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Reyes, Blue Jays drop Rays

Sep 3, 2014 - 5:50 AM St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Jose Reyes' three-run homer in the fourth inning helped the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-2, in the opener of a three-game set on Tuesday.

Dioner Navarro hit a two-run blast, Danny Valencia added a solo shot and Jose Bautista and Ryan Goins each drove in a run for Toronto, which has won three straight games.

R.A. Dickey (11-12) earned the win after holding Tampa Bay to just two runs off two hits and three walks with six strikeouts over seven solid innings.

"From a movement standpoint, I had a really good knuckleball tonight," Dickey said.

Ryan Hanigan and Kevin Kiermaier each had an RBI for the Rays, who mustered just two hits and have dropped two of their last three games.

Jeremy Hellickson (1-3) lasted just 3 1/3 innings as the right-hander's struggles continued at home. He gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks to stretch his winless streak to 10 straight starts at Tropicana Field.

"A lot of it was poorly-located pitches at the wrong time," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "That three-run home run was the difference in the game."

Toronto opened the scoring in the second inning after Valencia stroked his fourth home run of the season to right for the early lead.

The Rays went ahead in the home half. James Loney singled, Yunel Escobar walked and David DeJesus was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Hanigan hit an RBI single to right and Kiermaier's sacrifice fly to center gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead.

Reyes singled to lead off the third and moved to third on Melky Cabrera's double to right. Bautista's base hit to short scored Reyes to even the score. Hellickson walked Edwin Encarnacion to load the bases.

The Rays escaped the jam by getting Adam Lind to ground into a 1-2-3 double play and Valencia to line out to right.

Hellickson wouldn't get out of the fourth, however. After giving up a pair of one-out infield singles, Reyes belted a 3-2 fastball into the right-field seats for a 5-2 Toronto advantage.

The Blue Jays tacked on three more runs in the eighth. Lind walked to open the frame and was pulled in favor of pinch-runner Steve Tolleson. Goins followed with a liner that eluded the glove of a leaping Kiermaier in center field for an RBI triple.

Two batters later, pinch-hitter Navarro crushed a no-doubter to left for an 8-2 lead.

Game Notes

Toronto leads the season series, 8-6 ... Bautista and Navarro both extended their hitting streaks to six games ... Tampa Bay has lost seven of its last 10 games at Tropicana Field ... Bautista has drive in seven runs over his last six games ... Hellickson's winless streak, which dates back to July 5, 2013, is tied for the longest at home with James Shields, who also failed to win in 10 straight starts between June 9-Sept. 5, 2009.