TORONTO -- Looking back at Zach Eflin’s season to this point, Rays manager Kevin Cash praised the veteran right-hander’s consistency above all else. Eflin hasn’t been quite as dominant as he was last year, but he has worked at least five innings in all but one of his 19 starts, rarely walking anyone and regularly keeping the Rays in the game.

“When he takes the ball,” Cash said on Wednesday afternoon, “we feel good about our chances of winning.”

Facing an uncertain future ahead of Tuesday’s Trade Deadline, Eflin gave the Rays a chance to win again on Wednesday night. He allowed only two runs on six hits and struck out four in 5 2/3 innings, but the Blue Jays rallied for four two-out runs in the eighth against steady setup man Jason Adam to deal the Rays a 6-3 defeat at Rogers Centre.

With the loss, the Rays (51-51) are back at .500 for the 24th time this season and still 4 1/2 games out of the final American League Wild card spot.

Could it have been Eflin’s last appearance in a Rays uniform? He’s often been mentioned as one of several potential trade candidates on their roster. The Rays’ record, his $18 million salary next season and the impending return of starter Jeffrey Springs would seem to make that possible.

The way Eflin has performed would surely appeal to contenders in need of a reliable veteran starter. MLB.com’s John Denton reported over the weekend that the Cardinals, for instance, were targeting pitchers like Eflin and the Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi.

After Wednesday's game, though, Eflin was more concerned about the Rays’ immediate future than what may come next for him.

“There’s not really much I can do to think about hearsay and what might happen, what might not happen,” Eflin said. “I think that’s where a lot of anxiety can come from, so I’m not really worried about it. Just worried about winning the next day.”

Cash credited Eflin and the rest of the Rays for how they’ve dealt with trade rumors and the looming Deadline over the past few weeks.

“I think all the guys are handling it well,” Cash said. “They understand there’s a ton of floating rumors out there, but as much as any, Zach Eflin is going to handle everything thrown at him really well.”

Eflin’s night got off to a rough start, as he gave up a double and an RBI single during a long first inning. But he was characteristically efficient after that, allowing only a two-out solo homer to the scorching-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the third and otherwise breezing into the sixth inning.

“You’ve got to stay locked in. You never know if you’re going to have a 10-pitch inning, a five-pitch inning or a 30-pitch inning,” Eflin said, crediting catcher Ben Rortvedt for making use of his cutter, sinker and curveball when he didn’t have his best sweeper or changeup. “It’s our job as starting pitchers to be able to recover from that and still pitch to contact to stay in the game long enough to give our bullpen a break.”

It took Eflin 30 pitches to record his first three outs, but he only needed 55 to record the final 14 outs. He got Guerrero to hit into a double play in the sixth then gave up a single to Justin Turner, at which point lefty Garrett Cleavinger came in to finish the inning.

“He was awesome,” Cash said. “By the third or fourth inning, he’s reset his pitch count totally. That’s just who he is. He’s really committed to the strike zone, getting early outs, and he’s not consumed with the strikeout.”

Meanwhile, Blue Jays starter Yariel Rodríguez retired each of the Rays’ first 12 hitters. Randy Arozarena broke up his perfect outing with a leadoff double in the fifth then scored on a single by Josh Lowe. Arozarena tied the game in the sixth with an RBI single off lefty reliever Brendon Little.

But it all fell apart in the eighth. Adam, the Rays' most consistent reliever all season, had two outs and one on when the Tampa Bay intentionally walked Guerrero. Turner hit an RBI single just over third baseman José Caballero, who said the “catchable ball” hit his glove, and Daulton Varsho added an RBI single to right.

Then things got even worse. Turner scored on a passed ball, as Adam threw a fastball when Rortvedt was expecting a cutter, then Varsho came home when sure-handed shortstop Taylor Walls dropped a pop-up in left field.

“The guys battled through this whole game, put us in a chance to win the ballgame, and then I flushed that away,” Adam said. “That obviously sucks, but we'll bounce back and be ready for tomorrow.”