Snider, who combined to hit 23 homers at three different minor league levels this season, will play in the outfield and occasionally as the designated hitter, manager Cito Gaston said.

"We'll be like the Angels (who have four outfielders), we'll rotate them and have (Adam) Lind or Snider as the DH (when they aren't in the outfield)," Gaston said.

Stairs, a native of St. John, New Brunswick, appeared in 150 games this season, hitting .250 with 11 homers and 44 RBIs. He is in the first year of a two-year contract that pays him $2.25 million this year and $1 million in 2009.

Stairs said he knew something was up when he wasn't in the lineup and wasn't used as a pinch hitter.

Stairs added, "I thought before the game when I wasn't playing it might have been a numbers game, but in the eighth inning when I knew I wasn't going to get in to hit, I told Scotty Rolen that there's a pretty good chance I'm going to get called into the office after the game, and sure enough I was called in."

RAYS 3, BLUE JAYS 2: The Jays lost the rubber game of the series and now have lost consecutive series to fall to three games over .500 at 68-65.

RHP Jesse Litsch took the loss to drop to 9-8. He carried a 13-inning scoreless streak into the game, but that ended in the first inning on an RBI sacrifice fly by DH Cliff Floyd. Floyd and Willy Aybar would later hit solo homers off Litsch.

The Jays avoided being shut out in consecutive games with a two-run eighth on an RBI single by Adam Lind and RBI double by Rod Barajas.