by Steve Carney

David Price became the first American League pitcher to 17 wins, and Tampa Bay used a six-run second inning to help power the Rays to a 9-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Sunday's finale.

Tampa Bay led off the game with a Desmond Jennings single.  B.J. Upton's sacrifice bunt moved him up a base, and the Rays left fielder then stole third base.  Ben Zobrist's fly ball to right wasn't deep enough to score the speedy Jennings, but Evan Longoria's double to the left-field wall brought him in for a 1-0 lead.

Ben Francisco led off the top of the second with a solo homer off Ricky Romero (8-13) to make it 2-0.  Carlos Pena drew a walk from the lefthander, and Ryan Roberts followed with a double.  Jose Molina's single brought in Pena for a 3-0 game, and Jennings plated Roberts to make it 4-0.  A base hit from Upton loaded the bases, and Zobrist finally chased Romero, as his single scored Molina and Jennings to make it 6-0.

Chad Jenkins got Longoria to fly out for the first out, and Jeff Keppinger grounded out to score Upton for the final run of the frame.

The Rays added a singles run in the third and fourth on a solo homer by Pena and an RBI double by Francisco, respectively.

Price (17-5) cruised through the first six innings, but allowed a pair of runs on a sacrifice fly by Edwin Encarnacion and an infield single by Adam Lind, both in the seventh, before exiting.

Edwin Encarnacion blasted a two-run homer off Cesar Ramos in the ninth, but Toronto got no closer.

The victory gives Tampa Bay a split of the four-game series, and sets the team up for a crucial three-game series against the Yankees that will start Monday afternoon, when James Shields takes on C.C. Sabathia.  Pregame coverage begins on 620 WDAE at 12:30, with first pitch at 1:10.