Lobaton sinks Blue Jays
10th-inning homer wins contest Sunday, following Friday’s game-ending triple
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. Jose Lobaton came up big again for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lobaton hit a solo home run in the 10th inning and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Sunday.
Lobaton sent a 2-1 pitch from Brad Lincoln (1-2) with one out into the right-field seats. Lobaton had a gameending triple in the ninth Friday. “It’s different,” he said. “Walk-off triple, that was amazing. Walk-off homer, run the bases like that, is unbelievable. It’s something that you want to do all the time. Hopefully it’s not the last one.”
Lobaton’s parents were at the ballpark for both of his key hits.
“Seriously, that’s pretty cool for him,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said.
Jake McGee (3-3) struck out one during a perfect 10th.
Tampa Bay took two of three from Toronto, which hasn’t won a series at Tropicana Field since April 2007.
Rays starter Chris Archer allowed one run and four hits over seven innings.
Blue Jays right-hander Todd Redmond, a St. Petersburg, Fla., native, gave up one run and six hits over six-plus innings in his first start at Tampa Bay.
Evan Longoria put the Rays up 1-0 in the first with his 24th homer, an opposite-field drive to right that resulted in a video review after a fan in the front row caught the ball just above the fence.
“One bad pitch to Longoria, one of the best-hitting third basemen in the game right now,” Redmond said. “(The fan) probably reached over a little bit, but it was probably just far enough to where it didn’t matter.”
The Blue Jays tied it 1-1 when Edwin Encarnacion connected for his 31st homer this season with two outs in the seventh. He nearly put Toronto ahead in the ninth, but his two-out drive off Fernando Rodney hit off the top of the left-field wall and the slugger wound up with a double.
“Very, very lucky right there,” Maddon said.
Archer retired nine in a row before Anthony Gose started the fourth with a single. Gose stole second and went to third on Jose Bautista’s one-out fly ball, but was left stranded when Encarnacion flew out.
Gose was the only Toronto baserunner until Encarnacion’s seventh- inning homer. After the home run, Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie had consecutive singles before Mark DeRosa grounded out.
The Rays got a one-out double from Longoria in the fourth and Yunel Escobar hit a leadoff double to begin the fifth, but Redmond worked out of both jams without allowing a run. Redmond also got an inning-ending doubleplay from Wil Myers with two on during the sixth.
Tampa Bay also wasted a scoring chance in the seventh with no outs when pinchrunner Sean Rodriguez was caught in a rundown between third and home after pinchhitter Jason Bourgeois failed to get a bunt down.
Notes: Tampa Bay LHP Matt Moore, on the 15-day disabled list with left elbow soreness, played catch after being shut down for three days after experiencing elbow discomfort during a 55-pitch bullpen session Wednesday. The All-Star plans to throw again Monday.