TORONTO — The Tampa Bay Rays’ command collapsed at Rogers Centre, as their pitching staff issued a season-high 10 walks in a 5-3 extra-inning loss to the Toronto Blue Jays that snapped a stretch in which Tampa Bay had won 16 of its previous 18 games.
Right-hander Aaron Brooks, making his first Major League appearance since June 24, 2024, walked the bases loaded in the 10th inning before Daulton Varsho launched an opposite-field grand slam into the Blue Jays bullpen — the fifth walk-off slam in franchise history. “Very fair [to say] too much traffic,” manager Kevin Cash said. “And generally, when you walk that many, it’s tough to win.”
During their 16-of-18 run, the Rays averaged only two walks per outing and never issued more than four in a single game. That discipline vanished against Toronto. Starter Griffin Jax walked four batters himself in five scoreless innings on 66 pitches, his first five-inning start since Oct. 2, 2021. Three timely double plays — ending the first, third and fourth innings — kept Jax out of serious trouble. “I know ground balls are always gonna be a big part of my game, so those definitely helped and saved me a lot,” Jax said. “I’ve just got to clean up the walks.”
The Rays carried a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 10th after RBI singles by Ben Williamson, who entered as a defensive replacement for Junior Caminero in the eighth, and Yandy Díaz. Cash, having already used five relievers behind Jax, turned to Brooks, who was called up from Triple-A Durham on Saturday. Brooks retired Yohendrick Piñango on a popup on his first pitch, then walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on four pitches and Kazuma Okamoto on six before Varsho’s slam. “Just didn’t have my best stuff out there today, and that’s part of the game,” Brooks said. “When they call your name and you’re not ready for it, something like that happens. … It’s just baseball.”
The trouble started an inning earlier. Right-hander Bryan Baker, Tampa Bay’s best high-leverage reliever this season, walked four batters in the eighth — as many as he had issued in his first 18 appearances combined. Toronto cashed in with a game-tying sacrifice fly. “One of those days, is the best way I can put it, I think. Nothing felt right,” Baker said, adding that he struggled to get a grip on particularly “slick” baseballs.
Shortstop Taylor Walls provided a highlight in the seventh, snaring a low line drive off the bat of pinch-hitter Lenyn Sosa and flipping to Richie Palacios to double off Ernie Clement at second base, preserving a one-run lead after Garrett Cleavinger had hit Andrés Giménez with a pitch. Right-hander Kevin Kelly entered to face Sosa on that play. “It definitely kept us in the game,” Cash said of the double plays. Dylan Cease held the Rays scoreless through six innings before Palacios delivered an RBI single in the seventh to break through.
The Rays return home to Tropicana Field to open a series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.