Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays Box Score on Aug 23, 2020

Starter Josh Fleming won in his major league debut as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The left-handed Fleming -- the Rays' 11th different starter this season -- worked effectively through Toronto's dangerous lineup over five solid innings in his 72-pitch debut.

A 2017 fifth-round draft pick out of Division III Webster University and not ranked in the organization's top 25 prospects, the 24-year-old Fleming (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out three.

In his return to Tampa Bay's lineup after a minor batting practice incident Saturday, Yandy Diaz went 2-for-2 with two walks, and Austin Meadows (two RBIs), Brandon Lowe and Jose Martinez drove in runs.

Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected for the 10th time in his career after arguing a checked swing in the top of the sixth that would have ended the inning.

Toronto's Teoscar Hernandez (two stolen bases) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. each homered, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tripled and scored and Travis Shaw notched an RBI. Starting for the second time in four days, Trent Thornton tossed just one inning and gave up two hits in the scoreless frame.

Cleanup hitter Hernandez belted his team-leading 10th homer off Fleming in the second. In the fourth, Shaw's single pushed it to 2-0 two batters after Guerrero hit his first triple into the right field corner. But Fleming got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a shallow flyout and comebacker.

Toronto's Anthony Kay hurled three perfect innings before yielding a single to Joey Wendle and a walk to Willy Adames to start the fifth, forcing the visitors to turn to lefty Ryan Borucki (1-1).

Pinch hitter Martinez lined an RBI single to right, and Meadows' sacrifice fly to right scored Adames to tie it 2-2. Martinez, who advanced to second on Hernandez's throwing error to home, scored on Lowe's single to give the Rays a 3-2 lead.

Kevin Kiermaier made it 4-2 in the home seventh after beating out an infield grounder, stealing second and scoring on Meadows' single to right. Ji-Man Choi's sacrifice fly to plate Meadows added another insurance marker.

Gurriel's two-run homer, his third, brought it to 5-4 in the eighth, but John Curtiss retired all five batters he faced for his first career save.

--Field Level Media