Matt Duffy drives in the winning run against the Blue Jays./JAMES LUEDDE
Thursday, 4 a.m.
He has 65 hits this year, not that anyone noticed.
He has 335 over his career, not that anyone talks about any of them.
Matt Duffy is the quiet man, the grinder, the full-day-at-work ballplayer. He is a excellent ballplayer until it is time to talk about excellent ballplayers. He goes about his work, and he's hitting .313, and he has helped the team get past the trade of Evan Longoria.
Until a day like Wednesday come along.
And suddenly, Duffy is a big deal all over again.
Players celebrate in the win against the Blue Jays./JAMES LUEDDE
Content beyond this point is for members only.
Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo)!
Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.
Mallex Smith hits against the Blue Jays./JAMES LUEDDE
Duffy singled to left field with two out in the bottom of the ninth to drive in the only run of the game Wednesday. It was the team's third straight win, and their fourth of their last five.
Duffy's hit came after a double by Mallex Smith, who took third on a groundout.
Diego Castillo closes against the Blue Jays./JAMES LUEDDE
It was Duffy's third walk-off hit of his career.
“That’s two days in a row now that the bullpen came in and really picked us up in a big way," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "We won the last two games because of their performance, whether they are opening or starting. They are really providing a lot for us at this point. To be able to shut a team down for nine innings is very challenging to do in this league and they did it. They pieced it together really well.
Jake Bauers reacts after a base hit against the Blue Jays./JAMES LUEDDE
"Then (Matt) Duffy comes up and gets the big hit. There wasn’t a ton of offense for either team obviously by the 0-0 score, but it was nice to get that and not have to go to extra innings because (Vidal) Nuno was coming into the game and that’s about as much as we had left.”
Jake Bauers and Mallex Smith both had two hits for the Rays. Duffy had the only other hit.
“(J.A.) Happ did a good job of keeping us off balance," Duffy said. "He was getting it a little bit on the corners, but credit to him he took advantage of it.
Wilmer Font opens pitching against the Blue Jays./JAMES LUEDDE
It was a long one for us today. Our whole pitching staff did well. Ours picked us up big time. After seeing that many zeros it’s definitely awesome to come on top of that game with a win.”
The Rays now play a crucial part of their schedule against the Yankees, nationals and Astros.
"The AL East is a tough division, everybody knows that," Duffy said. "Going to New York is a big stage, but I think they will be alright. They are pretty even keel guys. They don’t seem like the type of guys to go up and down and worry about the stage. To me, it looks like they are playing baseball and having fun, whether that’s because they are calm or they don’t know what stage they are on yet. They handle themselves really well and are composed. I have no worries about them being on a big stage.”
Bauers was hitless in his first eight at-bats, but he's now hitting .308 on the season.
Rookie Diego Castillo, the third Rays' pitcher on the day, got the win by pitching the last two innings.
In today's series opener at New York, Blake Snell pitches against Domingo German. Game time is at 7:05 p.m.
Willy Adames makes a stop and starts double play./JAMES LUEDDE
{ 0 comments… read it below or Subscriptions }