TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays dropped a 7-6 decision to Tampa Bay on Sunday in a game that capped a disappointing regular season for the home side and strengthened the Rays’ post-season chances.

Tampa Bay (91-71) scored six runs in the first inning before staving off Toronto’s late comeback attempt. With the victory, the Rays are guaranteed at least a tie-breaker game appearance and could still host the American League wild-card game depending on other results.

At the start of the day, the Rays and Texas Rangers were one game behind the Cleveland Indians in the race for the two wild-card spots. Texas played the Los Angeles Angels later Sunday while Cleveland played the Minnesota Twins.

Toronto (74-88) finished last in the A.L. East division and fell to 40-41 on the year at Rogers Centre. It was the first season since 2004 that Toronto had a sub-.500 record at home.

Blue Jays starter Todd Redmond (4-3) struck out David DeJesus to open the game before running into trouble. Wil Myers doubled, James Loney drove him in with a single and Evan Longoria followed with an RBI double.

Longoria moved to third on a groundout and scored when Delmon Young singled up the middle. Matt Joyce walked to end Redmond’s day.

Neil Wagner came on in relief and didn’t fare much better. Jose Lobaton drove Wagner’s first pitch off the wall in centre field to bring home two more runs.

Former Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar added an RBI single as the Rays batted around. Escobar tried to take second base on the throw home but was thrown out by catcher J.P. Arencibia.

Tampa Bay starter Matt Moore (17-4) struggled with his command in the first inning. He walked three batters but escaped unscathed by striking out Mark DeRosa with two runners on base.

Anthony Gose singled in the third inning for Toronto’s first hit of the game. He was left stranded when Brett Lawrie of Langley, B.C., grounded out.

The Rays padded their lead in the fourth on a poor defensive play by left-fielder Kevin Pillar. He misjudged a drive from Myers that bounced off the wall for a double, allowing Escobar to score.

The Blue Jays chipped away at the lead in the sixth inning. DeRosa energized the crowd of 44,551 with a two-run double and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Arencibia.

Moore was pulled with one out in the frame. He allowed three earned runs, six hits, three walks and had four strikeouts.

Blue Jays reliever Darren Oliver, who plans to retire this off-season, received a standing ovation when he came out in the seventh inning. The 42-year-old left-hander retired the Rays in order.

In the bottom half of the frame, Jose Reyes scored on a one-out double by Lawrie. Gose was held at third base and Joel Peralta relieved Jake McGee.

Peralta walked Moises Sierra to load the bases, drawing a visit by Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. Home-plate umpire Paul Schrieber came to the mound and Maddon started to argue with him and was ejected.

Pinch-hitter Adam Lind then grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Blue Jays made it a one-run game in the eighth inning. Reyes drove in Ryan Langerhans with a single off Fernando Rodney and Gose followed with an RBI single of his own that scored Pillar.

Lawrie drew a two-out walk to load the bases but Sierra followed with a strikeout.

The Blue Jays put a runner on in the ninth but Rodney got Ryan Goins on a lineout to end the game. It was Rodney’s 37th save of the year.

Toronto manager John Gibbons gave several relievers some work on the final game of the season. Oliver, Wagner, Luis Perez, Chad Jenkins, Jeremy Jeffress, Steve Delabar and Sergio Santos all made appearances.

Notes: The Toronto players came out of the dugout in the third inning to wave their hats in appreciation for the fans’ support this season. … A video of Oliver’s career highlights was played on the stadium big screen in the fourth inning. Oliver came out of the bullpen and stood on the warning track to watch. The Blue Jays’ season attendance total rose to 2,536,562, an increase of 436,899 from 2012. … The game took three hours 21 minutes to play.