ST. PETERSBURG (620 WDAE) -- Chris Archer allowed a single earned run over six innings, and got homers from Lucas Duda and Corey Dickerson, powering the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday at Tropicana Field.
Archer's second pitch of the night gave Toronto an early 1-0 lead, as Norichika Aoki took a 93 MPH fastball up in the zone and sent it into the seats in right for his fourth home run of the year.
Tampa Bay turned around that deficit in the bottom of the first, tying the game at one apiece thanks to Duda's 22nd home run of the year, and took the lead for good in the bottom of the second thanks to a solo shot by Dickerson. Wilson Ramos followed with a single, Brad Miller drew a walk, and both scored on a two-run triple by Kevin Kiermaier for a 4-1 advantage.
Toronto started to rally on Archer in the fifth, as Miguel Montero struck out, but was able to reach on a passed ball with one away. Ezequiel Carrera followed up with a double that pushed the catcher to third, and Ryan Goins singled in Montero to make it 4-2. Norichika Aoki's sacrifice fly cut the lead to one run, but the Rays starter struck out Josh Donaldson to end the rally.
The Rays answered back in the bottom of the inning, as Wilson Ramos' infield single scored Evan Longoria, who doubled to start the inning and took third on an error by Carrera. The third baseman added an RBI triple an inning later to push the lead back to three runs.
The Blue Jays got a run off Tommy Hunter in the eighth thanks to a solo homer by Josh Donaldson, while Montero made it 6-5 off Alex Colome in the ninth with a sacrifice fly that scored Kendrys Morales, but the Tampa Bay closer finished the game by getting Darwin barney to ground out and Goins to line out to earn his MLB-best 37th save.
The win gets Tampa Bay back to three games under .500 at 62-65,
The Rays can secure a series win with a victory in Wednesday's middle game, as Austin Pruitt (6-4, 5.37 ERA) takes on Marcus Stroman (11-6, 2.99 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10, with coverage on WDAE starting at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Sykes Lakeland.