It’s two teams playing out the string opening a series north of the border on Friday night as Tampa Bay visits Toronto. The Rays aren’t road favorites very often but they are here on the MLB odds behind All-Star lefty Blake Snell.
Here’s an interesting stat: Of the 29 players to hit at least one 3-0 home run this season, five of them have been on the Blue Jays’ roster. Toronto’s seven 3-0 homers this year are the most in the Majors (2nd: MIL-4) and are their most ever in a season (6 in 1998). The Jays’ 220 doubles this year are tied for 3rd most in the AL (BOS-250, MIN-230, OAK-220). They have hit 39-2B since the All-Star break, tied with LAA for most in the Majors.
It’s Marco Estrada here. Estrada (5-8) allowed one run on one hit and two walks while striking out four over seven innings in a win over the Mariners on Saturday. Estrada wasn’t dominant (eight swinging strikes on 93 pitches), but he was successful regardless as Seattle couldn’t find any holes in the field. His 10.4 percent K-BB rate this year is his worst mark since his rookie season in 2008.
How to Bet Rays at Blue Jays MLB Spread & Game Preview
When we say max effort, we mean ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/2diliWzunK
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) 10 de agosto de 2018
- When: Friday, 7:07 PM ET
- Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto
- Probable pitchers (away/home): Blake Snell/Marco Estrada
- TV: MLB Extra Innings
- Stream: MLB.tv
- Radio: TuneIn
- MLB Spread: Tampa Bay Rays -125 / Toronto Blue Jays +115 (Total 8.5)
Nationals vs Cubs MLB Odds & Expert Pick – August 10th
Why Bet on Tampa Bay?
The Rays closed out a home series vs. Baltimore on Thursday and this game starts a nine-game trip which also includes visits to the Yankees and Red Sox. So, Tampa Bay is likely to be well under. 500 following it. Will closer Sergio Romo be available Friday? He let in two runs in the ninth inning to blow a save and take a loss against the Orioles on Wednesday. He didn’t even get an out. He was relieved after allowing all three batters he faced to get hits, including a two-run double by Trey Mancini. It was his seventh blown save of the season. Romo has 13 saves and a 3.71 ERA in 54 games, including five starts. He has 57 strikeouts and 16 walks in 51 innings. The Rays said goodbye to second baseman Daniel Robertson this week. He had surgery to repair a ligament tear in his left thumb Tuesday and isn’t expected back this season. Robertson could be ready to play in 6-8 weeks, but there’s no reason for the Rays to try to rush him back for the last week. Robertson slashed .262/.382/.415 while also playing quality defense at several spots. He may open next year as the team’s starting second baseman. The Rays are 21-26 (.447) in 1-run games this season, leading the majors in 1-run games (Mariners, 42) and 1-run losses (Mets/Orioles, 21). A whopping 41.6 pct. of Rays games have been decided by 1 run, compared to 27.7 pct. of games in the majors. A total of 46.4 pct. of their losses have come by 1 run, the highest rate in the majors (Astros, 45.2 pct.). The Rays are on pace for 37 1-run losses, which hasn’t been done by an AL club since the 1968 White Sox (44). The Rays have a major-league-most 19 losses when yielding 3 runs or fewer, ahead of the Giants (16) and Pirates (16). Tampa could well give up 3 or fewer here with ace lefty Blake Snell scheduled to start. After coming off the 10-day disabled list Aug. 4 against the White Sox and tossing four innings of one-run ball, Snell (12-5, 2.27) would have been available to take the hill in Thursday’s series finale against the Orioles on his normal four days’ rest. However, Rays manager Kevin Cash wanted to give the All-Star an extra day to recover from last weekend’s outing. Snell was limited to 59 pitches last time out in his return from left shoulder fatigue, but he should take on a more normal workload here.Why Bet on Toronto?
The Jays closed out a three-game home set Thursday vs. Boston looking to avoid being swept. Entering that game, Toronto had matched a season-worst by falling 11 games below .500 at 51-62. Toronto as of Thursday was a season-most 28.0 games behind the division-leading Red Sox. They hadn’t been that far back of 1st place since the end of the 2009 campaign when they finished 28.0 games back of the Yankees. Toronto was last further back on Sept. 20, 2009, when they were a season-most 28.5 games back of New York. They were last 29+ GB at the end of the 2004 season, winding up 33.5 games back of NYY.
Here’s an interesting stat: Of the 29 players to hit at least one 3-0 home run this season, five of them have been on the Blue Jays’ roster. Toronto’s seven 3-0 homers this year are the most in the Majors (2nd: MIL-4) and are their most ever in a season (6 in 1998). The Jays’ 220 doubles this year are tied for 3rd most in the AL (BOS-250, MIN-230, OAK-220). They have hit 39-2B since the All-Star break, tied with LAA for most in the Majors.
It’s Marco Estrada here. Estrada (5-8) allowed one run on one hit and two walks while striking out four over seven innings in a win over the Mariners on Saturday. Estrada wasn’t dominant (eight swinging strikes on 93 pitches), but he was successful regardless as Seattle couldn’t find any holes in the field. His 10.4 percent K-BB rate this year is his worst mark since his rookie season in 2008.
Latest MLB Betting Trends
- Rays are 4-1 in their last 5 during game 1 of a series
- Rays are 6-1 in the last 7 meetings
- Blue Jays are 3-7 in Estrada’s last 10 Friday starts
- Blue Jays are 2-5 in Estrada’s last 7 starts with 5 days of rest
- Tampa Bay is 0-5 ATS in its last 5 games
- Tampa Bay is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games
- The total has gone OVER in 8 of Tampa Bay’s last 12 games
- Toronto is 7-14 ATS in its last 21 games
- Toronto is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games at home
- The total has gone OVER in 7 of Toronto’s last 8 games
