TORONTO – Ben Zobrist, Wil Myers, Evan Longoria and Kelly Johnson hit solo home runs to help David Price pick up his fourth win of the season Friday as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5.

Ryan Roberts had the go-ahead RBI in the eighth inning and scored an insurance run for Tampa Bay (56-41), which sits second in the American League East.

Price (4-5), who is now 7-0 in eight career starts at Rogers Centre, gave up four runs on seven hits over seven innings. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner also struck out five and gave up one walk after surviving a rocky start.

Edwin Encarnacion, J.P. Arencibia, Jose Bautista and Brett Lawrie homered for Toronto (45-50), which opened the unofficial second half of the season with a thud.

Brett Cecil (3-1) suffered his first loss of 2013 for the Blue Jays, who remain cemented in the AL East basement.

Tied 4-4 in the eighth, the Rays took advantage of Toronto’s two all-stars in the bullpen. After Johnson singled off Cecil, Steve Delabar came on to face Sean Rodriguez, who sacrificed his teammate to second. Jose Molina then lined out to centre, but Roberts singled home Johnson and advanced to second on the throw. A wild pitch from Delabar moved Roberts to third and he scored on a Desmond Jennings double to make it 6-4.

Toronto put two runners on in the eighth, but Colby Rasmus hit a lazy flyball to left to end the threat.

The Rays stretched the lead to four in the top of the ninth off Neil Wagner when Luke Scott scored on a Jose Reyes throwing error and Myers came home on Rodriguez’s RBI single.

Lawrie hit a solo home run in the bottom of the inning, his sixth, but the Blue Jays would get no closer.

Toronto starter Esmil Rogers gave up four runs, all solo home runs, on seven hits to go along with four strikeouts over 5 2-3 innings. In two starts against Tampa Bay this season, the right-hander has allowed seven solo homers.

With thunderstorm and tornado warnings issued across Southern Ontario, the crowd of 33,266 inside the sealed-shut and steamy Rogers Centre saw a home run derby early on.

Price, who has had an up-and-down season that included 47 days on the disabled list with a triceps strain, now has 13 career victories against Toronto in 17 starts, the most against any opponent.

But it wasn’t easy for the 27-year-old left-hander in the early going.

After Encarnacion gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with his 26th homer of the season into the second deck in left in the bottom of the first, Zobrist tied the score with a solo shot of his own in the top of the third.

Arencibia hit Toronto’s second solo homer in the bottom of the third, this one to straight away centre field for his 17th of the season. Reyes then singled with one out and stole second before Price surrendered Bautista’s 21st homer, a two-run shot to right-centre that gave Toronto a 4-1 lead.

The Blue Jays could have blown the game wide open after loading the bases with two outs, but Rasmus popped out to end the threat.

Tampa Bay would make them pay dearly.

Myers made it 4-2 with a solo shot to right in the top of the fourth, his fourth home run of the season. It was Myers’ second against Rogers, who gave up back-to-back-to-back homers, including one to the rookie, in Tampa Bay’s 4-1 victory on June 24 that snapped Toronto’s 11-game winning streak.

Longoria hit the most impressive home run of the night in the sixth to cut Toronto’s lead to one with a moonshot off the facing of the third deck in left for his 19th. Then Johnson tied the score 4-4 with the Rays’ fourth solo home run, this time to right field for his 14th.

Notes: Carlos Delgado signed autographs prior to the game in the fan zone outside the stadium. The former Blue Jays first baseman will be inducted into the team’s Level of Excellence prior to Sunday’s series finale. Delgado, who played 1,423 games with Toronto, is the franchise leader in doubles (343), home runs (336), RBIs (1,058) and walks (827). … Friday marked the start of a 10-game homestand for the Blue Jays that will also see them welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros. … Rays right-hander Alex Cobb, who sustained a concussion when he was hit in the head by a batted ball in June, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with single-A Charlotte on Tuesday.