Field Level Media
Apr 12, 2019
Austin Meadows and Brandon Lowe each homered twice -- including one each into the 500 level -- and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 11-7 Friday night.
They were the 21st and 22nd home runs hit to the 500 level of Rogers Centre since it opened in 1989.
Willy Adames added a two-run homer for the Rays.
Luke Maile homered for the Blue Jays, who rallied from an 8-0 deficit to draw within one run before the Rays scored three in the ninth.
Ryne Stanek, the Rays' opener, struck out three in two perfect innings. Ryan Yarbrough (2-1) pitched two more perfect innings.
Toronto starter Trent Thornton (0-1) allowed eight hits, two walks and five runs in three-plus innings.
Meadows led off the game with a home run and opened the four-run third with his sixth homer this season, a blast to the 500 level.
Yandy Diaz walked with two outs in the third and Lowe hit his third homer of the season, also to the 500 level. Avisail Garcia singled and scored on Kevin Kiermaier's triple.
The Rays scored a run against Sam Gaviglio in the sixth. Kiermaier led off with a double, took third on Mike Zunino's flyout and scored on Tommy Pham's infield single to third. Pham extended his club-record streak for reaching base to 46 games.
In the seventh, Toronto's Elvis Luciano allowed a single to Diaz and Lowe's fourth homer this season.
The Blue Jays scored six runs in their seventh off Yonny Chirinos. Justin Smoak led off with a walk, Randal Grichuk singled, Teoscar Hernandez hit an RBI double, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run double and Alen Hanson had a one-out RBI single. Maile's first homer of the season cut the deficit to 8-6.
Smoak walked to start the bottom of the eighth, and a wild pitch and a single by Hernandez put runners at the corners. First baseman Ji-Man Choi's error allowed a run to score on Richard Urena's grounder.
Tampa Bay got three runs in the ninth on Zunino's RBI double and the first homer this season by Adames.
Jose Alvarado pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth.
--Field Level Media