Rays look to end 3-game skid against Blue Jays

Tampa Bay Rays (47-34, second in the AL East) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (41-38, third in the AL East)

Buffalo, New York; Friday, 7:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Luis Patino (1-1, 0.00 ERA) Blue Jays: Alek Manoah (1-0, 3.34 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 33 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay enters the game as losers of their last three games.

The Blue Jays are 17-18 against the rest of their division. Toronto ranks second in the MLB in hitting with a .266 batting average, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the team with an average of .336.

The Rays are 21-11 against teams from the AL East. The Tampa Bay pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 3.56. Rich Hill leads the team with a 3.70 earned run average.

The Rays won the last meeting 14-8. Jeffrey Springs earned his fourth victory and Joey Wendle went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs for Tampa Bay. Joel Payamps took his second loss for Toronto.

TOP PERFORMERS: Guerrero Jr. leads the Blue Jays with 42 extra base hits and is batting .336.

Randy Arozarena leads the Rays with 76 hits and has 40 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 7-3, .305 batting average, 3.23 ERA, outscored opponents by 24 runs

Rays: 4-6, .230 batting average, 4.96 ERA, outscored by three runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Kirby Yates: (elbow), David Phelps: (right lat), Tommy Milone: (shoulder), Julian Merryweather: (oblique), Tom Hatch: (elbow), Carl Edwards Jr.: (abdominal), Rafael Dolis: (hand), A.J. Cole: (neck), Ryan Borucki: (forearm), Corey Dickerson: (foot), Alejandro Kirk: (hip flexor), Danny Jansen: (hamstring).

Rays: Ryan Thompson: (shoulder), Chaz Roe: (shoulder), Cody Reed: (thumb), Colin Poche: (elbow), Tyler Glasnow: (elbow), Josh Fleming: (calf), Oliver Drake: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (elbow), Jalen Beeks: (elbow), Chris Archer: (forearm), Nick Anderson: (elbow), Taylor Walls: (wrist).

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