Rays and Blue Jays square off with series tied 1-1

Toronto Blue Jays (62-66, fourth in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (76-50, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Thursday, 1:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Shane Bieber (4-2, 4.99 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 37 strikeouts); Rays: Ian Seymour (9-3, 4.11 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 115 strikeouts)

LINE: Rays -167, Blue Jays +145; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays meet on Thursday with the three-game series tied 1-1.

Tampa Bay is 76-50 overall and 43-22 at home. The Rays have the eighth-best team ERA in baseball at 3.85.

Toronto is 62-66 overall and 29-33 in road games. Blue Jays pitchers have a collective 3.99 ERA, which ranks seventh in the AL.

The teams square off Thursday for the 13th time this season. The Rays are up 9-3 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Junior Caminero has 19 doubles, a triple, 35 home runs and 80 RBIs for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is 19 for 43 with a double, four home runs and eight RBIs over the past 10 games.

Ernie Clement has nine home runs, 17 walks and 43 RBIs while hitting .285 for the Blue Jays. Alejandro Kirk is 14 for 36 with two doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .311 batting average, 5.54 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Blue Jays: 6-4, .268 batting average, 3.71 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

INJURIES: Rays: Victor Mesa Jr.: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Cole Sulser: 15-Day IL (back), Manuel Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Edwin Uceta: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Gavin Lux: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jon Heasley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Griffin Jax: 15-Day IL (elbow), Ben Williamson: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jake Fraley: 60-Day IL (groin), Ryan Pepiot: 60-Day IL (hip)

Blue Jays: Brett Bateman: day-to-day (hamstring), Joe Mantiply: 60-Day IL (knee), Luis Urias: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 7-Day IL (head), Jose Berrios: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Bloss: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jameson Taillon: 15-Day IL (forearm), Jonatan Clase: 10-Day IL (foot), Spencer Arrighetti: 15-Day IL (foot), Trey Yesavage: 15-Day IL (knee), Patrick Corbin: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Cody Ponce: 60-Day IL (knee), Yimi Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Addison Barger: 60-Day IL (elbow), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Bowden Francis: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.