Arozarena drives in 6 runs as Rays defeat Blue Jays, tie for AL wild-card lead
10-6 win clinches season series and tiebreaker for Tampa Bay
Randy Arozarena hit his 20th homer and drove in six runs as the Tampa Bay Rays beat Toronto 10-6 Friday night, tying the Blue Jays at the top of the AL wild-card standings.
The win clinched the season series — and the tiebreaker — for the Rays, who have won 10 of 17 against the Blue Jays.
"We're both trying to get the top wild-card spot," Arozarena said through a translator. "They got the lead and we were able to come back, and we were able to take advantage there at the end."
"I definitely got more confident after the home run," said Arozarena, the only player in the majors with 20 homers and 30 stolen bases this season. "I was a little more relaxed and already thinking of hitting the next one. But the home run was big because it put us ahead."
Javy Guerra (1-0) won in relief.
Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit RBI singles during a four-run fifth off Jeffrey Springs that put the Blue Jays ahead 4-3.
Thought this one was over? 😤 <br><br>We're in FLIGHT! <a href="https://t.co/90UaEMr0Gd">pic.twitter.com/90UaEMr0Gd</a>
—@BlueJaysAfter Arozarena put Tampa Bay ahead, Toronto tied it at 6 in the sixth on George Springer's sacrifice fly.
"You know you need runs against these guys," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "They're a very tough team to keep quiet for nine innings so we'll take runs any way we can get them."
Springs struck out six in five innings, giving up four runs and six hits.
Including Thursday night's 10-5 victory, it was the third straight game against Toronto in which the Rays have scored at least 10 runs. They went into this series having scored just two runs in a three-game sweep by the Houston Astros.
"It's weird here," Toronto interim manager John Schneider said. "When things don't go great, it seems to unravel. This is a tough place for a variety of reasons, but we've got two really good guys (Alek Manoah and Ross Stripling) going the next two days. It's two good teams playing for a lot right now, and a lot of back and forth, and a couple things didn't go our way tonight."
Miles Mastrobuoni, who made his major league debut as a defensive replacement Thursday night for Tampa Bay, singled in the fifth for his first hit.
