The Blue Jays aim for a sweep of their AL East rivals after slamming eight home runs on Saturday afternoon.
Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays
Tampa Bay has lost a season-worst four games in a row and is facing being swept for the first time since May 24-26. The Rays fell 17-11 in Saturday’s defeat, but manager Joe Maddon found some positive things to take away from the loss. “I really love the way we stayed with it all the way through,” he said. “I really appreciated our guys’ effort today.” Despite dropping the first two games of this series, the club still has 33-20 record on the road (+960), which is the best mark in baseball. Tampa is also a solid 21-12 during the day (+600) and the total is 14-18 O/U in those contests. The Rays are 6-5 on the season against the Blue Jays and 2-3 at the Rogers Centre.
Rays starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine is 2-0 with a 4.22 ERA in 30 appearances this season and will be making his first start of the season due to Jeff Niemann being scratched with shoulder soreness. The right-hander made 18 starts (22 appearances) during the 2009 season, going 6-9 with a 6.77 ERA. He has yet to record a decision in 16 road outings, producing a 4.30 ERA, while giving up 21 hits and striking out 18 in 23 innings. Sonnanstine has made nine daytime appearances, producing a perfect 1-0 record and 2.63 ERA, allowing opposing hitters to hit for just a .184 average. In seven career outings (six starts) versus the Blue Jays, he is an even 2-2 with a 5.92 ERA.
Toronto slammed eight home runs in a high-scoring 17-11 win over the Rays at the Rogers Centre on Saturday afternoon. “You think they’re going to get a couple home runs during the course of every game, that’s just how they’re built,” Maddon said. “I guess they made up for not getting any on Friday.” The Blue Jays are now 8-3 in their past 11 games and 9-1 in their last 10 games against the division. The club is actually a money-making 24-18 versus the AL East in 2010 (+1,060), but is still a disappointing 86-99 over the last three years (-1,140). Since April 29, the Blue Jays are 25-13 at home and have outscored opponents by 75 runs and have homered 85 times in those 38 games.
Blue Jays starting pitcher Brandon Morrow is 8-6 with a 4.79 ERA in 21 starts this season and the team has won his last four starts. Over that span, he has won three-straight decisions, as the offense has provided him with 29 runs of support. The right-hander brings a 6-1 record and 3.25 ERA in 10 home starts into this contest, allowing just three home runs and issuing 19 walks in 61 frames. Morrow will be making his ninth daytime start of the year, producing an even 1-1 mark and 5.08 ERA. In seven career appearances (three starts) against the Rays, he is 1-1 with a 1.99 ERA, while not allowing a single long ball in 22.2 innings.
Bettors may jump on the Rays being on the road with a money line of -100 to -125 due to their 7-3 mark in this situation in 2010 (+340), but the team is just 28-40 in this spot the last three years (-1,800). Toronto isn’t much better as a home underdog of +100 to +125, going 7-12 this season (-370) and 20-25 in this situation the last three campaigns(-280).
