Members of the Blue Jays crowd around Marco Scutaro, centre, after he scored the winning walk-off run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning.Members of the Blue Jays crowd around Marco Scutaro, centre, after he scored the winning walk-off run on a wild pitch in the ninth inning. (Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press)

Blue Jays rookie Marc Rzepczynski intends to leave a lasting impression, while Scott Kazmir has visions of Tampa Bay defending its American League title.

Both pitchers stated their case in Toronto on Wednesday night, with Kazmir getting the upper hand in a pitching duel, thanks to Gabe Kapler's two-run homer in the sixth inning.

But Rzepczynski was taken off the hook for the loss in the bottom of the ninth when batterymate Rod Barajas tied the game 2-2 with a solo shot off Rays closer J.P. Howell, who allowed Marco Scutaro to score the winning run on a wild pitch later in the inning.

"Do you call it a bad pitch walkoff?" asked Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston. "You take them anyway you can."

Kapler's blast to left field drove home Pat Burrell, who broke up Rzepczynski's no-hit bid with two out in the sixth inning at the Rogers Centre.

Rzepczynski, who turns 24 on Saturday, is scheduled to make one more start — most likely next week at Texas — before the Blue Jays shut him down for the season to protect his left arm.

After pitching 76 2/3 innings at double-A New Hampshire to begin the season, he went 11 1/3 frames for triple-A Las Vegas before getting the promotion to Toronto, where he has tacked on another 55 1/3 innings.

Johnny-on-the-spot

Overshadowed by Marc Rzepczynski's 5 2/3 no-hit innings in the Toronto Blue Jays' 3-2 comeback win over Tampa Bay was another defensive gem by sure-handed infielder John McDonald.

Making a rare start at third base in place of the injured Edwin Encarnacion, McDonald brought many in the crowd of 15,349 at Rogers Centre to their feet in the top of the second inning.

Pat Burrell drilled a Rzepczynski offering between third and short, only to have McDonald knock the ball down, spin around and, from his knees, throw out the Rays designated hitter.

McDonald, despite appearing in just 42 of the Blue Jays' 125 games in a part-time role, is one of the main reasons Toronto entered Wednesday's contest tied with Minnesota for top spot in the American League with a .988 fielding percentage.

In 23 games in the field this season, McDonald, 34, has made only two errors and boasts a .971 fielding percentage in 652 career games.

However, the fifth-year Blue Jay hasn't been nearly as successful at the plate, going 0-for-4 on Wednesday to lower his season average to .231, six points lower than McDonald's career mark.

Rzepczynski, who missed a chance to square his season record with the Blue Jays at 3-3, was effective in getting out of jams for most of his six innings of work on Wednesday.

The six-foot-three southpaw opened the top of the third inning by inducing Tampa Bay's B.J. Upton to ground out and striking out fellow outfielder Gabe Gross. But he proceeded to walk Jason Bartlett, Ben Zobrist and Carlos Pena to load the bases before Evan Longoria grounded out to end the threat.

Rzepczynski walked five on the night but also struck out seven, including four in a row and five of six batters over a stretch in the fourth and fifth innings.

He appeared to tire in the sixth after retiring Pena and Longoria as his pitch count topped 100. Rzepczynski finished with 116 pitches by the time the inning was over.

"That's way too many pitches," he said. "I'm glad we pulled off a win. It's a great victory."

Burrell picked up the Rays' first hit with a single to right-centre field over a leaping Aaron Hill at second base.

Kapler then feasted on a 1-1 fastball from Rzepczynski, swatting his fifth homer of the season into the Toronto bullpen in left.

But in the end, it wasn't enough to help Tampa Bay in its playoff hunt. The loss, coupled with Boston's 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox, dropped the Rays four games back of the first-place Red Sox in the AL wild-card race.

The 25-year-old Kazmir matched Rzepczynski for five innings, allowing just two hits in that time and striking out two batters in each of the first three innings. In all, Kazmir fanned 10 in a tidy six-inning effort.

Brandon League (2-5) worked one inning for the win, which enabled the Blue Jays to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay.

The ninth-inning comeback is a rare accomplishment for Toronto, which is 2-53 this season in games in which it has trailed after eight innings.

The Blue Jays, who are 4-11 against Tampa Bay this season, begin a three-game weekend series at Boston on Friday, with Scott Richmond (6-7) opposing Red Sox ace Josh Beckett (14-5) at 7:10 p.m. ET.