Adam Lind belted a two-run homer and Brandon Morrow made sure it stood up as the Toronto Blue Jays won their fifth straight game, edging the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 Monday night.
Lind's eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the first gave the Jays the early lead, and Aaron Hill added an RBI single in the fifth to put Toronto up 3-0.
Morrow (4-4) kept the Rays at bay from there, throwing seven innings of three-hit ball. He pitched to contact against swing-happy Tampa, allowing just two walks while striking out one.
Kevin Gregg allowed an Evan Longoria triple in a shaky ninth inning, but held on for his 14th save to tie Tampa's Rafael Soriano for the American League lead.
Hill finished with three hits and also scored on Lind's homer, while Fred Lewis went 2-for-4 with a run scored as Toronto improved to nine games above .500 for the first time this season. The victory moves the Jays to within 3 1/2 games of the Rays for top spot in the AL East.
Matt Garza (5-4) wasn't his sharpest against Toronto, allowing three runs on 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. Randy Choate, Dan Wheeler and Joaquin Benoit combined to toss 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief.
B.J. Upton tripled in a run for Tampa, while Willy Aybar added an RBI groundout in defeat.
Tampa Bay | Toronto | |
Matt Garza | Player | Brandon Morrow |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.1 | IP | 7.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 1 |
10 | Hits | 3 |
4.26 | ERA | 1.29 |
Tampa Bay | Toronto | |
Sean Rodriguez | Player | Aaron Hill |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.667 | Avg | .750 |