Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg

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By all accounts, both the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays are on the outside looking in at the playoffs, but both teams are fighting to finish the season above .500. They will have that chance when they meet Tropicana Field in Tampa. Throwing the ball for the Blue Jays will be right-hander Marcus Stroman (8-5), while right-hander Chris Archer (8-7) will get the ball for the Rays.

Stroman has had a remarkable rookie season for the Blue Jays this season. In 21 starts, he has gotten 8 wins and has a 3.88 ERA. In 99.2 innings, he has recorded 85 strikeouts and has limited his walks to just 25. He struggled a bit in August going just 1-3, but finished the month off with a solid performance that saw him go 7.2 innings with 1 earned run allowed and 6 strikeouts against the Boston Red Sox. In his only start against the Rays, he allowed 10 hits in 25 at-bats including multiple hits for Curt Casali, Desmond Jennings, Kevin Kiermaier, and Evan Longoria.

Archer has made 27 starts this season and for the most part, has been quite consistent. He has an ERA of 3.40 and has limited the opposition to a .249 batting average. He is coming off a terrible start against the Red Sox that saw him last just 4 innings as he allowed 7 earned runs on 10 hits and 2 walks. In his previous start, he allowed just 1 earned run in 7 innings against the Blue Jays.

Toronto Blue Jays Betting Trends

Toronto Blue Jays are 65-67-4 against the Over/Under

Run Differential for Toronto Blue Jays is 0

Tampa Bay Rays Betting Trends

Tampa Bay Rays are 61-69-7 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Tampa Bay Rays is 0.1

Injuries to Watch

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)

Tampa Bay Rays

09/01/14 CF Desmond Jennings Knee questionable
06/24/14 LF Jerry Sands Wrist 60-day DL (6/22), out for season
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)

Tony's Pick: Take Tampa Bay

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