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Red-hot Steven Souza Jr. injured in Rays' loss to Blue Jays (w/video)

 
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Andriese walks off the mound after giving up a 2-run home run to Toronto Blue Jays' Justin Smoak in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Saturday April 29, 2017. (Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP) FJT117
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Matt Andriese walks off the mound after giving up a 2-run home run to Toronto Blue Jays' Justin Smoak in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Saturday April 29, 2017. (Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP) FJT117
Published April 29, 2017

TORONTO — The Rays lost not only Saturday's game to the Blue Jays 4-1 but also one of their top all-around players as Steven Souza Jr. had to leave after being hit by a pitch on his left hand.

Matt Andriese gave the Rays the kind of extended start they needed by working seven innings, but he was done in by a couple of mistakes, specifically an RBI double by Russell Martin and a two-run homer by Justin Smoak.

The loss dropped the Rays to 12-13.

The initial news on Souza sounded good — that he has a left hand contusion with initial X-rays negative, though he will be evaluated further over the next 24-48 hours.

The Jays took the lead in the first on an extremely errant throw by shortstop Tim Beckham, his third straight game with an error. Jose Bautista was on first when Beckham went into the hole to field a grounder, tried to make a jump throw to second and tossed it well wide. Bautista came around to score.

The Rays tied it in the second but could have had more out of a promising two-on, one-out situation, which would be a theme for the day. After Francisco Liriano walked Beckham and rookie Daniel Robertson back-to-back, the Rays eventually got one run on a single by Jesus Sucre, thanks to a successful replay challenge that showed Beckham made a good move to get his hand on the plate. But they got nothing else as Peter Bourjos grounded into a double play.

The Jays took the lead in the fourth on a single by Smoak and a double by Martin off Andriese, then added to it when Andriese walked Bautista to open the sixth then made his biggest mistake, allowing a loud and long homer to Smoak.

The Rays wasted several opportunities.

In the fourth, they had two on and no outs but Beckham and Robertson, playing for the first time since April 20, struck out and Sucre grounded out. They had two on again to start the sixth and got Liriano out of the game, but Beckham couldn't get a bunt down and struck out trying against Joe Biagini, then Cash went to his bench but pinch-hitters Brad Miller struck out and Logan Morrison grounded out. And in the eighth they had two on with two outs and didn't convert. Overall, the Rays left 10 on.

Souza was hurt batting with one out in the seventh, the Biagini fastball hitting the top of his left hand. Souza was motionless on the ground for several minutes then, after being checked by assistant athletic trainer Paul Harker, walked off the field and to the clubhouse for further evaluation.

The Rays and Blue Jays wrap up the series with a 1:07 game on Sunday, Chris Archer facing Aaron Sanchez.

Marc Topkin can be reached at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays.