ST. PETERSBURG -- Clay Buchholz seems to be drawing from the youthful energy that surrounds him every time he takes the mound. The 35-year-old held his own Friday night on a roster stocked with rookies, stringing together a quality outing in a 5-0 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Two of Buchholz¡¯s three starts since returning from the 60-day injured list have been of the quality variety, and Friday marked a night in which he gained momentum as he went. The right-hander was touched for three runs over the first two innings on an RBI double from Avisail Garcia and a two-run homer from Mike Zunino, but he settled down to allow just one more run over his final four frames.

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As much as Buchholz can be buoyed by his young teammates, he tries to return the favor. On Friday, Toronto¡¯s inexperienced arms had a front-row seat to the school of Buchholz as he taught an important lesson about not dwelling on the past.

¡°It¡¯s [something] I try to tell all the young guys,¡± the veteran hurler said. ¡°You¡¯re going to give up home runs, especially now more than ever, and if you¡¯re still thinking about that last pitch and the home run when you begin the next at-bat, you¡¯re already defeating yourself.

¡°You¡¯ve got to have a short memory with it. ¡­ It¡¯s part of pitching, and it¡¯s not easy sometimes, but it¡¯s just the way it is.¡±

Garcia¡¯s knock represented the second first-inning run Buchholz allowed in eight starts this season, but the Blue Jays¡¯ starter didn¡¯t let it faze him, rebounding to induce consecutive groundouts to end the threat. He responded similarly after Zunino¡¯s homer, permitting a single before two outs ended the frame.

Buchholz scattered seven hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter, keeping the Blue Jays in the game. His absence of free passes was a bright spot despite the loss, a welcome step back on the right path after Buchholz issued five walks in 5 2/3 innings his last time out, against the Astros. Prior to that outing, Buchholz had been charged with just six walks the rest of his season, a stretch spanning six starts and 30 2/3 innings.

¡°He did his job -- he kept us in the game,¡± Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. ¡°I know [he allowed] four runs and three of them were earned, but that¡¯s good enough for us usually, because we usually swing the bats.

¡°He did a good job mixing and matching with his pitches and he kept us in the game.¡±

Unfortunately for Buchholz, the offense never really got going behind him. Toronto had a promising start to the night at the plate, with Randal Grichuk clubbing a two-out triple to the wall in right field in the first inning. The excitement was short-lived though, as Grichuk¡¯s knock stood for the only Blue Jays hit in the game until Anthony Alford shot a single through the left side in the ninth inning.

Alford¡¯s hit was sandwiched between a pair of walks that loaded the bases with no outs, and had the Blue Jays hopeful of a comeback before Rays reliever Emilio Pagan entered the game and retired the next three batters in order to earn the save.

¡°The [American League] East is no joke,¡± Buchholz said. ¡°Some tough lineups. ... Tonight, whenever I missed in the zone, it got hit."

The defeat marked Toronto¡¯s fifth in a row and dropped the Blue Jays to a season-low 32 games below .500. While the season has been one of growing and maturing, the current stretch has also been brutal -- Toronto is in the middle of its fourth consecutive series against a team currently in a playoff spot, and holds a 2-7 record during the stretch against the Astros (1-2) Braves (1-3; split between two series) and the Rays (0-2).

Buchholz, for one, is OK with the learning curve, as long as the students continue to grow with each lesson.

¡°It¡¯s good to be back,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯d like to win, but for this group, it¡¯s a learning experience; a learning curve. I think in the near future, there will be a lot of wins for this team.¡±