Justin Smoak hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, Josh Donaldson added two solo blasts and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Thursday. Smoak hit a two-run drive off Tommy Hunter (2-4), his 33rd, as the Blue Jays took three of four from the Rays to remain on the fringes of the AL wild card race. Toronto is 10-5 in August.
Chris Sale allowed two hits in eight innings and struck out 13, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 on Tuesday for their seventh straight victory. Sale (14-4) reached double digits in strikeouts for the 15th time this season, the first time that’s been done since Randy Johnson in 2002.
Zach Davies gave up one hit in seven innings and the Milwaukee Brewers remained a half-game behind the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs with a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night. It was the second straight shutout for the Brewers, who have given up only one run while winning three straight.
Brandon Woodruff allowed seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of his major league debut and Orlando Arcia homered and scored both runs Friday night in the Milwaukee Brewers‘ 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Arcia’s three hits included a triple off Rays starter Jake Faria in the third and his 10th home run of the season in the eighth. Eric Thames followed the triple with an RBI single.
Corey Dickerson hit a go-ahead, two-run single in a three-run third, and the Tampa Bay Rays‘ bullpen allowed one hit over five scoreless innings in a 5-3 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday that salvaged the finale of a four-game series. Sergio Romo, Dan Jennings, Steve Cishek and Tommy Hunter pitched hitless relief after rookie Jacob Faria started just four of 20 batters with strikes and got only 12 outs on his 24th birthday.
Evan Longoria and Steven Souza Jr. homered and Alex Cobb pitched seven strong innings for the Tampa Bay Rays in a 5-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. Longoria’s two-run shot off Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez, his 15th of the season, put Tampa Bay up 2-1 in the sixth after a walk to Mallex Smith. Souza’s 21st homer of the season came off reliever Darren O’Day in the seventh. Cobb (9-6) gave up one run on four hits with six strikeouts. He has given up two runs or fewer in seven…
Elvis Andrus homered early, and then snapped a 10th-inning tie with a two-out infield single that gave the struggling Texas Rangers a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. Andrus, who homered in the first inning, hit a sharp grounder off Brad Boxberger (2-1) that forced Evan Longoria to make a diving stop. Pinch runner Delino Shields scored when the third baseman to was unable to complete the throw to first base.