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TORONTO(AP) Right from the first pitch, the
Tampa Bay Rays
had their power stroke going.
B.J. Upton homered to leadoff the game,
Carl Crawford
and
Willy Aybar
added solo shots and the Rays won their seventh straight game Tuesday night, 4-1 over the
Toronto Blue Jays
.
''We really lived by the long ball,'' Rays manager Joe Maddon said. ''We didn't have to do the speed game today.''
The Rays finished June with a team-record 41 homers and are the only squad in the major leagues with more than 100 homers
(105) and 100 steals (121).
Matt Garza
(6-5) allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings, walked three and struck out three to win consecutive starts for the
first time since April 30 and May 5.
''Garza struggled a little bit with command,'' Maddon said. ''But overall, his stuff is so good he was able to fight through
some moments.'' Garza is 4-2 with a 0.60 ERA in his past six starts against the
Blue Jays
. The right-hander is 2-2 with a 0.91 ERA in four career starts in Toronto but was at a loss to explain his dominance against
Toronto.
''I'd love to be this stingy in any ballpark also,'' Garza said. ''There's no answer.''
J.P. Howell worked the ninth for his sixth save.
Upton hit his second career leadoff homer off, drilling the first pitch from
Scott Richmond
over the wall in left-center for his seventh homer.
''I was just looking for a pitch to hit, ready to hit right from the first pitch,'' Upton said. ''I got a pitch I liked and
hit it out of the ballpark.''
The
Blue Jays
tied it in the second when
Scott Rolen
singled to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games and scored when
Lyle Overbay
grounded into a double play.
Crawford put the Rays in front to stay in the third with a one-out homer, his eighth of the year.
''It was a slider down and in,'' Crawford said. ''He struck me out with it in the first inning and I was able to stay on it
for the home run.''
Aybar made it 3-1 with a leadoff shot in the sixth, his seventh.
Richmond allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. He walked five and struck out seven.
Ben Zobrist
capped Tampa Bay's scoring with a sacrifice fly in the eighth off reliever
Jesse Carlson
.
Toronto has scored just six runs in its past four games, all losses, the first time this season they've lost four straight
at home. The
Blue Jays
are .138 (4 for 29) with runners in scoring position in that stretch, leaving manager
Cito Gaston
pondering changes to his batting order.
''Some of the guys are hitting but the guys that we need to drive in runs are not swinging the bats at all,'' Gaston said.
''We'll think about doing something (Wednesday), trying to get guys in the right spots.''
The
Blue Jays
never mounted much of a threat in this one. Rolen grounded into a fielder's choice with runners at first and second to end
the third and
Vernon Wells
flied out to end the fifth, stranding runners at second and third.
Garza left after
Aaron Hill
's leadoff walk in the seventh and Wells followed with a single against
Chad Bradford
. Hill took third on Rolen's fly out before
Randy Choate
came on and struck out
Adam Lind
, then got Overbay to fly to left. Overbay is hitless in 13 at-bats and Wells is stuck in a 2 for 19 slump.
NOTES: Rays 3B
Evan Longoria
, who missed time with a tight left hamstring earlier this month, was held out of the starting lineup but pinch-hit in the
eighth and flied out. ...
Blue Jays
closer
Scott Downs
, out since June 18 with a sore toe, threw off the bullpen mound and will try fielding drills in the coming days, Gaston said.
Downs is eligible to come off the DL Friday when the
Blue Jays
open a three-game series at New York. ... Toronto rookie LHP
Brett Cecil
made his first career relief appearance in the ninth.
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