Major League Baseball
Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 1
When: 1:07 PM ET, Saturday, April 29, 2017
Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Sam Holbrook, 1B - Jim Wolf, 2B - Chad Whitson, 3B - D.J. Reyburn
Attendance: 42419

TORONTO -- The big hits and right times have been elusive for the Toronto Blue Jays during their April drought.

The Blue Jays got a couple Saturday afternoon in their 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Russell Martin delivered an RBI double in the fourth inning and Justin Smoak's two-run homer in the sixth provided the add-on runs so often lacking this season for skidding Toronto.

The timely hits made a winner of Blue Jays left-hander Francisco Liriano (2-2), who allowed four hits, four walks and one run and had six strikeouts in five-plus innings.

"We got the win, I wanted to pitch deeper into the game but it didn't happen," Liriano said. "Too many 3-2, 3-1 counts."

"We had a quiet day at the plate, we had a couple of innings where we had some chances to get some stuff going and weren't able to do so," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Liriano did a nice job of keeping us off-balance. It looked like he had both of his off-speed pitches going, a little cutter-slider and the changeup. ... His best pitches were made when guys were on base."

Struggling Toronto closer Roberto Osuna, who has been making some adjustments, pitched a perfect ninth to earn his second save in five opportunities.

Tampa Bay starter Matt Andriese (1-1) allowed five hits, three walks and four runs (three earned) while striking out four in seven innings.

The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Blue Jays and manager John Gibbons sees better things coming for his team.

"I've said many times, as tough as things have been and they've been real tough, they compete, they play to win, they don't get down on things, which can be a hard battle," Gibbons said. "But after a tough loss (Friday) night, then you go back to that first game of the doubleheader (Thursday), they just keep coming at you.

"We think good things are on their way, we really do. But today was a huge game. It started with Liriano, did a heck of a job, battled a little at times with his command but got some big outs."

The Blue Jays scored (7-17) a run in the first inning on a throwing error by Rays shortstop Tim Beckham on a grounder by Kendrys Morales. Jose Bautista, who had walked with two out, came around from first to score on the errant throw.

The Rays (12-13) tied the game in the second on a reversed call. Liriano walked Beckham and Daniel Robertson with one out. Jesus Sucre singled to right but Beckham was called out at home on the throw from Bautista. The call was changed to safe after a video review.

Toronto regained the lead with one run in the fourth on a single by Smoak and a double by Martin.

Joe Biagini replaced Liriano with two on and none out in the sixth after Rickie Weeks Jr. walked and third baseman Chris Coghlan's error on a grounder by Corey Dickerson. Biagini kept the 2-1 lead intact with two strikeouts and a groundout and also pitched a scoreless seventh.

The bullpen has been having problems recently, but Gibbons saw hope.

"Joe Biagini coming in first and second, no outs, getting us out of that and pitching another inning And Osuna locking it down, that's big for Osuna," Gibbons said.

The Blue Jays added to the lead in the bottom of sixth on Smoak's fourth homer, a drive to center. It scored Bautista, who had walked, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout.

"It's kind of a tough one to swallow with that two-run home run," Andriese said. "I was trying to keep it to within striking distance but Smoak put a good swing on a good pitch. He got to the pitch. It could have been a better pitch but he put a good swing on it and that was it."

Joe Smith pitched around a single and a walk in the eighth inning for Toronto, which ended on a fly out to deep center by Logan Morrison.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay   Toronto
Matt Andriese Player Francisco Liriano
Loss W/L Win
7.0 IP 5.0
4 Strikeouts 6
5 Hits 4
3.86 ERA 1.80
Hitting
Tampa Bay   Toronto
Corey Dickerson Player Justin Smoak
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 2
0 HR 1
2 TB 6
.500 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Tampa Bay 5 0 5 .156 25 10 1 5 0 1
Toronto 6 1 10 .214 9 4 3 3 1 1