Blue Jays edge Rays
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Brandon Morrow hurled 6 2/3 effective innings on Friday and the Toronto Blue Jays edged the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-1, in the opener of a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
Morrow (8-5) gave up one run on eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts to put an end to a personal two-game losing streak. Steve Delabar worked 1 1/3 perfect innings in relief and Casey Janssen was bailed out of trouble in the ninth inning to earn his 19th save of the season.
Edwin Encarnacion hit a solo home run, while Moises Sierra smoked a solo homer and helped out defensively by throwing out Elliot Johnson at the plate for the final out of the game.
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Desmond Jennings accounted for the lone run with a homer and Jeremy Hellickson (8-10) took the loss after allowing two runs on four hits over six-plus innings for the Rays, who have lost six of their last seven.
The Rays opened the scoring in the third inning after Jennings led off the frame with a towering fly ball to center that carried beyond the wall for his 11th home run of the season
Sierra tied the game in the home half when he launched a solo shot over the wall in left and the Jays took the lead in their next at-bat.
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After Colby Rasmus flied out to begin the fourth, Encarnacion got a fastball from Hellickson and deposited it into the stands in straightaway center field to make it 2-1.
Jeff Keppinger ripped a base hit off Janssen to begin the ninth and the pinch- runner Johnson moved into scoring position on a fly out to left by Luke Scott. Ryan Roberts struck out, but pinch-hitter Carlos Pena followed with a base hit to right.
Sierra played the ball on a high hop and fired a strike to catcher Jeff Mathis, who held on to the ball despite getting run over by Johnson to preserve the victory for Toronto.
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Game Notes
Despite the loss, the Rays lead the season series between the teams, 9-4 ... Tampa Bay has lost 11 of its last 12 one-run contests ... The Rays finished the month of August with a 17-11 record. It was their sixth consecutive winning August and they are a major league-best 88-52 in August since 2008 ... During the game, it was announced that the Rays acquired outfielder Ben Francisco from the Houston Astros for a player to be named later ... Toronto improved to 10-20 in one-run games this season.