The Toronto Blue Jays will have their first chance to avenge last year’s postseason series loss to Tampa Bay on Friday when they open a three-game weekend series with the Rays as consensus +130 road underdogs on the lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto was swept in last fall’s two-game Wild Card series, extending the woeful track record against Tampa Bay that the team carries into Friday night’s matchup at Tropicana Field.
The Blue Jays were outscored by a wide 11-3 margin in their first postseason appearance since 2016, with each of their ALWS losses coming in Tampa Bay. Overall, the Blue Jays dropped six of nine road meetings with the Rays in 2020. Additionally, Toronto has failed to tally consecutive wins while going 7-21 in 28 clashes in Tampa Bay since the start of the 2018 MLB season, according to the OddsShark MLB Database.
Toronto has also come up short in six of eight away outings since opening its 2021 schedule on a 3-1 run. Blue Jays hitters have been largely quiet so far on the team’s current road trip, scoring just two runs in each of three straight losses prior to Wednesday’s 6-3 win in Boston.
Injuries have contributed to Toronto’s uneven performance. George Springer has yet to make his Blue Jays debut while nursing a quad injury, and the team clinic has been kept busy with a growing list of pitchers battling through an array of ailments.
Despite those challenges, the Blue Jays have been steady defensively. Toronto has surrendered just 3.55 runs per game so far this season, tops in the American League, and has given up just 2.6 runs per game over its past five contests. That has contributed to steady results for the UNDER at online sports betting sites, which is on a 5-0 run as well as 13-5 so far on the season.
While the Blue Jays aim to rewrite their losing narrative in Tampa Bay, the Rays look to maintain their recent high-scoring ways as they return home for Friday’s series opener as consensus -150 betting favourites.
The Rays averaged an impressive 7.33 runs per game while going 5-1 on their recent six-game junket, capped by a 9-8 loss in Kansas City on Wednesday. That offensive explosion marked a welcome turnaround for the team after averaging fewer than three runs per game during a six-game home stretch that ended with three straight losses.
However, the Rays have managed to avoid losing four games in a row at home in over 100 regular season contests since April 2019.
