Meadows gets 3 hits, Franco homers as Rays beat Blue Jays
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Austin Meadows had three hits, including two RBI doubles, and the Tampa Bay Rays ended their 10-game road losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Wander Franco hit his second homer for Tampa Bay, which had dropped five in a row overall. Yandy Díaz had two hits and scored twice.
The Rays trailed 1-0 before Franco connected in the sixth inning against Robbie Ray (6-4). Díaz then doubled and scored on Meadows' first double.
Tampa Bay added three more in the ninth. Meadows doubled home Díaz again. Taylor Walls also had an RBI double, and Mike Brosseau added a sacrifice fly.
Ryan Yarbrough (5-3) pitched five innings of four-hit ball for the win. Collin McHugh struck out six in three innings before Diego Castillo worked the ninth.
Randal Grichuk hit his 15th homer for Toronto in the second. Bo Bichette had two of Toronto's six hits as the Blue Jays fell four games behind the second-place Rays in the AL East standings.
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough throws to a Toronto Blue Jays batter during the first inning of a baseball game in Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday, July 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Ray allowed five hits in seven innings and finished with six strikeouts. He now has 119 in his 16 starts this season, the second-most by a Blue Jays pitcher over their first 16 starts, trailing only Roger Clemens' 122 in 1997.
Toronto was looking to sweep Tampa Bay for the first time in a three-game series since September 2015.
Tampa Bay recorded eight hits after mustering a total of 10 and batting only .156 in the first two games of the weekend set against Toronto.
TRAINER´S ROOM
Blue Jays: RHP Rafael Dolis (finger) was activated from the injured list and retired just one of the five batters he faced in the ninth inning, allowing three hits and hitting a batter. To make room on the roster, Toronto optioned LHP Nick Allgeyer, who made his MLB debut on Friday, to Triple-A Buffalo.
UP NEXT
Rays: Return home for a three-game series against Cleveland. LHP Rich Hill (6-3, 3.70 ERA) will face Indians LHP Logan Allen (1-5, 8.38 ERA) on Monday.
Blue Jays: After an off day, Toronto will visit Baltimore for a three-game series starting Tuesday, with LHP Steven Matz (4-3, 4.48 ERA) taking the mound. The Orioles have not yet announced a starter for the series opener.
___
More AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (6) throws to first after forcing out Toronto Blue Jays' Danny Jansen at second on a hit by Marcus Semien, who was safe at first during the third inning of a baseball game in Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday, July 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Toronto Blue Jays' Randal Grichuk, right, is congratulated by third base coach Luis Rivera after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the second inning of a baseball game in Buffalo, N.Y., Sunday, July 4, 2021. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
