Blue Jays Gameday (May 13): Toronto looks to win series finale against Tampa Bay Rays
Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
May 13, 2026, 17:15 EDTUpdated: May 13, 2026, 17:05 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays enter Wednesday riding a three-game losing streak, and at this point will be happy to see the Tampa Bay Rays leave town.
The Rays (28-13) have made life miserable for Blue Jays’ players, coaches, and fans over the past week, taking all five matchups, and outscoring the Blue Jays 27-15 over the course of those meetings.
During Tuesday night’s 7-6 extra innings loss, the Blue Jays showed fight, coming down from five runs to tie the game before eventually falling in the 10th inning. Outside of the seventh inning, where the Blue Jays scored five of their six runs, the offence once again struggled, being held to only six hits, and failing to hit a home run for the second time in three games.
The Blue Jays (18-24) were only able to record two extra-base hits in the loss on Tuesday, the first being a RBI double from Jesús Sánchez before Yohendrick Piñango doubled home two more three batters later. Both of these two players have been bright spots in the Blue Jays’ lineup this season as Sánchez sits tied for second in home runs with five, and Piñango is batting .375 across his first 32 career at-bats.
Griffin Jax is set to make his fourth start of the season for the Rays in the series finale. Through 14 games this year, Jax is 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. Opposing teams have been able to hit the 31-year-old at a .242 clip, blasting three home runs off the right-hander over his 18 innings pitched.
After being a reliever for much of his career with the Minnesota Twins, the Rays are attempting to turn Jax back into a starter, something he hasn’t done consistently since his rookie year in 2021. Jax’s last outing in Boston on May 7th was the longest of his season to this point, throwing four innings and topping out at 59 pitches.
Set to take the mound for the Blue Jays is right-hander Dylan Cease. Cease is coming off his finest outing in a Blue Jays uniform, where he threw seven shutout innings and struck out 10 Angels in a 2-0 win on May 8.
Through eight starts, Cease is 3-1 with a 2.58 ERA and 1.24 WHIP and has struck out 66 batters over his 45 1/3 innings pitched, tied for the third most in MLB. The 30-year-old struggled early on in the year with pitch efficiency and control, but has been locked in over his past two outings, striking out 17 batters compared to only one walk.
Here’s how the lineups look for Wednesday’s series finale at Rogers Centre:
First Pitch: 7:07 PM ET
Watch/Listen: Sportsnet One, SN590
Starting Pitchers
Toronto Blue Jays – Dylan Cease: 3-1 record, 2.58 ERA, 45.1 IP, 66 SO, 18 BB
Tampa Bay Rays – Griffin Jax: 1-2 record, 5.00 ERA, 18 IP, 17 SO, 11 BB
Lineups:
Blue Jays:
- George Springer – DH
- Yohendrick Piñango – LF
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – 1B
- Kazuma Okamoto – 3B
- Daulton Varsho – CF
- Jesús Sánchez – RF
- Ernie Clement – 2B
- Andrés Giménez – SS
- Tyler Heineman – C
Rays:
- Chandler Simpson – LF
- Junior Caminero – 3B
- Jonathan Aranda – 1B
- Yandy Díaz – DH
- Jake Fraley – RF
- Richie Palacios – 2B
- Cedric Mullins – CF
- Hunter Feduccia – C
- Taylor Walls – SS
Breaking News
- Blue Jays Gameday (May 13): Toronto looks to win series finale against Tampa Bay Rays
- Blue Jays prospect Arjun Nimmala is swinging a hot bat in Double-A New Hampshire
- Instant Reaction: Blue Jays drop third in a row with extra inning loss against Tampa Bay Rays
- Blue Jays pitching prospect Jake Bloss struck out four in return to game action
- Blue Jays Gameday (May 12): Toronto hosts Rays looking to snap two-game losing streak