It’s official. The Toronto Blue Jays will use their AAA stadium in Buffalo as their home base for the year. They didn’t really want to do so, feeling the facilities are below MLB standards. They’ll be converting some luxury suites to auxiliary locker rooms to be able to maintain social distancing. They’ve also stated the weight room needs updating.
There first choice, of course, was to use their actual home field, the Rogers Center. However, the Canadian government put the kibosh on that, not wanting us Americans to bring more coronavirus across the border. Their spring training facility in Dunedin, FL, is top notch…and in the middle of one of the hottest of hot spots for the virus. They thought they had a deal to use Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, but the PA government said no. Baltimore offered up Camden Yards, but reportedly only in September. The Blue Jays even toyed with playing all “home” games in the opponents’ park, but that’d require living completely in hotels and giving up whatever slight advantage there might be in playing in one’s own stadium sans fans.
Their home opener is July 29. They open the season today in St Pete.
Fan Interference 
The Jays’ putative ace, Hyun Jin Ryu, gets the W, despite only lasting 4.2 innings, but it was enough as the lineup had spotted him 6 runs by then. Cavan Biggio hurt the Rays with both small ball and the long ball. He started a 4th inning rally that resulted in 3 Blue Jay runs by dropping down a bunt single against the shift, and then added a 3-run blast the next inning. After Ryu gave up a 2-run shot in the 5th, a newly crafted Toronto bullpen held the Rays at bay until Ken Giles could shut the door for good.
All in all, a good start for my boys. And no offense to your team, Raysfan, but Tropicana Field is the one place the AL where playing a game with no fans in the seats DOESN’T seem surreal. The Marlins seem to be the NL equivalent.
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Edit: Ryu did NOT get the win, due (I assume) to his not being the pitcher of record when the game became official at the end of 5 innings. That honor went to Toronto native Jordan Romano, who got the final two outs of the 5th with the Jays leading 6-3.
And from the “It’s Never Been Done In Baseball Before” files:
Last night the Blue Jays featured the very first batting lineup in MLB history where the #1 through # 4 hitters are all sons of former big leaguers. All members of the “2nd Generation Infield”, SS Bo Bichette led off, followed by 2B Cavan Biggio, 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr, and finally 3B Travis Shaw. The kids are alright in Toronto (or Buffalo).
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