Rays 6, Blue Jays 5
Matt Joyce belted a two-run homer and the Tampa Bay Rays took advantage of a bad fielding night by the home side as they earned a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Joyce's seventh home run over the right-field wall gave the Rays a 5-0 lead, and Tampa Bay (25-18) held on from there to improve to 14-5 away from Tropicana Field – the best road mark in the majors.
Tampa Bay built much of its early lead on Toronto fielding mistakes. The Blue Jays (21-21) made four errors in the first four innings and finished with five in the game, their highest total since May 21, 2000, against the Chicago White Sox.
Two of those errors came courtesy of losing pitcher Jesse Litsch (4-3), who surrendered six runs – five earned – on seven hits over five innings. All three of Litsch's losses have come against American League East opponents.
Jeremy Hellickson (5-2) won his third straight start, allowing four runs – three earned – on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Kyle Farnsworth worked around a Yunel Escobar RBI groundout in the ninth inning for his ninth save.
Eric Thames provided one of the lone highlights for the Blue Jays. The 24-year-old went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored in his major league debut.