Rays beat Jays 8-3
TORONTO - The looming 10-game road trip represents a daunting task, especially with the Toronto Blue Jays still unsure what kind of offence their enigmatic lineup will produce from night to night.
So yesterday's disheartening 8-3 loss in 13 innings to the Tampa Bay Rays after an out-of-nowhere three-run rally tied things in the ninth was especially frustrating for a team still trying to find its way at the plate.
Carl Crawford's sacrifice fly to deep right off Shawn Camp (0-1) brought home Jason Bartlett with the winning run after he opened the 13th with a single that glanced off Aaron Hill's glove, and advanced to third on Akinori Iwamura's subsequent single.
The Rays went on to load the bases - helped by Marco Scutaro's missed tag of B.J. Upton during a rundown - and Dioner Navarro cleared them with a two-out grand slam, making sure there would be no repeat of closer Troy Percival's implosion in the ninth.
Their execution was in marked contrast to that of the Blue Jays, who should have won it in the 10th when Alex Rios broke out of a 6-for-30 slide with a leadoff triple against Dan Wheeler. But neither Shannon Stewart nor Matt Stairs could bring him home with a fly ball before Rod Barajas struck out with the bases loaded to end it.
They didn't get another shot at victory after that as J.P. Howell (1-0) threw three innings for the win before a crowd of 21,118.
It was a bitter end to an otherwise solid 5-2 homestand that could have been even better after the Blue Jays offence, dormant for eight innings, woke up in the ninth to score the first three runs of the season against Percival and erase a 3-0 deficit.
Vernon Wells got things started with a two-run blast before Lyle Overbay doubled and pinch-runner Joe Inglett scored on Aaron Hill's single. Hill later stole second but Marco Scutaro struck out looking to end it.
In other Major League Baseball action:
Red Sox 5 Tigers 1
Josh Beckett got eight strikeouts, including the 1,000th of his career and Kevin Youkilis hit another home run at spacious Comerica Park to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.
Yankees 6 Indians 3
At New York, Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, Robinson Cano and Wilson Betemit all hit home runs in victory over Cleveland.
White Sox 6 Twins 2
At Chicago, Jermaine Dye homered for the third straight game and Juan Uribe added a go-ahead two-run drive in the fifth for the White Sox.
Diamondbacks 8, Phillies 3
At Phoenix, Brandon Webb became the first pitcher to win his first eight starts in three years, tossing his 13th career complete game to help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
Rockies 9, Cardinals 3
At Denver, Matt Holliday had four singles, Jorge De La Rosa scattered five hits over 5 2-3 innings and Colorado beat St. Louis to salvage a split in their four-game series.
Braves 5, Padres 4
At Atlanta, the Braves finally won a one-run game when Matt Diaz hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning.
Pirates 5, Giants 4
At Pittsburgh, Adam LaRoche hit a go-ahead single in a three-run seventh inning, and the Pirates rallied to complete a three-game sweep.
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