Rays-Blue Jays suspended; resumes today

Saturday’s game between the Blue Jays and Rays at Buffalo’s Sahlen Field was suspended midway through the fourth inning and will be completed on Sunday as part of a modified doubleheader.

The Rays will begin Sunday’s game up 1-0 after Austin Meadows launched a solo home run before the rain hit. The two teams will resume play at 1:07 p.m. ET and complete a full nine-inning game. Once the first game is finished, there will be a 30-minute break before a seven-inning tilt is played.

Blue Jays home games are typically safe from the elements at Rogers Centre, with the retractable roof, but there’s no hiding at Sahlen Field, which is open air. The rain delay marked the first at a Blue Jays home game since July 26, 2003, against the White Sox.

Toronto’s starter, Chase Anderson, was already out of the game after throwing three innings on 59 pitches in his second game back from an oblique strain. On the Rays side, lefty Ryan Yarbrough was working on three shutout innings with four hits allowed and two strikeouts.

When play resumes Sunday, the Blue Jays could have right-hander Thomas Hatch available after he was warming to pitch multiple innings before play was stopped. Matt Shoemaker is still in line to pitch the second game, as regularly scheduled.

On the Tampa Bay side, manage Kevin Cash said the Rays will “put their heads together” and then turn to Yonny Chirinos in Game 2. The right-hander enters with a 1.04 ERA over his first two starts in 2020.

Each club will be able to add a 29th player for the second game of the doubleheader. Neither side has announced who that will be just yet, but teams often add an extra arm to their bullpen with so many innings to fill on one day.