Even on their day off, the Red Sox' postseason aspirations only got rosier Monday night.
Not only did the Blue Jays lose to the Rays, 6-4 - stranding the bases loaded in the ninth inning - but surfaced their own uneasiness along the way thanks to ace Robbie Ray.
For the second time in the last three starts, the Cy Young candidate didn't make it through five innings, this time giving up three runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Meanwhile, the vaunted Blue Jays offense was shut down by rookie hurler Shane Baz, who held Toronto to two runs over five innings in his big-league debut. (Baz was the Player To Be Named Later in the deal that brought Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow from Pittsburgh for Chris Archer.)
Ray joins the Yankees' Gerrit Cole as yet another American League East ace who is experiencing a downturn at a bad time. Cole was rocked in his last outing, allowing seven runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings in New York's loss to Cleveland over the weekend.
The Red Sox now sit 1 1/2 game ahead of Toronto for the top spot in the Wild Card race, with the Yankees - who edged the Rangers, 4-3, Monday night - two games in back of the Sox.
The Red Sox start a two-game set at Fenway Park against the Mets before getting another off day Thursday. They will then host the Yankees for three games over the weekend.
