Meadows, Garcia homer in Rays 3-1 win over Blue Jays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays keep winning — and drawing sparse crowds at home.
Austin Meadows homered for the third straight game and five Tampa Bay relievers combined to throw a six-hitter and beat struggling AL East rival Toronto 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The second-place Rays have won fourth straight, improving to a season-best 14 games over .500 before an announced crowd of just 5,786 — smallest ever for a Rays home game at Tropicana Field.
“I noticed it during the anthem, and I was like: ‘Oh it’s still early, maybe people will still file in,’” opener Ryne Stanek said after Tampa Bay’s sixth win in seven games moved them within one game of the division-leading New York Yankees.