Yarbrough has now won 25 games in two seasons./TIM WIRT
Sunday, 4 a.m.
Travis d'Arnaud keeps hitting.
Ryan Yarbrough keeps winning.
It doesn't mean the Rays' recent slump is over, but for now, it's a good start.
The Rays beat Toronto, 3-1, on Friday night to open their three-game series. It was the team's first game since news that starting pitcher Blake Snell would miss all of August, so it was at least a stride in the proper direction.
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d'Arnaud had had a month to remember./TIM WIRT
The Rays, who scuffled mightily in their most recent home stand, got 5 1/3 innings from Yarbrough, one of their "bulk" pitchers. He has now won 25 games over the past two years. That's not bad when you consider that Snell, who won last year's Cy Young Award, has won 27. Yarbrough gave up four hits to the Jays, the only hits the Jays managed.
The Rays had lost seven of nine games coming into the series.
Yarbrough entered the game after Diego Castillo threw a perfect inning to start the game. It was his fourth straight win.
The Rays broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth when d'Arnaud knocked in two runs with a single.
d'Arnaud, who was hitting .321 in July before the game, now has 19 RBI in the month. He has nine RBI in his last five games.
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead when Austin Meadows tripled home Tommy Pham.
The Rays are 6-1 against Toronto this season.
This time, the Blue Jays thought they were in shape to win another one. Toronto had runners on first and second in the fourth when Freddy Galvis hit a ball toward the left-field corner. The ball bounced into the stands off the glove of Pham.
Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoya argued that Randal Grichuk should have scored from first on the double. Umpires reviewed the play and stopped him at third. Yarbrough then got out of the inning.
The Jays will start Ryan Borucki in today's game. The Rays have not designated a starter, but Kevin Cash said that Jalen Beeks "will be a significant factor."
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