ST. PETERSBURG -- After all the pomp and circumstance, the introductions and ovations, the excitement and nervous energy, Opening Day couldn’t have started much better for the Rays.

Yandy Díaz ripped a leadoff home run down the left-field line off Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos, picking up right where he left off last year, and top starter Zach Eflin needed only 38 pitches to breeze through Toronto’s lineup in order. The Rays had an early lead and a sold-out crowd of 25,025 behind them.

That turned out to be as good as it got, though. Eflin uncharacteristically unraveled as he gave up three home runs, including two in a five-run sixth inning, in the Rays’ 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

“Feeling good or not feeling good, you know Toronto is a good team,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro. “They've got a lot of good hitters in that lineup, and we've got to get a lot of runs in order to beat a team like that.”

Making his first career Opening Day start, Eflin appeared to be in cruise control from the moment he scaled the mound. He struck out five during his first turn through Toronto’s powerful lineup, looking every bit like the command-and-control artist who earned American League Cy Young Award votes during his first season with the Rays.

Eflin gave up a game-tying homer to George Springer in the fourth but still retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced. After five innings, the 29-year-old right-hander had thrown only 55 pitches and said he felt like he had “everything” working.

Then things got out of hand. Quickly.

“My sweepers weren't entirely sharp the whole night, but other than that, I was executing with every other pitch that I had and [to] both sides of the plate,” Eflin said. “To kind of go out there in the sixth and give it up really sucks, honestly.”

Cavan Biggio pulled a 1-0 sweeper out to right field to give the Blue Jays a lead, then Eflin retired Springer to pull within an out of escaping the sixth. But Vladimir Guerrero Jr. demolished a 2-1 cutter, launching it a Statcast-projected 450 feet with an exit velocity of 111.8 mph halfway up the netting beyond the batter’s eye in center field.

“He got that one pretty good,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He's a big guy. He can hit balls a long way.”

Eflin did not allow three home runs in any of his 31 starts last season. The last time he gave up more than two homers in a game was June 20, 2021, when he served up four to the Giants while pitching for the Phillies. Guerrero’s blast was also the longest home run Eflin has surrendered in his career, according to Statcast.

“It was them taking advantage of pretty poor pitches, honestly,” Eflin said. “Felt good for five innings and kind of lost it there in the sixth, and they really capitalized on every mistake I made.”

It wasn’t just the long ball that did Eflin in, though. He gave up another two-out hit to Bo Bichette, then hit Justin Turner with an 0-2 fastball and walked Daulton Varsho on four pitches. Up came Alejandro Kirk, who smacked an 0-1 curveball to center for a two-run single. Former Ray Kevin Kiermaier swatted an 0-1 sinker to left to drive in Varsho and complete the five-run frame.

The Rays weren’t worried about their ace afterward. Just the opposite, in fact, according to second baseman Brandon Lowe.

“He didn’t execute a pitch, and they took advantage of it. That’s what happens,” Lowe said. “I feel bad for whoever he is facing next time, because he won’t make those mistakes.”

Díaz provided the only offensive highlights for Tampa Bay, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and the 12th leadoff home run of his career. It was the third time in franchise history the first plate appearance of the season resulted in a homer, as Austin Meadows (2019) and Gerald Williams (2000) previously accomplished that feat.

“He's pretty amazing,” Cash said. “He's really good when he gets in that batter's box.”

René Pinto and Díaz strung together back-to-back doubles to make it a four-run game in the sixth, and Lowe walked to put two runners on with nobody out. But Randy Arozarena, Harold Ramírez and Isaac Paredes went down in order, thanks in part to some slick infield defense by the Jays, ending the Rays’ only real threat of the day.

“We were one or two hits in that inning from getting right back into it, but they made some nice plays,” Cash said.