TORONTO (Interstat) — Andrés Giménez homered twice and drove in five runs, but it wasn’t enough as the Tampa Bay Rays scored early and often to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5 on Monday, May 11, 2026, at Rogers Centre before a crowd of 39,336.

The Rays improved to 27-13 with their fourth consecutive victory and seventh in their last eight games. The Blue Jays fell to 18-23, dropping their second straight after winning three in a row.

Tampa Bay wasted no time against Toronto starter Kevin Gausman. Leadoff batter Chandler Simpson singled to open the game, and Junior Caminero followed with a single to right field, sending Simpson to third. Jonathan Aranda then lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Simpson for a 1-0 lead. After Yandy Díaz struck out, Jake Fraley doubled to right, putting Caminero on third. Richie Palacios then singled to right, driving in both Caminero and Fraley to make it 3-0. Cedric Mullins flied out to end the inning.

The Rays added two more in the second. Hunter Feduccia singled to right, and Taylor Walls tripled to center, scoring Feduccia. Simpson then reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Walls thrown out at home. Caminero grounded out, moving Simpson to third, and Aranda singled to center to bring Simpson home, extending the lead to 5-0.

Toronto answered in the bottom of the second. Kazuma Okamoto singled, and Daulton Varsho singled to left, putting runners on first and second. Jesús Sánchez grounded into a force out but moved Okamoto to third, and Ernie Clement popped out. With two outs, Giménez launched his first homer of the game, a three-run shot to right field, scoring Okamoto, Sánchez and himself to cut the deficit to 5-3.

The Rays regained control in the fourth. After two quick outs, Simpson singled but was stranded when Caminero grounded out. The game remained 5-3 into the fifth.

In the top of the fifth, Aranda led off with his eighth homer of the season, a solo shot to center field, pushing the Tampa Bay lead to 6-3. Gausman then retired the next two batters before Palacios singled, but Gausman got Mullins on a groundout. Gausman’s line: 4 2/3 innings, 10 hits, six earned runs, five strikeouts. He took the loss, falling to 2-3.

The Rays tacked on another run in the seventh against reliever Braydon Fisher. Aranda was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a groundout by Díaz, advanced to third on a groundout by Fraley and scored on a single by Palacios, giving Tampa Bay a 7-3 advantage.

Toronto mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Myles Straw, pinch-hitting, singled. After Clement struck out, Giménez stepped to the plate and launched his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to right field that scored Straw and cut the Blue Jays’ deficit to 7-5. Brandon Valenzuela walked, but George Springer popped out and Yohendrick Piñango flied out to end the inning.

The Rays added an insurance run in the eighth. After a leadoff lineout by Feduccia, Walls popped out and Simpson grounded out. But Toronto could not capitalize in the bottom half, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounding out, Okamoto flied out and Varsho struck out swinging.

In the top of the ninth, Tampa Bay loaded the bases but did not score. Caminero walked, and after a strikeout and a strikeout of Díaz, the Rays failed to add to their lead.

Bryan Baker entered in the bottom of the ninth and retired the Blue Jays in order. Straw struck out, Clement lined out and Giménez struck out swinging to end the game. Baker earned his 11th save of the season.

The key sequence of the game came in the first two innings, when the Rays built a five-run cushion. Tampa Bay scored three in the first and two in the second, taking advantage of Gausman’s struggles. The Blue Jays answered with Giménez’s three-run homer in the second, but the Rays responded immediately with solo runs in the fourth and fifth to regain control. Giménez’s second homer in the seventh brought Toronto within two, but the Blue Jays could not complete the comeback.

Rays starter Drew Rasmussen earned the win, improving to 3-1. He allowed five runs on six hits over six innings, with four strikeouts and one walk. Toronto’s Gausman was charged with the loss.

For Tampa Bay, Palacios went 3-for-5 with two singles, a double and three RBIs. Aranda had two hits, including the home run, and drove in two runs. Simpson had three hits and scored twice. The Rays collected 12 hits in total.

For Toronto, Giménez was 2-for-4 with two home runs and five RBIs. Straw went 1-for-2 in a pinch-hit role. The Blue Jays managed only six hits overall.

The game lasted 2 hours, 55 minutes.

Toronto had a busy ninth inning defensively, with Caminero walking and then two strikeouts to end the Rays’ threat. The Blue Jays’ final at-bat saw Straw strike out, Clement line out and Giménez strike out to end the game.

The Rays have now won four straight games, including a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox over the weekend. The Blue Jays had taken two of three from the Los Angeles Angels before Monday’s loss.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay Rays 8, Toronto Blue Jays 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Toronto with a 54.30 percent probability to win. Toronto had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over/under line of 7.5.