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Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 4
When: 1:07 PM ET, Saturday, September 1, 2012
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: 73°
Umpires: Home - Jordan Baker, 1B - Jim Joyce, 2B - Jim Reynolds, 3B - Lance Barrett
Attendance: 20478


Rays 5, Blue Jays 4:
Matt Joyce homered and drove in three runs and Ryan Roberts also went deep for visiting Tampa Bay, which cut down the tying run at the plate to end the game after losing the first two contests of its series in Toronto.

After having their own tying run thrown out at the plate to end a 2-1 loss on Friday, the Rays turned the tables when B.J. Upton came up throwing on Colby Rasmus' single. Catcher Jose Molina was able to block the plate and tag out Omar Vizquel.

It was just the second win in eight games for the Rays, who remained 4 1/2 games in back of the Yankees in the American League East and moved within 1 1/2 games of Baltimore for the last wild-card spot.

The Rays had to lean heavily on their bullpen after starter Jeff Niemann left in the fourth with tightness in his right shoulder. Niemann was making his first start since breaking his fibula on May 14. Wade Davis (2-0) walked two in 2 1/3 hitless innings for the victory and Fernando Rodney recorded the final five outs for his 40th save.

Roberts started the scoring with a solo homer in the third, and the Rays tacked on three more runs in the inning. Joyce capped the big inning with a two-run double to left-center and added a solo shot deep into the second deck in right in the eighth.

The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Blue Jays, whose got on the board with a towering two-run blast from Edwin Encarnacion in the fourth. The shot off the facing of the third deck in left-center - Encarnacion's 36th - was estimated at 488 feet, the second-longest of the season behind Giancarlo Stanton's 494-foot blast.

Adam Lind added a two-run single in the eighth to make it 5-4, but Rodney struck out Kelly Johnson and Moises Sierra with the bases loaded to end the inning and preserve the lead. The Blue Jays also had the tying run at second in the ninth before Rodney got a fly ball from Rajai Davis and Upton's throw to the plate preserved the win.

Blue Jays starter Henderson Alvarez (7-12) allowed four runs on five hits and walked four over five innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Encarnacion's blast ended Rays reliever J.P. Howell's team-record scoreless streak at 27 1/3 innings. … Alvarez has a 6.56 ERA since the All-Star break and a 6.35 ERA in four starts against the Rays this season. … Niemann's broken fibula also came at Rogers Centre, as he was hit in the lower leg with a line drive, prompting a three-month stint on the disabled list.

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   Toronto
Jeff Niemann Player Henderson Alvarez
No Decision W/L Loss
3.1 IP 5.0
4 Strikeouts 2
1 Hits 5
0.00 ERA 7.20
Hitting
Tampa Bay   Toronto
Matt JoycePlayer Edwin Encarnacion
2 Hits 1
3 RBI 2
1 HR 1
6 TB 4
.500 Avg .333
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 8 2 17 .242 11 7 5 4 1 0
Toronto 7 1 11 .233 12 9 4 7 1 0