Rays fall late despite back-to-back homers

TORONTO — The Blue Jays turned to an unlikely hero on Monday night in their pursuit of a spot in the postseason: Ezequiel Carrera.

Carrera hit a surprise pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead the Blue Jays to a 3-2 victory over the Rays on Monday night at Rogers Centre. The seldom-used outfielder had just nine home runs during his six-year career prior to the series opener vs. Tampa Bay, but the one that sent him into double digits might have been his biggest yet.

Toronto and Tampa Bay were locked into a 2-2 tie when Carrera led off the eighth with an opposite-field shot over the wall in left field. The home run, combined with a two-run shot by Jose Bautista earlier in the game and 6 1/3 strong innings from lefty Francisco Liriano were enough for the Blue Jays to keep pace in the division.

After the final out, benches cleared briefly. Roberto Osuna got Steven Souza Jr. to fly out to center to end the game, and the teams met in between home plate and first base where words were exchanged between Souza Jr. and Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki before it broke up and the teams left the field.

With the victory, the Blue Jays took a one-game lead over Baltimore, which lost to Boston, for the American League’s first Wild Card. Toronto also remained two games behind Boston for first place in the AL East.

Tampa Bay received a pair of home runs by Evan Longoria and Brad Miller but it was an otherwise quiet night on offense. The loss went to reliever Brad Boxberger while Jake Odorizzi took the no-decision despite limiting Toronto’s offense to a pair of runs over seven quality innings of work.

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