Rays upend Blue Jays 7-4

Marcus Stroman sat in the Blue Jays dugout with his mouth gaping open and a look of disbelief in his eyes.

He had left the game in the eighth inning with his team up by a run. Within minutes, that lead had evaporated.

Logan Morrison hit the third of Tampa Bay’s three home runs in the eighth inning as the Rays rallied for a 7-4 win over the struggling Blue Jays.

“It’s just frustrating,” Stroman said. “We kill ourselves to be at our best out there so when things don’t go our way it’s tough.

“We’re doing everything in our power to turn this around.”

Despite that effort, the losses keep piling up for the Blue Jays (617), a team many viewed as strong playoff contenders at the onset of the year.

And for the second time in the past three games, the loss came after Toronto’s bullpen gave up a late lead.

Kevin Pillar put the Jays up 3-1 on a solo homer in the seventh inning but the Rays (12-12) stormed back in a thunderous manner.

Corey Dickerson led off the eighth by tagging Stroman for a solo shot on the first pitch he saw, Evan Longoria tied the game with a home run off Jason Grilli (1-3) two batters later and Morrison added to the barrage with a two-run shot off Dominic Leone after Grilli had walked Brad Miller.

“It’s really tough,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. “Like that first game of the doubleheader (in St. Louis) yesterday. We were in a position to win that one and that’s the key — when you’re in a spot to win you’ve got to win those games.

“Losing’s always tough. Especially the close ones when you’re in the driver’s seat.”

Derek Norris had an RBI single in the second, then added a home run off Leone in the ninth that sent many of the 36,256 in attendance to the exits. A J.P. Howell wild pitch in the ninth allowed Tampa to score its seventh run.

Reliever Austin Pruitt (3-0) pitched three innings for the win and Chase Whitley earned the save.

Jose Bautista hit a sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays (6-17) and Darwin Barney drove in a run on a single.