Tampa Bay @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 27, 2011 ) Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 5

THE STORY: Runs may be hard to come by Sunday when the Tampa Bay Rays resume their four-game weekend series against the host Toronto Blue Jays. David Price takes an 8-1 career record against the Jays into the matinee contest. He'll be opposed by Toronto righthander Brandon Morrow, who has been his stingiest against Tampa Bay. The Rays have won the first two games of the set, dropping Toronto back to .500 for the year.

TV: 1:07 p.m. ET, SunSports (Tampa Bay), Rogers Sportsnet (Toronto)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays LH David Price (11-11, 3.53 ERA) vs. Blue Jays RH Brandon Morrow (9-8, 4.65).

Price's unbeaten run against Toronto finally came to an end in their last encounter Aug. 2, when he was saddled with the loss after allowing three runs on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. The hard-throwing lefty, who turned 26 on Friday, still owns a sterling 2.19 ERA in 10 career starts against the Blue Jays, with his only complete-game shutout coming at their expense last season. Morrow may never live up to the hype generated when the Seattle Mariners made him the fifth pick in the 2006 draft, but he'll always have Aug. 8, 2010. That was the day Morrow came within an out of his first career no-hitter, settling for a one-hit shutout with a career-best 17 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over the Rays in one of the greatest games ever pitched. The 27-year-old is 3-2 with a 1.87 ERA all-time versus Tampa Bay.

ABOUT THE RAYS (72-59): Don't expect to see B.J. Upton sporting another team's jersey anytime soon. Word spread quickly Saturday that an unidentified club snagged Upton off the waiver wire earlier this week, prompting the Rays to pull him back. It's unlikely Tampa will deal the enigmatic 27-year-old, despite the fact he has largely failed to fulfill the promise that made him the second pick in the 2002 draft. Upton's three-run homer was the difference in Saturday's 6-5 win, but he is still sporting the lowest average of his career and has seen his run and stolen base totals drop precipitously over last season.

ABOUT THE BLUE JAYS (66-66): It looked for a while like Adam Lind had returned to his form of 2009, when he slugged 35 home runs and assumed the mantle of Toronto's most fearsome hitter. Over the past two months, he has looked more like the player whose home run, RBI and average totals plummeted back to Earth in 2010. Lind has struggled mightily since the All-Star break, hitting only .183 with six homers in 153 at-bats. Sunday might be a struggle as well - Lind is 6-for-30 lifetime against Price with a team-high seven strikeouts. Teammate Jose Bautista has fared the best among current Jays, swatting four home runs in 22 at-bats against Price.

FINAL PITCH: The Rays own a 9-4 advantage in the season series, with 11 of the 13 games decided by two runs or fewer.