Tampa Bay Rays beat Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 for second straight win – MLB Update
The Tampa Bay Rays romped to a 6-5 win in the second straight outing against the league rivals Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday, August 27 to take a 2-0 lead in the four-game series.
B.J. Upton launched a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to take his team into 6-2 lead. This hit became a difference between the clubs when the Blue Jays scored a single in the bottom of the seventh and two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
"I keep saying that we're very much in this race right now," Upton said. "We've just got to continue to try and win series. That's all we can ask ourselves. Hopefully (New York and Boston) hit a little rut and we can gain some ground on them."
In his previous at-bat, Upton also launched a sky high hit that went few feet into foul. Upton raised a question to home plate umpire and crew chief Tim Tschida to decide about the hit. The Rays’ manager Joe Maddon also joined Upton to make the doubt clear.
"(Tschida) said, 'I'll talk to the boys,' and I guess none of them were absolutely certain, so they did the right thing," Maddon said.
Before Upton’s hit, the Rays were leading the game only with one run until sixth inning. The game was electrifying as the Blue Jays’ batting was also not ready to bestow the game so easily.
Jose Bautista had opened the game with his line drive single in the first inning and catcher J.P. Arencibia had hit a ground rule double to left for second run in the fourth inning. Arencibia scored another RBI single in the seventh. The Blue Jays did not
give up and Eric Thames and Ervin Encarnacion each launched a one-run homer in the eighth to take Toronto closer to lead.
However, the Rays’ Joel Peralta worked a brilliant ninth inning to get his second save in the second straight night.
Starter Jeff Niemann earned his ninth win, allowing three runs on five this and two walks in just over six innings. He struck-out six batters to improve his record to 9-5 with a 3.46 ERA in 2011 regular season.
Blue Jays’ relief pitcher Shawn Camp lost his third game, allowing one run on two hits in a single inning. Blue Jays’ starting pitcher Luis Perez allowed two runs on five hits and struck-out four batters over five innings.
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