KIRKY DOES IT AGAIN!
Instant Reaction: Rays ride five-run fourth inning to American League-leading 76th victory
Photo credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Aug 19, 2026, 21:42 EDTUpdated: Aug 19, 2026, 21:49 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays’ comeback attempt against the Tampa Bay Rays fell just short on Wednesday night.
The 7-6 loss dropped the Blue Jays to 62-66 through 128 games and sets up a rubber match in the series finale tomorrow.
The Rays got off and running early, as designated hitter Yandy Díaz slugged his 19th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning on a hanging slider from Max Scherzer.
After being held scoreless through the first three innings by Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, Alejandro Kirk hammered the seventh pitch of his at-bat 383 feet to left field for his seventh home run of the season.
With his 2-for-5 showing, Kirk is now batting .282 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs. In his first 16 games in August, Kirk is batting .393 with four home runs and 15 RBIs while reaching base at a .455 clip.
Unfortunately for Scherzer and the Blue Jays, the Rays were aided by some shaky defence in the bottom half of the frame. With the bases loaded and one out, Richie Palacios lifted a fly ball to left that Jesús Sánchez appeared to believe was going to be caught by shortstop Andrés Giménez, but dropped beside the Blue Jays left fielder.
The end result was two Rays coming around to score, putting the Blue Jays in a 4-1 deficit. The next two batters, Taylor Walls and Chandler Simpson, dropped down RBI bunt singles to give the Rays a 6-1 lead.
Junior Caminero put the final run up on Scherzer in the fourth with an RBI groundout which ultimately proved to be too much for the Blue Jays to over come. Scherzer finished with a pitching line of 4.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, but that line could have looked a lot different if it weren’t for some defensive miscues.
For the season, Scherzer has made 11 starts and is 1-5 with a 7.40 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Over 45 innings, Scherzer has struck out 32 batters, but has allowed a concerning 12 home runs.
From there, the Blue Jays started a rally of their own. Three straight one-out singles off Rasmussen brought home the clubs second run, before Nathan Lukes lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to make it a 7-3 game.
Kirk once again came through off Rasmussen, driving a single to centre field for his second RBI of the game to cut the deficit to 7-4. Kazuma Okamoto followed with a single of his own for his team-leading 73rd RBI of the season.
After scoring five runs off Rasmussen through five innings, Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to left-hander Cam Booser, and the Blue Jays continued their offensive push. Daz Cameron worked a leadoff single before coming around to score on a Charles McAdoo RBI double.
McAdoo’s 3-for-4 showing improved his season average to .292, in large part due to his eight games in August in which the 24-year-old is batting .368 with four home runs.
Kevin Kelly, Tyler Wells, and Bryan Baker combined to shut out the Blue Jays out over the final 3.1 innings to give the Rays their American League-leading 76th win of the season.
On Thursday, the Blue Jays will turn to Shane Bieber as they look to win their seventh series in a row. The Rays will counter with left-hander Ian Seymour.
First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field.
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