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TORONTO — The hip-hop was blaring from the stereo in the Toronto Blue Jays' clubhouse when suddenly, amid the din, the players erupted into rhythmic clapping that continued for several moments.
David Purcey had just made his way into the room from the showers and his teammates were now showering him again, this time with gratification for a job well done at the Rogers Centre Sunday afternoon.
For the second time in two weeks, the rookie left-hander displayed his mettle against the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching eight shutout innings in a 1-0 victory that completed a three-game sweep over the American League East leaders.
On Aug. 27, in a game that also featured Matt Garza as the opposing pitcher, Purcey spun his first complete game, only to be undone by a lack of offensive support in a 1-0 Rays victory.
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- Chicago White Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- New York Yankees
- Seattle Mariners
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Rod Barajas
- Jason Bartlett
- Jesse Carlson
- Matt Garza
- Adam Lind
- David Purcey
- B.J. Ryan
- B.J. Upton
- Gregg Zaun
Sunday, the tables were turned as the suddenly sizzling Blue Jays, 76-66, recorded their eighth successive victory over the Rays, a run they have not enjoyed since 1999.
It capped a 6-0 homestand for the Blue Jays, who also had won all three games against the Minnesota Twins.
The Rays, 85-56, are beginning to display signs of tightness in their bid to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
"That's a new experience for me," Purcey said of the impromptu locker room applause. "Normally, everyone just says, 'Good job.'" The Blue Jays depart on an eight-game trip that begins Monday with the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox before moving to Boston for four games against the Red Sox.
"That would be nice if he pitched like that every time out there," Toronto manager Cito Gaston said of Purcey's recent performances against the Rays. "But once again, he threw strikes. Just the opposite of what happened last time. We scored the run and they didn't."
Purcey, 26, who stifled the Rays on six hits while striking out seven batters, received the only run he would need in the second when catcher Rod Barajas hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Adam Lind.
"He was awesome today," Barajas said. "The whole key with Purcey is getting balls in the strike zone, getting ahead of hitters, putting them in that situation so now they have to be a little bit more aggressive. And we were able to capitalize on their aggressiveness."
On Saturday, the Blue Jays came back for a 7-4 victory in 13 innings on a game-ending grand slam by catcher Gregg Zaun.
Extra innings were required after closer B.J. Ryan gave up three runs in the ninth inning that erased a 3-0 Toronto lead.
Sunday's game was relatively tame and the only real trouble Purcey faced was in the eighth when he sandwiched two walks around a single by B.J. Upton to load the bases with two out.
With Jesse Carlson beginning to warm up in the bullpen, Purcey induced a harmless fly to left field from Jason Bartlett for the third out.
Gaston said he intended to leave Purcey in the game at that point no matter what.
"He deserved to stay in there and see if he can work his way out of that," Gaston said. "That's just some experience he's going to gain there. Sometimes you have to do that.
"He's a kid that needs to learn that [if] he can get himself in trouble, he has to work his way out of trouble."
Carlson pitched the ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.
"Those are the kinds of games I like pitching," said Purcey, 3-5. "It's real intense and there's a lot on the line. Those are fun for me."
Despite the surge, the Blue Jays remain eight games behind in the wild-card race although they moved one-half game ahead of the New York Yankees who lost 5-2 to the Seattle Mariners Sunday.
"It has to be a huge positive [for the fans]," Barajas said. "We're playing great baseball and we're not doing it against the lower teams in the standings.
"We're doing it against the pretty good teams. We're a good ball club and we're showing it right now. If we had a little better first half, we'd be in a lot better situation."
