The Toronto Blue Jays can certainly make things interesting in the American League East should they duplicate their early August performance against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Jays, who open a three-game series at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Monday night (7:10 p.m. ET), have been anything but punching bags to the first-place Rays this season.

After dropping 14 of 18 games in 2009, Toronto has split the 12 games this year, highlighted by a memorable three-game sweep of Tampa Bay at the Rogers Centre from Aug. 6-8.

Despite a 68-62 record, the Jays will likely miss the playoffs again, but a series victory against Tampa Bay could tighten things in both the AL East and wild-card races.

The Rays (80-50) are currently tied with the New York Yankees for top spot in the division and are 6½ games ahead of Boston for the wild-card position.

The Jays split a four-game series against the Detroit Tigers this past weekend, and were roughed up 10-4 in the finale on Sunday.

On a positive note, a streaking Brett Cecil (11-6, 3.80 ERA) will head to the mound on Monday. Seeking his fourth win in five outings, Cecil has saved some of his best pitching for the Rays.

He pitched seven innings of one-run baseball during a 2-1 victory on Aug. 6, earning a third straight victory over Tampa Bay. Cecil is also 4-1, including a 3.45 ERA, in six games versus the Rays.

"He's probably pitched as well as anybody on this club," said manager Cito Gaston. "He feels like he belongs here. He's got some confidence going."

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has kept pace with the defending World Series champion Yankees all season. The baseball club has won 11 of its last 15 games, and two of three from Boston following Sunday's 5-3 victory.

'That's interesting'

The win also kept the Rays in a first-place tie with New York for the seventh consecutive day.

"That's interesting," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. "That's just the way it is. And, I expect the same kind of September. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth."

Right-hander Wade Davis (10-9, 4:41 ERA) will look to continue Tampa Bay's home dominance over the Jays. The Rays have defeated Toronto 21 of the last 26 games at Tropicana Field.

Davis earned a victory in his return from the disabled list last Wednesday, surrendering only two runs in 5 1/3 innings of work during a 10-3 blowout of the Los Angeles Angels.

"He had really good stuff. It's a nice first step coming back," Maddon said. "The ball was jumping out of his hand well. He looked healthy."

A win Monday night would extend Davis's streak to a career-best sixth straight victory.