TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Kazuma Okamoto homered in the first inning and Andrés Giménez drove in a run in the second, but the Tampa Bay Rays rallied for two runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Tuesday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

The Rays improved to 23-12, while the Blue Jays dropped to 16-20. Tampa Bay also won the opener of this two-game series, beating Toronto 5-1 on Monday. The teams will meet again Wednesday before Toronto returns home for a six-game homestand.

Toronto jumped ahead quickly. In the top of the first inning, Okamoto launched a solo home run to right-center field off Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. It was Okamoto’s 10th homer of the season and gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.

An inning later, Toronto added another run. Daulton Varsho singled and Ernie Clement bunted for a single, putting runners on first and second. Giménez then lined a single to center field, scoring Varsho and moving Clement to third. The Blue Jays loaded the bases on a fielder’s choice, but George Springer grounded out to end the inning with Toronto leading 2-0.

Rasmussen settled down after the second inning. He allowed seven hits and three earned runs over six innings, striking out five. Kevin Gausman started for Toronto and worked six innings, giving up six hits and two earned runs with three strikeouts.

Tampa Bay cut the deficit in half in the third. With two outs, Chandler Simpson singled and Junior Caminero walked. Jonathan Aranda followed with a single to center field, scoring Simpson and making it 2-1.

The Rays tied the game in the fourth. Jake Fraley singled and Ben Williamson singled, putting runners on first and second. Cedric Mullins attempted a sacrifice bunt, but Gausman’s throwing error loaded the bases. Hunter Feduccia then grounded into a double play, but Fraley scored on the play, knotting the score at 2-2.

Toronto regained the lead in the fifth. Giménez led off with a single, and Brandon Valenzuela walked. Springer hit a fly ball to center that resulted in a double play, but Giménez advanced to third. Yohendrick Piñango then singled to center, driving in Giménez and putting Toronto ahead 3-2.

That lead held until the bottom of the eighth. Toronto reliever Tyler Rogers entered and retired Caminero on a groundout. Aranda then doubled to left field off Rogers. Yandy Díaz singled up the middle on a ball deflected by second baseman Ernie Clement, allowing pinch-runner Taylor Walls to score and tying the game 3-3.

Rogers was replaced by Louis Varland, but the Rays kept the rally going. Jake Fraley singled to center, moving Díaz to second. Ben Williamson then singled to center, scoring Díaz and giving Tampa Bay its first lead at 4-3. Varland struck out Mullins on a foul tip and got Jonny DeLuca to ground out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Casey Legumina earned the win for Tampa Bay, pitching one inning and allowing one hit with no runs. He improved to 1-1. Cole Sulser worked a perfect ninth inning, striking out two, to record his second save of the season. Rogers took the loss, falling to 1-2.

The Blue Jays put the tying run on base in the top of the ninth against Sulser. Giménez led off with a groundout, Myles Straw popped out, and Springer lined out to third baseman Junior Caminero to end the game.

Toronto finished with eight hits, led by Okamoto and Giménez, each with two hits. Okamoto went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, and Giménez was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Tampa Bay collected 11 hits, including two each from Aranda (double, RBI), Fraley, Williamson and Simpson.

The most critical sequence of the game came in the bottom of the eighth. After Aranda’s double and Díaz’s game-tying single, the Rays strung together three consecutive hits off Rogers and Varland to seize the lead. The rally erased a strong effort by Toronto’s bullpen, which had held Tampa Bay scoreless in the sixth and seventh innings.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Tampa Bay 7, Toronto 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave Toronto a 50.60 percent probability to win. Toronto was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5.