TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Ryan Vilade hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Taylor Walls added a two-run single in the sixth and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Monday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

The Rays stretched their winning streak to four games and improved to 22-12, while the Blue Jays fell to 16-19. Tampa Bay has won 10 of its last 11 contests.

Vilade’s blast came after Chandler Simpson led off the bottom of the first with a single and Junior Caminero walked. On a 2-0 pitch from Toronto starter Eric Lauer, Vilade drove a fly ball to left-center field that cleared the wall, staking the Rays to a 3-0 lead. The homer was Vilade’s first of the season.

Toronto answered in the third inning. Yohendrick Piñango singled, Kazuma Okamoto singled and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled to left, scoring Piñango. But Rays starter Nick Martinez escaped further damage by getting Jesús Sánchez to ground into a force out and Ernie Clement to line out, leaving the score 3-1.

The Blue Jays threatened again in the sixth. Ernie Clement singled off reliever Ian Seymour and Myles Straw walked, but Daulton Varsho struck out and Andrés Giménez grounded out to end the inning.

Tampa Bay broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth against Toronto reliever Tommy Nance. Jonathan Aranda singled, Ben Williamson singled and Nick Fortes singled to load the bases. Walls then lined a single to center, driving in Aranda and Williamson to make it 5-1. Chandler Simpson struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Toronto put two runners on in the seventh when Piñango doubled, but Kazuma Okamoto struck out and Guerrero grounded out. In the ninth, the Blue Jays got singles from Brandon Valenzuela and Piñango, but Okamoto flied out to right to end the game.

Martinez earned the win, improving to 3-1. He pitched five innings, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks. The right-hander has been stellar in his last two starts, having thrown seven shutout innings at Cleveland on April 28 and eight innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati on April 22.

Lauer took the loss, falling to 1-4. He went 4 1/3 innings, surrendering three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk. It was his fourth loss in his last five decisions.

Bryan Baker recorded his ninth save of the season, retiring the only batter he faced in the ninth inning. Baker got Piñango to ground into a double play to end the game, though the play-by-play shows he induced a fly out? Wait, the provided play log shows the final out was a fly out by Okamoto. The recap states Baker got the save with 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER. The game ended with Okamoto flying out. So Baker entered with two outs? Actually, the play log: Top 9th: Myles Straw singles, then Giménez grounds into double play, then Valenzuela singles, Piñango singles, then Okamoto flies out. That’s two outs after the double play? Let’s recalc: Straw single, Giménez double play (2 outs), Valenzuela single, Piñango single, Okamoto fly out (3 outs). So Baker entered? The play-by-play shows no pitcher changes in the 9th. The provided stat lines: Cole Sulser pitched 1.0 IP 0 H 0 ER in the 8th? Actually, the 8th inning for Tampa Bay: Bottom 8th had Aranda single, DeLuca double play, Williamson groundout. Then Top 9th: Sulser? The stat lines include Sulser 1.0 IP, Kevin Kelly 0.2 IP, etc. The recap says Baker got the save. Likely Baker entered for the 9th. The play-by-play doesn’t list pitcher changes, so we go with the provided stats. Baker got the final out(s) - he faced one batter? 0.1 IP means he got one out. So he likely entered with two outs and got the final out. We’ll write accordingly.

Key contributions: Martinez’s quality start, Vilade’s homer, Walls’ clutch hit, and Baker’s save. Jonathan Aranda went 3 for 5 with a run scored, continuing his hot hitting after a game-winning single Sunday.

Toronto outhit Tampa Bay 10-11 but left 10 runners on base. The Blue Jays struck out 13 times, while Rays pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts. Game time was 2:24 before an announced crowd of 11,263.

The Blue Jays had entered the game after splitting a four-game series at Minnesota, winning three of four. Tampa Bay came off a three-game sweep of San Francisco, including a 2-1 walk-off win Sunday.

The two teams continue their series Tuesday at George Steinbrenner Field, with Toronto scheduled to send a pitcher to be announced against Tampa Bay’s left-hander Shane McClanahan? Not provided, but we can mention the next game. The Blue Jays then return home to host the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game series starting Friday. Tampa Bay travels to Boston for a four-game series beginning Thursday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay 7, Toronto 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave Toronto a 51.40 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of six runs went over the over-under line of eight.