TORONTO -- Ezequiel Carrera has not been called upon much lately.

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, however, remembered that when Jose Bautista was injured, Carrera filled in well in right field and also helped ignite the offense.

As a result, Gibbons sent Carrera up as a pinch hitter for Darwin Barney on Monday night to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning.

Carrera did more than start a rally. He was the rally.

He hit a first-pitch fastball from Tampa Bay Rays reliever Brad Boxberger down the left field line for his fifth homer of the season, and the Blue Jays held on for a 3-2 victory.

The loss eliminated the Rays (60-83) from playoff contention while the Blue Jays (79-64) stayed within two games of the first-place Red Sox in the American League East. Boston beat the Baltimore Orioles 12-2 Monday.

Bautista hit a two-run homer for Toronto, while Evan Longoria and Brad Miller homered for Tampa Bay.

"Ezequiel hasn't been playing a whole heck of a lot, and he's had his struggles," Gibbons said. "But when you look at it, when Bautista went down, he was a spark plug for us, he'd get on base. ...(Monday), he did it in a big way."

Jason Grilli (6-5) pitched a perfect eighth to earn the win while Roberto Osuna had some nervous moments before picking up his 32nd save of the season.

Osuna allowed a two-out single to Corey Dickerson before Steven Souza Jr. lined out to deep center.

"To be honest, I thought it was gone," Osuna said.

As the game ended, the benches emptied and players milled around first base as Troy Tulowitzki yelled at Souza.

Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin said it was a misunderstanding.

"I told (Souza) he crushed the ball," said Martin, who admitted he thought it was going to be a home run.

Souza said he misinterpreted what Martin had said.

"Troy decided to jump in and say some things that weren't really necessary," Souza said. "When you're all competing like that, stuff like that happens. I just wanted to make amends and say, 'Hey, I got you, I understood.' That got blown way out of proportion."

"It just sounded like there were some words exchanged, maybe a little bit of miscommunication," said Rays manager Kevin Cash, who raised his arms in celebration when Souza first hit the ball.

Neither starter factored in the decision. Toronto's Francisco Liriano allowed three hits, two of them home runs, one walk and two runs in 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six in his first start since Aug. 26.

"He was dominating," Gibbons said. "He was outstanding under tough conditions because he hadn't pitched in a while."

His only trouble came when he allowed back-to-back homers to Longoria and Miller in the seventh.

"Longoria is a great hitter, he always hits the ball good down in the zone, and he made a great swing," Liriano said. "The second one I think I just hung it a little bit and (Miller) made a good swing on it."

Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi allowed four hits, one walk and two runs while striking out four in seven innings.

Devon Travis led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a hustling double to left-center to extend his hitting streak to nine games. It was the Blue Jays' third double of the game.

Bautista followed with his 18th homer of the season, a two-out shot to left, on the first pitch to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.

Longoria hit the first pitch of the top of the seventh inning to left for his 32nd homer of the season, and Miller followed with his 28th homer, a drive to center on a 1-0 pitch to tie the game.

It was the third time this season that the Rays hit back-to-back homers.

Joaquin Benoit replaced Liriano after Nick Franklin fouled out to first and survived a walk and an error by third baseman Barney.

Carrera's game-winning blast off Boxberger (3-1) was the second pinch-hit homer of his career.

"I think everyone is surprised it went out," Boxberger said. "It was down and away, good pitch. Definitely one you don't see hit out every day. When a ball you think is just going to be a lazy fly ball all of a sudden goes out, you kind of just have to laugh it off and continue going about the inning and keeping it at one run."

NOTES: Toronto 3B Josh Donaldson, who went 0-for-23 in his previous seven games, did not play Monday. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Donaldson was "beat up" and needed a break but would play Tuesday. INF Darwin Barney started at third base. ... Rays 1B Logan Morrison (left wrist) was injured while swinging at a pitch in the fourth inning Sunday at Yankee Stadium and will return to St. Petersburg, Fla., on Wednesday to be checked by a hand specialist. Morrison said his season is over. ... The Rays selected the contract of LHP Dana Eveland from Triple-A Durham and designated RHP Tyler Sturdevant for assignment. ... Rays LHP Drew Smyly (6-11, 5.05 ERA) will face Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman (9-7, 4.55 ERA) on Tuesday in the second game of the three-game series.