The Story

Ten thousand Tampa Bay Rays fans left Tropicana Field Wednesday night happily clutching their David Price figurine, though probably more impressed with the real thing.

The 25-year-old left-hander was his usually dominant self against the Blue Jays, limiting them to one run on four hits in eight tidy innings of a 2-1 win to run his career record to 6-0 against Toronto.

Price used a 97-mile-per-hour fastball to overpower a Blue Jays squad that homered three times in a 13-5 rout Tuesday and kept them off balance with a changeup and curveball to extend his single-season franchise mark for victories with 16.

Price, who was winless in his previous three starts, is 16-5 in 25 career home starts.

His only mistake was a 95 mph fastball he left over the plate in the fifth that catcher John Buck launched into the left-field seats for a solo home run and short-lived 1-0 Blue Jays lead.

After a shaky first inning in which he walked two batters, Price set down nine of the next 10 batters before Buck clubbed his 15th homer of 2010.

Price escaped trouble in the sixth when Jose Bautista was left standing at second base following a two-out double when Vernon Wells flied out to right field.

He finished strong, striking out rookie catcher J.P. Arencibia and outfielder Travis Snider for Nos. 6 and 7 of the night.

Price was backed by a sensational Rays defence all night, including third baseman Longoria, who broke up a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning by muscling a pitch from Blue Jays reliever Scott Downs between shortstop and third. He entered Wednesday's tilt with a .380 batting average in 14 games against Toronto this season and six runs batted in.

Longoria and company have now outscored the opposition 102-47 in the eighth inning this season.

Marcum exited after six innings with a suspected stiff neck after allowing one run and five hits while fanning seven. He has just one win to show for his last four starts but boasts an earned-run average around 2.00 during that time.

Marcum's only blemish was a home run served up to second baseman Sean Rodriguez, who also singled and tripled during a 3-for-3 evening.

Toronto is off Thursday before opening a three-game series at the New York Yankees, starting Friday at 1:05 p.m. ET.

What it means

First and foremost, the Rays stay close to the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East. The Yankees edged Oakland 4-3 and maintain a one-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay. The Rays also became the seventh team to follow at least 10 consecutive losing seasons with three straight winning campaigns. The Montreal Expos were the last to do it in 1981.

By dropping two of three in Tampa Bay, the Blue Jays failed to win a series at Tropicana Field for the first time since April 6-8, 2007.

Game-changers

The big swing — With men on first and second, Blue Jays' killer Evan Longoria ripped a ground ball between shortstop and third base for his 89th run batted in this season. The third baseman entered Wednesday's game hitting .380 with six RBIs against the Jays this season.

The big play — Playing the percentages, Toronto starter Shaun Marcum intentionally walked B.J. Upton to load the bases with rookie Desmond Jennings due up with two out in the fifth inning and the game tied 1-1. On a 3-2 pitch, Jennings hit a dribbler in front of home plate that Marcum picked up and, while lunging, underhanded a throw to catcher John Buck to get Dioner Navarro on the force out.

What they said

"They've got baseball players over there. They know how to play the game. They play the game right. They're not even getting hits and somehow they're producing runs. That's kind of Tampa's game, you know? They do that." — Blue Jays catcher John Buck.

"We battled all game, we've battled all year. That's Rays baseball. … We don't give up." — Rays starting pitcher David Price.

Blue Jays notes:

Travis Snider came off the bench in the bottom of the sixth inning to play left field in place of Fred Lewis, who suffered a right elbow strain.

Major league teams were allowed to expand rosters for the final month of the regular season, starting Wednesday, and the Jays recalled catcher J.P. Arencibia from AAA Las Vegas and reinstated left-handed pitcher David Purcey (right foot) from the 15-day disabled list.

First baseman Lyle Overbay (left eye contusion) remained out of the lineup for a fifth consecutive game, but he could return this weekend at New York against the Yankees.

Shortstop Yunel Escobar (stiff back) missed his fourth game in a row and is not expected to play until Saturday.