Blue Jays Bid Farewell to Dunedin with Loss to Rays

The Blue Jays lost their final game of 2021 at Dunedin's TD Ballpark, falling to .500 and 10-11 at home

Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Randy Arozarena turned on the first pitch of the ballgame, ripping a cutter into left field. As the ball touched the outfield grass, the Dunedin crowd broke out into applause, cheering and whooping as Tampa Bay’s left fielder made the turn at first.

Fans sat back into their seats, readjusting Rays ballcaps and positioning their ‘I heart Ji-Man Choi’ signs. On Monday afternoon the road Rays scored five runs in the first inning, and the ‘home’ crowd loved it. Almost as much as they enjoyed the seven run 11th.

The Toronto Blue Jays have played 21 home games at Dunedin’s TD Ballpark, and their fans have been in the minority for almost every one. For the second season in a row, Toronto has been forced to cycle through stadiums, and their early 2021 home has brought with it several challenges. On Monday, Toronto played their last game in Dunedin — a 14-8 loss to the Rays — and will gladly bid TD Ballpark farewell.

“It was almost like playing a home game for the Rays," Manager Charlie Montoyo said. "Somebody mentioned it was louder here than at the Trop.”

In 2020, Toronto turned its situation into an advantage. At Buffalo’s Sahlen Field (where the Jays are relocating in June), Toronto posted one of the best home records in baseball. The Blue Jays had the fourth best batting average and sixth-highest OPS at home last year, and Sahlen acted as a haven for hitters like Rowdy Tellez and Vlad Guerrero Jr.

That advantage didn’t translate to Florida. The Jays fell to 10-11 at home with Tampa’s series sweep, and regularly struggled with the gulf coast wind and sun. The second batter of Monday’s game, Austin Meadows, lifted a Trent Thornton fastball into left field. What appeared to be a lazy fly ball started to drift on Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and by the time the Blue Jay leftfielder got to the ball he was crashing into the outfield wall to make the catch.

“I got a text from a former teammate," Ross Stripling said. "saying ‘dude what’s up with your park, is it a launching pad?’”

Though Toronto’s offensive output ticked up in Dunedin, so did their opposition’s — Toronto’s team ERA is .5 higher at home. The lack of a second deck made defense a struggle at home too, start times were pushed back 30 minutes to combat the sun and unpredictable wind caused issues for outfielders.

The usually sure-handed Kevin Kiermaier misplayed a Tellez flyball at the warning track Monday, allowing a leadoff triple and providing hope for a Blue Jay comeback. The crowd stayed largely quiet as Tellez pulled into third, just like they had for Guerrero and Teoscar Hernandez’s back-to-back home runs in the fourth.

There were only sparse cheers for Ross Stripling, who pitched seven scoreless in relief of Thornton. A week after allowing six runs to the Red Sox, Stripling let up just two hits and struck out seven Rays. The righty’s bulk appearance allowed for Toronto's five-run comeback, but a seven-run Tampa 11th handed Toronto another crushing loss.

“We’ve been in all these games," Stripling said. "They just haven’t gone our way.”

For the fourth day in a row, but the last time this season, Rays fans left TD Ballpark with a win.