Late rally comes up short as Rays fall to Jays

ST. PETERSBURG -- After struggling offensively through the first seven innings, the Rays put together a late rally fueled by a Mike Zunino two-run home run. But the rally fell short as Tampa Bay dropped the series finale against the Blue Jays, 4-3, on Wednesday at Tropicana Field.

“The bats came alive a little bit too late,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Tough loss. Got to find a way to have some better at-bats in that game. Seemed like Toronto’s pitchers got in a rhythm, and we just couldn’t do anything to combat it.”

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The Rays’ offense has been on a pretty good roll over the past 10 games, scoring six or more runs in eight of them, but it took some time for the bats to get going on Wednesday. Austin Meadows connected on a two-out double in the eighth inning and was driven in by Avisail Garcia's single to cut the deficit to 4-1.

In the ninth inning, Kevin Kiermaier singled and Zunino delivered the big blast, a projected 446-foot home run to bring the Rays within a run. It was Zunino’s second home run in the past four games. He has reached base in seven of his past 15 at-bats.

“It’s been tough lately,” Zunino said. “Was able to get a pitch I could handle, I just have to stay patient with my routine, my process, and just continue to hunt pitches I can handle.”

Willy Adames followed Zunino with a one-out single, but Toronto closer Ken Giles struck out Ji-Man Choi and Tommy Pham to end the game. Choi went 0-for-12 and Pham 0-for-10 in the series.

Despite scoring seven runs in Tuesday’s win, the Rays were unable to take advantage of most of their opportunities in the three-game set, which ultimately cost them. After going 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday, Tampa Bay closed out the series going 1-for-20 in such situations. In their 66 wins this season, the Rays are hitting .295 with runners in scoring position, but that number significantly decreases to .171 in their 50 losses.

Brendan McKay pitched well but was hurt by solo home runs by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk. The rookie left-hander allowed three runs over five-plus innings and recorded a career-high eight strikeouts. Colin Poche allowed a two-run home run to Derek Fisher in the sixth inning, which pushed the deficit to 4-0.

“[The start] had a lot of great promise to it,” McKay said of his outing. “I started off feeling good. Commanding the zone. At times I got away from it. That’s when guys put good swings on balls. I was on the defensive mode and they were in attack mode. Missed some locations here and there, and they made me pay for it.”

McKay has yielded one walk or fewer in all six of his Major League starts, passing Nathan Eovaldi from May 30-June 20, 2018, for the longest such streak by a traditional starter to begin his Rays career.

“[He’s been] fairly consistent,” Cash said. “He’s pretty polished for a young pitcher as far as commanding the baseball. I still think there’s room for improvement, but that goes with everybody that steps on the mound. He’s going to get more comfortable.”

Ex-Rays pitcher Wilmer Font got the start for the Blue Jays and did not allow a run in 2 1/3 innings. Brock Stewart got the bulk of the work, tossing four scoreless frames on just two hits.

The Rays finished 3-2 on a homestand against the Marlins and Blue Jays, two teams with losing records. Tampa Bay will now travel west to begin a six-game road trip against the Mariners and Padres. The Rays have played much better away from Tropicana Field this season, posting a 35-22 record on the road as opposed to 31-28 at home.

“Not good enough,” Cash said of the 3-2 homestand. “Got to find a way to have more success. Going on a six-game road trip and we’ve got to do better than 3-3. Where we’re at and the teams we’re going up against right now -- we’ve got to find ways to win.”