By ,
Published February 05, 2015
(SportsNetwork.com) - A battle of former Cy Young Award winners is on tap to close out the first half on Sunday afternoon, as the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays square off for a rubber match of a three-game set at Tropicana Field.
The Blue Jays send R.A. Dickey to the hill. The knuckleballer is 7-8 on the campaign with a 3.86 ERA, and he's pitched as well as he has all season of late, boasting a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings in July.
Dickey earned his first win in more than a month his last time out, pitching seven scoreless innings against the Angels, allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out five.
"When you have a good game, you certainly want to rejoice over that (but) not get too far ahead of yourself," Dickey said.
The 39-year-old veteran lost his only other start against Tampa Bay this season way back on Opening Day, yielding five hits, six walks and six earned runs in five innings.
For the Rays, David Price will attempt to end his first half on a high note. Price, an AL All-Star for the fourth time in his career, is 8-7 with a 3.42 ERA while owning the MLB's best strikeout (159) to walk (20) ratio.
Price, who was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday due to illness, has won three consecutive starts, most recently throwing 8 2/3 innings against the Tigers on July 6, giving up seven hits and three earned runs.
The southpaw has dominated the Blue Jays during his career, going 14-2 with a 2.45 ERA.
Tampa Bay was able to even the series on Saturday afternoon with a convincing 10-3 victory.
The score was tied at 2-2 going into the bottom of the sixth inning before the Rays exploded for six runs to break the game open.
Kevin Kiermaier went 3-for-4 with three RBI out of the leadoff spot. Matt Joyce also had three RBI, while James Loney, Brandon Guyer and Yunel Escobar all finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Jake Odorizzi (5-8) pitched well stepping in to Price's slot in the rotation, striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs.
Drew Hutchinson (6-8) was solid until the sixth inning, and he left having allowed six hits, five walks and six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work.
Dioner Navarro went 2-for-4 with an RBI as the only Blue Jay with a multi-hit game.
Toronto had won four in a row versus Tampa Bay and six of eight in the season series.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/matchup-of-former-cy-young-winners-highlights-jays-rays-finale