St. Petersburg, FL – Alex Cobb went seven innings, B.J. Upton hit an RBI double, and the Rays defeated the Blue Jays, 3-2, on Wednesday.
Tampa Bay scored all of its runs in the third inning, as Evan Longoria plated Upton with a double play groundout and Jeff Keppinger added a two-out RBI single.
Longoria, in his second game back from a prolonged absence, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Still, Tampa Bay improved to 17-8 with Longoria in the lineup this season, compared to 41-44 without the three-time All-Star.
Cobb (6-8) allowed one run on five hits, did not issue a walk and struck out seven.
Fernando Rodney entered the ninth with a 22-inning scoreless streak -- a club record for a reliever -- but surrendered a one-out solo homer to David Cooper. The righty then retired two straight batters to secure his 34th save of the year.
The Rays have won nine of 14 overall and will look for the sweep of this three-game series on Thursday.
Carlos Villanueva (6-2) took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
Edwin Encarnacion had a third-inning sacrifice fly for the Blue Jays, losers in eight of their last 10 games. They have dropped 16 consecutive away series against the Rays.
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