Tampa Bay Rays edge Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays put up another solid show as they edged Toronto Blue Jays in Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida on Wednesday, May 23 in the decisive finale of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Jose Bautista provided Toronto with an excellent start as he homered to left in the first inning but the Rays responded immediately, thanks to Drew Sutton, Carlos Pena and Matt Joyce who made the most of available opportunities to help Tampa Bay come back from behind and take 2-1 lead.
Matt Joyce grounded out to first in the third to extend Rays’ lead to 3-1 in the third inning. Scott also made a useful contribution in the same inning as he grounded into fielder’s choice to second and the Rays took a handsome 4-1 lead.
Yan Gomes’ sacrifice fly in the fifth inning brought the Blue Jays back into the game. Edwin Encarnacion homered to left centre in the eighth inning as the game entered a very interesting phase.
However, the star of the show was B.J. Upton who doubled to left in the eleventh the break the deadlock. Driving in the tie-breaking action, the striker played a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash.
"I think I'm understanding the strike zone and trying to stay aggressive, and right now I guess I'm not missing any pitches," said Upton, who has now hit two home runs in two games.
"When I hit that ball, I thought it was going to be second and third with one out, and when I went into second base he was already around," Upton said. "It kind of blew my mind that there was no play at the plate."
"We made a rush late to tie things up, and kind of ran out of time," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said.
With their win against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, the Rays improved their record to 27-18. After losing the opening game, the Rays showed great determination, fighting spirit and mental strength in the last two games to earn an important series win.
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