TORONTO -- The ending of Saturday’s game between the Rays and Blue Jays was the antithesis of its beginning.

Tampa Bay was sent back to its clubhouse without recording an out in the bottom half of the 12th and final frame, walked off 10-9 by the Blue Jays. The long-distance matchup only ended when Emilio Pagán offered Teoscar Hernandez a pitch that Toronto’s outfielder sent sailing over the center-field wall at Rogers Centre, putting the stamp on an epic comeback that at one time saw the Rays hold a seven-run advantage.

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“It’s super frustrating,” Pagan said. “The offense was awesome. The guys came out today and put on a show, and it’s our job to hold our lead. And today we didn’t. … It’s terrible. I think everybody in the bullpen would tell you that this is on us. It’s frustrating.”

Pagan was the seventh hurler used by the Rays and the last man left in the bullpen who had not pitched in Friday night’s affair. When the 28-year-old right-hander entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, he knew he could be in for a long haul, and he hoped to leave the hill only after his team had retaken the lead.

“Eat as many innings as possible, until our guys can put up a run,” Pagan said. “After the second up, I came in and told [manager Kevin] Cash I was good, just because I knew we were kind of shorthanded down there. I felt good, thought I threw some quality pitches, but it didn’t go my way.”

Pagan followed Colin Poche, who entered the game with one out in the bottom of the ninth, his team still leading by one. One night after the 25-year-old left-hander earned his first Major League save, Poche allowed the game-tying blow to Blue Jays first baseman Brandon Drury. It was Drury’s second home run of the game, and second in as many innings.

“At that point, you’re trying to come in to stop the momentum,” Poche said. “You just want to come in and pump strikes, try not to give them anything to hit. I mean, give them credit -- they put some good swings on pitches from maybe the fifth inning on, hit a couple balls out of the yard -- but everyone in this room would agree that we have to execute better.”

In agreement with the man who followed him out of the bullpen, Poche also felt that the blame for the outcome rested solely on the shoulders of the relief corps.

“Absolutely,” he said. “There’s no way around that. Your offense scores nine runs, you should win the game, especially when you’re handed that big of a lead. It’s something that we’ve got to nail down, and we know that. We’re going to have to be better.”

The man who handed the ball over to Poche was Oliver Drake. When the 32-year-old right-hander entered the game to face Toronto in the ninth, he had a four-run lead in hand. Drake left the mound three batters later after a double, a walk and a three-run home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. allowed the Blue Jays to close the gap.

“It was just not executing pitches,” Drake said. “Leadoff double and then walking the next guy. Then I got to a 1-2 count and just wasn’t able to execute a pitch. I made a mistake and he put a good swing on it, but it’s pretty frustrating. You come in there, you’ve got to shut ‘em down.

“None of the guys who came in after me should have been put in that position. It’s a tough one.”

Drake was preceded by three hurlers. Andrew Kittredge opened the matchup for Tampa Bay and did his job, allowing two runs on five hits over three innings with seven strikeouts, while left-hander Jalen Beeks came in behind him as the main event and held Toronto to one run on four hits over his four frames. But their efforts were long in the rear view by the time the contest came to an end.

The Blue Jays narrowed the deficit against Hunter Wood, who allowed back-to-back solo home runs to the eight- and nine-hole hitters in the eighth frame before recording his third out.

“It’s very disappointing,” Cash said. “The home runs started coming from Woody’s inning and then Drake, and then Poche gave up the home run. It’s tough to win when you give up those amount of home runs, and we certainly did. Look, we did a lot of good things offensively. In theory, we liked the matchups that we had, but they made us pay for them.”

Tampa Bay’s offense got out in front early with a six-run second inning highlighted by three-run homers from Willy Adames and Travis d'Arnaud. The Rays plated two in the third and another in the sixth, but it just wasn’t enough.

“It’s certainly a tough loss,” Cash said. “We’ve got really, really good pitching, and when you get into a 9-2 ballgame, you expect to win that game. And we did not. … Offensively, you can’t ask for much more. I mean, you score nine runs, you expect to win.”