TORONTO — Russell Martin drove in the winning run with a single in the eighth as the Blue Jays rallied for a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday after losing Toronto starter Aaron Sanchez to a finger injury in the first inning.
Jose Bautista began the rally with his 1,000th hit as a Blue Jay — a game-tying double off reliever Alex Colome (1-1) that nearly cleared the left-field wall.
Martin followed with a base hit to right field for his fifth RBI of the season and pinch-hitter Ezequiel Carrera tacked on a run-scoring single as the Blue Jays (8-17) won back-to-back games and a series for the first time this year.
Roberto Osuna pitched the ninth for his third save. J.P. Howell (1-1) got the win.
Sanchez, activated from the 10-day disabled list for Sunday's game, left with a split nail on his right middle finger after the top of the first inning. He threw just 13 pitches, walking the leadoff batter before a strikeout and double play.
Once in the dugout, Sanchez slammed his glove down on the bench in frustration and headed straight into the clubhouse with pitching coach Pete Walker. The 24-year-old Sanchez had landed on the disabled list two weeks ago with a blister on the same finger and underwent a procedure to remove part of the nail from it.
Reliever Ryan Tepera came on after Sanchez and cruised through 3 1/3 innings — Tampa didn't get a hit until Ryan Miller's leadoff single in the fifth. Tepera had a career-high five strikeouts and left with one out in the fifth to a standing ovation from the crowd of 42,986.
The game remained scoreless until David Robertson hit a sacrifice bunt off Joe Smith in the eighth to plate Logan Morrison from third base. Morrison walked to begin the inning and moved to third after a single and pop fly.
Chris Archer allowed one run on four hits through 7 1/3 innings for Tampa Bay (12-14). He also had five strikeouts.
Home plate umpire Jim Wolf issued a warning to Archer after his first pitch to Bautista sailed behind the Blue Jays slugger in the first inning. Bautista glared down at Archer from the batter's box for what felt like an eternity.
The Rays threatened in the bottom of the ninth, putting two runners on with two outs on an error to shortstop Ryan Goins and a base hit. Osuna got out of the jam with a strikeout.
NOTES: The Blue Jays begin a six-game road trip on Monday. They'll play the Yankees for three games then travel to Tampa for another three.
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