Tampa Bay Rays vs Toronto Blue Jays MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 4/23/21
The Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays meet in MLB action from Tropicana Field on Friday.
The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to build on their 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox in Wednesday’s matchup. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the Jays with a .383 batting average, a .513 OBP and 23 hits, sharing the team lead in RBIs with 12 with Bo Bichette and Randal Grichuk. Bichette leads the Jays with 5 home runs while Bichette, Grichuk and Vladdy all have 4 doubles on the year. Steven Matz is expected to start here for Toronto and is 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA and 18 strikeouts this season. This will be Matz’s second career start against Tampa Bay.
The Tampa Bay Rays will look to bounce back from a 9-8 loss to the Kansas City Royals last time out. Joey Wendle leads the Rays with a .365 batting average, 23 hits and 15 RBIs while also posting a team-high 7 doubles. Austin Meadows has a team-high 4 home runs with 5 doubles. Wendle and Brandon Lowe each have 3 home runs as well this season. Tyler Glasnow will start this game and is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA and 36 strikeouts this season. In his career, Glasnow is 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA and 32 strikeouts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto is 23-47 in their last 70 games as a road underdog and 2-6 in their last 8 road games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games overall. Tampa Bay is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall and 38-14 in their last 52 games as a home favorite while the over is 7-2 in their last 9 division games. Toronto is 16-35 in the last 51 meetings between these two teams.
I get the case that could be made either way here, but I’m leaning towards the under as Matz and Glasnow have both pitched well enough to lead me towards a potential pitchers duel here. I could see a game that features 5 runs or maybe even less, so give me the under in this spot.
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