Jays play it smart to double up Rays

Toronto keeps pace in race for wild card spot

The Toronto Blue Jays gave the Tampa Bay Rays a taste of their own medicine Tuesday night.

The Rays are known far and wide for their ability to do all the little things right. The kind of things that turn losses into wins.

But Tuesday night it was the Jays turn to turn some of those little things into big things and it all added up to a big win in the heat of a very tight playoff race as the Jays eked out a 4-2 win.

Now, the Jays didn't take advantage of every opportunity, going just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position for the evening. But their baserunning instincts put them in position to win this game and keep pace with both the Boston Red Sox, who they trailed by a game and a half, and the New York Yankees who they led by a half game as the night began. The Yankees won, while the Red Sox had three run lead on the Mets late in the game.

Two of the Jays first three runs were made possibly by some heady baserunning.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. opened the third with a sharply hit single to left and then went first to third on a Corey Dickerson single to right.

Gurriel would score the Jays first run on Breyvick Valera's groundout.

Three innings later, after Gurriel had hit his career-best 21st homer, Marcus Semien opened the sixth with a walk. When Vladdy Guerrero Jr. hit a rare soft liner to left, Semien read it perfectly and was running on contact, easily going first to third and drawing the throw from the outfield, which allowed Guerrero to take second on one of the softest hits of his season.

Semien scored on Bo Bichette's sacrifice fly to centre field, giving the Jays a 3-2 lead.

For Jays starter Alek Manoah (7-2), it was a battle from the opening pitch, but the Jays starter but he somehow managed to stick around for six innings and leave with a 3-2 lead despite walking six Rays, a career high.

With the Jays treating Wednesday's day game as a bullpen day, there was some need for Manoah to get as deep as he could.

Credit the Jays rookie with fighting back and getting the game into the seventh before the Jays went to their bullpen.

Jordan Romano picked up his 20th save of the year but not before making things a little nervous, loading the bases on three walks before getting Joey Wendle to end the game on a pop fly to right.

THAT'S NOT CHEATING

Full credit to Sportsnet's Arash Madani for uncovering some mid-series drama in the pivotal series down in St. Petersburg, Fla., but really, this was much ado about nothing.

Madani reported pre-game the Jays were rightfully upset over Monday night, when the

Jays video crew caught Rays centre-fielder scooping up a scouting report card that had come dislodged in a play at the plate with Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk.

According to Madani's report, the Jays, upon learning of the dropped card, sent a bat boy to the Rays dugout asking for the card back. The ball boy was sent back empty-handed.

Pre-game Tuesday night there were conversations between the two teams' managers and the two general managers.

It was some fascinating drama, but the suggestion that the Rays were somehow cheating by picking up a card that had been dropped is taking things too far.

In no way are the Rays guilty of anything. When a potential advantage literally falls in your lap, you use it.

But it did make for some interesting pre-game entertainment.