The Tampa Bay Rays will look for a series win Wednesday afternoon over the Toronto Blue Jays, and with a little help, could clinch a postseason berth for the third consecutive season. Luis Patino (4-3, 4.73 ERA) will get the start, taking on Julian Merryweather (0-1, 4.91 ERA) as Toronto goes with a bullpen day. First pitch is scheduled for 3:10.
Rays Starting Lineup
Lowe 2B
Arozarena LF
Choi 1B
Diaz 3B
Meadows DH
Margot RF
Kiermaier CF
Mejia C
Walls SS
Blue Jays Starting Lineup
Springer DH
Semien 2B
Guerrero 1B
Bichette SS
Hernandez RF
Gurriel LF
Lamb 3B
McGuire C
Dyson CF
Scenarios For Rays To Clinch Postseason Berth
Tampa Bay’s magic number to make the postseason for a third consecutive year is 2, though three teams not currently in a Wild Card spot are still mathematically alive coming into Wednesday. Two of them (Seattle and Oakland) play each other this evening with an elimination number of 1, so the loser would be eliminated, and a win by Tampa Bay this afternoon would eliminate both of them before their game starts. That leaves the New York Yankees, who are one half-game behind Toronto. But because New York has head-to-head games remaining against both the Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox, the Rays can have either a Boston or a New York loss allow them to make the postseason.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
