Associated Press 9:58 PM ET2 Minute Read
TORONTO — The Tampa Bay Rays lost their first game after a record-breaking 13-0 start when Colin Poche was forced into two runs with base-loaded walks and second baseman Brandon Lowe made a crucial error in a four-run fifth inning that turned lifted the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-3 win on Friday night.
George Springer hit a leading home run and Bo Bichette had five hits and an RBI as the Blue Jays rejected Tampa Bay’s offer to set Major League Baseball’s post-1900 record for consecutive wins in the beginning of a season.
Toronto’s 13-0 record equaled the Atlanta Braves of 1982 and the Milwaukee Brewers of 1987 and was only behind the 20-0 start of the Union Association’s 1884 St. Louis Maroons.
Tampa Bay was down just six times at the end of an inning on Friday. They were nine down against the Blue Jays.
Springer hit a homer in the second pitch of the night against Drew Rasmussen (2-1), who was pitching 13 innings in his first two starts. Springer’s 53rd leadoff homer tied Craig Biggio in third, behind Rickey Henderson’s 81 and Alfonso Soriano’s 54.
Bichette had his 500th goal in the second RBI brace for a 2-0 lead. He reached the mark in his 407th game faster than the previous Blue Jays mark shared by Vernon Wells and Shannon Stewart.
Luke Raley cut the lead in half with an RBI single in fourth, but Poche eased with the loaded bases in fifth, leaving pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk in four and Santiago Espinal in fifth. Danny Jansen hit Wander Franco for a potential double play late in the inning, but Lowe rebounded the ball off his glove into outfield as two runs scored.
Rasmussen allowed five carries and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Jose Berríos (1-2) gave up a run and four hits in five innings and left the team with a bruised left knee, hit twice in his final inning. Manuel Margot’s leadoff liner bounced off Berríos’ left foot, landing in foul territory. Three batters later, a comebacker from Yandy Díaz caught Berríos in the knee.
Trevor Richards hit two outs in game six and Zach Pop came on to beat Isaac Paredes, stranding the runners in first and second place.
After Yimi García gave up back-to-back homers to Josh Lowe and Christian Bethancourt in the seventh round, Erik Swanson hit a scoreless eighth and Jordan Romano made his fifth save in six chances.
Blue Jays midfielder Kevin Kiermaier met his former team for the first time, winning 2-4. The three-time Gold Glove Award winner spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Rays.