TORONTO (AP) — Tampa Bay’s stirring September run took a sudden sour turn in Toronto.Justin Smoak homered with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Blue Jays a 9-8 victory over the Rays on Thursday night http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-gerrit-cole-jersey , dealing a blow to Tampa Bay’s wild-card playoff hopes.“This one definitely puts us in a very difficult position,” Rays infielder Matt Duffy said. “We’re going to bounce back, we’re going to do what we can. Mathematically we’re still in it so we’re going to keep going until this thing is over.”The Rays entered having won five straight and a major league-high 14 games in September, a surge that had brought them within 5 1-2 games of Oakland in the race for the AL’s second wild card.“Especially when the team is rolling like this, it’s tough to let these guys down,” Rays right-hander Jamie Schultz said after allowing four runs in the ninth.Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash was playing down his team’s postseason chances after a dispiriting defeat that saw his team concede three home runs in a seven-run bottom of the ninth.“In reality, we’re much farther than people are wanting to recognize,” Cash said. “We need a lot of things to go in our favor. Losses like this don’t help.”Smoak won it with his team-leading 25th homer of the season and third career walk-off blast. Sergio Romo (3-4) blew his eighth save in 30 opportunities.“Romo, he’s got a good slider,” Smoak said. “I was just trying to get a pitch up and out over the plate. I felt like all night I was kinda pulling off everything so I just tried to stay on it. I was able to put a good swing on it finally.”Right-hander David Paulino (1-0) pitched an inning for the victory as Toronto won for the fourth time in its past five.Trailing 8-2 to begin the ninth, the Blue Jays roared back. Rowdy Tellez hit an RBI double and Danny Jansen chased Schultz with a three-run homer. Romo came on and struck out Richard Urena, but pinch hitter Kendrys Morales reached on a bloop single and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tied it with a two-run homer to left.Smoak followed with a first pitch drive to right, Toronto’s fourth homer of the game. It marked the eighth time this season the Blue Jays have hit back-to-back home runs.“Anytime you’re up 8-2 and find a way to lose the game, that’s tough Hector Rondon Jersey ,” Cash said.C.J. Cron had three RBI for the Rays, who dropped 6 1/2 games behind Oakland. The Athletics routed the Los Angeles Angels 21-3 on Thursday.Oakland has nine games remaining while the Rays have 10, including six more with Toronto. Tampa Bay is 9-4 against the Blue Jays this season.“I think this game tonight is definitely more of an outlier than anything,” Duffy said. “Unfortunately, the timing of it is not great.”Tellez opened the scoring with a two-run homer off Rays right-hander Ryne Stanek in the second, his second. The Rays answered against right-hander Sam Gaviglio in the fourth, when Pham hit an RBI triple and Wendle followed with a double.Adames hit for Brandon Lowe with one out and runners at first and second in the sixth. Right-hander Jake Petricka replaced lefty Jose Fernandez (0-1), but Adames put the Rays in front with a ground ball single up the middle, his first career pinch-hit RBI. Kevin Kiermaier walked to load the bases but Tim Mayza came on and struck out pinch hitters Cron and Carlos Gomez.Stanek made his 27th start as the Rays used an “opener” for the 50th time this season. Yonny Chirinos (5-5) replaced Stanek after the first three batters reached safely in the second and pitched 4 2-3 innings.Tampa Bay looked to have broken it open with a five-run, 10-batter seventh. Cron had the big hit, a two-out, bases-loaded bloop single that dropped in front of sliding left fielder Billy McKinney, allowing Kiermaier to score from first.EXTRA, EXTRA!Tellez has 10 extra base hits in his first 40 plate appearances. According to STATS Anthony Gose Jersey , that ties Taylor Teagarden (2008) for the most since 1913.STAYING GROUNDEDGaviglio retired the first six batters in order on ground balls, four of them comebackers to the mound.SWIPE RIGHTThe Rays set a season-high with four stolen bases.TRAINER’S ROOMRays: Tampa Bay recalled OF Austin Meadows, LHP Hoby Milner, RHP Austin Pruitt and RHP Chih-Wei Hu from Triple-A Durham. The Rays have 35 players on the roster.UP NEXTRays RHP Diego Castillo will start