto after Chase Anderson (three innings) and Wilmer Font (one inning) pitched Saturday. Matt Shoemaker will pitch the second game.
While Blue Jays players simply exited the dugout to the clubhouse on the stadium's service level, Tampa Bay players retreated to the seats and suites on the stadium's upper level. Some players were even seen playing catch in the ballpark's upper concourse. The Blue Jays' severe weather plan submitted to Major League Baseball called for the visiting players to head to that location instead of the temporary clubhouse structure in the right-field parking lot.
The Rays had the game's only run on Austin Meadows' third-inning solo homer to right off Anderson.
Monsoon. They covered this just in time. #Bluejays pic.twitter.com/DGnobMY5W6
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) August 16, 2020
Grichuk's fears unfounded
Toronto outfielder Randal Grichuk made plenty of headlines a couple of weeks ago when he labeled playing in Buffalo as a "worst-case scenario" for the Blue Jays. And although the criticism seemed a tad harsh at first glance, it was understandable, too. The Jays simply wanted to play in a major-league facility and had no way to know what the organization would do to fast-forward work in Sahlen Field.
What does Grichuk think of the finished product?
"They did a great job," Grichuk said before Saturday's game in his first comments since the Jays hit town. "They renovated the field, did new (batting) cages, locker rooms, the whole nine yards. We can't complain. We've gotten off to a pretty good start here so hopefully it continues."
So what were Grichuk's main issues?
"I think it's just the concept of playing in a minor-league ballpark, big-league games, meaningful games," he said. "Numbers. There's a lot that people can argue when it comes to our numbers. Are they inflated? Can you justify the numbers? Whatever it might be. That's a main concern. And the feeling of not being in a major-league ballpark, guys were worried about."
Shoemaker, a veteran of six years with the Los Angeles Angels before joining the Jays last season, had never been to the ballpark until the team checked it out Monday night. He had a much more optimistic view.
"I'm pretty floored," Shoemaker said Saturday. "It's pretty astonishing what work was done, what the organization did. I'm very surprised at how good it is from a facility standpoint. Never being here before, just hearing what guys who have played here said about it. ... It looks incredible inside. For what we need as players from a facility standpoint, it is phenomenal."
Subliminal messages
Montoyo spent most of the last couple weeks insisting to reporters his team would start to hit, even in the midst of a stretch that saw his team score three runs or fewer in six straight games before coming to Buffalo. So Montoyo was thrilled his faith was rewarded with the 14-homer, 28-run outburst over the first three games here.
"I know the moment I say something to you guys here that they hear everything I say," Montoyo said on Saturday's pre-game Zoom meeting with reporters. "I use this. I'm sending a message to my players too because that's my belief in them anyways. I'm glad they're hitting. They're doing great."
The Jays entered Saturday with 23 runs in their previous two games – after totaling just 23 in the nine games before that.
