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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Chris Bassitt rarely leaves you guessing how he feels about how his work on the mound is going. Or, for that matter, how he feels about his effort following a start.

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So it was when he raised his arms in self-disgust after serving up a 90.5 mile-per-hour cutter over the heart of the plate and watched Brandon Lowe destroy it for a grand slam home run.

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The blast essentially sealed the fate of the Jays, who fell 8-2 to drop their record to 1-1 out of the gate.

As for the frustrated reaction of their workhorse starter, we’re guessing manager John Schneider would have been sharing the sentiment.

A night after a crisp and efficient 8-2 win in which his team did pretty much everything to the pre-season script of crispness and sharp play, night two at Tropicana Field was decidedly the other way.

Not only were the bats relatively dormant beyond a solo home run from George Springer in the fourth, the Jays were sloppy on defence.

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A pair of errors from shortstop Bo Bichette were among them, helping the Rays keep innings alive, including the Lowe long ball in the third.

The way Bassitt’s night started, it looked like he was about to resume the form that had made him one of the Jays most reliable starters last season. The lanky right hander struck out the first four Rays batters he faced and five through two innings.

The Jays even got the first lead of the game with Springer’s second homer in as many nights, a 362-foot shot over the wall in left.

But things unravelled for Bassitt in the bottom half of the fateful third. After Ben Rortvedt lined a singled into first, Bassitt hit Jose Caballlero with a pitch. Yandy Diaz then reached on a fielder’s choice following a fielding error by Bichette. That loaded the bases and set the stage for Lowe, who launched the poor Bassitt offering 444 feet over the wall in right-centre field.

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He hunkered down to give his team five innings of work, though Bassitt needed 95 pitches to do so. He allowed six hits and five runs (four earned) while striking out six.

The Rays wouldn’t need any more as the Jays were held to just six hits — two of them by Vlad Guerrero Jr. — in a sleepy night at the plate.

As a snapshot of what will drive this team to success in 2024, Game 2 showed how quickly bad things can happen when attention to detail slackens. And it was a one-game reminder that any significant regression in pitching would be costly.

AROUND THE BASES

Wes Parsons made his Jays debut, relieving Bassitt and giving the Jays three innings. The right hander allowed four hits and three runs as the Rays cruised … Pinch hitter Daniel Vogelbach saw his first action in his second stint with the Jays, coming in as a pinch hitter for Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the seventh inning, meekly grounding out to first.

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