ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Rookie Alek Manoah rebounded from early control issues to last six innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Tuesday night to improve to a major league-best 16-4 in September.
Toronto maintained a half-game lead lead over the New York Yankees for the second AL wild card. Tampa Bay, closing in on its second straight division title, began the day seven games ahead of second-place Boston. The Rays, just 9-11 this month, have 10 games remaining.
There were no incidents one day after Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier scooped up a data card that fell out of Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk’s wristband during a play at the plate in the sixth inning and refused to give it back to the Blue Jays.