The Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays meet Friday in MLB action from Rogers Centre. This will be the first game of the final series in the regular season. Tampa Bay just finished up against the Red Sox, winning both games in that set. As for Toronto they played the Yankees in their last series. The Blue Jays lost the first pair, then in the finale Toronto posted a shutout win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Tampa Bay Rays 

The Rays were able to power out a 9-7 win over the Red Sox in the Tuesday opener of their last series. Tampa Bay kept it going with a 5-0 win in game two for the miniature sweep. Isaac Paredes put up two RBI and a homer on Wednesday, while Josh Lowe posted three hits, three runs and a solo shot. 

In the starter role for the Rays on Friday it’ll be Aaron Civale. This year in 22 starts Civale is 7-4 with a 3.43 ERA and 113 Ks in 120.2 innings. He’s 2-1 with a 5.50 ERA over his last seven starts, striking out 49 in 34.1 innings. 

Tampa Bay Rays Team Facts

The Rays have won four of their last six games as road underdogs.
The Rays have covered the run line in each of their last eight games as underdogs.
The Rays have won the first inning in each of their last five games against the Blue Jays.
The Rays have led after 3 innings in five of their last six games as underdogs against AL East opponents.

Toronto Blue Jays 

Over on the Blue Jays’ side, they took a pair of shutout losses to the Yankees in the first two games of their last set. The first came 2-0 Tuesday, then Toronto fell 6-0 in game two. In the finale the Blue Jays scored three in the sixth inning on the way to 13 team hits in a dominant 6-0 win. Brandon Belt (three RBI), Matt Chapman and Daulton Varsho each homered in the victory. 

As starting pitcher for Friday’s matchup the Blue Jays will send out Yusei Kikuchi. This year Kikuchi is 10-6 with a 3.82 ERA in 31 starts. He’s got 177 Ks in 162.2 innings. Kikuchi is 1-2 with a 5.24 ERA over his last seven starts. 

Toronto Blue Jays Team Facts

The Blue Jays have lost 19 of their last 25 games as favorites against the Rays following a win.
The Blue Jays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight home games against AL East opponents following a win.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Blue Jays’ last 11 games as favorites against AL East opponents.
The Blue Jays have led after 7 innings in each of their last six Friday games against American League opponents that held a winning record.

Matchup/League Facts

The Toronto Blue Jays rank 2nd in the league for ERA this season (3.72).
The Toronto Blue Jays rank 2nd in the league for strikeouts this season (1504).
The Tampa Bay Rays rank 2nd in the league for opponent batting average this season (.229).
The Tampa Bay Rays rank 2nd in the league for hits allowed this season (1223).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably take a stab on the Blue Jays here. At least some of that is due to Civale’s recent struggles. Over his last three starts Civale is 0-1 with 13 earned runs in 13.0 innings on 15 hits and four walks. Toronto should have some early opportunities to score if they can get the bats going early in the opener. In the Thursday matchup the Blue Jays had a great offensive outing; four different players had multiple hits and only Kevin Kiermaier (0-for-4) came up empty at the plate. The pitching was excellent as well, which is a good sign for Toronto. They’ll need to be sharp on the mound in this final series.