TAMPA, Fla. — Joe Boyle got the Rays off to a good start with six shutout innings in his return from the minors, but George Springer spoiled the night with an 11th-inning RBI single that gave the American League-leading Toronto Blue Jays a 2-1 win.

Springer delivered a single to left on an 0-2, two-out pitch from Kevin Kelly after the Jays used a replay challenge to try to have interference called on Rays catcher Hunter Feduccia. Ernie Clement, the runner placed at second, scored.

The Rays had a chance in their half of the 11th when Yandy Diaz’s infield single moved Chandler Simpson, the runner placed at second, to third. But Brandon Lowe, Junior Caminero and Josh Lowe all struck out.

The loss dropped the Rays to 73-77 and kept them at least 7 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros, who hold the third American League wild-card spot and played later Monday. The Rays have 12 games left.

The Rays struck quickly for their first run against Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays’ 2024 top draft pick, who made an impressive major-league debut.

Simpson led off with a single up the middle, and Diaz, one of three Rays players wearing No. 21 in honor of Roberto Clemente, lashed a double to right. Simpson raced home, but that was all the Rays got.

The Jays tied it in the eighth off reliever Bryan Baker on one hit and two sacrifices.

Clement led off with a double, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a flyout to medium left field, scoring standing up ahead of Simpson’s throw.

Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless ninth, and Griffin Jax put up a zero in the 10th. The Rays bunted placed runner Everson Pereira to third to start the bottom of the 10th, but neither Richie Palacios nor Simpson could get him in.

Tuesday starter Ryan Pepiot said the key for the Rays over the final two weeks is to not look at the big picture of having a large deficit and 13 games left going into play Monday but take a simpler “day-by-day” approach.

“It’s just about going 1-0 today, then come back tomorrow with 12 left, go 1-0 tomorrow and do what we can to give ourselves a chance,” Pepiot said. “We’ve talked about it all season long — it’s just trying to make sure we’re playing meaningful baseball games all the way through September. And we’re still able to play meaningful baseball. We made it difficult on ourselves, but there’s a chance, and that’s all we’re asking for."

The Rays called up Boyle to make the start, and he did well, holding the Blue Jays to three singles over the six shutout innings, striking out five and walking none.

Boyle, 26, had two previous stints with the Rays this season — a one-start cameo in April and a six-week July-August run where he pitched four times as a multi-inning reliever (1.93 ERA) and then made five starts (0-3, 9.68 ERA).

He was sent down to Triple-A Durham in late August with instructions to work on strike-throwing and limiting steals. In three outings with the Bulls, he was 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA, 18 strikeouts and 10 walks in 13 innings.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said before the game Boyle had done “OK” with that assignment.

“Everything was fine. He’s putting the work in,” Cash said. “I give Joe a lot of credit. He dominated for a lot of (his time at) Triple-A. He comes up here, showed some really good signs and then showed some signs of struggles. He went down there with a purpose, and I’m happy that we’re able to get him back up here.”

Cash acknowledged before the game the Rays didn’t “know a ton” about Yesavage, a 22-year-old taken 20th overall out of East Carolina University.

Yesavage started the season with Class-A Dunedin and worked his way through the Jays’ minor-league system, pitching for High A Vancouver, Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Buffalo before Monday’s big-league debut. He went 5-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 25 games (22 starts) and, most impressively, struck out 160 over 98 innings.

Monday, he struck out nine over five innings, allowing the one run, three hits and two walks.

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