Blake Snell earned his first win in almost a full calendar year, and Lucas Duda and Wilson Ramos each homered as the Tampa Bay Rays evened up their four-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at one win apiece with a 6-4 victory Tuesday at Rogers Centre.
After a scoreless first, Snell allowed the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, as Steve Pearce singled with one out and scored from first on a Kevin Pillar flare that bounced over Steven Souza Jr.'s head for an RBI double.
Tampa Bay would not allow Blue Jays starter Marco Estrada to have a shutdown frame, as Daniel Robertson led off the top of the third with a base hit and scored as Lucas Duda unloaded for his 21st home run of the year, giving Tampa Bay the lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
Wilson Ramos extended the lead an inning later, as he led off the fourth by taking Estrada deep to left for his fifth home run and second in as many days that made it 3-1. Adeiny Hechaverria followed with a double and he scored two batters later on a base hit by Corey Dickerson for a 4-1 lead.
Estrada (5-8) was chased in the fifth after he loaded the bases with one out and forced in a pair of runs thanks to walks to Hechaverria and Robertson.
Snell (1-6) gave up a three-run homer to Josh Donaldson in the bottom of the fifth that cut the lead to 6-4, but battled to finish both the fifth and the sixth innings to earn the win, his first since September 22, 2016.
Steve Cishek worked a scoreless seventh inning thanks to a great double play started by Daniel Robertson, while Tommy Hunter followed with a perfect eighth, leading to Alex Colome's 1-2-3 ninth for his Major League lead-tying 35th save of the year.
The win gets Tampa Bay back to within a game of .500 at 60-61 and to within a game and a half of the final wild card.
Jake Faria (5-3, 3.19 ERA) will look to make it two wins in a row for the Rays Wednesday, taking on Marcus Stroman (10-6, 3.00 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:07, with coverage on WDAE beginning at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Sykes Lakeland.
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