Toronto Blue Jays at Tampa Bay Rays
· Major League Baseball
6 - 5
Blue Jays beat fading Rays 6-5 for 6th straight win, close in on AL East title
Toronto (89-62), seeking its first AL East title since 2015, maintained a five-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees with 11 to play. Joey Loperfido homered and George Springer had three hits and two RBI.
Tampa Bay (73-78) has lost nine of 11, dropping nine games behind Boston for the last AL wild card. The Rays had two on with one out in the ninth before Jeff Hoffman struck out Josh Lowe and Jake Mangum for his 31st save in 38 chances.
The Rays drew 8,908, their 18th non-sellout at 10,046-capacity Steinbrenner Field.
Toronto built a 4-0 lead against Ryan Pepiot (11-11) on Addison Barger's RBI single in the first and a three-run second that included Springer's two-run single and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s RBI single.
Brandon Lowe ended an eight-pitch at-bat against José Berríos in the third with a three-run homer after a video review ruled that while a fan reached over the right-field wall and interfered with Lukes, the drive would have been a home run anyway.
Lukes was given a solo homer against Joey Gerber in the fourth on a replay review after initially being awarded a double on a drive that hit Lowe’s glove and then the hand of a fan behind the right-field fence.
Loperfido homered in the fifth for a 6-3 lead.
Tampa Bay closed on RBI singles by Tristan Gray in the eighth and Brandon Lowe in the ninth.
Eric Lauer (9-2) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
How can I watch Toronto Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay Rays?
- TV Channel: Blue Jays at Rays 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Scoring Summary
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9th Inning | Mangum struck out swinging. |
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9th Inning | J. Lowe struck out swinging. |
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9th Inning | Caminero walked, B. Lowe to second. |
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9th Inning | B. Lowe singled to left, Simpson scored. |
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9th Inning | Hoffman relieved Domínguez |
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9th Inning | Díaz struck out swinging, Simpson stole second, Simpson safe at third on throwing error by catcher Kirk. |
Statistics
 TOR |
 TB |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 12 | Ground Balls | 16 |
| 9 | Strikeouts | 8 |
| 6 | Runs Batted In | 5 |
| 1 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 11 | Hits | 10 |
| 0 | Stolen Bases | 2 |
| 3 | Walks | 6 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 6 | Runs | 5 |
| 2 | Ground Into Double Play | 1 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
| 35 | At Bats | 36 |
| 2 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 17 | Runners Left On Base | 20 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 1 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 0 | Doubles | 1 |
| 15 | Fly Balls | 12 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 129 | Pitches | 184 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 1 | Pinch At Bats | 1 |
| 1 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
| 17 | Total Bases | 14 |
| 39 | Plate Appearances | 42 |
| 324.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
| 2 | Extra Base Hits | 2 |
| 5.5 | Runs Created | 5.9 |
| .314 | Batting Average | .278 |
| 1.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
| .486 | Slugging Percentage | .389 |
| .257 | Secondary Average | .333 |
| .368 | On Base Percentage | .381 |
| .854 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .770 |
| 0.8 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 1.3 |
| 5.5 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 5.9 |
| 41.0 | Batter Rating | 37.0 |
| 17.5 | At Bats Per Home Run | 36.0 |
| 0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
| 3.31 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 4.38 |
| .171 | Isolated Power | .111 |
| 0.33 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.75 |
| .077 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .143 |
| -.057 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .056 |
| 12.0 | Runs Produced | 10.0 |
| 1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
| 0.5 | Patience Ratio | 0.5 |
| 0.4 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
| 91.8 | MLB Rating | 86.5 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 8,908 | Capacity: