Rays lose perfect game in 8th inning: Bloop single by Blue Jays ruins Tyler Alexander's bid at history

Tampa Bay Rays left-hander Tyler Alexander fell five outs short of what would have been the 25th perfect game in baseball history on Friday night. Alexander retired the first 22 Toronto Blue Jays he faced at Rogers Centre (TB 4, TOR 3) before Danny Jansen dunked a single into shallow right field for Toronto's first hit with out in the seventh.

Here is the Jansen hit that ended Alexander's perfect game bid:

Davis Schneider followed Jansen's single with a two-run home run, ending Alexander's shutout bid. The southpaw finished with three runs allowed in 7 1/3 innings. Alexander threw 105 pitches, a new career high. His previous career high was 102 pitches in 2019 and his previous season high was 93 pitches on April 6.

"I've never pitched into the eighth in a big-league game so I was probably running on fumes a little bit," Alexander said during an Apple TV+ interview after the game.

Tyler Alexander

CHW • SP • #70

May 17 vs. Blue Jays

IP7.1

H3

R3

BB0

K4

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Alexander, 29, joined the Rays in an offseason waiver claim from the Detroit Tigers. He went into Friday's start with a 5.45 ERA and a .269/.320/.494 opponent's batting line in eight games and 39 2/3 innings. In his last start, Alexander allowed six runs and three home runs in seven innings against the New York Yankees.

Twenty-two batters retired (7 1/3 innings) is the second-longest perfect game bid in Rays franchise history. Here are the longest:

1. Drew Rasmussen: 8 innings vs. Baltimore Orioles (Aug. 14, 2022)
2. Tyler Alexander: 7 1/3 innings vs. Toronto Blue Jays (May 17, 2024)
3. Chris Archer: 6 1/3 innings vs. Detroit Tigers (July 29, 2015)
4. Several tied with 6 innings

Friday's win improved the Rays to 24-22 on the season. Two games over .500 ties their high-water mark of the season. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, fall to 19-24 with the loss. They are in last place in the AL East and have lost 16 of their last 20 games.

MLB's last perfect game was thrown by Domingo Germán, then with the Yankees, on June 28. Germán did it against the Oakland Athletics at RingCentral Coliseum. That was MLB's first perfect game since 2012.