Rays face the Blue Jays with 2-1 series lead

Updated May. 25, 2023 3:59 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Toronto Blue Jays (26-24, fifth in the AL East) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (36-15, first in the AL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Alek Manoah (1-4, 5.15 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 40 strikeouts); Rays: Zach Eflin (6-1, 3.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 52 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Rays -144, Blue Jays +122; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays take a 2-1 lead into the latest game of the series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Tampa Bay has a 36-15 record overall and a 23-5 record at home. The Rays are 27-9 in games when they record eight or more hits.

Toronto is 26-24 overall and 13-15 in road games. The Blue Jays have hit 57 total home runs to rank eighth in the AL.

The matchup Thursday is the seventh meeting between these teams this season. The season series is tied 3-3.

TOP PERFORMERS: Randy Arozarena has seven doubles, a triple and 11 home runs while hitting .305 for the Rays. Jose Siri is 11-for-35 with a double and five home runs over the past 10 games.

Bo Bichette leads the Blue Jays with nine home runs while slugging .505. George Springer is 14-for-41 with a double, a triple, two home runs and seven RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .252 batting average, 5.86 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Blue Jays: 2-8, .291 batting average, 4.21 ERA, outscored by two runs

INJURIES: Rays: Zack Littell: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Brandon Lowe: day-to-day (neck), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (flexor strain), Garrett Cleavinger: 60-Day IL (knee), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shawn Armstrong: 60-Day IL (neck), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Tyler Glasnow: 15-Day IL (oblique), Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Blue Jays: Danny Jansen: day-to-day (groin), Mitchell White: 60-Day IL (elbow), Santiago Espinal: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Zach Pop: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Hyun-Jin Ryu: 60-Day IL (elbow), Chad Green: 60-Day IL (undisclosed)

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