Blue Jays 3, Rays 0
Mark Buehrle threw 8 2/3 shutout innings and Jose Bautista slammed a pair of solo homers as Toronto earned at least a split of its four-game series with host Tampa Bay.
Buehrle (1-0) was dominant from start to finish, allowing just four hits while striking out 11 and walking one. He left after allowing Ben Zobrist's single with two outs in the ninth, and Brett Cecil came on to secure the four-pitch save after Sergio Santos walked the only hitter he faced.
Rays left-hander Matt Moore (0-1) was charged with two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out four. The Rays didn't give him much help, failing to get a runner past second base en route to their second straight defeat.
Bautista put an end to the scoreless deadlock with a blast 15 rows deep into the seats in left-center field leading off the fourth. Toronto doubled its lead two batters later as Dioner Navarro slapped a single to right field to bring home Edwin Encarnacion from second.
Bautista extended the lead in the seventh with a blast off the outer roof ring at Tropicana Field, securing his first multi-homer game since June 29. Buehrle made the advantage stand, getting a double-play grounder from Logan Forsythe in the seventh to extinguish a minor threat and striking out the side in a 1-2-3 eighth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie preserved Buehrle's shutout in the fifth, leaping to snag a Sean Rodriguez liner with one out and Forsythe on second. ... Buehrle tossed the 18th perfect game in major-league history against Tampa Bay in 2009, but was 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA in four starts against them last season. ... A victory in Thursday's finale would give Toronto its first series win in St. Petersburg since 2007; the Jays have gone 0-19-1 since.