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The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays square off on Friday with first pitch set for 7:10 PM EST. The game takes place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Kevin Gausman gets the start on the mound for the Blue Jays, while Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays.
Toronto (17-15) will enter Friday night with a four-game losing streak and hasn’t won since Gausman’s last start. He has been phenomenal this season with a 2.13 ERA going into his seventh start of the season. The Blue Jays have a bottom-10 offense in runs per game, led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer, who are both hitting over .280 with 7 home runs each.
Tampa Bay (19-13) snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels in 10 innings. Rasmussen has been great for the Rays with a 2.89 ERA through six starts. Tampa Bay is slightly above average in terms of runs per game, and Manuel Margot has been hot, though he could be held out of the lineup again with a hamstring injury.
Blue Jays vs. Rays
Pitchers: Kevin Gausman vs. Drew Rasmussen
First pitch: 7:10 PM EST
Blue Jays local broadcast: Sportsnet
Rays local broadcast: Bally Sports West
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Moneyline odds: Blue Jays -130, Rays +110
Picks & predictions
Moneyline pick: Rays +110
This game could go either way with a pair of similar teams with pitchers off to strong starts to 2022. The payout is higher for Tampa Bay, so we’ll side with the Rays with plus odds on Friday night. Rasmussen has not allowed more than 3 runs in a start and allowed just 2 runs on 6 hits over 10 innings of work.
Player prop pick: Kevin Gausman O7.5 strikeouts (+120)
The Blue Jays starter is one of the best strikeout pitchers in the sport, and I’ll bet he surpasses this high total. Gausman averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game through his six starts this season. Tampa Bay strikes out more than the average team, and Gausman should reach 8 strikeouts Friday night.
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