The Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays finish off a three game series Wednesday night. The winner of Wednesday night’s game will win the series after they split the first two games. The game will be played at Toronto’s Roger’s Centre and is scheduled to start at 7:07 PM ET.
The Blue Jays are listed as narrow favorites in baseball odds at -115 with the Rays at -105. The over/under is 7.5 runs.
The Toronto Blue Jays (31-23, 15-12 home) will look to bounce back after a devastating loss to the Rays on Tuesday. The loss ended a four game winning streak for the Blue Jays. They held a 5-3 lead going into the ninth inning before giving up four runs. Vernon Wells’s RBI double in the bottom of the ninth got them back to within one, but the game ended with Toronto behind 7 to 6.
The biggest reason for Toronto’s success this season is their powerful offense. They lead the majors in home runs (89) by a long shot, with the second place team trailing them by 20 homers. They also lead the majors in slugging percentage (.472) and trail only the New York Yankees in total runs scored.
The Tampa Bay Rays (35-18, 20-6 away) escaped with a much-needed win Tuesday. The Rays, who have the best record in the majors, have slid a bit lately, going just 4-6 in their last ten games. Toronto has been a surprise in the AL East, and was making up distance on the Rays with a four-game winning streak.
The game features a strong pitching matchup between Toronto’s Shaun Marcum (5-1, 2.59 ERA) and Tampa’s David Price (7-2, 2.57 ERA). Marcum has won four straight starts and is 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA in his last seven outings. He is 1-0 with a 0.83 ERA in three starts against Tampa.
Price is looking to become the AL’s first pitcher to win eight games. He is 3-0 with a 2.92 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays. He had a four-game win streak prior to his last start, when he gave up three runs in seven innings in a 4-2 loss to Chicago on Friday night.
