Blue Jays vs. Rays: Picks, predictions, how to watch Sunday’s game

The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays square off on Sunday with first pitch set for 1:40 p.m. ET. 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. Toronto will be starting Alek Manoah (4-0, 1.75 ERA) while Tampa Bay will counter with Jeffrey Springs (1-1, 2.12 ERA).

The Blue Jays (18-16) finally got off their five-game skid picking up the 5-1 win on Saturday. Hyun Jin Ryu was able to go 4.1 innings, and then the Jays’ bullpen shut it down. After Ryu came out, Toronto only gave up two hits the rest of the game. Saturday’s game was tied 1-1 heading into the eighth inning, where Toronto scored four runs to solidify a win. The Blue Jays will wrap this series and then head home for a six-game homestand starting on Monday against the Seattle Mariners.

The Rays (20-14) are sitting in second place in the AL East, and a series win against Toronto would give them momentum. Springs went a season-high four innings in his last outing, allowing three runs in a loss to the Angels on May 9. After wrapping up this series, the Rays stay at home and welcome the Detroit Tigers to town for a three-game series starting Monday.

Blue Jays vs. Rays

Pitchers: Alek Manoah vs. Jeffrey Springs
First pitch: 1:40 p.m. ET
Blue Jays local broadcast: Sportsnet
Rays local broadcast: Bally Sports Sun
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Moneyline odds: TOR -120, TB +100

Picks & predictions

Moneyline pick: Blue Jays -120

The Blue Jays have more than enough to pull out a victory at the Trop today. Namely Manoah, who has the third-best ERA (1.75) and the second-best WHIP (0.89) in the AL. The sophomore sensation has given up two or fewer runs in each of his six starts, and you should expect that to continue against a Rays offense that has an MLB-worst .509 OPS over the past week.

Player prop pick: Santiago Espinal over 0.5 RBI (-205)

Espinal has been a pleasant surprise at the plate this year and is now batting fifth for the Blue Jays. He has a .355/.432/.548 slash line over his past 10 games with five RBIs, and those run production chances should come in bunches for as long as he’s batting behind George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Bo Bichette, as he is today.

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