To that end, both teams needed quantity and quality from their starters Monday, and Jose Berrios did his part by going into the seventh inning, leaving only eight outs to cover his bullpen. The Rays, on the other hand, went Cooper Criswell for 3.1 innings and four relievers behind him after using 10 different pitchers — including Jays nemesis Ryan Yarbrough — the previous two days at the New York Yankees. In the end, Bo Bichette continued his terrific September with his last at-bat of note, getting Jason Adam, the last Rays hurler of the night, deep into the eighth inning to give the Blue Jays a thrilling 3-2 win. Raimel Tapia opened the frame with a leadoff single and steal of second, Adam rallied to get George Springer – on a comebacker on the mound – and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — on a strikeout — before Bichette caught a 3-2 slider that dived toward the outside corner and ripped over the wall in left-center. An enthusiastic crowd of 23,002 at Rogers Center stood and cheered until the reigning American League Player of the Week took a reluctant curtain call. That it came after the testing exchanges that followed Javy Guerra grazing Bichette’s wrist with a pitch that went over his helmet in the bottom of the sixth only added to the drama. Jordan Romano closed things out in the ninth for his 33rd save, helped by a stunning home run by Jackie Bradley Jr. on Manuel Margot’s drive to deep center. The late rally helped save Danny Jansen, whose mental error in the sixth inning — sending a throw to second on ball four, allowing Randy Arozarena to take third and eventually scoring on Margot’s fielder’s choice — led to a 2-1 Rays lead. Bichette narrowly escaped, taking Guerra’s 97.1 mph sinker in the face and cracking his bat in frustration before whipping it out. Home plate umpire Brennan Miller quickly jumped in front of the mound, anticipating trouble, but the star shortstop ran down the line and stayed with Guerrero when Alejandro Kirk popped out. In the next frame, Berrios hit Francisco Mejia on the hip with an 0-1 pitch, prompting warnings for both clubs and an extended chirp between Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker and Rays counterpart Kyle Snyder. Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider also had a few words. Given the bigger-picture ambitions for both clubs, tempers prevailed, even as Arozarena clutched his lower arm on a Yimi Garcia bunt in the eighth. The Blue Jays will start Alek Manoah in Tuesday’s opener against Jeffrey Springs, with Mitch White anchoring the Blue Jays’ relievers against the Rays’ bullpen.
