After snapping a five-game losing streak, the Tampa Bay Rays will now try to start building a winning streak Tuesday night against the host Toronto Blue Jays.

The Rays took the opener of a four-game series 7-1 Monday to drop the Blue Jays to eight games below .500.

The Rays have dominated the Blue Jays this season, leading the season series 6-1. They are first in the American League East, 11 1/2 games ahead of the last-place Rays.

The Blue Jays have started an important seven-game homestand 1-3. The Rays are 1-4 on their eight-game road trip.

The presence of Dylan Cease on the mound gave the Blue Jays hope of starting the series out with a win. But besides not being able to hit, the Blue Jays had trouble catching the ball and were charged with three errors on Monday.

As a result, two of the five runs allowed by Cease were unearned.

“It’s on us,” Cease said. “It’s not the coaches. It’s not anybody else. We’re just not playing up to our potential right now. So it’s frustrating, but we have each other’s backs. We’re going to keep fighting.”

The Blue Jays have scored two runs over their past three games. And the Rays are not a good opponent for a team that is pressing and battling frustration.

“The way that the Rays play puts pressure on you,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “They do all the little things pretty well, whether it’s getting a bunt down, stealing a base. We talked about it before the series, we know they’re going on contact, and it forces you to be perfect.”

The Blue Jays are slated to pin their hopes Tuesday on right-hander Kevin Gausman (4-8, 4.33 ERA). In 28 career games (26 starts) against the Rays, Gausman is 8-10 with a 4.26 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 148 innings. He is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in in two starts against the Rays this season.

Right-hander Drew Rasmussen (7-5, 3.26) is the probable starter for the Rays. In 13 career games (11 starts) against Toronto, he is 3-4 with 3.00 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts against the Blue Jays this season.

The Rays got a solid six innings from starter Nick Martinez in the opener. Unlike Cease, he had some run support. Victor Mesa Jr., Cedric Mullins and Nick Fortes hit solo homers for the Rays. Junior Caminero was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.

“Top to bottom, we had a bunch of contributions, and needed guys to feel good about themselves,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Mesa has homered in three consecutive games.

“I feel like we needed this one,” Mesa said. “I felt like we need that confidence back. We never stop believing. We know the team that we are, and the work will never stop. Let’s keep working and let’s do our job. Let’s keep being the team that we are. We’re back. We’re back on track. We turned around, and this is the way.”

The Blue Jays are going in the opposite direction. They thought they had turned it around on June 22 when they reached .500, but they are 7-15 since.

“Losing is definitely disappointing,” Cease said. “I think it’s just frustrating when it doesn’t feel like we’re giving teams our best bullets. We have to let go of the past and show up tomorrow ready to play.”

–Field Level Media

The Chicago White Sox keep earning victories behind a strong offense.

They hope to keep the trend going against the host Texas Rangers in Arlington on Tuesday night, especially given new injury concerns.

American League Central-leading Chicago routed Texas 10-3 in Monday’s series opener despite losing catcher Kyle Teel (left ankle) and shortstop Colson Montgomery (right shin) to injury.

Teel, who was using crutches after the game, was set to undergo further evaluation Tuesday, while Montgomery is considered day-to-day.

With the lineup in flux, six different players drove in runs as Chicago collected eight extra-base hits and stopped a 10-game losing streak in Arlington. Andrew Benintendi had a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning for the key blow while Miguel Vargas had three hits and two RBIs.

Vargas’ ninth-inning double scored Chase Meidroth to set a career best with his 61st RBI of the season. The White Sox moved to seven games over .500 (53-46) for the first time since 2021.

Chicago’s relentless offense has led the team to three wins in four games since the All-Star break, outscoring opponents 25-8.

Texas pulled to 5-3 Monday on Jake Burger’s solo home run in the seventh before allowing five runs in the ninth. The Rangers, who trail the Seattle Mariners by a half-game for the AL West lead, have lost three of four games since the All Star-break, getting outscored 39-16.

Joc Pederson hit a leadoff home run, and the Rangers handed ace Jacob deGrom a 2-0 lead after two innings, but the team couldn’t sustain the momentum.

