Up next: Blue Jays

SCOUTING REPORT: The Blue Jays are looking for a victory tonight. It's a modest goal, but it would be a big deal considering the Jays have won consecutive games once since the start of July.

They still can cause headaches for opposing pitchers thanks to two of the most exciting and productive hitters in baseball. Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells are 1-2 in the American League in RBIs. Delgado leads the league with 105 and Wells has 93.

Wells comes into this series with a 14-game hitting streak.

Meantime, Delgado is on the verge of having his sixth straight season with 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored. He needs 18 runs to accomplish the feat.

"It sounds like a lot. Especially the runs scored; it's a big number," Delgado told mlb.com. "You don't think about it, and I don't look at the stats, but they kind of pile up. RBIs and runs; that's the name of the game. If you score runs and drive in runs, you give your team a chance to win. That's what we try to do."

The hitting of Delgado and Wells kept the Jays within shouting distance of the Yankees and Red Sox in the East until their July slump.

DISABLED LIST: INF Dave Berg, RHP Pete Walker, LHP Doug Creek.

CONNECTIONS: Pitchers Cory Lidle, Tanyon Sturtze and Creek are ex-Rays, and catcher Tom Wilson was a Rays farmhand. ... Toronto manager Carlos Tosca is a Tampa native. ... Rays bench coach John McLaren started his coaching career in the Toronto organization and spent eight years in the minors. He then was the Jays third-base coach from 1986-90.

SEASON SERIES: The Rays, who never have won a season series against the Blue Jays, lead this year's series 4-2. Toronto leads the overall series 45-36, including 27-14 at SkyDome.