Thursday, 4 a.m.
Uh-oh. The bullpen of the Tampa Bay Lightning is aflame again.
The relief pitchers of the Rays were the culprits in the Rays' 5-3, 10-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday night at the Rogers Centre.
Twice, the Rays were in position to close out a win, leading 1-0 in the eighth and 3-1 in the 10th. But neither time could the bulllpen -- effective as of late -- slam the door.
In the eighth, usual closer Byron Baker could not find the strike zone. He walked four batters in two-thirds of an inning, giving up the tying run when Kazuma Okmoto hit a sacrifice fly.
The Rays regained the lead in the 10th when Ben Williamson singleed in a run, then scored on a single by Yandy Diaz.
But releiver Aaron Brooks let the two-run lead slip away. He managed to gegt one batter out, walked two and gave up a walk-off grand slam to Daulton Varsho.
The Rays walked 10 batters in all. They were bailed out with four double plays and the Blue Jays going one-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Griffin Jax went five innings and allowed just four hits.
The Rays got two hits from Diaz. Richie Palacios drove in a run in the seventh.
The Rays are off today, then play home against the Florida Marlins. They play Friday night at 7:10 p.m. Jesse Scholtens will start for the Rays against Janson Junk.