Smoak hits tiebreaking homer in 8th, Jays beat Rays 5-3

TORONTO (AP) – Justin Smoak hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, Josh Donaldson added two solo blasts and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 on Thursday.

Smoak hit a two-run drive off Tommy Hunter (2-4), his 33rd, as the Blue Jays took three of four from the Rays to remain on the fringes of the AL wild card race. Toronto is 10-5 in August.

Smoak went 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Donaldson connected twice against Rays right-hander Chris Archer, hitting solo shots in the first and fifth innings. It was his 13th career multihomer game and third this season. The homers were his 19th and 20th.

Donaldson leads the AL with 10 first-inning home runs this season, one ahead of Houston’s George Springer.

The 2015 AL MVP, Donaldson homered four times in the four-game series, including a two-run shot in Monday’s opener and a three-run blast Tuesday. He has 11 home runs over his past 19 games.

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