Rays prevail in 11 on walk-off walk
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Rays won on a walk-off walk as Brad Miller took a bases-loaded ball four to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 victory in 11 innings over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
Seth Smith reached base for the fifth time with a double to lead off the 11th, advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tim Beckham. Toronto intentionally walked two batters to load the bases for Evan Longoria, who struck out for the second out.
Miller went to a full count but rookie Casey Lawrence (0-1), making his major league debut, threw a ball outside for Toronto's ninth walk of the night.
The Rays (4-2) matched the best six-game start in their history, beating the Jays (1-4) for the second time in three days. Tampa Bay's bullpen pitched 3 1/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief, with Erasmo Ramirez (1-0) getting the last five outs for the win.
Toronto tied the game in the seventh and took the lead in the eighth, but the Rays tied it up in the bottom of the eighth on Steven Souza's RBI single off reliever Joe Biagini.
After a 1-2-3 ninth from closer Alex Colome, the Rays got their chance to win in the bottom of the ninth, but stranded Mallex Smith at third. Toronto got a leadoff walk in the 10th and got Russell Martin to third, but also stranded him there.
The Rays also had a chance in the 10th, getting two on with one out and a runner at third with two outs, but reliever Jason Grilli struck out pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks to send the game to the 11th.
The Blue Jays got a strong seven innings from starter Aaron Sanchez, who held the Rays to one run on four hits in seven innings. Tampa Bay's Chris Archer took a shutout into the seventh and pitched into the eighth, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out eight.
Toronto barely touched Archer in the first six innings, with only two singles and no runs, but broke through in the seventh. Archer led off the inning with walks to Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista, but forced a double play to put a runner at third with two outs for Troy Tulowitzki, who ripped a single past shortstop to tie the game at 1.
After 98 pitches, Archer came back for the eighth and again threw a leadoff walk, to Russell Martin. Justin Smoak followed with a single to put runners at the corners, but Archer got two outs.
Donaldson came through with an RBI single for a 2-1 Toronto lead on Archer's 114th pitch. Reliever Tommy Hunter struck out Bautista to end the inning.
NOTES: After needing 7 2/3 innings from five relievers in Friday's 10-8 loss, the Blue Jays selected RHP Casey Lawrence from Triple-A Buffalo. Lawrence, 29, has 964 innings in the minors and went 8-12 with a 4.17 ERA last season, splitting time between Double-A New Hampshire and Buffalo. RHP Dominic Leone, who threw 2 2/3 innings of relief Friday, was optioned to Buffalo and to make room on the 40-man roster, Toronto transferred RHP Bo Schultz to the 60-day disabled list. ... The Rays batted around in the first and sixth inning Friday, the first time they've done that twice in the same game since August 2012 against Minnesota. The two innings took a combined 95 minutes to play, part of a 3-hour, 53-minute ballgame. ... The Rays had Corey Dickerson and Logan Morrison come off the bench and go 2-for-2 in Friday's win, the first time in Rays history they've had two players come off the bench and both have multiple hits. It hasn't happened in the American League since the Yankees' Didi Gregorius and Garrett Jones did so against Seattle in June 2015. ... Rays LHP Xavier Cedeno had two bases-loaded walks and retired one batter to earn the win Friday, becoming the first relief pitcher to throw two bases-loaded walks and still get the win since Cleveland's Jim Kern in 1977.