Tampa Bay @ Toronto preview
Rogers Centre
Last Meeting ( Apr 3, 2014 ) Toronto 2, Tampa Bay 7
Thanks in large part to swapping struggling opponents, the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are surging. The American League East rivals put season-long winning streaks on the line when they meet in Toronto for the opener of a three-game set on Monday. The Blue Jays have won six in a row after sweeping the Boston Red Sox on the road and the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics at home over the weekend, giving up two runs or fewer in each of their last four contests.
As a result, Toronto (29-22) is seven games over .500 for the first time since it closed the 2010 season with an 85-77 mark and alone atop its division this late into the season for the first time since July 6, 2000. The Rays, who defeated Oakland on Thursday and swept Boston over the weekend, enter this series on a four-game run. Tampa Bay split a four-game home series with the Blue Jays to open the season and will visit Toronto for the first time since wrapping up the 2013 regular season with a win to force a one-game playoff for the second wild-card spot in the AL.
TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), SNET (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH Erik Bedard (2-2, 2.63 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Drew Hutchison (3-3, 3.45)
Despite yielding only one hit – a solo shot to Brandon Moss – over 5 1/3 innings against the Athletics, Bedard was dealt his first loss since April 24 on Wednesday. The 35-year-old Canadian gave up three runs (one earned) and struck out six, but was not helped out by three walks and two early errors from his middle infielders. Bedard is 1-3 with a 3.69 ERA in five career starts at Toronto and 2-5 with a 4.76 ERA across 12 all-time outings versus the Blue Jays.
After needing 105 pitches to record his first career shutout on May 16, Hutchison threw 102 over 5 2/3 innings during Wednesday’s 6-4 victory over the Red Sox. The former 15th-round selection yielded six hits and four walks in the outing, but the only run he surrendered was a solo home run to Shane Victorino. Hutchison improved to 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in two career turns versus the Rays after his season debut on April 1, limiting them to three hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Toronto 1B Edwin Encarnacion hit his 12th home run in May on Sunday, tying teammate Jose Bautista (2010) for the most such homers in club history.
2. Joe Maddon collected his 700th victory as Tampa Bay’s manager on Sunday.
3. The Blue Jays have tallied an extra-base hit in 36 straight games and homered in 27 of their last 32 contests, including each of the last eight.
PREDICTION: Blue Jays 5, Rays 3