Blue Jays 2 - 3 Rays
Final
  for this game

Upton's home run in the ninth lifts Rays over Blue Jays

May 4, 2011 - 1:59 AM

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St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - B.J. Upton hit a game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays over Toronto, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game set at Tropicana Field.

With the Rays trailing 2-1 entering the inning, Jon Rauch (1-2) was summoned from the bullpen and gave up a single to Ben Zobrist leading off, before Upton lined an 0-1 fastball into the left-field seats to give Tampa Bay the dramatic victory.

Kelly Shoppach added a run-scoring single for the Rays, who have won seven of their last nine.

Third baseman Evan Longoria, who was activated from the 15-day disabled list due to a strained left oblique prior to the game, went 1-for-4. He was placed on the DL on April 3 and missed 26 games.

Wade Davis worked six effective innings, yielding two runs on six hits with three walks and struck out a pair, but did not factor in the decision. Kyle Farnsworth (2-0) earned the win for tossing a scoreless top of the ninth.

Edwin Encarnacion and had an RBI double, while Adam Lind knocked in the other run with a single for Toronto, which has dropped three straight.

Jo-Jo Reyes dazzled over six innings and did not get a decision. The left- hander allowed one run on four hits, walked one and fanned four.

Lind's first-inning run-scoring single up the middle gave the Blue Jays the early lead, but Shoppach's two-out RBI base hit to right in the second tied the game.

With men on first and second, and two away in the fourth, Encarnacion plated a run with a double for a 2-1 game. Then later in the inning, Rajai Davis struck out with the bases loaded.

Tampa Bay stranded runners in the home fourth and fifth, but Reyes was able to work a perfect sixth.

Shawn Camp and Marc Rzepczynski each retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

Game Notes

Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, who was awarded the American League Player of the Month for April, missed the game with a sore neck...Right-hander Brandon Gomes recalled from Triple-A Durham earlier on Tuesday, tossed two scoreless innings in his major league debut...Tampa Bay took two of three contests from Toronto at Rogers Centre from April 22-24 and has won six of the last eight meetings in this series.






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