TORONTO (AP) Jose Bautista hit two home runs, David Price won for the ninth time in 11 starts with Toronto and the playoff-bound Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-8 on Saturday.
An anticipated pitcher's duel between Rays right-hander Chris Archer and Price, his former teammate and mentor, turned into a sloppy slugfest. Toronto's three errors matched a season high.
Just a few hours after learning the Blue Jays ended their 22-year postseason drought thanks to their main competitors' overlapping schedules, Bautista hit a three-run homer and Russell Martin added a two-run drive in a five-run first inning.
Bautista made it 10-5 with a solo shot of Kirby Yates in the eighth. It was the fifth multihomer game of the season for Bautista, whose homers were his 38th and 39th.
Kevin Pillar and Ben Revere each had three hits as the Blue Jays won for the sixth time in their past eight meetings with the Rays.
Price (18-5) allowed five runs - four earned - in five innings. It was the most runs the left-hander had allowed since giving up five in a July 28 loss to the Rays, his final start with Detroit before being traded to Toronto.
Despite the difficult outing, Price maintained his AL ERA lead at 2.45.
The Blue Jays wasted no time jumping on Archer, who came in 3-1 with a 0.93 ERA in four starts against Toronto this season. Revere led off with a single, Josh Donaldson walked and Bautista followed with a drive that just cleared the left field wall.
Three batters later, Martin made it 5-0 with a two-run shot, his career-best 22nd.
Tampa Bay closed the gap with a four-run third. Steven Souza drove in one run with a bases-loaded single and a second scored on Cliff Pennington's throwing error. Logan Forsythe hit a sacrifice fly and Asdrubal Cabrera capped it with an RBI single.
The Blue Jays answered with a two-out rally in the bottom half. Pillar's bloop double dropped in front of a charging Kevin Kiermaier, bringing home Ryan Goins, and Revere added an RBI double, his third hit in three innings.
Kiermaier hit a solo drive to center off Price in the fourth, his 10th, to make it 7-5, but the Blue Jays chased Archer in the bottom half. Goins hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and Pillar followed with an RBI double. C.J. Riefenhauser came on and struck out Pennington to end the inning.
A fielding error by Darwin Barney and back-to-back RBI singles by pinch-hitters Grady Sizemore and John Jaso cut it to 10-8 in the ninth, but Roberto Osuna got the final two outs for his 19th save, finishing it off by getting Evan Longoria to ground into a fielder's choice.
Pitching on his 27th birthday, Archer (12-13) matched a season high by giving up nine runs in 3 2-3 innings, his shortest outing since a May 7 loss to Texas. He also matched a season high by walking five, the second straight start he's walked that many. Archer has lost his past three decisions.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Longoria started at DH, with Richie Shaffer at 3B. ... LHP Jake McGee (left knee) was activated off the 15-day DL. McGee has been out since Aug. 18.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Matt Andriese (3-5, 4.37 ERA) makes his first big league start since July 7. Andriese allowed three homers in 5 1-3 innings in a home loss to Toronto on June 22.
Blue Jays: LHP Mark Buehrle (14-7, 3.69 ERA) will have had six days of rest since his previous start, Sept. 20 against Boston. Buehrle had a cortisone shot in his sore shoulder earlier this month.
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