ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Robinson Chirinos hit his first major-league homer and drove in four runs, James Shields pitched into the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-1 on Wednesday night.
Chirinos had a three-run shot off Carlos Villanueva (6-3) during a four-run third that put the Rays up 8-1. An inning earlier, he drove in a run with a bunt single.
Shields (10-9) allowed one run and three hits in 7 1-3 innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked three.
The AL all-star was coming off a start last Wednesday where he gave up 10 runs over four innings in a 13-4 loss to Oakland.
Ben Zobrist and Casey Kotchman also homered for the Rays, who are 7-11 over their last 18 games.
J.P. Arencibia homered for Toronto.
Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista had his third-inning pop fly caught by Rodriguez at shortstop for an out after the ball hit the highest of four catwalks at Tropicana Field.
It was the third ball since the stadium opened in 1998 that has struck the "A" ring, which located around 185 feet above the infield.
Villanueva gave up eight runs and nine hits over 2 2-3 innings.
Zobrist hit a solo homer, Sean Rodriguez bunted home a run, Chirinos drove in a run with his bunt hit and Johnny Damon added a sacrifice fly during a four-run second.
Kotchman had a solo homer before Chirinos' drive in the third broke open the game.
Matt Joyce made it 9-1 with an RBI single in the seventh.
Arencibia, who struck out in all four at-bats in the Blue Jays' 3-1 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, cut the deficit to 4-1 with his 18th homer of the season leading off the third. He has six homers in his last 10 games.
Shields struck out Travis Snider with two on and two out in the second. He retired 11 in a row after allowing Arencibia's homer.
.NOTES: The Blue Jays would like to get RHP Brandon Morrow around 175 innings this season. "Building block approach," manager John Farrell said. Morrow (8-5) has worked 112 innings so far. ... Rays RHP Wade Davis (8-7), Thursday's scheduled starter, is 2-2 with a 2.80 earned-run average in five career starts against the Blue Jays. "They're aggressive swinging the bat," Davis said. ... Toronto LHP Brett Cecil (4-4) will look to win for the fourth time in his last six starts in Thursday's series finale. He is 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA over his last five starts, including two complete games. ... Toronto LHP Brian Tallet (chest) is nearing his first bullpen session.
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