Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays

Despite getting off to a slow start when he initially returned from the injured list in June, Shane Bieber looks to have found his groove for the Blue Jays. That continued on Thursday afternoon, as Bieber silenced the American League-leading Rays’ bats over seven innings of one-run ball, while surrendering just three hits in Toronto’s 3-1 victory at Rogers Centre. The win snapped the Blue Jays’ four-game losing streak and ensured Toronto wasn’t swept by its division rival at home. Bieber needed just 86 pitches (57 strikes) to get through his season high for innings pitched, striking out three during an outing where he relied heavily upon his fastball. The 31-year-old threw his heater 33 times -- averaging 92.5 mph with the offering -- while mixing in a variety of changeups, cutters, knuckle curves, sinkers and sliders. “That was outstanding,” manager John Schneider said. “Limiting hard contact against a really good offensive team, especially the top of the order. And we played really good defense behind him.” Tampa Bay’s lone run came after a two-out rally in the third inning, when Hunter Feduccia doubled off the right-field wall before Yandy Díaz brought him home with a single two pitches later. Thirteen of the 21 outs Bieber recorded in the game came on ground balls, as the former AL Cy Young winner worked the edges and didn’t give Rays batters much to drive. Bieber also showed a bit more emotion in this outing than he has for most of the season -- something that he pointed to as a sign that he’s finding the right level of competitiveness when he’s taking the ball. “I think that’s big for me,” Bieber said. “I think that came a little later than I would have liked, but that’s a big part of baseball. Going out there and competing; believing in yourself and your team. A lot of baseball is energy and rhythm, and I’ve been able to find that lately, so happy with that.”