Blue Jays' September slump continues as they lose to Rays

It's a bad time of a year for a slump and the Blue Jays are mired in a bad one right now. Toronto lost 6-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night to fall to 3-8 in September.

The top of the ninth inning was especially ugly, as four Blue Jays relievers took the mound and the Rays managed to score two runs without hitting a ball out of the infield. When a team's in a rut, those sort of innings feel like they pop up in every other game.

Marcus Stroman was chugging along just fine before Alexei Ramirez converted a double and a walk into three runs with a home run in the fifth inning. When a team's in a rut, it feels like one pitch will undo a solid start on a regular basis. Part of that, though, has to do with a lack of run support.

Russell Martin clubbed a two-run homer in the sixth to get Toronto on the board, but that was all the offense the Blue Jays could muster against Tampa Bay starter Drew Smyly and the Rays' bullpen. When a team's in a rut, it feels like they can never get it done in big spots. There was no better example of that Tuesday than Edwin Encarnacion striking out with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth.

Josh Donaldson was out of the lineup for the second straight game, the result of a jammed right hip he suffered Sunday. The hope is that he'll be back for Wednesday afternoon's series finale and the hope is that it won't take long for him to snap out of his own slump – Donaldson's doesn't have a hit in his last 23 at-bats. That may sum up the last week and a half better than anything else.

A Red Sox loss to Baltimore means the gap between Toronto and the division leaders is still two games. However, an Orioles win over Boston means Baltimore and the Blue Jays are tied in the American League wild card spots and the Yankees' win over the Dodgers means New York and Detroit are both two games back in that race.

This isn't going to play out like 2015. Even if Toronto was racking up wins anywhere close to the ridiculous pace they closed out last season with, there would be more intrigue just based on the number of teams still in contention in the AL East, let alone the wild card.

Last year it felt like puppies and rainbows greeted the Blue Jays at every turn. So far this September, they're heading to the same places and running into deathclaws and thunderstorms, and they're certainly not making it easy on themselves as we get into the real meat of the stretch run.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Canada Sports:

- - - - - - -

Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr