TORONTO -- The Tampa Bay Rays had been held under control by Toronto Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman all night.

Suddenly, the power switch went on for the Rays in the eighth inning. They clubbed three home runs against three pitchers in that inning, capped by Logan Morrison's two-run blast, and added a fourth homer in the ninth.

Instead of being shut down, the Rays emerged with a 7-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.

Corey Dickerson and Evan Longoria also homered for Tampa Bay (12-12) in the eighth, and Derek Norris added a homer in the ninth.

Kevin Pillar had four hits, including a homer, for the Blue Jays (6-17), who have lost three in a row.

"To be a good team, you've got to find ways to win close games on the road," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "Today we did that. Stroman was just giving us fits. We just couldn't square him up."

Cash was impressed by Morrison's long drive to center.

"It's not every day you come here and see a ball land up in the restaurant," he said. "That was pretty impressive."

Dickerson led off the top of the eighth with his sixth homer on the first pitch from Stroman.

Jason Grilli (1-3) replaced Stroman with one out in the eighth and gave up Longoria's fourth homer to tie the game at 3.

After Brad Miller walked, Dominic Leone replaced Grilli with two outs and gave up Morrison's fifth homer.

Leone gave up Norris' first homer of the season to lead off the top of the ninth. The Rays added a run on a double by Dickerson, an error by Toronto second baseman Devon Travis and a wild pitch by J.P. Howell.

The Blue Jays' bullpen also gave up a lead in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals, who went on to win in 11 innings.

"We're in a little bit of a rut with some guys down there; that's obvious," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "We were on a nice little roll not too long ago. These are our guys we'll keep on running out there, they're all capable, they're all good."

Rays starter Blake Snell allowed six hits, three walks and two runs in five innings. The left-hander struck out three before Austin Pruitt (3-0) replaced him and allowed three hits and a run over three innings to earn the win.

Stroman allowed five hits, two walks and two runs and had 10 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.

"It's just a matter of things turning around for us," Stroman said. "It's just frustrating. We kill ourselves to be at our best when we're out there so when things don't go our way it's tough. We're doing everything in our power to turn this around."

"We needed that one," Longoria said. "Stroman was tough. He pitched us about as good as he could have. He kind of just ran out of pitches."

Pillar led off the bottom of the seventh with his fourth homer on an 0-1 pitch from Pruitt to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.

Jumbo Diaz pitched the ninth for the Rays, allowing Pillar's leadoff double and a single by pinch hitter Chris Coghlan before Jose Bautista hit a sacrifice fly.

Chase Whitley replaced Diaz and picked up his first save of the season.

Norris hit an RBI single in the second to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. The blooper just beyond shortstop scored Tim Beckham, who had walked with two outs and advanced to third on Shane Peterson's single.

The Blue Jays took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth. Pillar started the rally with a double to left and scored on Darwin Barney's single to right. Bautista singled to put runners and the corners. Barney scored when Kendrys Morales grounded to shortstop to start a double play.

NOTES: Toronto designated C Jarrod Saltalamacchia for assignment Friday and selected the contract of C Luke Maile from Triple-A Buffalo. Toronto claimed Maile off waivers from Tampa Bay on April 6 and he started Friday against the Rays. He was 0-for-3 with a walk. Saltalamacchia batted .040 (1-for-25) in 10 games. Maile batted .195 (8-for-41) in 12 games at Buffalo. ... Blue Jays RHP Casey Lawrence was optioned to Buffalo Friday and LHP Matt Dermody was recalled from the Bisons. Lawrence is 0-3 with an 8.78 ERA in four games (two starts) with Toronto. ... Toronto RHP Aaron Sanchez (blister right middle finger) will be activated from the DL to start Sunday against Tampa Bay. ... The Rays activated OF Mallex Smith (strained right hamstring) from the disabled list Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Durham. ... RHP Matt Andriese (1-0, 3.86 ERA) will start the game Saturday afternoon for the Rays against Blue Jays LHP Francisco Liriano (1-2, 4.58 ERA).