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Rays look to close out sweep vs. Blue Jays

Jul 20, 2008 - 2:54 PM Toronto (47-50) at Tampa Bay (57-39) 1:40 p.m. EDT

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Rays are back at home and back on the winning track. They will look to complete a three-game series sweep Sunday when they host the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rays held a five-game lead in the American League East Division on July 6 after winning six straight games at Tropicana Field. But a seven-game losing streak that included sweeps at New York and lowly Cleveland left them behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East entering the All-Star break.

It did not take long for Tampa Bay to adjust to being back at home, however, as it improved its mark at Tropicana to 38-14 with Saturday's 6-4 win over the Blue Jays. The Rays won the series opener, 2-1, on Friday and now lead Boston (57-42) by 1 1/2 games in the division.

Superior starting pitching has led the way in the past two games, with James Shields and Matt Garza combining to allow one run and six hits in 14 2/3 innings.

Edwin Jackson (5-6, 3.93 ERA) will try to keep the strong starts coming in the series finale on Sunday. The 24-year-old righthander cruised into the All-Star break with four consecutive solid starts, going 1-0 with a 2.30 ERA.

Jackson pitched eight scoreless innings at Toronto on May 8, though he did not factor in the decision.

The Blue Jays will counter with converted reliever John Parrish (1-0, 2.77). The lefthander will be making his third start with Toronto this season after allowing a total of four runs and 10 hits in 13 frames over his previous two outings.