Currently: Though they emerged from the weekend alone atop the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays might not stay there much longer if their offense remains stagnant.
Now with both of the division’s perennial powerhouses close on their heels, the Rays hope the lineup starts providing more of a boost as they open a three-game set with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
A 4-2 loss Thursday at Kansas City dropped Tampa Bay into a tie with Boston for the AL East lead. The Rays (61-43) rebounded to win their next two games against the Royals and settled for a split of the four-game set with a 6-1 loss on Sunday.
The Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 9-2 on Sunday night to avoid a three-game sweep and pull within one game of Tampa Bay. The Yankees remained three back in the division.
“We had chances to score and didn’t get it done,” manager Joe Maddon said after Tampa Bay went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position Sunday.
The Rays have averaged 2.7 runs in their last 16 games, finishing with a double-figure hit total only once in that span while batting .211 as a team.
“We’re not scoring runs when the rally is apparent,” Tampa first baseman Carlos Pena said.
Carl Crawford drove in the Rays’ only run Sunday. It was just his seventh RBI in 24 games, a stretch during which he’s failed to homer while batting .216. Crawford hit .284 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs through his first 74 games of the season.
Also struggling for the Rays is former Blue Jay Eric Hinske, in a 1-for-18 slump, and Jason Bartlett, hitless in his last 11 at-bats.
The Blue Jays (53-52) had been hot at the plate, averaging 7.0 runs during a five-game winning streak, before losing 5-1 to Seattle on Sunday.
Toronto, though, posted its fifth consecutive series win at home.
“If we go two out of three (per series) the rest of the way, I’ll be real happy,” Toronto manager Cito Gaston said.
His team’s last series loss overall came at Tampa Bay, dropping two of three from July 18-20 to fall to 2-7 in the season series.
The pitching matchup in that series opener will be the same Monday, with Tampa’s James Shields (9-6, 3.66 ERA) taking on A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.73). Each starter went seven solid innings in the previous matchup, but Shields got the victory as the Rays won 2-1.
Shields followed that outing with another win Wednesday, giving up three runs and striking out seven in 8 1-3 innings in a 4-3 victory over Oakland. The right-hander is 5-1 with a 3.02 ERA in his last six starts.
Though Shields is 2-5 with a 6.26 ERA on the road this season, he’s won both of his outings versus the Blue Jays and is 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA in five career starts against them.
Burnett has lost his only two outings against Tampa Bay this season, but is 6-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 15 career starts versus the Rays.
He’s been very solid lately, going 2-1 with a 1.77 ERA in his last three starts with 21 strikeouts in 20 1-3 innings. Burnett allowed one run and struck out seven in five innings of a 5-1 victory at Baltimore on Thursday.
The right-hander has won five straight starts at home, giving up two runs or less in four of them.
Pena is 2-for-16 (.125) with eight strikeouts lifetime against Burnett, and he’s hit .114 (4-for-35) with 21 strikeouts against Toronto this season.
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