TORONTO _ The Rays' primary goal in Saturday's day-after affair was to post another win in hopes of getting closer to earning the top wild-card spot and bringing Wednesday's one-game showdown to Tropicana Field rather than going to Oakland.
That didn't work out, as they lost to the Blue Jays 4-1, leaving them to hope the A's lost their late Saturday game at Seattle and again on Sunday while they win.
Their next item of business on the day after clinching their first playoff berth since 2013 was getting a better outing from lefty Ryan Yarbrough, whose recent struggles not only left him winless over seven starts but may bring into question his role in the postseason.
That had mixed results.
Yarbrough got off to a miserable start, allowing a leadoff homer to Teoscar Hernandez, then three more consecutive hits and three runs overall in the first before getting an out, but managed to work five overall decent innings.
As Yarbrough struggled through the first, the Rays had Austin Pruitt warming. Yarbrough struck out Brandon Drury, and with maybe one more batter to work with he got Justin Smoak to ground into a double play.
From there, Yarbrough was much more effective, allowing only one other hit and no runs over the next four innings.
The Rays only run came in somewhat unexpected fashion � a seventh-inning home run by Matt Duffy. That's because it was the first ball hit out of the park by Duffy since June 16, 2018. He missed some of that time due to injuries, but still it was a drought of 427 at-bats without a homer, the longest such streak in the majors. passing Billy Hamilton, the now-Braves outfielder who was at 401.
With the loss, the 96-65 Rays also lost the chance to break the team record for wins in a season. They can tie the mark of 97, set in 2008, with a win in Sunday's finale.
