GameDay Preview: Rays Look to Secure Season Series Win over Blue Jays on Friday Night

The Tampa Bay Rays are just one win away from clinching their season series with the Toronto Blue Jays, and can do that on Friday night with a victory. Should Jeffrey Springs and the Rays win, they'll earn the tiebreaker and move back into the top of the American League wild-card standings.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays have won nine of 16 games against the Toronto Blue Jays so far this season, and can clinch the season series on Friday night when the two teams get together at Tropicana Field.

It's a very big deal.

The Rays and Blue Jays are still battling for playoff positioning, though it's fairly clear that neither with catch the New York Yankees in the American League East. The Jays are 7.5 games back, the Rays 8.5. But the wild-card race is very tight, and there's a lot on the line.

Toronto is 84-66 and one game ahead of the 83-67 Rays. But a win Friday would create a tie, and give the Rays the tie-breaker edge, which is head-to-head record. They play two more games this weekend, on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, but winning Friday can change the script completely and put the Rays back in the driver's seat.

The third team in the wild-card mix is the Seattle Mariners. They are a half-game game behind the Rays heading into Friday night's action. They play at Kansas City this weekend. The Mariners are four games ahead of Baltimore Orioles for the final playoff spot.

The Rays do seem to have the pitching edge on Friday night with Jeffrey Springs on the mound. But for the Rays, it's all about their bats doing their thing. After scoring just two runs in three games agains the Houston Astros earlier in the week, they scored 10 runs against Toronto in Thursday night's series opener.

Here's how to watch Friday night's game, with TV information, starting lineups, pitching bios and a lot of newsy nuggets:

How to watch Blue Jays at Rays

• Who: Toronto Blue Jays (84-66) at Tampa Bay Rays (83-67)
• When: 7:10 p.m. ET, Friday, Sept. 23
• Where: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Fla. 
• TV: Bally Sports Sun
• Announcers: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (color commentary) and Ryan Bass (reporter).
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM; SiriusXM Channel 89
• Announcers: Andy Freed and Neil Solondz
• Latest Line: Tampa Bay is favored at minus-146 on the money line according to the Fanduel.com website line as of Monday morning. The Astros are at plus-124. The over/under is 7.5.

Projected starting lineups

• Toronto Blue Jays: George Springer CF, Bo Bichette SS, Vladimir Geuerrero Jr. 1B,  Alejandro Kirk DH, Matt Chapman 3B, Teoscar Hernandez RF, Raimel Tapia LF, Whit Merrifield 2B, Danny Jansen C, Mitch White P.
• Tampa Bay Rays: Jonathan Aranda 1B, Harold Ramirez DH, Wander Franco SS, Randy Arozarena LF, Manuel Margot RF, Isaac Paredes 3B, Miles Mastrobuoni 2B, Christian Bethancourt C, Jose Siri CF, Jeffrey Springs P.

Projected pitchers

• MITCH WHITE, Toronto Blue Jays: Mitch White, a 27-year-old right-hander from San Jose, Calif., is just 1-6 this season with a 5.05 earned run average. His only win came way back on May 17, and he's dropped six straight decisions since then. He hasn't pitched since Sept. 13, when he gave up three runs in six innings against the Rays in Toronto.  
• JEFFREY SPRINGS, Tampa Bay Rays: Jeffrey Springs has been very good since joining the rotation, and he's 9-4 with an imprerisve 2.45 earned run average right now. He was huge last week vs. Toronto on Sept. 13 when he pitched six scoreless innings and gave up just three hits. He also beat Texas on Sunday, allowing just two runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Rays won both games.

Newsy nuggets

• YARBROUGH ON INJURED LIST: Rays left-hander Ryan Yarbrough had to leave after one inning on Thursday night, and after some further testing on Friday, he was placed on the injured list with a right oblique strain. He was placed on the 15-day injured list, which will take him right up to the end of the regular season. Yarbrough (3-8) has had his ups and downs this season, but his veteran presence will be missed down the stretch.
• KNIGHT SENT DOWN: Reliever Dusten Knight, who pitched the final two innings on Thursday, was designated for assignment so the Rays could bring up some fresh arms. Right-handers Calvin Faucher and Cristofer Ogando were called up from Triple-A Durham. Faucher has been up and down all season, and has made 19 appearances with the Rays. He is 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA. Ogando was up briefly in early July.
• DOUBLING UP ON RUNS: The Rays have reached double-digit runs twice in the last two games against the Blue Jays, compared to once in the first 14 games this season. It marks the fourth time in club history the Rays have scored 10 runs (or more) in back-to-back games against them, following May 16-17, 2016, Sept 21-22, 2012 and June 24-28, 2004.
• NICE GLOVES: The Rays have played four straight errorless games starting on Sept. 19 on the heels of making 13 errors in 17 games from Sept. 2-18.