TORONTO -- Marcus Stroman has been stingy most of this season.

He has held opponents to three or fewer runs in 20 of his 25 starts this season, including the two he allowed in 6 1/3 innings in a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night.

"He's got the stuff to get through a lineup three or four times," said Blue Jays bench coach DeMarlo Hale, who took over when manager John Gibbons was ejected in the seventh inning. "He can attack either side of the plate with different pitches. He keeps guys off-balance when he's down in the zone and you know he's working when he gets the ground balls."

Steve Pearce hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays (58-62), who have won two of the first three games of the four-game series. The Rays (60-62) will try for the split Thursday afternoon.

Stroman (11-6) allowed six hits and three walks while striking out seven.

"Stroman is tough." Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We knew that coming in. He's having a good year. He keeps the ball on the ground. He's a very tough guy to get anything up in the air. We just weren't able to piece together big enough innings."

Roberto Osuna pitched around a leadoff single by Mallex Smith in the ninth for his 31st save of the season.

A key play was made by shortstop Darwin Barney, who moved from second base to shortstop when Ryan Goins was injured in the sixth. He made a diving stop on a grounder by Adeiny Hechavarria up the middle. He flipped to second baseman Rob Refsnyder to get the force out.

"That was a huge play by Darwin Barney," Stroman said.

Rays starter Jake Faria (5-4) allowed six hits, two walks and three runs in 5 1/3 innings. He hit a batter and struck out three.

"I don't think Jake was at his best, at his sharpest," Cash said. "Saying that, though, he pitched a pretty good ballgame. We didn't really help."

Pearce, who homered in the fourth, led off the bottom of the sixth with a double that deflected off the glove of left fielder Corey Dickerson. He moved to third on Kevin Pillar's groundout to shortstop, and Dan Jennings replaced Faria.

Goins grounded an RBI single up the middle to give Toronto 3-1 lead.

One batter later, Goins was out trying to advance to second on a ball in the dirt, and left the game after Rays shortstop Daniel Robertson stepped on his left wrist.

Stroman exited in the seventh after loading the bases on a one-out walk to Smith, a single by Jesus Sucre and a walk to Brad Miller.

Aaron Loup replaced Stroman and walked pinch hitter Steven Souza Jr. to force in a run and cut the lead to 3-2.

Gibbons was ejected for arguing the calls as he brought in Dominic Leone to replace Loup. Leone ended the inning by putting a called third strike past Evan Longoria and inducing a popup to second from Logan Morrison.

"You can't say enough good things about (Leone)," catcher Raffy Lopez said. "He just comes right at you with a hard fastball, his stuff is just so good it's hard to hit. He comes at you, he's not scared."

Toronto's Ryan Tepera pitched a perfect top of the eighth.

Jose Bautista lined an RBI double to right-center field in the third inning to give Toronto a 1-0 lead. Lopez, who had walked with one out, scored the run. After Bautista's hit, Faria hit Josh Donaldson with a pitch before retiring Justin Smoak on a popup to third and striking out Kendrys Morales.

Pearce led off the bottom of the fourth with a first-pitch homer to right to make the score 2-0.

Tampa Bay got a run back in the fifth. Smith led off with a double, took third on groundout to second by Sucre and scored on a groundout to second by Miller.

NOTES: Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was ejected for the fifth time this season. ... INF Ryan Goins will be re-evaluated Thursday, but bench coach DeMarlo Hale said his injured left wrist showed no fractures. ... C Miguel Montero (right groin strain) was activated from the 10-day disabled list, and RHP Dominic Leone was activated from the bereavement list. LHP J.P. Howell and C Mike Ohlman were designated for assignment to make room for them on the roster. ... Tampa Bay RF Steven Souza Jr. did not start to give him a break from the artificial turf at the Rogers Centre. He entered as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-1 with a walk. ... Blue Jays RHP Chris Rowley (1-0, 1.69 ERA) will make his second career major league start Thursday afternoon in the series finale when he faces Rays RHP Chris Archer (8-7, 3.84).