Francisco Mejia’s tiebreaking, two-run single in Tampa Bay’s seven-run 11th inning Monday afternoon boosted the Rays to their major-league-best 11th straight win, 14-8 over the host Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.
A late-game substitution, Mejia lined a single off Joel Payamps (0-2) in his first at-bat to score Mike Brosseau and Taylor Walls, breaking a 7-7 tie. Randy Arozarena’s double and Austin Meadows’ fielder’s choice delivered RBIs against Tim Mayza.
Manuel Margot (three RBIs) added a two-run double and Brosseau singled in another in the five-hit frame to help finish off the four-game series sweep.
Joey Wendle went 3-for-4 with his second career grand slam, a double, two runs and four RBIs, and Jeffrey Springs (4-1) pitched two innings for the Rays, whose streak is one shy of the team record 12, set in 2004.
Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough allowed just three runs on three hits — all solo homers — and fanned four without a walk over six innings pitched.
Toronto got two homers and three RBIs from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., plus shots from Marcus Semien, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., as the Blue Jays played their last home game in Dunedin and went 10-11 at their spring training park.
Guerrero moved into the major league lead with his 15th blast but the Blue Jays’ losing streak extended to six games.
In his one-inning opener start, Toronto’s Trent Thornton surrendered five unearned runs on two hits and two walks.
Ross Stripling relieved and tossed seven scoreless frames that featured two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.
The Rays got a bases-loaded walk from Walls to open the scoring after third baseman Santiago Espinal committed a two-out fielding error.
Wendle sliced the first pitch he saw to left field that just got out for his sixth homer to stake Yarbrough to a 5-0 lead.
Gurriel, who had three hits, collected his third homer to left to put Toronto on the board in the second.
In a long ball-oriented fourth, Guerrero and Hernandez (seventh blast) swatted mammoth back-to-back solo drives to trim the deficit to 5-3.
Guerrero’s majestic blast easily cleared the batter’s eye in center, soaring out at an exit velocity of 117.4 mph and landing an estimated 461 feet from home plate, according to Statcast. Hernandez followed by hooking a laser to left on a slow curve.
Guerrero tied it 5-5 with a two-run shot in the eighth off Ryan Thompson.
Each club scored twice in the 10th, with the Toronto knotting it 7-7 on Semien’s 12th homer, before the explosive 11th inning.
–Field Level Media