Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays online baseball radio commentry live streaming video feed online review May 19, 2011. The Tampa Bay Rays own the best road record in the majors.
The Toronto Blue Jays aren't having much luck at home.
Hot-hitting Matt Joyce looks to help the AL East-leading Rays win for the 12th time in 13 road games and sweep a two-game set from the Blue Jays on Thursday night.
7:07 PM ET, May 19, 2011
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Tampa Bay (25-18) has won 11 of 12 away from home -- outscoring the opposition 81-33 in that span -- to improve to 14-5 there.
Joyce has played a prominent role in that success of late, batting .417 with three homers, five RBIs and 10 runs in his last six road games after hitting .233 with one RBI in his first 11.
The right fielder hit a two-run shot for his seventh homer of the season in Wednesday's 6-5 victory.
"He just absolutely mangled that ball," manager Joe Maddon said.
Despite those heroics, Joyce is 5 for 38 with five RBIs in 16 career games versus the Blue Jays (21-22). The homer was his first hit in 19 career at-bats at Rogers Centre.
Tampa Bay will send Wade Davis (4-3, 3.47) to the mound trying to regain his momentum.
The right-hander was charged with a 6-0 loss to Baltimore on Saturday, allowing four runs and seven hits -- two homers -- in 5 1/3 innings. He'd gone 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his five prior outings.
That stretch included a 3-2 Rays win over Toronto on May 3, when Davis allowed two runs in six innings but didn't get a decision in a game ultimately decided by B.J. Upton's two-run walkoff homer.
Davis is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in four starts versus Toronto.
The Blue Jays saw their six-game overall winning streak end Wednesday as they lost for the sixth time in their last nine home games. Three of those defeats have come against the Rays.
Toronto committed a season-high five errors in the series opener -- two by first baseman Edwin Encarnacion, who leads the majors with 10.
"I'm sure you could point to every team having a stretch in their schedule where they performed less than anticipated," manager John Farrell told the Blue Jays' official website. "I think going forward, I think it will come down to consistency and starting rotations. There will come a point in the season where we look back and say, 'What is the reason why a team separated itself from the group?', and I think that is what we will end up pointing to."
Farrell will give the ball to Ricky Romero (3-4, 3.35), whose best performance of the season came in Friday's 2-0 victory at Minnesota. The left-hander carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitched 8 2-3, limiting the Twins to four hits while striking out nine.
Romero is 0-2 with a 4.58 ERA over his last three home starts, but he's received just one run of support in that span and none in the last two. He lost 2-0 to Tampa Bay on April 24, when he gave up two runs and struck out 10 over seven innings while Toronto's offense was four-hit by James Shields.
Jays slugger Jose Bautista is doing just fine at home with a .432 average, eight homers and 10 RBIs. However, he's 1 for 9 with no extra-base hits lifetime versus Davis.
The Toronto Blue Jays aren't having much luck at home.
Hot-hitting Matt Joyce looks to help the AL East-leading Rays win for the 12th time in 13 road games and sweep a two-game set from the Blue Jays on Thursday night.
7:07 PM ET, May 19, 2011
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Rays
(25-18, 14-5 away)
Blue Jays
(21-21, 9-9 home)
Tampa Bay (25-18) has won 11 of 12 away from home -- outscoring the opposition 81-33 in that span -- to improve to 14-5 there.
Joyce has played a prominent role in that success of late, batting .417 with three homers, five RBIs and 10 runs in his last six road games after hitting .233 with one RBI in his first 11.
The right fielder hit a two-run shot for his seventh homer of the season in Wednesday's 6-5 victory.
"He just absolutely mangled that ball," manager Joe Maddon said.
Despite those heroics, Joyce is 5 for 38 with five RBIs in 16 career games versus the Blue Jays (21-22). The homer was his first hit in 19 career at-bats at Rogers Centre.
Tampa Bay will send Wade Davis (4-3, 3.47) to the mound trying to regain his momentum.
The right-hander was charged with a 6-0 loss to Baltimore on Saturday, allowing four runs and seven hits -- two homers -- in 5 1/3 innings. He'd gone 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his five prior outings.
That stretch included a 3-2 Rays win over Toronto on May 3, when Davis allowed two runs in six innings but didn't get a decision in a game ultimately decided by B.J. Upton's two-run walkoff homer.
Davis is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in four starts versus Toronto.
The Blue Jays saw their six-game overall winning streak end Wednesday as they lost for the sixth time in their last nine home games. Three of those defeats have come against the Rays.
Toronto committed a season-high five errors in the series opener -- two by first baseman Edwin Encarnacion, who leads the majors with 10.
"I'm sure you could point to every team having a stretch in their schedule where they performed less than anticipated," manager John Farrell told the Blue Jays' official website. "I think going forward, I think it will come down to consistency and starting rotations. There will come a point in the season where we look back and say, 'What is the reason why a team separated itself from the group?', and I think that is what we will end up pointing to."
Farrell will give the ball to Ricky Romero (3-4, 3.35), whose best performance of the season came in Friday's 2-0 victory at Minnesota. The left-hander carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and pitched 8 2-3, limiting the Twins to four hits while striking out nine.
Romero is 0-2 with a 4.58 ERA over his last three home starts, but he's received just one run of support in that span and none in the last two. He lost 2-0 to Tampa Bay on April 24, when he gave up two runs and struck out 10 over seven innings while Toronto's offense was four-hit by James Shields.
Jays slugger Jose Bautista is doing just fine at home with a .432 average, eight homers and 10 RBIs. However, he's 1 for 9 with no extra-base hits lifetime versus Davis.
