Tampa Bay Rays Yunel Escobar taunts fans after hitting a solo homer during 8th inning AL action against the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto on Sunday September 14, 2014.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
After whiling away most of the afternoon like a group of tourists on a cruise ship, the Toronto Blue Jays got mad, then they got even, and then they wound up losing the baseball game, which only made them mad again.
It was an unlikely turn of events that unfolded for the Blue Jays as their dwindling playoff hopes took another jolt on Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre where the Tampa Bay Rays (72-78) inflicted a gut-churning 6-5 win over Toronto (77-71) before a crowd of 26,633.
It gave the Rays a two-games-to-one series victory and sends the Blue Jays out on their final trip of the season with a sour taste in their mouths, still trailing by four games the second wild-card playoff berth in the American League with 14 games left in the regular season.
"This time of year, considering where we're at, it's especially tough," acknowledged Toronto manager John Gibbons, whose team was out-hit 14-7 in the contest.
Through the first six innings of the game the Blue Jays bats mostly slumbered with just two lonely hits off Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer, who was staked to 4-0 lead.
Then, in the seventh, a spark of life was provided by Edwin Encarnacion, who homered for the second consecutive game to cut the score to 4-1.
Yunel Escobar then stroked his seventh of the year off Toronto reliever Dustin McGowan with one out in the eighth to restore Tampa Bay's four-run cushion.
Escobar is the former Blue Jays hand who three years ago turned his face into a homophobic billboard when he was spotted on the field with an anti-gay slogan etched into his eye black. Escobar was suspended for three games by the Blue Jays and traded before the start of the 2012 season.
The celebrated incident continues to haunt Escobar, who is reminded of it every time he returns to play in Toronto by the frosty reception he receives from the fans.
As Escobar stepped on home plate following his home run he made a big X motion with his arms like an umpire signalling a runner safe, as if to suggest it was all over.
"I always do that, it doesn't mean anything," Escobar would later say.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Adam Lind came through with his second homer in as many games, a three-run shot the opposite way to left, and the Jays were suddenly back in it, trailing 5-4.
And in the ninth, with two out and pinch-hitter John Mayberry Jr., down to his last strike for Toronto, Mayberry crushed a line-drive shot that just cleared the wall in left for a home run that evened the score.
But the adrenalin rush was shortlived as Morrow, the eventual game loser, walked Wil Myers, the leadoff batter, on four pitches to begin the 10th before allowing a single to Logan Forsythe.
Exit Morrow and enter Brett Cecil, who walked Escobar to load the bases for Sean Rodriguez, whose sacrifice fly to centre field scored Myers from third with what proved to be the winning run.
"I think we all know we're not in a good position," said Toronto pitcher Mark Buehrle (12-9), who left the game after six innings where he allowed four of the Tampa Bay runs off nine hits. "We need some help from other teams. At the same time we have to worry about ourself and try to win the games that we're playing."
Buehrle is now at 188 innings pitched on the season and he needs to accumulate 12 more over his next two scheduled starts to get to the 200-innings pitched plateau for what would be the 14th consecutive season.
The Blue Jays now take their act back out on the road for the final time this season, a seven-day, seven-game excursion that should ultimately decide their postseason fate.
It begins Monday night in Baltimore with the first of a three-game set with the AL East-leading Orioles. It will continue on Thursday in New York with a four-game series against the Yankees.
Buehrle, whose start was pushed ahead a day in order to give some extra rest for rookie Marcus Stroman, who will pitch Monday against the Orioles, was touched up for two Tampa Bay runs in the third inning.
Sean Rodriguez, who doubled leading off, would come in to score from third on a ground out by Kevin Kiermaier.
Ben Zobrist then made the score 2-0 when he ripped a Buehrle cutter over the wall in left, his 10th of the season.
Tampa Bay tagged on two more in the fourth, where Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista lost a fly ball stroked by Wil Myers in the sun that fell in for a double and the Rays lead increased to 4-0.