| Tor |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
| TB |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
X |
3 |
7 |
0 |
Date of game: 8/8/2012
|
Recap: Tampa Bay vs. Toronto
St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Alex Cobb went seven innings, B.J. Upton hit an RBI double, and the Rays defeated the Blue Jays, 3-2, on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay scored all of its runs in the third inning, as Evan Longoria plated Upton with a double play groundout and Jeff Keppinger added a two-out RBI single.
Longoria, in his second game back from a prolonged absence, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Still, Tampa Bay improved to 17-8 with Longoria in the lineup this season, compared to 41-44 without the three-time All-Star.
Cobb (6-8) allowed one run on five hits, did not issue a walk and struck out seven.
Fernando Rodney entered the ninth with a 22-inning scoreless streak -- a club record for a reliever -- but surrendered a one-out solo homer to David Cooper. The righty then retired two straight batters to secure his 34th save of the year.
The Rays have won nine of 14 overall and will look for the sweep of this three-game series on Thursday.
Carlos Villanueva (6-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
Edwin Encarnacion had a third-inning sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays, losers in eight of their last 10 games. They have dropped 16 consecutive away series against the Rays.
The sac fly scored Rajai Davis, who was hit by a pitch and moved to third on Colby Rasmus' single, but Tampa Bay went ahead for good in the bottom half.
A leadoff double by Desmond Jennings, followed by Upton's two-bagger into the right-field corner, tied the game. Matt Joyce then laced a single, placing runners at the corners.
Longoria, who had a sac fly in his return on Tuesday, made it 2-1 with a 6-4-3 double-play groundout.
Villanueva then walked Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena before Keppinger capped the frame with a base hit up the middle.
Cobb fanned the last two batters he faced, stranding a runner at third, and Joel Peralta struck out the side in the eighth.
Despite allowing Cooper's fourth homer of the season, Rodney managed to tie the club record with his 19th consecutive save, while helping the Rays down the Jays for the eighth time in nine games.
Game NotesLongoria missed 85 games with a partially torn left hamstring...Rodney had not allowed a run since June 14 versus the Mets. He was two outs shy of tying James Shields for the overall club record in consecutive scoreless innings (23).
