Friday, August 22, 2014

Rogers Centre in Toronto

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On Friday night, Drew Smyly (7-10) will be making his fourth start as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays and will be going up against rookie Marcus Stroman (7-4) and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Last Saturday, Drew Smyly pitched seven strong innings against the New York Yankees at home, but all he could get out of that start was a no decision. He allowed just two runs on four base hits in that outing while walking one batter and striking out four. Smyly now has a 3.66 ERA on the season and has only walked 2.7 batters per nine innings.

Blue Jays third baseman Danny Valencia is 2-for-7 against Smyly in his career with a walk and a strikeout. None of the other Blue Jays have faced him more than once.

Marcus Stroman only made it through 0.2 innings against the Chicago White Sox last week and ended up taking the loss. He gave up five earned runs in that start and struck out one batter while walking no one. Stroman has struck out 73 batters in 87 innings of work this year and he now has a 3.83 ERA after that rough outing.

All of the Rays will be facing Stroman for the first time on Friday night. So far this season, he has held left-handed batters to a .222 batting average in 176 at-bats.

Tampa Bay Rays Betting Trends

Tampa Bay Rays are 57-61-7 against the Over/Under

Run Differential for Tampa Bay Rays is 0.2

Toronto Blue Jays Betting Trends

Toronto Blue Jays are 61-61-4 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Toronto Blue Jays is 0

Injuries to Watch

Tampa Bay Rays

07/18/14 C Ryan Hanigan Oblique 15-day DL (7/9)
06/24/14 LF Jerry Sands Wrist 60-day DL (6/22), out for season
06/19/14 LF David DeJesus Hand 15-day DL (6/19)
04/08/14 P Matt Moore Elbow 60-day DL (4/8), out for season
03/30/14 2B Tim Beckham Knee 60-day DL (3/30)

Toronto Blue Jays

08/07/14 3B Brett Lawrie Back 15-day DL (8/6)
07/31/14 1B Dan Johnson Hamstring 15-day DL (7/31)
07/09/14 RF Cole Gillespie Oblique 15-day DL (7/7)
05/04/14 P Brandon Morrow Hand 60-day DL (5/3)
04/14/14 2B Maicer Izturis Knee 60-day DL (4/14)

Guy's Pick: Take Tampa Bay

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