Canseco, Tampa Holds Off Jays

Nothing comes easy for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in Toronto.

Down 8-1 in the fifth, the Blue Jays rallied with six runs, but Roberto Hernandez got his 22nd save as the Devil Rays set a team record with their sixth straight road win, 8-7 Friday night.

The Devil Rays are now 2-9 at SkyDome.

"We had a seven-run lead and then all of sudden (things) broke loose," Hernandez said.

Tampa relievers Julio Santana and Scott Aldred (3-2) loaded the bases with three walks in the sixth, but Tony Fernandez hit into an inning-ending double play.

Fernandez, who went 1-for-4 to drop his American League-leading average to .385, had a two-out, two-run single off Hernandez that cut the Devil Rays' lead to 8-7 in the eighth. However, Hernandez got Darrin Fletcher to line out to left to end the inning.

Toronto threatened again in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with one out. Shannon Stewart grounded back to Hernandez, who threw out Tony Batista at the plate. Craig Grebeck then hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but second baseman Miguel Cairo made a nice backhanded stab and then threw a one-hopper to first baseman Fred McGriff to end it.

"I threw the ball with just the palm of my hand and Freddy made a great play," Cairo said. "What counts is that Roberto got the save and we won the game, no matter how we did it."

The Devil Rays scored five times in the third on Jose Canseco's homer, Bubba Trammell's two-run shot and Dave Martinez's double.

Martinez, whose wife underwent a nine-hour operation this week, drove in four runs.

He missed the last two road games so he could be with his wife, Lisa, at a hospital in Palm Harbor, Fla. Martinez declined to give details on Wednesday's operation, but said his wife was OK.

He hit a two-run double in the third, and his two-run triple in the fifth gave Tampa an 81 lead.

"I give him credit, he had a great night," Tampa manager Larry Rothschild said.

Kelvim Escobar (7-6), who allowed seven runs in just two innings in his last start, gave up six runs, five hits and five walks in just 2 1-3 innings.

"The more we come back the more we feel we can do it anytime," Green said. "Unfortunately we couldn't come all the way back tonight."

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