Regardless of the outcome of the game, one element of Friday’s matchup between the Rays and the Blue Jays was already decided before the first pitch was thrown -- one of the teams was going to end a lengthy winning streak, leaving the other to keep the string going.

The Rays will have to start over on Saturday. They dropped the series opener at Tropicana Field, 6-5, in 10 innings, ending a five-game winning streak that included a sweep of the Yankees prior to the start of this homestand.

• Box score

The Rays were successful in playing catch-up after the Blue Jays plated four runs in the second, but Toronto was just a smidge more successful taking advantage of the automatic runner rule in the 10th inning.

“I'm impressed how the guys came back, got back in the ballgame after Toronto’s [big inning],” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We stayed at it. We just came up a little short.”

The Blue Jays, winners of six in a row, took the lead in the second behind back-to-back homers from Teoscar Hernández and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off lefty Ryan Yarbrough.

But the Rays tied it in the sixth on a pinch-hit two-run double by José Martínez, and the score remained knotted at 4 until Cavan Biggio knocked a double off Aaron Loup, scoring automatic runner Brandon Drury in the 10th. Biggio scored an insurance run on a sacrifice fly from Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

The Rays answered with a run in the bottom of the inning and threatened with runners at the corners and two outs, but Hunter Renfroe grounded back to the pitcher, ending the game.

Still, the loss, which dropped the Rays to second place by a handful of percentage points behind the idle Yankees in the American League East standings, had several compelling moments -- Yarbrough’s long outing, Yandy Díaz's clutch hitting and a highlight-reel catch by Renfroe.

Yarbrough lasts into the seventh
Rays starters are pitching deeper into games, and Yarbrough’s 6 1/3 innings was another sign the rotation is starting to settle in.

Through the Rays’ five-game winning streak, their relievers absorbed a whopping 26 1/3 innings, while posting a 2.73 ERA. While it’s comforting for the team to know its bullpen rarely has a down night, the success of a full season -– even a short one -– will still largely depend on the durability of the starting pitching.

Outside of the Blue Jays’ four-run second, Yarbrough was steady, at one point retiring 10 of 11 that included a key double play in the fourth inning.

“It was just kind of that one inning, and then grinded and battled through the rest of it and to give us a chance to win,” Yarbrough said. “[Catcher Michael Perez] worked his butt off back there today and tried to keep us in there long enough, and gave the offense a chance to come back. It just didn't go our way there at the end.”

Yandy’s big night
Entering the game, 14 of Díaz’s 24 hits on the season (58.3 percent) were to the opposite field. That’s one of the reasons why he was laughing with teammates in the first inning, when he sent a dribbler down the line and ended up with a hit when the ball bounced off third base.

“Everyone knows I like going the other way most of the time,” Díaz said. “So pulling the ball and getting a hit off the base, that was pretty much the joke of it all.”

That wound up being the least impressive of Díaz’s three hits. He homered to center in the third and singled home a run in the 10th, and he also made a terrific play on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounder that completed a 5-3 double play to end the seventh.

Diaz reached base in all five plate appearances.

“For whatever reason, a lot of people want to talk about Yandy and nitpick his batting,” Cash said. “The guy can hit. When there’s guys in scoring position, I don't know if we want many other people, other than him, up there.”

Renfroe’s grab
The Play of the Night award went to Renfroe who, in a dead sprint in the ninth, snared a leadoff liner from Guerrero in snowcone fashion, then leaped over a short wall off to the side in right field.

Once he landed, Renfroe contorted his body so that his back slammed against some padding on a wall a few feet away from the field.

“I was more impressed by the leap than I was the catch,” Cash said. “It looked like he was at an NFL combine. Very impressive.”