Multiple Plays in Rays vs. Blue Jays

Rays vs. Blue Jays 1:37 ET

The hottest team in baseball is finally cooling down a bit, right? Eh, who knows. They lost their first game against the Blue Jays and it was bound to happen at some point I suppose. Now they look to close out this series against their rivals and both teams want to inflict some damage on the other before they break apart for the next series.

The Rays couldn’t have asked for a better start, it honestly just wasn’t possible for this to happen. I am shocked that they took 13 straight games to win the season. The only thing crazier would be if they now dropped their next 13 games. That is just as unlikely, probably more unlikely because if you consider how good the Rays pitching staff is. That’s precisely what I like about this game here. Shane McClanahan is an absolute beast for the Rays. He is off to a great start and I think it continues against Toronto. He has posted quality starts in two of his three outings and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any game. In fact he hasn’t allowed more than five hits in a game yet either. The one issue is he has allowed four free passes in both of his past two starts. That concerns me and I do wonder if that is pitch clock related. He issued four walks just once all of last season. He’s been good, but not great against Blue Jays hitters, with George Springer having the most success.

On the other side, if you’re Toronto you need to be looking at the Rays and just shaking your head. You have a solid record yourself and you’re still chasing them in your own division. That has to be incredibly frustrating, but I guess you know that it is early and have plenty of time to make up games in the division race. They have Alek Manoah taking the ball for them. If you listened to my brief mention of him on Geoff Clark’s podcast, I said I loved him last year but wanted to see him do it again this year before I got too involved with any Cy Young future on him. Manoah stumbled out of the gate against St. Louis and rebounded against the Royals with a gem. He then went just 4.1 innings against the Tigers and allowed three earned runs. Walks have been an issue for him as well. He’s been solid against the Rays though in the past with no one being very successful against him.

I already threw this out on Twitter, but hammer the under 9 at -120 for two units at least. Frankly, I’m a bit shocked that the line is this high for a game with these two pitchers. Manoah has the capability to spin a gem and you know McClanahan is one of the best pitchers in the game. I’ll take it. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rays win this one and at +110 with McClanahan on the hill, I’ll take a shot there.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024