Kirk’s three-run homer powers Blue Jays past Rays

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s three-run blast powered the Toronto Blue Jays past the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Wednesday.

Kirk’s third home run of the season broke open the game after Toronto (21-21) trailed by a run for two innings.

Chris Bassitt struck out six and limited the Rays to just one run over 5 2/3 innings, despite giving up seven hits and two walks.

Relievers Brendon Little (2-0), Yariel Rodriguez and Yimi Garcia preserved the win, with Garcia earning his third save of the season.

Kameron Misner’s RBI single in the third gave Tampa Bay (19-23) its only lead of the game.

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Ryan Pepiot (2-5) gave up three runs over six innings of work, striking out seven but giving up six hits and a walk. Eric Orze pitched two innings of scoreless relief.

Takeaways

Rays: Pepiot was superb until the sixth inning when he walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — his first bases on balls of the game — and then gave up a single to Daulton Varsho, setting up Kirk’s three-run homer and Tampa’s loss.

Blue Jays: Leaving runners on base continues to be a problem for Toronto, with the hosts stranding six across the game, including Guerrero at third base twice. That adds to the 305 players left on base by the Blue Jays, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for seventh most in Major League Baseball, heading into Wednesday’s game.

Key moment

Bassitt’s outing could have been derailed in the fourth when Travis Jankowski made contact with the ball. Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement fielded the hit and fired it home to Kirk to get Misner out at home for the inning’s second out. Danny Jansen then grounded out to limit the damage to Misner’s RBI single.

Key stat

Kirk’s batting average improved to. 293 with two hits on Wednesday, eights points better than his average in 2022 when he made his only all-star game appearance.

Up next

Kevin Gausman (3-3) will take the mound for Toronto in the matinee finale Thursday.

Zack Littell (2-5) gets the start for Tampa Bay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.