The Tampa Bay Rays will attempt to complete a four-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon, a result that would also salvage a split of their eight-game road trip.
After dropping the first four games of the trip to the surging Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay has won three straight against Toronto, including a 4-2 victory on Wednesday.
The turning point came in the sixth inning, when three unearned runs scored after center fielder Daulton Varsho misplayed a Yandy Díaz fly ball that bounced off the heel of his glove.
The Rays have dominated the season series, holding an 8-1 record against the Blue Jays, who have fallen 10 games below .500. Toronto sits last in the American League East, 13½ games behind the division-leading Rays and 6½ games back of a wild-card berth.
Defensive lapses have compounded Toronto’s struggles; the Blue Jays have committed six errors in the series. However, their offensive woes remain the primary concern, as the team has managed only 10 runs while going 1-5 during the first six games of their seven-game homestand.
“We talk about it every day,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “We talk about it a lot. We talked about it today, at length, with the guys. It’s tough. It’s tough because we’re better and they’re better than what’s going on right now on the field.”
Left-hander Ian Seymour (6-2, 4.79 ERA) is slated to start for the Rays. He is 2-1 with a 5.02 ERA in six career appearances, including two starts, against Toronto, and has posted a 4.50 ERA in four relief outings versus the Blue Jays this season.
Toronto will counter with right-hander Shane Bieber (1-1, 5.70), who owns a 3-2 record and a 3.27 ERA in seven career starts against Tampa Bay.
Victor Mesa Jr. drove in two runs with a pair of singles for the Rays on Wednesday, while the speedy Chandler Simpson again made an impact, going 1-for-2 with a single, a walk, a sacrifice fly, and two stolen bases.
Simpson was 4-for-5 with an RBI in Tuesday’s 12-2 rout.
“When Chandler’s going, the havoc he’s creating — he got two hits the other night, traditional hits, and then two hits with a routine ground ball to short and a tweener — not many guys in baseball can get hits like that, but he can,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We’ve watched it all season long. He creates, like, a panic on defensive players, and really good ones. … Chandler hits it on the ground, and everybody’s having to move a lot faster than what they usually do.”
Players like Simpson provide crucial support for a lineup anchored by Díaz, Jonathan Aranda, and Junior Caminero.
“It’s very key,” Simpson said. “The big three, as you’d call it, they’re amazing and they’ve been superheroes the whole time. So if 5-9 can just help out a little bit and get them up to the plate as much as possible, it would be good for us.”
“I think that’s the biggest key of all,” Cash said. “Good offenses, they’re able to turn the lineup over.”
The Blue Jays recalled outfielder Yohendrick Pinango from Triple-A Buffalo and placed Jonatan Clase on the injured list with left plantar fasciitis. Pinango started in left field Wednesday and went 1-for-2 before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
Toronto also recalled right-hander CJ Van Eyk from Buffalo and optioned Lázaro Estrada to Triple-A.
