TORONTO — The 13-0 Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from setting a modern-day baseball record for most consecutive victories to start a season.
The Toronto Blue Jays — also off to a strong start at 8-5 — stand in their way. The American League East division rivals will meet tonight at Rogers Centre in the opener of a three-game series.
"Uniquely hot," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of the Rays' start. "They're obviously a good team and they're a complete team. They're playing a good brand of baseball right now."
Tampa Bay defeated Boston 9-3 on Thursday to tie Major League Baseball's post-1900 record held by the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. The only longer season-opening streak was a 20-0 start by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association.
The Rays are not only winning this season, they're often earning victories in dominant fashion. Tampa Bay has outscored its opponents 101-30 entering play against Toronto.
"We know how they deploy and how they match up," Schneider said. "I think it'll be a fun series. But it's a credit to what they do, the start that they got off to."
Toronto kicked off its season with a solid 6-4 road trip. The Blue Jays opened their home schedule this week by taking two of three from the Detroit Tigers.
"It's a good test early," said Toronto starter Chris Bassitt. "We've just got to take it one game at a time and not try to make this too big of a deal."
After being swept out of the wild-card round in two of the last three years, the Blue Jays are looking to win the East division title this season and skip the play-in round altogether.
While it's a long 162-game regular season and it's only mid-April, every win adds up when you're in a powerhouse division with Tampa Bay, the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.
"You've got to win the ones you should win, you've got to hold on to the ones you have the lead in," Schneider said. "All that kind of stuff. You don't look at what other teams are doing per se, you look at what you're trying to do and what you're trying to get better at.
"That's going to continue to be the focus."
Right-handers are scheduled to square off in the series opener. The Rays have tabbed Drew Rasmussen (2-0, 0.00 earned-run average), while Jose Berrios (0-2, 11.17) is the probable starter for the Blue Jays.
It will also be the first time that Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier has played his former team.
Kiermaier was drafted by Tampa Bay in 2010 and spent his entire career with the Rays until signing with Toronto in the off-season.
With files from The Associated Press. Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2023.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
