Rays 9, Blue Jays 1
Robinson Chirinos hit his first career home run and James Shields rebounded from a rough outing by pitching into the eighth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays trounced the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 9-1 on Wednesday.
With two runners on base and Tampa leading 5-1, Chirinos - a 27-year-old rookie catcher - deposited an offering from Carlos Villanueva (6-3) over the left-field wall as part of a four-run third inning. Villanueva lasted only one more batter and was torched for eight runs on nine hits in his shortest start of the season.
Chirinos finished with a career-high four RBIs as the Rays pounded out 12 hits against four Toronto pitchers.
Shields (10-9) limited Toronto to one run on three hits over 7 1/3 innings. It marked a vast improvement from his previous start, when he was roughed up for a season-high 10 runs in a one-sided loss to Oakland.
Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman also took Villanueva deep while Matt Joyce went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.
J.P. Arencibia hit his 18th home run - and sixth in the past 10 games - for the Jays.