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Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marco Estrada walks back to the dugout after being taken out of the game during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Toronto, on Aug. 15, 2017.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

Some teams just have a player's number.

In the case of Marco Estrada it is the Tampa Bay Rays.

Estrada was not great, but he was not overly good either in his start Tuesday night at Rogers Centre, a game in which the Rays went on to record a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Estrada allowed six runs over 4.1-innings pitched and is now 0-7 in his last eight starts against the Rays with a 7.75 earned run average.

The right-hander gave up 10 hits, his most in a start since allowing a career-high 12 hits against – guess who? – the Rays back on June 13.

"They just find a way against me," a downcast Estrada said afterwards. "It's just one of those teams that has my number. I haven't been able to figure them out."

As bad as it all was, Estrada was also perturbed with his reaction to a couple of defensive miscues Toronto made in the two-run top of the fifth inning that started with Tampa Bay holding a 4-1 lead.

"It just got away from me," Estrada admitted in brutally honest fashion after he sagged noticeably and twice issued walks with the bases loaded that forced in the final two Tampa Bay runs.

Those runs proved crucial after Toronto's Josh Donaldson hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the frame to pull Toronto to within two of the lead.

Estrada's troubles began when Tampa Bay baserunner Logan Morrison was initially called out on a force out at second base by Blue Jays shortstop Darwin Barney.

However, upon video review, it was clear that Barney did not have control of the ball when he touched second and the call was reversed, leaving Tampa Bay with runners at first and second and nobody out.

Wilson Ramos then came up with one out and his high fly ball to centre was lost by Kevin Pillar in the sky at Rogers Centre, where the roof was open. The ball fell in for a single and Tampa Bay had the bases loaded.

After that, a perturbed Estrada issued back-to-back walks to Adeiny Hechavarria and then Daniel Robertson to force in two runs that provided the Rays with a five-run cushion that was too much for Toronto to overcome.

Afterward, Estrada was clearly distraught by his reaction.

"I'm upset at myself for letting it get to me," Estrada said. "I know everybody's trying hard, I'm trying hard. Everybody knows that team [the Rays] has given me a hard time. And when some of those plays aren't made it's hard to let it go sometimes.

"Normally I don't really think about that stuff anymore. I let it go and just think I'm going to get my teammate and get the next guy out."

But Estrada said those two plays left him rattled.

"I walked the next two guys, walked two guys in," he said. "It's really all I'm upset about is the way I handled it after. There's no excuse for that, especially with the bases loaded you don't walk someone in."

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