Blue Jays vs. Rays Prediction and Pick for Wednesday, August 3 (A Recipe for Runs at the Trop)
By Josh Yourish
We’ve got Game 2 of this mini-series down in Florida, as the Tampa Bay Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays. This will be the 10th meeting between these two teams this season.
Yusei Kikuchi gets the start for Toronto tonight. Tampa has yet to announce a starting pitcher, but Ryan Yarbrough would be ready on five days of rest.
Odds are available at the WynnBET Sportsbook.
Blue Jays vs. Rays Odds, Run Line and Total
Run Line
- Blue Jays
- Rays
Moneyline
- Blue Jays
- Rays
Total
- X (Over / Under)
Blue Jays vs. Rays Prediction and Pick
Tampa Bay has yet to announce their starter, but regardless, I like runs to be scored in this game. Tampa Bay will get to face Yusei Kikuchi the lefty for Toronto, and the Rays have a .705 OPS against lefties. That number isn’t jaw dropping, but it's a lot better than their .683 against right-handers.
Kikuchi certainly has not been jaw-dropping either. He has a 4.89 ERA and 5.70 fielding independent pitching. He seems to be alternating between a fairly decent start, about five or six innings and one earned run, with a disaster. His last start was decent, the outing prior, 2.1 innings, four earned runs. It seems he is due for another rough outing and Tampa Bay could deliver it.
That doesn’t mean I love the Rays in this one though. Toronto’s bats have been hot and they’ve been playing good baseball. If Tampa goes with Yarbrough or a bullpen game, it could be trouble for them too. The Rays bullpen is 22nd in expected fielding independent pitching and 20th in bullpen WAR.
If it isn’t the bullpen and it’s Yarbrough, the Blue Jays have a .747 OPS against lefties and Matt Chapman, who is their hottest hitter at the moment, has an OPS almost 50 points higher facing left-handers.
Pick: Over
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