Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Ryan Yarbrough throws a pitch during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 30, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla.Jason Behnken/The Associated Press
Ryan Yarbrough got his rookie-leading 16th win and the Tampa Bay Rays turned another bullpen game into their 90th victory, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4 on Sunday.
The Rays (90-72) went to the unconventional plan of using relievers to start games in addition to traditional starters in mid-May due to injuries.
The results were about equal, as Tampa Bay went 46-38 with regular starters and 44-34 when utilizing the bullpen.
Ryne Stanek was Tampa Bay’s “opener” for the 29th time and went two scoreless innings. Yarbrough (16-6) followed and gave up two runs and four hits over three innings to get his 14th relief win.
The Rays went 87-60 after losing 12 of their first 15 games.
Outgoing Blue Jays manager John Gibbons decided to have some fun in the finale and let 35-year-old catcher Russell Martin manage the game.
Martin “thought about it for a couple seconds” before deciding not to be a player-manager.
Toronto announced Wednesday that Gibbons will not be back as manager next season.
“He’s one of my favourites,” Martin said. “I’m going to miss him. He’s a special guy. He’s kind of like having a second dad.”
Over two stints totalling 11 seasons, Gibbons went 793-789 with the Blue Jays.
Toronto finished 73-89 this season, a three-game drop from 2017.
Tampa Bay improved 10 games from last year and joined the 2012 Rays (90) and 2013 Texas Rangers (91) as the only 90-win teams since the second wild card was introduced in 2012 to miss the post-season.
Joey Wendle and Jake Bauers both had two RBIs for the Rays, who went 13-6 against Toronto. Tampa Bay has dominated the series at home, going 111-74.
Loser Sam Gaviglio (3-10) allowed five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Despite the strong on-field showing, the Rays’ announced home attendance of 1,154,973 was their lowest since 2005 (1,141,699). Tampa Bay drew 1,253,619 last season. Sunday’s crowd was 13,313.