St Petersburg, Florida: Toronto reliever Casey Lawrence made his major league debut and wound up walking home the winning run with two outs in the 11th inning, lifting the Tampa Bay Rays over the Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday night.
Mallex Smith got on base five straight times and scored on Brad Miller’s walk to end it.
Smith led off the Tampa Bay 11th with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After a pair of intentional walks loaded the bases, Lawrence (0-1) struck out Evan Longoria but then walked Miller.
Erasmo Ramirez (1-0) got the win, pitching 1 2/3 shutout innings.
Josh Donaldson’s single with two outs in the eighth gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Steven Souza Jr. tied it in the bottom half with a two-out single off reliever Joe Biagini.
