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David Price, Blue Jays look to hang on to AL East lead vs. Rangers

David Price has been spectacular since joining the Toronto Blue Jays (70-55) last month but he has rarely fared well in Texas, where he will pitch on his birthday Wednesday (8:05 p.m. ET) in the continuation of a three-game series with the Rangers (64-60).

Price is 2-4 with a 5.37 ERA in his career against the Rangers, easily his highest ERA against an American League opponent.

He has been even worse at Globe Life Park in Arlington, where the former Cy Young Award winner has been pounded for 21 runs in 25 2/3 innings across five rocky outings.

Toronto has been on a roll since acquiring Price from the Detroit Tigers, with the Blue Jays going 16-3 since his debut on Aug. 3. The 30-year-old's ERA has dropped to 1.78 with his new team, and his record stands at 3-0 heading into Wednesday's start.

Price will be tasked with trying to keep alive the latest winning streak for the Blue Jays, who took their fourth straight game by scoring twice in the top of the ninth inning to win 6-5 in Tuesday's series opener.

The rally gave Toronto a one-game lead in its race against the New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East and dropped the Rangers 4½ back in the West. Price has had it rough against Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, who has gone 10-for-23 with five RBIs and six walks.

Texas is giving right-hander Colby Lewis the nod against Toronto. He blanked Detroit on Friday night to extend his streak to six wins in his last seven starts. Lewis will go up against Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista, who is 4-for-12 with two homers and six walks against him.

Texas, which has a half-game lead for the second wild-card spot, has listed second baseman Rougned Odor as day-to-day after he injured his right middle finger fielding a grounder Tuesday.

Outlook

- The series wraps up with an afternoon game on Thursday and will feature a pitching matchup of Marco Estrada for the Blue Jays and Yovani Gallardo for the Rangers.

Notes

- Blue Jays DH Edwin Encarnacion homered Tuesday to extend his career-long hitting streak to 20 games.

- Odor has three home runs and four doubles in his last eight games.

- Toronto closer RHP Roberto Osuna has converted 15 straight save chances and has a scoreless streak of nine innings.