• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Goins, Pillar help Blue Jays down Rays

Sep 29, 2013 - 5:11 AM Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Ryan Goins and Kevin Pillar both smacked two- run homers to help lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the middle test of a three-game set.

Adam Lind went 2-for-3 while driving in three runs for the Blue Jays, who have won two in a row.

Toronto starter J.A. Happ (5-7) surrendered one run on five hits across 7 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out four to earn his first win in his last four starts.

Wil Myers and Delmon Young each had an RBI for the Rays, who have dropped two of their last three.

Starting pitcher Chris Archer lasted only 2 1/3 innings, while Alex Torres (4-2) gave up two runs in the fourth to pick up the loss.

Tampa Bay is now tied with Texas for the second wild card spot in the American League.

"We've been here before. We've been in these moments. We never do things seemingly easily. So let's just play tomorrow and see what happens," said Rays manager Joe Maddon.

The Rays took the lead in the first. Ben Zobrist led off with a double to center and moved over to third after Sean Rodriguez flied out. Myers stroked a single out to left off third baseman Brett Lawrie to bring Zobrist home.

Jose Reyes singled on a sharp ground ball that was deflected by Archer. Brett Lawrie singled on a line drive out to right to move Reyes over to third with no outs. Lind tied the game with a single to right that scored Reyes.

Toronto loaded the bases in the fourth. Torres gave up singles to Ryan Langerhans and Pillar before being replaced by Jamey Wright. Wright served up a walk to Lawrie before Lind plated the baserunners with a single out to left.

Two home runs helped give the Blue Jays a 7-1 edge in the fifth. Anthony Gose singled and stole second before Goins drove him in with a line drive into the left field seats. Langerhans reached first on a groundball and stole second before Pillar homered out to left.

The Rays only mustered one more run. Myers drove a line drive into center for a ground-rule double, moved over to third on a fly out from Longoria, and scored on a Young groundout.

"We haven't been winning a lot of games necessarily, but we've been playing some good games. It's a good way to finish it, we'd like to come back and get one more win tomorrow, and that's what it's all about," said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons.

Game Notes

Tampa Bay leads the season series 10-8 ... Zobrist extended his hitting streak to six games, while Goins has registered a hit in nine straight ... Tampa Bay went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.