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“It’s simply slow,” Dalton Pompey said after his Jays lost 2-1 before 48,414 customers. “The last at-bat I had, I thought I had a hit up the middle. I hit it pretty good and (the turf) just sucked it up.”

The rubber pellets — mice droppings come to mind — form the infill that helps stabilize the blades of fake grass. The folks at Astroturf call it crumb rubber. And when it’s new, crumbs are just about all a hitter gets when he hits a ground ball, because the ball slows quickly, making it easier for defenders to catch it.

This makes pitchers happy. Rays’ starter Jake Odorizzi recorded 13 ground-ball outs.

“There were a couple balls that might’ve scooted through on the old turf,” Jays’ starter R.A. Dickey said. “So if anything, I think it’s going to allow the infielders to make more plays this year.”

The turf sucks up hits because it is spongy. Batted balls begin to dawdle after the first bounce. Not only do more balls stay in the infield, but they dribble to a stop when they reach the outfield too.

“It feels like there’s no balls that are going to get to the wall,” Jose Bautista said. “Maybe on a one-hopper, but nothing that rolls or has more than four or five bounces.”

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This being the home opener, about twice the normal number of media types turned out, and as they wandered through foul territory before the game, everybody was talking about the soft turf. It felt a little like walking in sand.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said the turf played “a little funny; it appeared as if the ball was never getting to you.” His first baseman, Allan Dykstra, said he saw “a couple balls that were snaking back and forth and came to a halt.”