By Canadian Press

Blue Jays rout Rays 20-1 as Guerrero Jr has 6 RBIs, position players give up 10 runs

May 23, 2023 | 7:51 PM

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had six RBIs and the Toronto Blue Jays stopped a five-game losing streak with a 20-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night, scoring their last 10 runs off position players.

Guerrero put Toronto ahead with an RBI single off Taj Bradley (3-1) in the first, had a run-scoring single in the fifth that opened a 10-0 lead and hit a 423-foot grand slam in a nine-run ninth against Luke Raley.

Guerrero is hitting .300 with eight homers and 33 RBIs. His six RBIs were one shy of his career high.

All 12 Toronto batters in the game had hits, and the Blue Jays finished with 27 hits — their most since getting 29 against Boston in a 28-5 win last July 22.

Tampa Bay entered with the second-fewest runs allowed in the majors at 170 and gave up its most since a 20-8 loss at Boston on Aug. 11, 2021.

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George Springer had four hits, and Bo Bichette, Whit Merrifield, Guerrero and Danny Jansen had three apiece. Springer hit his seventh homer, a solo drive in the third.

Raley, an outfielder and first baseman, allowed seven runs and eight hits over 1 2/3 innings. He threw 27 pitches of 47-54 mph, striking out Guerrero in the eighth.

Catcher Christian Bethancourt entered with two outs in the ninth and gave up Daulton Varsho’s RBI single and Jansen’s two-run homer.

Raley’s ERA is 30.38 after his second mound appearance this season. Bethancourt’s ERA is 81.00.

Zack Burdi gave up six runs in the fifth, five of them earned.

José Berríos (4-4) allowed one run, five hits and two walks, striking out five.

Isaac Paredes homered for the Rays, who dropped to 22-5 at home this season. Tampa Bay leads the majors with 95 home runs.

Bradley gave up four runs and nine hits in four innings.

NUMBERS

Merrifield is 7 for 9 in the series and stole his 14th base.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu and reliever Chad Green, both coming back from Tommy John surgery, came over from the team’s spring training complex in nearby Dunedin and had bullpen sessions.

“They looked good,” manager John Schnieder said.

Ryu and Green are both expected back this season,

RHP Adam Cimber (upper back) was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.

Rays: 2B Brandon Lowe (neck stiffness) was out of the lineup.

UP NEXT

Toronto LHP Yusei Kikuchi (5-1) and Rays LHP Shane McClanahan (7-0) are Wednesday night’s starters. McClanahan is looking to become the major’s first eight-game winner.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Mark Didtler, The Associated Press