Tampa Bay @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 20, 2018 ) Tampa Bay 8, Toronto 9

The Tampa Bay Rays attempt to rebound from about as demoralizing a defeat as a team could endure when they visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night for the second a four-game series. The Rays saw their five-game winning streak come to an end and lost for just the fourth time in 18 games this month after coughing up seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 9-8 setback Thursday.

Tommy Pham is 9-for-18 while hitting safely in four straight after recording three hits and a pair of RBIs on Thursday for Tampa Bay (85-67), which fell 6 1/2 games behind Oakland (92-61) in the race for the second wild card in the American League with 10 contests left. “We need a lot of things to go in our favor,” Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters after his team gave up three homers in the ninth inning. “Losses like this don’t help.” The Blue Jays have won five of their last six contests while rookies Danny Jansen and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (7-for-21, five-game hitting streak) each homered during the improbable comeback before Justin Smoak’s solo blast ended it. Former 30th-round pick Rowdy Tellez also belted a two-run homer and started the rally with an RBI double in the series opener for Toronto, improving his batting average to .385 since being called up for the first time in his career early in September.

TV: 7:07 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), Sportsnet (Toronto)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Diego Castillo (3-2, 3.14 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Sean Reid-Foley (2-3, 5.54)

The Rays did not make it official after Thursday’s game, but Castillo is expected to open the contest Friday after allowing one hit over 4 2/3 innings in his last three tries as a starter. The 24-year-old Dominican has yielded one run on four hits and a pair of walks across 10 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts in his last seven trips to the mound overall. Castillo is 2-0 and has not permitted a run over 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts and one walk against Toronto this year.

Reid-Foley comes in off his second strong outing in his last three starts, allowing two hits and four walks across five scoreless innings to beat the New York Yankees on Saturday. The 23-year-old, who was born in Guam, struck out 10 in that contest - matching the output in his start at Miami on Sept. 2 when he gave up one run over seven frames. Reid-Foley makes his second start at home after yielding six runs over 4 2/3 innings to Cleveland on Sept. 8 in Toronto.

WALK-OFFS

1. Tampa Bay INF Joey Wendle is 10-for-17 with five doubles during a four-game hitting streak.

2. Toronto 2B Devon Travis, who was rested in the series opener, is 9-for-26 with a pair of doubles against Tampa Bay this year.

3. The Rays are still 9-4 against the Blue Jays in 2018 and can clinch their third season series in the last four years with one more win this weekend.

PREDICTION: Rays 4, Blue Jays 3