Interleague Baseball Betting: Jays vs Rays
The Blue Jays have really struggled with Tampa lately, especially at Tropicana field where their winning percentage is abysmal.
Toronto Blue Jays (24-20) vs Tampa Bay Rays (26-18)
Wednesday May 23
Tropicana Field – Tampa, FL
1:10PM
Moneyline: Tampa -115, Toronto +100
O/U: 7.5
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays LH Ricky Romero (5-1, 3.64 ERA) vs. Rays RH James Shields (6-2, 3.77 ERA)
Toronto
That is why it was such encouraging news to see the Jays take the series opener Monday even though Kyle Drabek wasn’t all that sharp. As this is being written the Jays find themselves down late against TB meaning they will have to take the rubber match Wednesday to have made up any ground in the division.
Toronto will close out the series with ace Ricky Romero on the mound. The lefty has been walking way too many batters but has a solid 5-1 record including a win against the Rays earlier this season. His numbers at the Trop are solid and he generally keeps the Jays in the game so there is good value there. It might be too bad Adam Lind was sent to the minors because he has 5 lifetime homers against James Shields, the most of any current Jay. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Tampa Bay
The Rays had lost 4 of 5 heading into Tuesday night’s action and things didn’t look good early with phenom Matt Moore struggling again – I wonder when they might send him down. But typical Tampa they tightened things up in relief and came away with the victory at home. This team is lacking its biggest bat with Evan Longoria up but put a hurt on Toronto’s own phenom – Drew Huthinson.
On the hill getting behind James Shields is a smart play. The Rays are 7-2 in his starts this season returning almost 6 units already this season. Also, he is perfect in day games this year (4-0) but I am never sure what to make of a split like that. This is a tough one to call with good value on both sides. You have to like Shield’s career 9-5 record against Toronto and the fact that the Jays lineup has no real lefthanded threat right now.
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Tampa Bay 5 – Toronto 4