Toronto @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 30, 2010 ) Toronto 2, Tampa Bay 6

In the neck-and-neck race between the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, a one-time Bronx Bomber may be the deciding factor in which team captures the American League East title.

Carlos Pena looks to continue his hot hitting Wednesday as his Rays resume their series with the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. The Rays have won 12 of their last 16 games, including a 6-2 victory in Monday's series opener.

The Rays' recent winning ways have enabled them to keep pace with the equally formidable Yankees. The teams go into Wednesday with identical 81-50 records, tops in the majors. They'll face off seven times before the regular season ends, a group of games that will likely decide which team wins the division crown.

If Pena continues swinging the lumber with authority, the Rays could have the upper hand.

The journeyman first baseman was signed by the Yankees in 2006 after a decent showing in Detroit, but he never made it to the majors and was released four months later. After a brief stint with the Red Sox, Pena joined the Rays the following season and immediately shot to stardom with a 46-homer, 121-RBI campaign that endeared him to Tampa fans and earned him a permanent job in the majors.

He led the league in homers last season with 39 and opened the 2010 calendar with 22 RBIs in his opening 22 games, but fell into a May deep freeze that saw him hit just .120 (12-for-100) in the month. His average, well below .200 at the time, has since rebounded to .213 and he leads the Rays with 26 homers, two of those coming in his last two games.

Pena was the hero in Monday's series opener, belting a three-run shot and adding an RBI sacrifice fly as the Rays improved to 22-5 in their last 27 home games against the Blue Jays. Wade Davis earned his sixth consecutive victory by pitching effectively into the eighth inning, while Evan Longoria added a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored.

Tampa sends Jeff Niemann (10-4) to the mound Wednesday. The towering right-hander returned from the 15-day disabled list nine days ago and was promptly shellacked for 10 runs in just 3 1/3 innings en route to a 12-3 drubbing in Los Angeles.

Niemann has asserted himself well against Toronto in his career, going 3-1 all-time with a 4.04 ERA over 42 1/3 innings. He has faced the Jays three times this season, tossing a complete-game two-hit shutout in their last meeting on June 8 and earning no-decisions in the other two outings.

Major-league home run leader Jose Bautista is just 1-for-11 with four strikeouts against Niemann in his career. Bautista goes into the game needing five more homers to equal George Bell's franchise record of 47 set back in 1987.

He'll face Jays left-hander Ricky Romero (10-8), who had all he could handle his last time out. The 25-year-old was lit up for six runs in 5 2/3 innings and surrendered a pair of homers in a 7-1 loss to the visiting Detroit Tigers.

Romero is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 21 career innings against Tampa. He has faced the Rays just once this season, settling for a no-decision April 24 after limiting them to a pair of runs over seven innings in a game Tampa went on to win 9-3.