MLB Game Preview - Toronto at Tampa Bay

Wed Aug 7, 2019 1:10 PM EDT

It seems as though no lead is safe when the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays play lately.

The teams get another chance to prove that point Wednesday afternoon when the visiting Blue Jays take on the Rays in the rubber match of a three-game series.

The host Rays overcame a six-run deficit with three two-run homers in the fourth inning Tuesday night, then scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two out in the 10th to win 7-6.

The Blue Jays had a fairly routine 2-0 win in the opener Monday night, but the teams were coming off two wild games in Toronto on July 27-28.

The Blue Jays overcame a seven-run disadvantage to win 10-9 in 12 innings July 27. They bounced out to a seven-run lead July 28 with a chance to win the series but the Rays came back to win 10-9.

The Rays are scheduled to start left-hander Brendan McKay (2-1, 4.38 ERA) while the Blue Jays are expected to reach into their busy bullpen and use former Ray Wilmer Font (3-2, 4.91) as an opener.

The rookie McKay has not faced the Blue Jays in five career starts. He is coming off his second career win Thursday when he allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox.

Font will be opening a game for the fifth time in 31 outings this season. He opened three games for the New York Mets and has started one for the Blue Jays this season. He also pitched for the Rays this season and has faced the Rays once in his career, allowing one hit and one run in a three-inning relief outing.

The Rays lead the season series against the Blue Jays 8-3, including 4-1 at home. The Blue Jays will be trying to win their first series against the Rays since Aug. 14-17, 2017. The Rays are 9-0-1 in series against the Blue Jays since, including 5-0-0 at home.

The Blue Jays are in a rebuilding phase and one of the key players in that process is shortstop Bo Bichette, who continued his hot hitting Tuesday, going 2-for-5.

Bichette singled in the third to extend his hit streak to nine games, a club record to open a career. The major-league record is 17 games.

When Bichette doubled in the seventh inning, he became the first player in major-league history to record 10 extra-base hits in his first nine career games. Bichette also matched Carlos Delgado (2000) as the only Blue Jays to double in seven straight games.

Bichette has made it look easy so far, although he did strike out three times Tuesday.

"Everybody was telling me to enjoy it and soak it all in and I think I did a decent job of that," Bichette said. "But it went by so fast. I think I've adjusted."

The Rays. meanwhile, are dealing with injuries to three main starters -- Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Yonny Chisenhall. They used Andrew Kittredge as an opener Tuesday and he gave up three runs in two innings before Ryan Yarbrough allowed three runs (one earned) in pitched 4 2/3 innings.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said he will need to rely heavily on Yarbrough, who did not factor in the decision Tuesday but has been an effective pitcher.

"I don't want to put more pressure on somebody because of an injury," Cash said. "But somebody's got to pitch, and he seems like a very likely candidate to get a lot of pitches."

--Field Level Media