Friday against Blue Jays RHP Sean Reid-Foley (2-3, 5.54). Castillo Reid-Foley has struck out 10 in two of his past three starts, including a Sept. 15 victory at Yankee Stadium. Bryce Harper put together one of the most memorable Home Run Derby performances Monday night inside his home stadium.The Washington Nationals outfielder outdueled Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs in the final round, and he finished off the competition with an exclamation point.Harper's 19th home run of the championship showdown with Schwarber clinched the victory and sent Nationals Park into its loudest cheer of the night.ESPN espnBryce Harper won the Home Run Derby in the most dramatic way possible. qpnvbcx0xeThe 25-year-old struggled at the start of his four-minute final round, but he came to life with a remarkable finish, as he hit nine home runs in 47 seconds, a performance that impressed everyone in attendance, including Yahoo's Jeff Passan:Jeff Passan JeffPassanBryce Harper just hit nine home runs in 47 seconds. My god.What made Harper's achievement even more impressive is he had to be perfect in the final minute, as the few pitches delivered by his father Ron before the streak of nine home runs weren't in the strike zone, as Ryan Fagan of Sporting News pointed out:Ryan Fagan ryanfaganHarper had 9 home runs with 1:20 left. The first five pitches out of the timeout were basically unhittable.He still got to 18 to tie Schwarber, with bonus seconds remaining.Harper's home runs didn't just clear the fences http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-jimmy-wynn-jersey , they soared into upper decks, as he hit 10 dingers over 450 feet, which was one more than the other seven competitors combined for, per ESPN Stats and Info:ESPN Stats amp; Info ESPNStatsInfoAccording to statcast, Bryce Harper hit 10 450-foot HRs during the Derby. The rest of the field combined for 9. Kyle Schwarber had the second-most with 5. nEoLCpb2IiThe Nationals outfielder sprayed the majority of his home runs to right field, with few opposite-field shots flying over the fence, as MLB's Daren Willman displayed:Daren Willman darenwAll of Bryce Harpers homers tonight... Wow, what a great finish! Nationals mlb tWnsC7jDQlThe victory was an emotional one for Harper, who fed off the energy of the crowd that didn't sit down during his time at the plate.After the Home Run Derby concluded, Harper expressed how much his inner child came out during the competition, per Chelsea Janes of theWashington Post:Chelsea Janes chelsea_janesHarper is getting choked up a bit during his press conference. Really elaborating on what this place and the people here mean to him. Just haven鈥檛 seen this side of him in so long. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kid in me you guys saw tonight. I was very fortunate to share that with you tonight.鈥滺arper also made a bit of history Monday, as he became the third player to win the Home Run Derby in his home ballpark, joining Ryne Sandberg and Todd Frazier.In addition to etching his name alongside Sandberg and Frazier in the record book, Harper was a part of the most prolific Home Run Derby in history Francisco Liriano Jersey , as 221 home runs were hit, per ESPN Stats and Info:ESPN Stats amp; Info ESPNStatsInfoBryce Harper wins the 2018 Home Run Derby, hitting 19 in the final round.Harper is the 3rd player to win the Derby at his home ballpark, joining Todd Frazier (2015-Reds) amp;amp; Ryne Sandberg (1990-Cubs).The 221 HR tonight set a Derby record, passing the 203 at Petco Park in 2016. p1xRiS3H6IHarper is one of two Washington players with the opportunity to shine in his home stadium, as Max Scherzer starts for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game.According to Tyler Kepner of theNew York Times,Harper and Scherzer are the first pair of teammates to win the Home Run Derby and start the All-Star Game in their home ballpark:Tyler Kepner TylerKepnerBryce Harper wins, meaning that this will be the first time ever that the host of the All-Star Game has both the HR Derby winner and a starting pitcher in the ASG. (Max Scherzer)Harper could add more fireworks to his already successful All-Star week Tuesday, as he bats sixth and starts in centerfield for the National League.If he banks off the energy inside Nationals Park once again, Harper could be in contention to win the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player award. Follow Joe on Twitter, JTansey90.