Game 111: Lobaton, Longoria Lead Rays To Sweep

The Rays offense exploded and Matt Moore continued a streak of dominant performances by the rotation as the Rays capped off their sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 7-1 victory Wednesday afternoon.

The Blue Jays struck first, with Rajai Davis leading off the game with a double. With one out, he stole third. Edwin Encarnacion walked, and Moore balked, plating Davis and moving Encarnacion to second. Encarancion then stole third, but Moore was able to escape further trouble.

The Rays came back in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with one out. Jose Lobaton had a two run single, giving the Rays a 2-1 lead. A walk reloaded the bases, and B.J. Upton drove in the third run with a fielder’s choice. The Rays loaded the bases again in the bottom of the third, getting a run on Ryan Robert’s base hit.

The Rays scored again in the fourth, the fifth, and the eighth, getting single runs in each inning. The offensive outburst was more than enough for Moore, who was dominant, allowing only one run on two hits and two walk over six innings, striking out six batters. Kyle Farnsworth, J.P. Howell, and Wade Davis each pitched an inning, holding the Blue Jays to only three hits for the game. Henderson Alvarez was roughed up in the loss, giving up six runs (four earned) on eleven hits and three walks over 4.2 innings.

Lobaton finished the game 2-4 with three RBIs. Evan Longoria made his presence felt, going 3-5 with a double and two RBIs.

Game Notes: Prior to today’s game, the Rays had scored only nine runs in the previous five games of the homestand. Ben Zobrist had his first appearance at shortstop since 2009.