Blue Jays take 3-game slide into matchup with Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - The Toronto Blue Jays will face off against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg on Thursday at 7 p.m. EDT.
PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Trent Thornton (4-9, 5.34 ERA) Rays: Austin Pruitt (2-0, 4.78 ERA)
LINE: Rays -211; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Toronto enters the matchup as losers of their last three games.
The Rays are 34-29 against AL East teams. Tampa Bay's lineup has 187 home runs this season, Austin Meadows leads the club with 26 homers.
The Blue Jays are 21-33 in division matchups. The Toronto offense has compiled a .236 batting average as a team this season, last in the American League. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the team with a mark of .276.
TOP PERFORMERS: Meadows leads the Rays with 73 RBIs and is batting .280. Tommy Pham is 16-for-39 with five doubles, a home run and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Randal Grichuk leads the Blue Jays with 24 home runs home runs and is slugging .434. Cavan Biggio is 8-for-31 with three doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Toronto.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 6-4, .266 batting average, 5.11 ERA, outscored by six runs
Blue Jays: 3-7, .223 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored by 17 runs
Rays Injuries: Blake Snell: (elbow), Tyler Glasnow: (forearm), Yonny Chirinos: (finger), Jose Alvarado: (elbow), Eric Sogard: (nose), Brandon Lowe: (leg), Yandy Diaz: (foot), Ji-Man Choi: (face).
Blue Jays Injuries: Matt Shoemaker: (knee), Elvis Luciano: (elbow), Ryan Borucki: (elbow), Lourdes Gurriel Jr.: (quad), Devon Travis: (knee), Luke Maile: (oblique).
The Associated Press contributed to this story.