Blue Jays exorcise demons at Tropicana, top Rays

[September 04, 2014]  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has witnessed enough strangeness at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, to rue almost anything as a bad omen. So when a thunderstorm swept over the building Wednesday, illuminating the field with lightning, filling its cavernous expanse with the sound of a downpour and thunder strikes, he could only anticipate bad things.

Then banks of lighting began to wink to darkness. Not enough to blacken the field, but enough to prompt a 30-minute delay until full illumination was restored.

"When the lights go out, you don't know," he laughed. "This place is haunted."

Not anymore.

Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman rebounded from a horrendous last start against Tampa Bay, first baseman Adam Lind went 4-for-5 and shortstop Jose Reyes had a triple and two steals as Toronto downed Tampa Bay 7-4 at Tropicana Field. And in taking the first two games of the series, the Blue Jays snapped at 21 their streak of consecutive losing series at Tropicana Field against the Rays.

"That's not good," Gibbons said of the now-vanquished streak, which was at 22 counting a series played in Orlando. "For one series, hey, we got the monkey off our back. Now we've got to go out and make it a great series."

That bodes well so far. For the second straight game, Toronto battered Tampa Bay pitching. Starter Chris Archer, who entered third in the major leagues in fewest home runs allowed, gave up two as the Jays opened a 6-0 lead by the fifth inning.

Archer allowed six runs, 10 hits and one walk with two strikeouts in six innings to fall to 8-8. He surrendered a season-high eight runs -- including a grand slam -- in four innings of his last start against Boston on Friday.

Toronto improved to 71-67 with its fourth consecutive win and pulled with 4 1/2 games of Detroit for the second American League wild-card spot. Tampa Bay (67-73) lost its 12th in 18 games since reaching .500 on Aug. 15.

Stroman (9-5) was much more successful against Tampa Bay than in his previous start against them, allowing two runs and seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts.

The right-hander allowed five earned runs, 10 hits and three walks in an 8-0 loss on Aug. 22 at Rogers Centre. He was on the mount with a 2-0 lead when the lights failed, and spent a half-hour throwing and jumping to stay limber.

Stroman was in trouble only in the sixth inning when he allowed both runs on four hits, including RBI singles by third baseman Evan Longoria (2-for-4) and first baseman James Loney.

"I felt fine. I felt strong," Stroman said. "It's normal, obviously, if you sit a while you're going to get a little stiff, so it was just a matter of going out there to get my blood flowing again and getting loose."

Longoria's 18th home run of the season, a two-run blast off right-hander Dustin McGowan, pulled Tampa Bay within 7-4 in the eighth inning. Longoria knocked in three of Tampa Bay's four runs and has 81 this season.

Right-hander Aaron Sanchez pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.

Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro hit a two-run homer in a second straight game to give Toronto a 2-0 lead in the second inning. After Lind led off with a single, Navarro yanked his 12th of the season into the right-field stands off Archer.

Toronto took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning when Lind doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly-out by third baseman Danny Valencia.

Edwin Encarnacion's 29th homer of the season, a two-run shot off Archer, upped the lead to 6-0 in the fifth.

"I just didn't execute my pitches," Archer said of the home runs. "Both I had two strikes on. Just didn't execute. Period. That's the story of the game."

Center fielder Anthony Gose began the three-run rally with a walk, stole second, took third on a fielder's choice and scored for a 4-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Melky Cabrera. Jose Bautista followed with a single before Encarnacion worked back from an 0-2 count to club a 2-2 pitch just over the barrier and off the glove of a fan in left field.

"I wish it hadn't happened," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of his home mastery of the Jays ending. "They've played better than we did the last two nights and they deserved to beat us. Very simple."

NOTES: With 1,256 strikeouts, Tampa Bay is on pace to break the season strikeout record of 1,428 set by the 2013 Detroit Tigers. ... Tampa Bay CF Desmond Jennings missed a sixth straight game nursing a bruised left knee. Rookie Kevin Kiermaier again replaced him in the field and 2B Ben Zobrist in the leadoff spot. ... Toronto started two recent call-ups, 2B Ryan Goins and CF Anthony Gose. ... Rays bench coach Dave Martinez said he has not been contacted about the Astros' managerial job. He has interviewed for jobs with the Cubs, Indians and Blue Jays in the past. ... Rays LHP Matt Moore, who underwent season-ending ligament-replacement surgery, is scheduled to play catch for the first time on Monday and is expected to return in mid-May. ... Toronto has eight homers in its last three games after producing six in their previous seven games.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.