Mitch White returns from triple A and struggles on mound early in Blue Jays loss

Randy Arozarena drove in the first and third innings as the Tampa Bay Rays held on for a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

Both times, Arozarena hit in a defensive player pick to score Yandy Diaz to give Tampa (79-61) the first lead. Manuel Margot had an RBI single to score Arozarena and David Peralta’s sacrifice fly brought in Wander Franco.

Jeffrey Springs (8-4) pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing just three hits. Shawn Armstrong and Pete Fairbanks came in relief.

Matt Chapman hit an RBI single to lead Toronto’s offense, with Alejandro Kirk leading in a run with a groundout.

Ace Alek Manoah (14-7) was scheduled to start the afternoon game for the Blue Jays (79-62), but was pulled with a stomach ache.

Relief pitcher Julian Merryweather (0-3) served as Toronto’s « opener » in Manoah’s absence, pitching an inning and allowing a run on two hits.

Mitch White, called up to be the Blue Jays’ 29th man for the doubleheader, pitched six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out two. David Phelps had two scoreless relief runs.

The win put the Rays ahead of Toronto in the race for American League wild cards. The Blue Jays had taken a half-game lead with Monday’s 3-2 win in Game 1 of their five-game series.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette started the eighth inning with back-to-back singles. Bichette’s hit propelled Guerrero to third. Kirk’s pitching groundout pushed Bichette to second and gave Guerrero plenty of time to score.

Chapman reduced that lead twice at bat later, choosing to left field to bring in Bichette and cut Tampa’s lead to 4-2.