ST. PETERSBURG -- It’s back to square one for the Blue Jays, who fell again to the Rays on Friday night in a preview of just how exhilarating -- or frustrating -- the Wild Card round could be.

The 10-6 loss drew the Blue Jays and Rays even atop the AL Wild Card standings, but the Rays now hold the tiebreaker, having clinched the season series. Tropicana Field, known lovingly as “The House of Horrors” by Blue Jays fans, is the last place this club wants to be in October, and a night like this shows exactly why.

“It’s weird here. Whenever things don’t go great or perfectly, it seems to unravel,” said manager John Schneider. “This place is a tough place to play for a variety of reasons.”

Friday’s middle innings were tense and messy, with the lead bouncing back and forth as each bullpen struggled to lock things down. Just after the Blue Jays jumped ahead 4-3 with a four-run top half of the fifth, the Rays grabbed that lead right back on a three-run shot from Randy Arozarena that skipped off the top of the wall in right field. It wasn’t just a quirk of The Trop; the ball would have been a homer in 19 of 30 MLB stadiums, according to Statcast. But don’t tell that to Blue Jays fans, who have seen too many heartbreaking bounces to count in this stadium over the years.

What the Blue Jays lacked Friday, and what they’ll desperately need if they meet the Rays again after this weekend, is a stopper in the middle innings.

Adam Cimber was just that, shutting the Rays down in the sixth and seventh innings with two fantastic frames. On either side of Cimber, though, Anthony Bass and Yimi Garcia were hit hard.

For Bass, this outing was the ultimate outlier. He hadn’t allowed a home run to a right-handed hitter all season. He’d faced 149 of them before Arozarena, and since joining the Blue Jays at the Trade Deadline, he’s been nothing but reliable. Garcia, on the other hand, has now allowed nine runs (six earned) over his last four outings (3 2/3 IP). The veteran right-hander emerged as the Blue Jays’ setup man this season, earning every bit of Schneider’s trust, so the team is left to hope that this is a blip that will soon correct itself.

Bass and Garcia also walked two batters each, which helps illustrate why these Rays have been such difficult opponents for the Blue Jays.

“It’s a very aggressive team,” Schneider said, “and when they have an opportunity to get free bases and an opportunity to put the ball in play, they can be dangerous. They have really good pitching and play good defense. Tonight was a really good example of how you play into their strengths. You can’t walk guys and expect good things to happen. You want to make them beat you with their bats, and tonight we didn’t do that and didn’t take care of the ball.”

Now, the Blue Jays need to outpace the Rays the rest of the way to bring the Wild Card round home, and tiebreakers could decide it all.

Blue Jays tiebreaker scenarios:

• If two teams are tied, their head-to-head record breaks the tie. If three are tied, the tie is broken based on their combined winning percentage against the two other clubs.

• Friday's loss moves the Blue Jays to 7-10 against the Rays, which means Tampa has clinched that tiebreaker with only two games remaining between the two teams. Toronto will end the season 2-5 against the Mariners, making tiebreakers something the Blue Jays want to avoid.

• Read the full tiebreaker rules here

• New MLB postseason format, explained

The Mariners now sit 1 1/2 games back of Toronto, and avoiding a trip to the West Coast should be another priority coming out of the final series of the season in Baltimore. Even if the Orioles are out of the picture by then, they are a young team that will be looking to end the season on a high note.

“There’s no time to dissect and overanalyze everything,” said Matt Chapman. “We’ve got 11 games left. Show up, prepare to win and do everything we can to win a ballgame. At the end of the day, this is playoff baseball every day now. It’s win or go home. For us, it’s show up tomorrow and be ready to rock.”

If all goes well, this weekend will be the last time the Blue Jays see Tropicana Field in 2022. Solving the Rays and their stadium is the long-term goal, but for now, avoiding each is the safe answer.