Toronto (17-15) at Tampa Bay (19-13)
When: Friday, May 13th 2022
Where: Tropicana Field,
St. Petersburg, FL
Time: 7:10 ET | TV: MLB.tv
Opening Odds: Toronto -110/6.5
A pair of struggling teams who are trying to keep pace with the New York Yankees in the American League East, will meet to begin a three-game series this Friday night in St. Petersburgh, Fla. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are coming off series losses this week and will look to rebound. Toronto has lost four in a row including the last two in New York against the Yankees, stranding 15 runners and going a dismal 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. After winning 15 of their first 23 games, Toronto has now lost seven of nine to fall six games back of New York in the East. The potent lineup has scored more than three runs just twice over the last 10 games and are hitting .237 for the season.
Meanwhile, the Rays are coming home from a 10-game road trip that saw them win the first six before dropping three of the last four. They managed to pull out a 4-2 win in extra innings at the L.A. Angels on Wednesday thanks to a recent call-up. Vidal Brujan, who was called up from Triple-A Durham, smacked an RBI double, stole third base and scored on a single by Harold Ramirez in the 10th inning to help the Rays avoid a sweep. Tampa Bay is currently in second place in the division, four games back of the surging Yankees. The Rays went 11-8 last season against Toronto, including 5-4 at Tropicana Field. The Under is 8-1-2 in the last 11 matchups.
Pitchers: Blue Jays – Kevin Gausman (3-1, 2.13) | Rays – Drew Rasmussen (3-1, 2.89)
We have a great pitching matchup that starts with Toronto’s Kevin Gausman. The veteran righty hasn’t lost in almost a month and Toronto is 4-0 in his last four starts. Gausman is coming off a solid outing at Cleveland, allowing one run over 6.1 innings in the 8-3 win. In 17 career games against Tampa Bay (15 starts), Gausman is 7-6 with a 4.00 ERA.
Drew Rasmussen gets the nod for Tampa Bay and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his six starts in 2022. Rasmussen has allowed just two earned runs over his last three starts and picked up a win at Seattle last weekend. He also hasn’t allowed a homer in his last four outings and is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in three appearances (two starts) against the Blue Jays.
The pitching matchup is pretty even here, but I like the Toronto lineup a little better. I know they’re struggling a bit, but are still capable of exploding on any give night.
Check out who Bobby Babowski has on his Free MLB Picks page for today.
Pick: Blue Jays -120
