The Tampa Bay Rays will look to match their season-high winning streak on Sunday afternoon when they bid for a three-game series sweep against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays.
The Rays have continued their run of good fortune with a pair of 3-1 victories over the Blue Jays. A win on Sunday would be Tampa Bay’s fifth in a row — equaling the team’s total from April 23-27 — and would even the Rays’ record for the first time since they were 14-14 on April 27.
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer in the third inning of the Rays’ series-opening win on Friday, and Junior Caminero launched a three-run shot in the first on Saturday.
Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered to lead off the sixth inning on Saturday. His seventh homer of the season also extended his streak of reaching base to 24 games.
The Blue Jays, however, have lost four of five games in the season series versus their American League East rival.
Toronto’s Chris Bassitt (4-2, 2.83 ERA) will look to salvage the series finale for his team on Sunday when he squares off against Tampa Bay’s Ryan Pepiot (2-5, 3.99) in a battle of right-handers.
Bassitt has fared well this month, improving to 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA in May following a strong performance against the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. He scattered four hits and struck out six in six innings of a 3-0 win, punctuating his night with a bit of emotion.
“I was tired of getting pulled at 5 2/3 or 5 1/3 (innings), but I understand why,” Bassitt said. “So, yeah, I was happy with that.”
Bassitt, 36, also turned in a strong performance against Tampa Bay on May 14, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision in that contest — a 3-1 win. He is 1-5 with a 3.42 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) versus the Rays.
Unlike Bassitt, Pepiot has struggled to find positive results in May. He is 0-2 despite recording a 3.63 ERA in four starts this month.
“Just, you know, sit down, watch the video of it,” Pepiot said, per the Tampa Bay Times. “See where you missed, see what you need to work on.”
Pepiot, 27, allowed three runs on six hits in six innings in Toronto to take the loss on May 14. It was his only encounter in his career versus the Blue Jays.
Before the game on Saturday, Toronto placed reliever Yimi Garcia on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement. The move came two days after the right-hander pitched a scoreless inning of relief against the Padres.
“It wasn’t one pitch or one outing,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the injury to Garcia, who signed a two-year, $15 million contract in December.
“I’ve talked about trying to limit him. … I think it’s just usage, and we wanted to get him back as quickly as we could.”
Toronto summoned right-hander Paxton Schultz from Triple-A Buffalo in a corresponding move.
–Field Level Media