“Probably a couple missed-location pitches tonight that cost us some runs. … The other teams have capitalized on some mistake pitches,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said postgame. “So the crooked numbers have cost us the last couple games, and we just haven’t been able to catch up.”

The White Sox, however, took advantage of the scoring opportunities. Benintendi’s big double was his first career hit off deGrom after going hitless in 10 at-bats against him.

“We were kind of waiting for that one big hit. We had chances all night, it felt like,” Benintendi said, per MLB.com. “Obviously he’s really good, so you’re not going to get many pitches to hit. If you miss one, you’re probably not going to get another one. Just stick with it and go from there.”

Texas will turn to right-hander Kumar Rocker (2-8, 4.40 ERA) on Tuesday as he aims to regroup from his struggles to start July. In two starts this month, Rocker is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA and four home runs allowed over 10 innings.

Rocker pitched five shutout innings to defeat the visiting White Sox on June 15, 2025, in his lone career appearance against them.

“Win a game. That’s how you get back on track,” Schumaker said. “So (Tuesday), with Rocker going, it’s going to be important for him to get off to a good start to keep us in the game.”

Rookie left-hander Noah Schultz (3-6, 5.60 ERA) will start for the White Sox as they aim to secure their third straight series victory. He has never faced the Rangers.

Schultz will pitch for the first time since July 12, when he picked up his first victory since May 1 with a steady outing against the visiting Athletics in the first-half finale.

After walking seven batters in 9 1/3 innings over his previous two starts, Schultz issued zero walks against four strikeouts while limiting the A’s to one run and four hits in five innings of a 9-1 win.

“We really found that I was just tensing up too much, doing some things,” Schultz said. “We kind of emphasized the whole week of just kind of being loose and being free out there. I think it definitely helped with getting ahead of guys and attacking guys early.”

–Field Level Media

Two pitchers with a lot to prove will face off on Tuesday night when the Atlanta Braves host the San Diego Padres in the second contest of a four-game series.

The Braves won the series opener 3-2 on Monday for their first victory in four tries against the Padres this season.

San Diego will send Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.36 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday to face Atlanta’s Reynaldo Lopez (4-2, 3.50) in a matchup of veteran right-handers. Each is trying to hold on to a position in the rotation.

Buehler will try to bounce back from three poor performances before the All-Star break.

In his last outing on July 11 against Toronto, he pitched two innings and allowed four runs on three hits and four walks in San Diego’s 8-7 victory. Buehler is 0-2 with a 16.36 ERA in his last three trips to the mound, having allowed 20 runs and six homers in 11 innings.

“The same miss over and over, left and high,” Buehler said after his last start. “I think the All-Star break is coming at a good time for me. So try not to put too much stock into it. … Obviously, the past two or past three have been really rough, so good time to take kind of a step back and see what we’re doing.”

Padres manager Craig Stammen said he was optimistic that having a few days off at the break would help Buehler, 31, get his season back on track.

“He’s not a spring chicken,” Stammen said. “He’s got a lot of innings under his belt. … You can definitely see you know he’s not as sharp as he was back in June. We’ll get him right and get him back to that pitcher that we saw that was very effective for us.”

Buehler has made six career appearances (all starts) against the Braves, going 2-2 with a 3.75 ERA. He faced them one time in 2025 while with Boston and took a loss, allowing five runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Lopez is one of many possible pieces for Atlanta’s ever-changing rotation. He began the season as a starter but spent June in the bullpen. Since returning to the rotation, he is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA.

In his last start on July 11 against St. Louis, Lopez worked five innings and allowed four runs in a 4-1 loss. It was his third consecutive five-inning start.

In four career appearances (three starts) against the Padres, Lopez is 0-1 with a 3.93 ERA.

The Braves need their starters to go five-plus innings to preserve their relievers. Bryce Elder did that on Monday, when he worked six innings. And the overtaxed bullpen, with regular standouts Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee and closer Raisel Iglesias all unavailable, received 2 1/3 innings from Victor Mederos, who earned his first career save.

Mederos was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels on April 3.

“He’s thrown the ball well for us, but that’s a different animal what he did in a one-run game,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “You see that with players sometimes. It might be a different voice or a different piece of advice, and it clicks with a guy and he takes off. It’s looking like that’s the case with Vic.”

–Field Level Media