Blue Jays drop opener to Rays in crucial 4-game series between playoff contenders

Wander Franco had three RBIs, Jonathan Aranda homered and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 on Thursday night in the opener of a big four-game series between playoff contenders.

Tampa Bay (83-67) pulled within one game of Toronto (84-66) for the top spot in the AL wild-card standings. Seattle (82-67) is in third, four games ahead of Baltimore.

Whit Merrifield homered twice for Toronto, and Teoscar Hernandez also went deep. Jose Berrios (11-6) was tagged for six runs and seven hits in two innings.

Manuel Margot's infield RBI single, and run-scoring hits by Franco and Arozarena put the Rays up 6-3 in the second.

Not gonna get away Whit that pitch