DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a>. The Rays are +109 underdogs, with the total set at O\/U seven runs.<\/p>\nRays vs. Blue Jays Preview<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay Rays<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay\u2019s surge atop the American League standings has largely been fueled by a small-ball approach \u2014 plus occasional flashes of serious pop. The Rays refuse to strike out and wreak havoc on the basepaths, while the likes of Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, and Jonathan Aranda all boast an OPS north of .820. There are signs of early overperformance \u2014 they rank 29th leaguewide in xwOBA \u2014 but the bats, at least for now, are hot as can be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pitching staff has also benefitted from some significant batted-ball luck; Tampa Bay\u2019s MLB-best BABIP bolsters its top-five ERA. That\u2019s not to say that the Rays can\u2019t deal. Indeed, Monday\u2019s starter, Drew Rasmussen, has been one of the most reliable starters in baseball \u2014 with the underlying metrics to back it up. The right-hander, 30, has shoved to the tune of a 2.95 ERA (3.17 xERA) with a 0.93 WHIP and 37 strikeouts through his first seven turns (36.2 IP) in 2026, limiting walks and loud contact with his nasty cutter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last time out, Rasmussen held the Blue Jays to three earned runs over six frames on seven hits (one home run) and a walk with five strikeouts.<\/p>\n
Toronto Blue Jays<\/p>\n
The Blue Jays have struggled to shake off their World Series hangover. The Fall Classic runners-up, like Tampa Bay, continue to showcase their small-ball style with a lofty batting average and an MLB-best strikeout rate. The only problem? They just haven\u2019t had the power to capitalize, ranking in MLB\u2019s bottom ten for home runs (23rd) and total runs scored (25th). Toronto\u2019s offense is largely driven by surging Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto and his 10 home runs, while franchise superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has only circled the bases twice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Blue Jays\u2019 pitching staff \u2014 particularly its bullpen \u2014 has suffered some tough breaks early on. While sitting 17th in ERA, the club ranks 26th in BABIP and ninth in xERA. Toronto aims to stem the tide Monday night, with ace Kevin Gausman commanding the hill. The veteran right-hander, 35, owns a 3.09 ERA (3.36 xERA) with a 0.99 WHIP and 43 strikeouts across his first eight starts, ranking in MLB\u2019s 96th percentile in pitching run value behind a wicked fastball-splitter combo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gausman spun six innings of two-run ball on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts in his most recent start in Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n
Rays vs. Blue Jays Pick, Best Bet<\/p>\n
The Rays, arguably the hottest team in baseball, entering Monday\u2019s series opener as an underdog offers tantalizing value. It was only one week ago that they swept the Blue Jays at the Trop, prevailing in the first Rasmussen-Gausman showdown. While Tampa Bay may run out of juice eventually, the club should ride its recent momentum to a road upset over its sputtering division rival.<\/p>\n
Best Bet: Tampa Bay Rays Moneyline (+109)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cooper Albers previews Monday\u2019s MLB series opener between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-266957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}