Tampa Bay looks to lengthen gap above Blue Jays

The Tampa Bay Rays will renew their American League East rivalry with the Toronto Blue Jays when they open a three-game series Monday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The second-place Rays find themselves firmly entrenched near the top of the standings, and Jonathan Aranda helped them show they plan on being there for the long haul with a walk-off single to score Chandler Simpson with the game-winning tally in the 10th inning as the Rays swept away the visiting San Francisco Giants 2-1.

"I was thinking about the at-bat even before in the previous inning," said Aranda through an interpreter after finishing his 4-for-5 showing following an intentional walk to All-Star slugger Junior Caminero. "I didn't think they were going to put Junior on, so when they put him on, I was a little surprised. I was just there to do my turn."

The victory gave Tampa Bay -- 16-5 in its past 21 games -- its fourth series sweep as the team prepares to face the Blue Jays, who fell behind early and lost 4-3 Sunday in Minnesota to split their series with the Twins.

Monday's starter for Tampa Bay, Nick Martinez (2-1, 1.70 ERA), has used a nasty changeup to carve up opposing hitters to the tune of a .206 batting average.

In his most recent start, the right-hander blanked the Cleveland Guardians on three hits in seven innings for Tampa Bay's first shutout.

The first-year Rays hurler is 1-2 with a 6.66 ERA in six career outings (four starts) against Toronto.

Dangerous middle-of-the-order hitter Yandy Diaz, batting .333 with five home runs, 21 RBIs and 19 runs, is being monitored for oblique tightness and missed the last two games in the series. He left Friday's 3-0 win after homering earlier.

Toronto's split in the Twin Cities was not the ordinary win two, lose two scenario.

In fact, the third-place Jays might consider themselves fortunate to come to Florida with the split and remain two games under .500.

Trailing the Twins 4-3 Saturday as they headed to the top of the eighth, the Blue Jays crafted a monstrous eight-run frame and soared away 11-4, giving them a second win through three games with a chance to clinch the series on Sunday.

That did not happen, as they fell behind 4-0 through five innings and could not complete the comeback in a 4-3 loss.

In Saturday's win, outfielder George Springer was hit in the foot by a slider from Minnesota's Connor Prielipp -- in the exact same spot where Springer suffered a fractured toe on April 11 that forced him to miss 18 days.

The area continues to be a problem.

"It's not any worse than it was," Toronto manager John Schneider said. "It went right off that guard he has on his spikes, thankfully. You probably saw him just laughing as he was sitting there on the ground. We'll see how he is."

The 36-year-old Springer, who was in the lineup in his fourth game back, did not play on Sunday, though Schneider said he would have had the day off, anyway.

He is hitting just .212 with two homers and seven RBIs through 18 games.

Left-hander Eric Lauer (1-3, 6.00) will start Monday again in place of rehabbing Jose Berrios. The veteran is 1-2 with a 7.08 ERA in seven career appearances (four starts) against the Rays.

--Field Level Media