Coming off of a series loss to the Baltimore Orioles, their wild card rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays recovered excellently by completing a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. After close calls in the first two games of the series, the Rays took a 2nd inning lead and slowly expanded it throughout their 7-1 win.
Blue Jays' leadoff hitter Rajai Davis reached in the first and eventually scored on a balk by Matt Moore, but that would be Moore's last major hiccup. He finished that inning without allowing another run and went six strong before being pulled with six strikeouts, two walks and just one earned run.
The Rays' three-run 2nd inning was the first of four straight with a run for the home team. Jose Loboton hit a two-run single that scored Ben Zobrist and Jeff Keppinger to give the Rays a 2-1 lead and they never looked back. Evan Longoria had three hits and two RBI on the night, while Loboton had an excellent game as well with two hits and three RBI.
For more on the two teams, check out DRaysBay and Bluebird Banter. For more from around baseball, head over to Baseball Nation.