Just as the Toronto Blue Jays looked to be gaining some momentum on the field, the Tampa Bay Rays showed up on the schedule to bring them back down to earth.
Playing on the road against the Rays has always been a struggle for the Blue Jays, but with Tampa Bay forced out of its Tropicana Field home in 2025, there was a chance for Toronto to flip the narrative away from the house of horrors.
That wasn’t the case on Friday night, as Toronto’s all-time road record against the Rays dropped to 92-145 in a 3-1 loss at George M. Steinbrenner Field, dropping the club back to .500 on the season.
The Blue Jays will get a chance to bounce back on Saturday, as José Berríos takes the ball against Shane Baz on Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet+ at 7:05 p.m. ET / 4:05 p.m. PT.
Berríos will look to build on his strong outing Sunday in a loss against the Detroit Tigers. After allowing a pair of first-inning runs, the 30-year-old settled in to deliver five scoreless frames and leave with the game tied.
After a rocky beginning to his season, the veteran right-hander has posted a 3.36 ERA over his last three starts — the worst of those being a five-run outing against these Rays on May 13.
Berríos and the Blue Jays will be tasked with slowing down the hot bat of Brandon Lowe. The second baseman’s two-run homer Friday led Tampa Bay’s offensive efforts in the win. It marked the second straight game that Lowe had left the yard and extended his hit streak to six games.
Baz, meanwhile, has been operating on the same schedule as Berríos. He allowed five runs against the Miami Marlins on Sunday and was tagged for four hits and allowed three runs over 4.2 against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Toronto is expecting slugger Anthony Santander to return to the starting nine for Saturday’s contest, manager John Schenider announced following Friday’s loss.
“I think he should be good to go tomorrow. He was feeling better as the day went on,” the skipper said.
Santander has been dealing with both shoulder and hip ailments throughout the month of May, with the latter forcing him out of the Blue Jays’ lineup in Wednesday’s 14-0 win over the San Diego Padres.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s series finale, Chris Bassitt is set to face off against Ryan Pepiot before Toronto heads to Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers.
