The Toronto Blue Jays (45-54) will welcome the Tampa Bay Rays (50-50) to the Rogers Centre On Tuesday for the first contests of a three-game series between the two sides from the American League East. An exciting series is expected, and the first pitch is scheduled for 7.07 p.m. ET.
The Blue Jays, primarily because they are on home soil, start as the favorite at -161 on the moneyline at sportsbooks. The Rays are the underdogs at +135. It will be Jose Berrios (8-7) with ball in hand for the Blue Jays to get things started, and he will be up against Ryan Pepiot (6-5) for the Rays.
The Blue Jays come into this contest after winning their last game 5-4 on Tuesday. They defeated the Detroit Tigers, and it was Kevin Gausman who picked up the win after throwing 6 2/3 innings, with four earned runs given up from five hits, and he also struck out five. George Springer led matters on the offensive front after going three for four with a double, two homers, and three RBI.
The Rays were on the end of a 9-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees yesterday. Zack Littell took the loss after throwing 5 2/3 innings, giving up five earned runs on nine hits and six struck out in the process. Jose Siri was one for two, with one home run and a single RBI in the Rays offense.
Betting Insights
- The Blue Jays have played as favorites fifty-five times this term and secured thirty-one wins, which is a success rate as the favored team of 56.4%.
- When they’ve been -159, at least on the moneyline as favorites, the Blue Jays have won thirteen out of eighteen contests, which is an impressive 72.2% win rate.
- According to the moneyline, the implied probability of a Blue Jays win in game one of the three-game series with the Rays is 61.4%.
- The Rays have been installed as the underdogs on forty-four occasions this season and have converted their underdog status into twenty wins or 45.5%.
- As a +134 underdog or greater, the Rays have won four out of ten games.
- The Rays have a 42.7% chance of defeating the Blue Jays, according to the moneyline at sportsbooks.
The Prediction
The Blue Jays are heavily favored to win this one, especially as they’re playing on home turf. They also come into game one of three after winning last time out, while their opponents, the Rays, fell to a heavy 9-1 defeat. All indications are that the Blue Jays will win; the moneyline strongly suggests it too, so we’re going to go with a 5-3 victory.
Based on our score prediction, as well as the general consensus, which marries up in the main with our thoughts, we also think there will be under 8.5 runs in this contest. But you could move that slightly higher to be on the safe side.
