Frank Sawyer

At 6:40 PM ET on Tuesday, we will be playing the money-line on the Tampa Bay Rays (962) versus the Toronto Blue Jays (961), listing both starting pitchers Nick Martinez and Jose Soriano. THE SITUATION: Tampa Bay (75-49) snapped their three-game losing streak with their 7-6 victory at home against Baltimore last night. Toronto (61-65) saw their two-game winning streak end on Sunday in a 4-3 loss at home against the New York Yankees.

REASONS TO TAKE THE RAYS WITH THE MONEY-LINE: Tampa Bay now enjoys a 19-7 mark in their last 26 games after previously winning nine games in a row before their series with the Orioles began. The Rays have won 8 of their last 9 games after winning their last game. And while the Tampa Bay bullpen blew a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning before rallying to win later in the game last night, they have won 17 of their last 20 home games after a blown save in their last game. The Rays have won 42 of their 63 games at home this season. Additionally, they have won 24 of their last 33 home games with the Total set in the 7-7.5 range. They have also won 15 of their last 20 games at home against fellow AL East rivals. They give the ball to Nick Martinez, who has a 12-3 record along with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 23 starts. In his last eight starts, he has a 2.76 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. What the right-hander does best is keep Tampa Bay in games — he has not given up more than three earned runs in 20 of his 23 starts this season. He should continue to pitch well against this Blue Jays team that ranks 26th and 25th in MLB this season in weighted On-Base Average and weighted Runs Created on the road against right-handed pitchers. Toronto has lost 26 of their last 46 road games against teams using a right-handed starting pitcher. They have also lost 10 of their last 13 road games after a loss by just one run. They continue their tour of fellow AL East rivals as this is their eighth straight game against a division opponent — and they have won 5 of their last 7 road games after playing at least three straight games against AL East teams in a row. They have lost 19 of their last 31 road games as a money-line underdog priced up to +150 — and they have lost 24 of their last 41 road games with the Total set in the 7-7.5 range. They counter with Jose Soriano, who has a 9-6 record along with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 24 starts for the Los Angeles Angels and now the Blue Jays after they acquired him at the trade deadline. The right-hander started the season with an exceptional 1.66 ERA in his first nine starts. But then the Regression Gods made their presence known, as the deeper sabermetrics are not encouraging. Both his SIERA and xFIP project an ERA of 4.11 and 3.72 moving forward. His expected ERA (xERA) from Statcast, which incorporates exit velocity and hard-hit rate into the otherwise fielding-independent data, sits at 4.43. 

FINAL TAKE: The Rays rank third and first in MLB this season in weighted On-Base Average and weighted Runs Created at home against right-handed pitchers — and they rise to second and first in both those categories since May 1st. 10* MLB Monday Daily Discounted Deal with the money-line on the Tampa Bay Rays (962) versus the Toronto Blue Jays (961), listing both starting pitchers Nick Martinez and Jose Soriano. Best of luck for us — Frank.