Rays 4 Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Willy Adames delivered a long single against a five-man infield in the 11th inning, driving in the winning run as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Wednesday night.
Adames’ hit came off Justin Shafrer (0-1), who walked two and allowed a single by Avisail Garcia. With one out and the infield jammed with fielders, Adames drove a ball to deep centre field.
Diego Castillo (1-3) got the win after pitching the 11th for the Rays, who have won five straight.
Tampa Bay banged out 14 hits Garcia and Tommy Pham each had three.
The Blue Jays have lost seven of eight. Toronto had 12 hits, but went 2 for 16 with men in scoring position.
The Rays took a 3-2 into the eighth before Justin Smoak tied with an RBI single off Jose Alvarado, who gave up two hits and two walks to the four batters he faced. The Blue Jays had the bases loaded with no outs after tying it, but Freddie Galvis bounced into a double play and Brandon Drury lined out to centre.
The Blue Jays had four hits off Blake Snell’s first 10 pitches of the game.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove Snell’s third pitch for a two-run homer, his fourth of the season. Smoak and Rowdy Tellez followed with singles. Snell got out of the inning with a strikeout and a double play and then scattered two hits and two walks over the next five innings.
Snell, the 2018 Cy Young Award winner, gave up two runs while striking out five in six innings.
Garcia drove in Tampa Bay’s first run with a single in the third, and Brandon Lowe’s two-run double lifted the Rays to a 3-2 lead in the fourth against Toronto starter Trent Thornton, who gave up three runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out five in 4 2/3 innings.
Gurriel has an extra-base hit in all six of his games since being recalled from Buffalo on Friday.
The game drew a crowd of 6,166, 380 more than Tuesday night’s crowd of 5,786, the smallest in franchise history.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Ryan Tepera (elbow impingement) had surgery to shave down a bone spur and remove a loose body on the back of his elbow. He will start throwing in six weeks. … RHP Jacob Waguespack (right shoulder strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list and RHP Elvis Luciano was reinstated from the bereavement list. … RHP Aaron Sanchez, who left Monday night’s game due to a finger problem, is listed as Sunday’s starter at Colorado.
Rays: C Mike Zunino (strained left quadriceps) was “definitely reassured” after playing seven innings Tuesday night in his first rehab game with Class A Charlotte. His status will be evaluated after another game Thursday. … INF Joey Wendle (fractured right wrist) is hitting soft toss in a batting cage and expects to be back next month.
UP NEXT
Blue Jays: After an off day, RHP Ed Jackson (2-0, 9.00) will pitch Friday night’s opener of a three-game series at Colorado.
Rays: RHP Charlie Morton (5-0, 2.54) will pitch Thursday night’s opener of a four-game series against Minnesota.