TORONTO (Interstat) — Shane Bieber pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, George Springer drove in the go-ahead run in the third inning and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided a four-game sweep by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Thursday afternoon at Rogers Centre.

Bieber allowed one earned run, struck out three and walked none to improve to 2-1. He retired the side in order in four of his seven innings and faced only one batter over the minimum after the third inning. Louis Varland pitched a perfect ninth inning with two strikeouts for his 21st save.

The Blue Jays snapped a three-game losing streak against Tampa Bay, which had outscored Toronto 23-5 in the first three games of the series. Tampa Bay fell to 59-43, while Toronto improved to 47-56.

Toronto opened the scoring in the first inning against Rays starter Ian Seymour. Ernie Clement singled to center field with two outs and moved to second when Springer walked. Alejandro Kirk then grounded a single to third base, scoring Clement. Springer advanced to third on the play but was left there when Kazuma Okamoto struck out.

Tampa Bay tied the game in the third inning. Hunter Feduccia led off with a double to right field and scored on a line-drive single by Yandy Diaz. Jonathan Aranda grounded out to end the inning.

The Blue Jays regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Yohendrick Pinango led off with a double to right field. After Vladimir Guerrero Jr. flied out and Clement flied out, Springer singled to left field, scoring Pinango. Kirk grounded out to end the inning.

Toronto added an insurance run in the seventh inning. Pinango flied out to center field. Guerrero then singled to right field, scoring Myles Straw, who had walked with one out. Guerrero was caught stealing second base to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Seymour took the loss, falling to 6-3. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out seven. He gave up the decisive Springer single in the third and the Guerrero single in the seventh.

Tampa Bay’s offense managed only three hits in the game, all singles or doubles. Jonny DeLuca doubled in the fourth inning but was left stranded. The Rays did not advance a runner past second base after the third inning. Diaz had the only RBI for Tampa Bay, finishing 1-for-4.

For Toronto, Springer went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double. Kirk went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Pinango doubled and scored a run. Clement singled. The Blue Jays had seven hits in total.

The game was played in 2 hours, 9 minutes before an announced crowd of 43,225.

Tampa Bay had won the previous three games of the series by scores of 7-1, 12-2 and 4-2. Toronto had lost seven of its previous nine games entering Thursday. The Blue Jays next travel to Boston for a three-game series beginning Friday, while the Rays return home to host Cleveland.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay Rays 5, Toronto Blue Jays 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Toronto with a 50.40 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 4 went over the over/under line of 8.5.