Rays at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays received their best pitching performance in eight contests last time out and it gave them a chance to win a series for the first time this season Sunday when the Tampa Bay Rays visit for the rubber match of a three-game set. Clay Buchholz and four relievers frustrated the Rays on Saturday in a 3-1 victory after Blue Jays' pitching allowed 40 runs combined during a 1-6 slump.
Toronto is tied for last place with Boston in the American League East, but just 1 1/2 games out of second after Lourdes Gurriel Jr. continued his hot streak (5-for-12, five RBIs, four games) with a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning Saturday. Right-hander Marcus Stroman hopes to give Toronto another solid start and change his luck when he takes the mound Sunday in the finale against veteran righty Charlie Morton, who has won both his decisions in the early going. The AL East-leading Rays saw their five-game winning streak come to an end Saturday after wasting six one-hit innings from Blake Snell while going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and leaving six on base for a fourth loss in 15 games to start the season. Outfielder Austin Meadows had two more hits for Tampa Bay in the setback and is 12-for-18 with four homers and 11 RBIs over the last five games to raise his team-best batting average to .385.
TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), Sportsnet One, OMNI (Toronto)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH Charlie Morton (2-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Marcus Stroman (0-2, 2.41)
Morton limited opponents to a .185 batting average over his first three starts with the Rays and has allowed four runs over 16 total innings with 21 strikeouts. The 35-year-old New Jersey native, who won a career-best 15 games in 2018 with Houston, beat the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday with five innings of two-run ball. Freddy Galvis is 3-for-4 with a double versus Morton, who blanked Toronto over seven innings on four hits with 13 strikeouts last year.
Stroman has not received much offensive support in his first three starts, allowing five runs across 18 2/3 innings while losing a pair of games. The 27-year-old Duke product struck out six batters and held Cleveland to three runs on six hits over six innings in a 3-1 loss last Sunday. Avisail Garcia is 5-for-9 against Stroman, who was pounded for five runs on 11 hits across 6 2/3 innings in two appearances versus Tampa Bay last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay OF Tommy Pham had a single Saturday to extend his hitting streak to six games, and reached base for the 47th straight contest.
2. Toronto optioned INF Richard Urena, who is batting .333, to Triple-A Buffalo on Saturday.
3. Rays SS Willy Adames is 12-for-25 during a seven-game hitting streak after starting the season with one hit in 27 at-bats.