Tampa Bay @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 1, 2010 ) Toronto 1, Tampa Bay 2

James Shields doesn't have to be told about how formidable the Toronto Blue Jays offense is – he found out the hard way just over a month ago.

Shields looks to atone for one of the worst losses of his career as he leads the Tampa Bay Rays into the opener of a pivotal three-game series against the Jays at the Rogers Centre. Tampa leads the season series 8-7, but dropped two of three to the visiting Jays during their last meeting Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Tropicana Field.

The Rays have had their hands full with the pesky Blue Jays all season, and the series loss to open the month kept Tampa Bay from gaining any ground on the New York Yankees in the American League East. The Rays trail by 2 1/2 games, with the division leaders meeting seven times before season's end.

Before that, there's the small matter of dealing with Toronto in its friendly confines, which have been particularly accommodating to the home team. The Jays lead the majors in overall home runs by a wide margin, and are the no-doubt leaders in home-park round-trippers, as well.

Shields (13-12) was an unwilling contributor to the Jays' inflated home run numbers back on Aug. 7. The 28-year-old became just the eighth pitcher in modern major-league history to surrender six home runs in one game, and left having allowed eight runs over just four innings in a 17-11 slugfest.

Toronto finished with eight home runs in that game, two shy of the major-league record set by the Jays in 1987.

Shields apparently took something away from the shellacking. He has gone a respectable 3-2 since then, and has surrendered just two home runs combined in those five starts. His previous outing was the worst of the bunch, as he was charged with six runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings in an 8-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Shields is 6-5 all-time against Toronto with a 4.18 ERA over 94 2/3 innings. The 20 home runs he has allowed to the Blue Jays is easily the most of any major-league opponent, and he has surrendered 13 long balls in just 33 1/3 innings at the Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays are coming off a split of a four-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers. Colby Lewis held the Toronto offense grounded in Thursday's finale, allowing the Rangers to pull out a 4-2 victory.

The Jays will send Brett Cecil (12-7) to the hill in Friday's curtain raiser. The 24-year-old left-hander is finishing off an impressive season that has seen him improve on most of the numbers from his rookie season, including wins, ERA (3.76) and opposition batting average (.245).

Most impressively, Cecil has been one of the top pitchers in the league against the AL East's Big Three. The 2007 supplemental round pick is a sparkling 7-2 this season against the Yankees, Rays and Boston Red Sox, with a 2.37 ERA over 68 1/3 innings.

He didn't have his best stuff in his previous outing but it was good enough, as he surrendered three runs over 6 1/3 innings in a 7-3 triumph over the Yankees.