After working together for four years, Kevin Cash and Charlie Montoyo will be in opposite dugouts Friday night when the Tampa Bay Rays visit the Toronto Blue Jays.
Montoyo, the first-year Blue Jays manager, was the third base coach for Cash, the Rays manager, for three seasons and then served as Tampa Bay’s bench coach last season.
The Rays, who had Thursday off after completing a three-game sweep of the White Sox at Chicago on Wednesday, are off to a 10-3 start. Their youth movement is showing results. Since Aug. 1, the Rays have a major-league-best 46-22 record.
“You’ve got to give it some time to see how it really plays out,” Cash said, “and we’re seeing some things play out.”
The Blue Jays, also in a rebuilding phase, have stumbled out of the gate.
They are 4-9 after settling for a split of two games in Boston against the struggling Red Sox. The Blue Jays blew a 5-0 lead Thursday and lost 7-6 when the Red Sox scored twice in the bottom of the ninth.
The Boston rally ended Toronto closer Ken Giles’ streak of converting 34 consecutive save opportunities dating to 2017.
Montoyo plans to be an aggressive, fearless manager because of what he learned from Cash, who is a former Blue Jays catcher.
“He was bold when it comes to taking chances and stuff,” Montoyo said. “I always was the one that played by the book. I didn’t do anything because I was thinking people were going to think, ‘Oh, this guy thinks it’s all about him.’ But it isn’t about you, it’s about trying to win a game, so you’ve got to do whatever it takes.”
Montoyo joined the Rays organization Oct 31, 1996, and managed at every level in the system, going 1,266-1,142 (.526) over 18 seasons.
Right-hander Ryne Stanek (0-0, 1.50 ERA) will be the opener for the Rays on Friday, likely pitching only the first inning. The Blue Jays will start right-hander Trent Thornton (0-0. 1.69).
Stanek, who will open a game for the third time in six outings this season, has faced the Blue Jays nine times, all last season, with six of those outings as an opener. He has a 1.80 ERA against Toronto.
Thornton will make his third career major league appearance and start Friday. He set a team record with 15 strikeouts through his first two major league games. The 25-year-old North Carolina native has allowed two runs in 10 2/3 innings.
The Rays have matched their best 13-game opening to a season first achieved in 2010.
They are outscoring opponents 17-1 in the first inning.
Their starting pitchers have a 0.61 ERA over the past nine games.
The Rays are the seventh team in major league history to yield two or fewer runs in 10 of their first 13 games of a season.
Left-hander Blake Snell, who won the American League Cy Young Award last season, talks about the bond on the young team.
“I think it’s a great mix,” Snell said, “and that has a lot to do with it as well as just the talent, which is unbelievable. The talent along with the kind of guys we have is amazing.”
The Rays were 13-6 against the Blue Jays last season — 6-4 in Toronto. They have won the season series against the Blue Jays in nine of the past 11 seasons.