DUNEDIN, Fla. — Francisco Mejia hit a tie-breaking, two-run single during a seven-run burst in the 11th inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won their 11th straight game, outlasting the Toronto Blue Jays 14-8 on Monday.
Tampa Bay moved within one win of the team record for consecutive victories. In 2004, playing as the Devil Rays, they won 12 in a row under Manager Lou Piniella.
After both teams scored twice in the 10th to make it 7-all, the Rays erupted.
Mejia’s hit came off Joel Payamps (0-2) with the bases loaded. Randy Arozarena doubled home a run, Austin Meadows had an RBI grounder, Manuel Margot knocked in two with a triple and Mike Brosseau added an RBI single against Tim Mayza.
Mejia had a 12th-inning grand slam in the Rays’ 9-7 win over Toronto on Friday night.
A day after the Rays drew five walks during a four-run rally in the ninth to win 6-4, Tampa Bay batters walked seven times. Rays pitchers, meanwhile, walked none.
Joey Wendle hit a grand slam as Tampa Bay took a 5-0 lead in the first. The Rays wound up with a four-game sweep and took over sole possession of first place in the AL East.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two of Toronto’s five home runs. The Blue Jays lost their sixth in a row.
Tampa Bay scored twice in the 10th, but Marcus Semien tied it with a two-run homer off Jeffrey Springs (4-1).
Guerrero’s second shot was a two-run drive in the eighth off Ryan Thompson to tie it at 5.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez also homered for the Blue Jays, who played their final game at TD Ballpark. Toronto dropped seven of 10 on the final homestand and finished 10-11 at its spring training facility.
The Blue Jays will now relocate to Buffalo, New York, as COVID-19 restrictions in Canada prevent them from playing in Toronto.
Toronto Manager Charlie Montoyo opted to have Trent Thornton start the game as an opener in front of the struggling Ross Stripling.
Thornton was on the verge of getting out of first scoreless but third baseman Santiago Espinal booted Margot’s two-out grounder for an error. Ji-Man Choi walked to load the bases and Taylor Walls forced home run on a free pass on a 3-2 pitch.
After Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker was ejected for arguing, Wendle made it 5-0 on his opposite-field drive to left.
Stripling entered in the second and gave up two hits in seven scoreless innings.
Gurriel Jr. had a second-inning homer, and Guerrero and Hernandez went back-to-back off Ryan Yarbrough in the fourth to get the Blue Jays within 5-3.
Guerrero has 11 of his 15 homers at TD Ballpark. His first shot to center went 461 feet.
Yarbrough allowed three runs and third hits in six innings and has a 23-start winless streak. The lefty, who normally falls an opener, is 25-5 as a reliever.
INDIANS 6, TIGERS 5: Jordan Luplow made a diving catch on Eric Haase’s sinking liner to right field with the bases loaded, preserving Cleveland’s win at Detroit.
Luplow, who entered as a defensive replacement an inning earlier, made the clutch grab for the final out to help closer Emmanuel Clase escape with his eighth save in nine chances.
Spencer Turnbull allowed three runs in six innings for Detroit in his first game since pitching a no-hitter last week. It was the bullpen and some sloppy defense that cost the Tigers.
Cleveland scored three unearned runs in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead, and although Willi Castro hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning, Detroit was unable to come all the way back.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ROCKIES 3, METS 2: Austin Gomber pitched two-hit ball through eight innings, Ryan McMahon and Elias Diaz hit second-inning home runs off David Peterson and Colorado won for just the third time in 20 road games this year.
Garrett Hampson boosted the lead to 3-0 with an RBI triple in the fourth that sent rookie Johneshwy Fargas crashing into the outfield wall in an unsuccessful attempt to make the catch. Fargas, the Mets’ fourth-string center fielder after injuries to Brandon Nimmo, Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr., sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder.
NL East-leading New York already had a major league-high 16 players on the injured list and said right-hander Jordan Yamamoto was set to be added on Tuesday.
Francisco Lindor went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and a double-play grounder and was repeatedly booed by the crowd of 8,438 at Citi Field. The four-time All-Star is hitting .189 in his first season with the Mets.
MARLINS 9, PHILLIES 6: Adam Duvall hit a three-run homer and Jesus Aguilar drove in two runs with a double and a single to help Miami win at home.
Corey Dickerson hit a tie-breaking two-run triple in the sixth, and Garrett Cooper had two hits and an RBI off the bench for the Marlins. They’ve won five of their past six to close within one game of the NL East-leading New York Mets.
Miami rookie Trevor Rogers allowed three hits and two runs, one earned, in five innings, which increased his ERA to 1.75. Adam Cimber (1-1) pitched a scoreless sixth, and Dylan Floro retired the only batter he faced for his first career save.
Phillies slugger Bryce Harper, whose 0-for-16 slump has dropped his OPS to .884, was held out for the second game in a row.
NOTES
METS: Right fielder Michael Conforto and second baseman Jeff McNeil have hamstring injuries that are likely to keep them out of action for another month.
Conforto and McNeil both got hurt on April 30.
Right-hander Carlos Carrasco, sidelined by a strained right hamstring, won’t be ready to pitch for the Mets until late June or early July. The six-week timetable from now is the same as the projection when Carrasco first got hurt on March 18.