Major League Baseball
Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 1
When: 7:07 PM ET, Thursday, June 30, 2022
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: 72°
Umpires: Home - Mark Wegner, 1B - Alan Porter, 2B - Jeremie Rehak, 3B - Malachi Moore
Attendance: 22987

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi struck out eight, Teoscar Hernandez and Santiago Espinal hit two-run homers and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the visiting Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 Thursday night.

Hernandez also had a double and single in the opener of a five-game series.

Isaac Paredes hit a home run for Tampa Bay.

Kikuchi (3-4) allowed one run, four hits and one walk in six innings.

Right-hander Matt Wisler pitched a runless first inning as Tampa Bay's opener. Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (0-4) took over in the second inning and allowed four runs, eight hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings.

Alejandro Kirk led off the bottom of the second with an infield single to second and scored when Hernandez hit a drive to left for his eighth homer of the season.

Paredes hit his 11th home run of the season, a drive to left with two out in the fourth.

Yandy Diaz and Wander Franco opened the sixth with singles. Harold Ramirez grounded to third to start a 5-3 double play. Randy Arozarena grounded out to third.

Vidal Brujan singled against Trent Thornton with one out in the seventh, stole second and continued to third on a throwing error charged to catcher Gabriel Moreno. Thornton stopped the threat on a strikeout and a foul out.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off the bottom of the seventh with a bloop single to right and Espinal hit a blast to left for his sixth home run of the season. After Moreno walked and George Springer singled, Calvin Faucher replaced Yarbrough.

David Phelps pitched around a walk in the top of the eighth inning.

Adam Cimber pitched a perfect ninth with one strikeout to earn his fourth save of the season.

The Rays put left-hander Brooks Raley and right-hander Ryan Thompson on the restricted list because they did not meet Canadian COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Right-handers Javy Guerra and Phoenix Sanders were added as replacements.

The Rays placed left-hander Jeffrey Springs on the family medical emergency list and recalled Yarbrough from Triple-A Durham.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   Toronto
Matt Wisler Player Yusei Kikuchi
No Decision W/L Win
1.0 IP 6.0
1 Strikeouts 8
0 Hits 4
0.00 ERA 1.50
Hitting
Tampa Bay   Toronto
Yandy Diaz Player Teoscar Hernandez
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 2
0 HR 1
2 TB 7
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 5 1 8 .161 9 11 1 2 1 0
Toronto 9 2 17 .290 14 2 4 3 1 1