Rays zap Blue Jays in rookie battle

Los Angeles: Tampa Bay rookie starter Matt Moore fared better than his Toronto counterpart Drew Hutchison as the Rays blasted three home runs in an 8-5 victory on Tuesday.

The Rays rocked 21-year-old Hutchison for six runs in four innings to take a 6-0 lead, then held on for the win despite some struggles from 22-year-old Moore on the mound. Luke Scott ignited the home offence with a solo shot in the second inning, and Carlos Pena delivered a three-run homer in the fourth where Tampa Bay put five runs on the board.

It was a particularly big blow for Pena who was in the midst of an 0-for-18 slump and was moved from the middle of the line-up to leadoff in an effort to spark his bat. The Blue Jays (24-20) pulled to 6-4 by scoring four runs in the top of the fifth against Moore, who played in a few games towards the end of last season.

Moore walked three batters during the inning and saw Toronto bring two runners across on a pair of throwing errors on the same sequence by his team-mates. Moore was relieved in the fifth and had a no-decision.

Tampa Bay (26-18) added a run in the fifth and got one last home run by B.J. Upton to remain two games behind Baltimore in the American League East.

RESULTS

MLB results on Tuesday

BALTIMORE 4 Boston 1

YANKEES 3 Kansas City 2

CLEVELAND 5 Detroit 3

NY Mets 3 P'BURGH 2

Washington 5 P'DELPHIA 2

MIAMI 7 Colorado 6

CINCINNATI 4 Atlanta 3

TAMPA BAY 8 Toronto 5

HOUSTON 2 Chicago 1

S. Francisco 6 BREWERS 4

Minnesota 9 W. SOX 2

ST. LOUIS 4 San Diego 0

LA Dodgers 8 ARIZONA 7

LA Angels 5 OAKLAND 0

Texas 3 SEATTLE 1

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