Down to the Wire

The Tampa Bay Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field on September 23rd at 7:10 pm. This will be the 17th time both of these two teams play against each other in the regular season. The Rays currently hold a series lead of 8-7 and won the last game by a final score of 11-0. The Rays head into this game with a home record of 49-28 and the Blue Jays have a road record of 41-33. Both of these teams are competing to make it to October and play in the playoffs. The odds for this game are currently pending according to Caesars Casino & Sportsbook. New users will receive a Risk-Free Bet of up to $1250 on their first wager. When you make your first bet, if it loses, it’s on the house as Caesars will refund any losing wagers in full (up to $1250 in the form of a single-use bonus credit Plus Caesar’s is adding 1,000 Reward Credits and 1,000 Tier Credits). You must make a deposit to get the bonus! Click the link to sign up or use Promo OSBETFULL. Claim your bonus here!

The Toronto Blue Jays are currently 84-65 and are in second place in the AL East. The Blue Jays are the first-seeded team for the Wild Card in the AL. Over their last 10 games, they are 6-4 but are on a one-game losing streak. They are coming off a series against the Philadelphia Phillies where they won one of the two games they played on the road. In this game against the Rays, pitcher Alek Manoah will take the mound for the Blue Jays. On the season, Manoah is 14-7 with an ERA of 2.40 and a WHIP of 1.01. Manoah has pitched against the Rays twice this year and the Blue Jays won and lost when he started. The Blue Jays are currently in 2nd place for the number of hits in the league with 1,339. They also rank top 4 for batting average, OBP, and SLG. Impressively they are the number 1 ranked team for batting average with a .262. Alejandro Kirk leads the team in batting average and OBP while Bo Bichette leads the team in RBIs and hits. Third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the team in home runs with 30 and he is regarded as Toronto’s best player.  The Blue Jays are a great hitting team as they have 8 batters with over 115 hits on the season. Also, they rank 15th around the league for ERA with a 3.92. Headed into this game, the Blue Jays will need to have a great performance if they want to hold their lead in the AL East and their first seed in the Wild Card.  

The Tampa Bays Rays are currently 82-67 and are in third place in the AL East. Over their last 10 games, the Rays are 4-6 and are on a three-game losing streak. They are 2 games behind the Blue Jays and looking to close that gap in this series. However, they are coming off of a series at home against the Houston Astros where they lost all three games they played. They got outplayed in that series as they only scored 2 runs and allowed 14. In this game, the Rays will have Jeffrey Springs take the mound for them. On the season, Springs is 9-4 with a 2.45 ERA and a WHIP of 1.09. Springs started 1 game against Toronto this season and he was able to pick up a victory in a game where he pitched 6 innings and had 5 strikeouts with no earned runs allowed. As a team, the Rays are better at pitching than they are hitting as they rank #4 in the league for ERA but rank #16 for batting average. The Rays need to have a good performance at home if they want to overtake the Blue Jays for second place in the AL East. 

This game will be close and should feature a pitcher’s duel. Manoah and Springs are great at their positions and have found success against each other’s teams. I think the Blue Jays will be able to steal a game on the road and add to their record. They have a better hitting rotation and will have the better pitcher in this game. 

For our expert, Toronto Blue Jays vs Tampa Bay Rays pick, take the Blue Jays run line.