Tommy Pham had a triple as part of a three-run seventh inning and the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 on Tuesday.
Ryne Stanek started on back-to-back days for Tampa Bay (75-63), pitching in the first inning on Monday and again on Tuesday. He had a strikeout and allowed one hit on 10 pitches Tuesday.
Stanek’s unusual starts are part of a pitching-by-committee approach Rays manager Kevin Cash has employed most of the season.
Hunter Wood (1-1), Jalen Beeks, Jose Alvarado, Diego Castillo, Adam Kolarek and Sergio Romo also pitched in the seven-player shutout. Romo earned the save.
Ji-Man Choi and Matt Duffy also drove in runs for the Rays in the seventh inning.
Ryan Borucki’s (3-4) quality start was wasted by Toronto (62-75) in the loss. He gave up two earned runs over six innings, striking out five on three hits.
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Jake Petricka pitched an inning, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out two. Thomas Pannone and Taylor Guerrieri each had a scoreless inning of relief.
Mallex Smith opened the scoring for the Rays in the second inning, grounding out to first but giving Kevin Kiermaier enough time to run home from third.
Choi added to that lead in the seventh inning, doubling to centre field to drive in pinch hitter Brandon Lowe and give Tampa a 2-0 lead.
Three hitters later, Pham had a base hit to left-centre field that Teoscar Hernandez bobbled, allowing the Rays’ designated hitter to reach third and cash in Choi.
Duffy followed that up with an RBI single that Pham easily scored on for the game’s final run.
Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales had back-to-back singles in the ninth inning to get a runner in scoring position, but pop flies by Randall Grichuk and Kevin Pillar ended the game.
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