TORONTO -- The opportunity was right there.

The Rays entered Friday¡¯s game as baseball¡¯s most fearsome squad. Their offense was thriving, their pitching was untouchable and they¡¯d racked up 13 straight wins to start the year. One more victory would have surpassed the 1982 Braves and ¡®87 Brewers for the longest winning streak to start a season in MLB¡¯s Modern Era.

Against Blue Jays starter Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos (who came in with an 11.17 ERA), Tampa Bay was teed up to feast yet again. But a 6-3 loss at Rogers Centre showed that history can be elusive. From the get-go, the Rays weren¡¯t crisp -- an oddity given how consistent the season began.

¡°It's unfortunate the way we came out today,¡± said Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who allowed five runs in just 4 1/3 innings. ¡°It's my job to set the tone, and so that falls on me. Just the lack of competitiveness, like I said, four walks in four innings just can't happen. This team was on such a good streak, and all I had to do was fill it up and trust our defense, and I was unable to execute.¡±

The Blue Jays were gassed up for this matchup, eager to squash a historic winning streak by an AL East foe. The key in this one was Toronto forcing Rasmussen to work hard in every at-bat.

¡°That¡¯s a tough pitcher and I thought we were really, really good against him,¡± Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. ¡°His pitch count got up high, and that allowed us to do some things when the bullpen got involved.¡±

Toronto¡¯s plan worked. Rasmussen¡¯s command uncharacteristically drifted all evening, but -- as Schneider prophesied -- the mess didn¡¯t really begin until Rasmussen gave way to reliever Colin Poche in the fifth. The lefty, who carried a shaky 1.85 WHIP into this contest, promptly walked in two runs.

¡°I think that's the most frustrating part,¡± Poche said. ¡°They didn't beat me. It was all self-inflicted.¡±

Then, when Tampa Bay could least afford it, another lapse occurred. Brandon Lowe misplayed a routine throw from shortstop Wander Franco -- one of two Rays errors on the night -- turning a sure-fire double play into two more tallies for the Blue Jays.

¡°[I] just didn¡¯t make the play,¡± Lowe said of that pivotal fifth inning. ¡°It kind of got out of hand on us there. It sucks. Looking back on it, the play might have led to ultimately losing the game today. It happened. Time to move past it and come play tomorrow."

Give credit to the Rays for battling back. Even as the record-breaking dreams faded, Tampa Bay clubbed back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning off Jays reliever Yimi Garc¨ªa. The club¡¯s 34 home runs this season tied the 2019 Mariners and '00 Cardinals for the most in AL/NL history through 14 games.

By itself, this loss isn¡¯t catastrophic -- the Rays head into the second game of this three-game series with a 13-1 record -- but the future of Tampa Bay¡¯s pitching staff is in flux. Yonny Chirinos, up from Triple-A Durham, prevented Friday's game from tumbling too far out of control, tossing 3 2/3 shutout innings in relief.

As Rays skipper Kevin Cash manages a banged-up rotation, those outs from Chirinos won¡¯t be forgotten.

¡°[Chirinos] just kind of reset us today with his performance,¡± Cash said. ¡°It was a really strong performance, held it right there. And we had some close opportunities to get within striking distance.¡±

That came after Jeffrey Springs exited Thursday¡¯s start in the fourth inning with ulnar neuritis in his left arm. The issue is serious enough that the left-hander will miss at least a few weeks while the club gathers opinions from doctors, and Springs is likely to join fellow starters Tyler Glasnow (oblique strain) and Zach Eflin (back) on the injured list,

Despite the tough prognosis on Springs, Lowe has faith his teammates will fill those holes in the rotation. That¡¯s the Tampa Bay way -- when one guy goes down, a replacement seamlessly fills his place. And as far as team morale goes, the Rays are unperturbed. They¡¯ll continue to draw energy from the big winning streak and battle for a series win in a tough road ballpark.

¡°The 13 straight, winning the way that we did, it¡¯s great,¡± Lowe said. ¡°I think 162-0 was probably out of the question, but it was a great run. The best thing about losing a streak is you get to start a new one."