Rays 4, Blue Jays 1
James Shields threw eight sensational innings as host Tampa Bay welcomed back Evan Longoria with a victory over Toronto.
Shields (10-7) made Longoria's return a triumphant one, following up a complete-game three-hit shutout against Oakland with another dominant performance against Toronto. The hard-throwing right-hander limited the visitors to a pair of hits while walking one and striking out six.
Fernando Rodney worked around a one-out single in the ninth to secure his 33rd save, tying him with Baltimore's Jim Johnson for the major-league lead.
Longoria, who has been out since suffering a partial tear of his left hamstring April 30, went 1-for-3 with an RBI while batting out of the cleanup spot.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the second on a Sean Rodriguez run-scoring single to right - ending the club's scoreless streak at 22 innings - and extended the lead in the third. After loading the bases with none out against Jays starter J.A. Happ (0-1), the Rays quickly made it 3-0 on back-to-back RBI sacrifice flies from Longoria and Jeff Keppinger.
Colby Rasmus cut into the deficit leading off the fourth, belting a solo shot 10 rows deep into the right-field seats for his 20th home run of the campaign.
Tampa restored its three-run edge in the fifth as Desmond Jennings hit a leadoff double and came around to score on a Ben Zobrist double to left that chased Happ. The Toronto left-hander, making his first start with the Blue Jays since being acquired from Houston last month, was tagged for four runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay's third-inning outburst marked its first multi-run frame since it scored twice in the ninth inning of an 8-0 win over Oakland on July 31. The Rays went 39 innings without recording more than one run. ... Blue Jays 3B Adeiny Hechavarria recorded his first career major-league hit, lining a single up the middle with two outs in the third. ... Toronto RHP Chad Jenkins threw three innings of scoreless relief in his major-league debut. He's the 31st different pitcher the Blue Jays have used this season, a new franchise high.