The host Toronto Blue Jays aim to gain some ground in the American League East on Monday night when they open a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Blue Jays seem to be catching the Rays at the right time. Tampa Bay is on a season-worst five-game losing streak after being swept in a four-game series by the Boston Red Sox. They have four contests left on their eight-game road trip.
“I point to every facet of our game,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after a 6-1 loss on Sunday. “We just weren’t playing as clean of baseball, whether it was on the mound, at the plate or on defense.”
The Rays are still first in the AL East, 10 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Blue Jays, who lost the rubber match of a three-game series with the visiting Chicago White Sox 3-0 on Sunday.
The problem for the Blue Jays is they are also struggling. The Blue Jays scored five runs in three outings against Chicago, winning the middle game 1-0.
The Blue Jays are 1-2 to open a seven-game homestand as their struggles continue. They were 3-7 on their previous homestand June 22-July 1 before embarking on a 4-5 trip.
“We talk about it, players talk about it,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “We’ve got to start winning. That’s just the bottom line. And it doesn’t really matter how you do it. If you win 1-0, if you win 10-9, you’ve got to start winning. You have to just understand what the situation calls for every game and you have to go out and try to execute it. I don’t want to put pressure on the guys because the season is where it is and the calendar is where it is, but you’ve got to turn it around in a hurry.”
The team has been waiting for things to turn around after a slow start as they did last season when they won the AL East.
“As a player, you’ve just got to play loose,” Toronto center fielder Daulton Varsho said. “You have to trust the person behind you. That’s all I can really say. I know it’s what we’ve been saying all year, but it’s got to turn at some point. And right now, we just have to do it a little bit faster. Sooner rather than later.”
The Rays lead the season series with the Blue Jays 5-1.
Right-hander Dylan Cease (6-4, 2.56 ERA) is the scheduled starter for Toronto on Monday. Cease is 1-3 with a 4.54 ERA in eight career starts against Tampa Bay, including a seven-inning outing on May 13 when he allowed just one run and three hits.
Cease lost a no-hitter on a leadoff single in the ninth in a 10-0 win over the San Francisco Giants on July 8. He struck out the side in the first inning of the All-Star Game.
Right-hander Nick Martinez (8-2, 2.65) is expected to get the nod for the Rays. He is 2-2 with a 5.83 ERA in seven career games (five starts) against Toronto. He last faced them on May 4, when he allowed one run on five hits in five innings to get the win.
The Rays are 14-4 in Martinez’s outings this season. He tossed a scoreless fifth inning in the All-Star Game.
The Rays’ pitching gives them hope that the wins will come again.
“We can’t get discouraged,” said Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda, who was 1-for-12 at Boston. “We’ve got to keep our heads up high and be super encouraging and keep doing our thing. That’s the biggest thing. We’ve been playing good baseball.”
–Field Level Media
