TORONTO -- Josh Lowe sprinted forward from right field and Richie Palacios darted back from second base, the same thought ringing in their minds.

¡°Do everything I possibly could to try and catch that ball,¡± said Lowe.

History was at play, after all.

Tyler Alexander came five batters short of throwing the first perfect game in Rays history on Friday night, holding the Blue Jays off the bases for 7 1/3 innings in a 4-3 win at Rogers Centre. The hit that broke the bid was a weird one, too: a bloop single from Danny Jansen that landed just out of reach for Lowe and Palacios.

It looked like a hit right off the bat, but the Rays¡¯ fielders refused to let it drop without a fight.

¡°I'm putting my head down, sprinting as fast as I possibly could, and I know J-Lowe was doing the same,¡± said Palacios. ¡°And then, we had no chance. I was pissed off, as was everybody else.¡±

If their starter shared that feeling, though, it didn¡¯t last very long.

Alexander was in good spirits after the Rays¡¯ win, stating his gratitude to catcher Ben Rortvedt and the defense behind him.

¡°I think I executed well and moved the ball around well,¡± Alexander said. ¡° ¡­ [The Blue Jays] definitely battled, which made me want to battle.¡±

Alexander was due for a good bounce. After a difficult outing against the Yankees last Sunday -- when he grinded for seven innings of six-run ball with three homers allowed -- the left-hander noted that his results hadn¡¯t necessarily matched his execution up until this point.

Staying patient wasn¡¯t necessarily easy, but Alexander trusted himself.

¡°I feel like [Rays¡¯ pitching coach] Kyle [Snyder] told me this a couple times -- and I'm sort of tired of hearing it -- that the results haven't really matched how I feel or how I pitched,¡± Alexander said on Thursday at Fenway Park. ¡°I think there's been a couple outings where I've thrown well, and maybe at the end of the day, it doesn't look great. There's [also] been a couple of outings where I've felt like crap and same thing. So I'm just kind of waiting for it to even out a little bit.¡±

The first step toward that was an iconic one.

Alexander relied heavily on his cutter en route to three hits and three earned runs allowed with four strikeouts on 105 pitches (74 strikes). His goal for this outing was not to issue any walks, and he succeeded at that, too. The unexpected part was what unfolded until Jansen¡¯s blooper, which was followed by a two-run homer and another single to end Alexander¡¯s night.

¡°All of the above,¡± manager Kevin Cash joked when asked about what impressed him in Alexander. ¡°That was a really impressive outing. Happy for him.¡±

The game plan was clear: make good pitches early and let an aggressive, righty-heavy lineup get itself out. As a result, Alexander mowed through the early innings, clocking in at 59 pitches through the first five frames. A few long at-bats brought Alexander¡¯s count up after that, but he kept making the big pitches when he needed them, so Cash kept sending his starter back out.

Alexander retired 22 consecutive batters to start the game -- a mark that now ranks second in Rays history behind Drew Rasmussen¡¯s 24 against the Orioles in 2022. Alexander was ¡°very aware¡± of what he was doing, but he worked to stay within himself even as the outs piled up and the zeros flashed on the board.

¡°It gets down to the wire and there's certainly nerves,¡± said Cash. ¡°I'm guessing he had nerves -- we certainly did in the dugout. We knew he's on the verge of doing something special. And he certainly did do something very special.¡±

The pitcher¡¯s mentality? Don¡¯t overthink it.

¡°The second I start trying is the second things go poorly,¡± said Alexander. ¡°So I was just trying to stay within my game plan.¡±

This isn¡¯t the first time Alexander has done something unique. He put his name in the record books with the Tigers in 2020 by striking out nine batters in a row as a reliever -- a mark that¡¯s still the best in the Majors.

¡°This was more fun,¡± Alexander said with a smile.