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Rays hope for more magic at Disney

Apr 22, 2008 - 12:54 PM Toronto (10-10) at Tampa Bay (8-11) 7:10 pm EDT

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) - The Tampa Bay Rays will begin a three-game home set against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday at the Disney Sports Complex, the second straight year the club has played a series here.

On May 15-17, Tampa Bay scored 23 runs against Texas and registered two extra-inning wins en route to completing its only sweep of three or more games last season.

This time around, the Rays will seeking similar success here after dropping two of three to the Chicago White Sox, including's Sunday's 6-0 loss.

Hoping to start this series off on the right foot, Tampa Bay will turn to James Shields (1-1, 3.52 ERA), who has been the victim of some poor defense in his last two starts - both no-decisions.

After being charged with three unearned runs in his April 11 start, the righthander permitted five runs - but only three earned - and eight hits over five frames in Wednesday's 6-5 loss at Minnesota.

However, Shields is 2-0 with a 2.75 ERA in three career starts against Toronto.

The Blue Jays will counter with Jesse Litsch (2-0, 4.60), who has yet to pitch past the sixth in any of his three starts.

The righthander is coming off a no-decision in his last turn against Texas on Wednesday when he surrendered four runs and nine hits over five innings in the Blue Jays' 7-5, 14-inning loss.