TORONTO — Maybe Saturday really was the start of something.
After being revived and revitalized in the doubleheader sweep of the Blue Jays a day earlier, the Rays offense kept rolling on Sunday in a 7-3 victory.
The highlight was a six-run fifth inning, the Rays’ biggest outburst in a single frame all season. And it included three home runs — also their most for any inning — with Harold Ramirez, Ji-Man Choi and Randy Arozarena all going deep.
For the three games, the Rays scored 24 runs and rapped 41 hits.
That’s quite a change for a team that scored just nine runs total over a four-game losing streak coming into Saturday, and hadn’t gotten to double digits since June 8.
The Rays took the five-games-in-four-days series from the Jays three-two, and overall improved to 43-36 as they head next to Boston for a three-game series starting with Monday’s holiday matinee.
Shane Baz battled his way into the sixth inning, allowing seven hits and dealing with steady traffic on the bases, but allowing just the one run. Cristofer Ogando, a 28-year-old who was out of pro ball for nearly five years, worked two innings in his big-league debut. Shawn Armstrong finished.
As on Saturday, it helped the Rays weren’t facing the Jays’ best starters, though Ross Stripling came in with a respectable 4-2, 3.12 record and lasted into the fifth.
The Rays started slowly, with a run in the first on two-out singles by Ramirez and Choi, then a rare throwing error by Jays third baseman Matt Chapman.
The Jays tied in the third on a leadoff double by George Springer and a one-out single by Vlad Guerrero Jr.
Then the Rays broke it open in the fifth, sending nine to the plate and scoring six, five of which came with two outs.
They got one on a leadoff double by Taylor Walls and a one-out single by Yandy Diaz, who was then caught trying to get to second. Wander Franco singled and then Ramirez — who Kevin Kiermaier said they are now called “Barreled” rather than Harold given his proclivity to hit balls with the barrel of his bat — homered down the leftfield line.
That ended Stripling’s day, and Choi greeted reliever Trent Thornton with a himer to right field that made it 5-1. After Isaac Paredes, who had another multi-hit game, singled, Arozarena homered to center, his first since June 10 and eighth overall.
The 24 runs and 41 hits were the most for the Rays in any three-game span since Sept. 5-7.
