Blue Jays 3, Rays 0: Mark Buehrle threw 8 2/3 shutout innings and Jose Bautista slammed a pair of solo homers as Toronto earned at least a split of its four-game series with host Tampa Bay.

Buehrle (1-0) was dominant from start to finish, allowing just four hits while striking out 11 and walking one. He left after allowing a Ben Zobrist single with two outs in the ninth, and Brett Cecil came on to secure the four-pitch save after Sergio Santos walked the only hitter he faced.

Rays left-hander Matt Moore (0-1) was charged with two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out four. The Rays didn't give him much help, failing to get a runner past second base en route to their second straight defeat.

Bautista put an end to the scoreless deadlock with a blast 15 rows deep into the seats in left-center field leading off the fourth. Toronto doubled its lead two batters later, as Dioner Navarro slapped a single to right field to bring home Edwin Encarnacion from second.

Bautista extended the lead in the seventh with a blast off the outer roof ring at Tropicana Field, securing his first multi-homer game since June 29. Buehrle made the advantage stand, getting a double-play grounder from Logan Forsythe in the seventh to extinguish a minor threat and striking out the side in a 1-2-3 eighth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie preserved Buehrle's shutout in the fifth, leaping to snag a Sean Rodriguez liner with one out and Forsythe on second. ... Buehrle tossed the 18th perfect game in major-league history against Tampa Bay in 2009, but was 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA in four starts against the Rays last season. ... A victory in Thursday's finale would give Toronto its first series win in St. Petersburg since 2007; the Jays have gone 0-19-1 since.