The Tampa Bay Rays lost for the fourth time in the past five games on Monday night at the Blue Jays came to Tropicana Field and opened the three-game set with a 6-2 victory. The Rays swept Toronto last week and were looking to rebound from a rough interleague weekend against the Braves.
Jeremy Hellickson was not particularly sharp but he kept the Rays in it. He scattered 8 hits over 7.1 innings and was charged with just two earned runs. A Yunel Escobar solo shot in the sixth proved to be the winning run, but Tampa's defense did their pitchers no favors.
The Jays blew it open in the 8th, capitalizing on two Tampa errors to add three insurance runs. Burke Badenhop committed the first error but a misfire on a throw from third baseman Sean Rodriguez proved to be the costly mistake, allowing two runs to come home.
Tampa will try to even the series up in the second game of the series on Tuesday night. Matt Moore will go against Drew Hutchinson.
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