Thursday, 4 a.m.
There for a second or two, the offense of the Tampa Bay Rays seemed to have woken up.
And then…not so much.
After an 11-run spurt on Tuesday night, the Rays seemed to be humming again against Toronto. They had eight hits in the first 5 1/3 innings, and a 1-0 lead, and everything seemed to going well.
And then…they stopped in a 3-1 loss to Toronto.
The Rays went the final 4 2/3 innings of their loss without a hit. For the night, they struck out nine times and were just one-for-five with runners in scoring position.
It wasn’t enough. Alejandro Kirk hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the Jays to a win. Kirk was down 0-2 in the count when he homered.
The Rays are tied for third in the majors in home runs allowed to the opposing team this season.
The Rays only run came on a single by Kameron Misner.
Brandon Lowe had two hits for the Rays.
Starter Ryan Pepiot went six innings and gave up three earned runs. He fell to 2-5 on the season.
The Rays and Jays conclude their series today in Toronto. Zack Littell (2-5) will start for the Rays against Kevin Gausman (3-3).