We all know that sports fans \u2014 and players \u2014 can be superstitious. We also know that they can be irrational. That said, there are just some trends that can not be explained without starting to believe in something unknowable. <\/p>\n
I bring this up because the Blue Jays will travel to Tropicana Field on Tuesday to start a three-game series with the Rays. Ask any Toronto fan of a certain age and they\u2019ll tell you, without hesitation, that that is a cursed destination for the franchise. The numbers back up the lore, too. Following a three-game sweep in Tampa in early May, the Jays have played exactly 162 road games against the Rays since the beginning of 2008. They are 54-108 (.333) in those contests. Woof.<\/p>\n
Can Toronto buck history and stay in the AL Wild Card hunt? Let\u2019s preview this divisional clash and make a couple picks on the DraftKings Sportsbook.<\/p>\n
Blue Jays vs. Rays prediction, preview<\/p>\n
All-Star Nick Martinez will take the mound for the Rays this evening, making his 24th start of 2026. It\u2019s difficult to know how to evaluate the 36-year-old right-hander going forward. On the one hand, Martinez has maintained a 2.74 ERA in the hardest division in baseball. On the other, his 4.73 SIERA screams regression and luck to the point of real concern. To be clear, we have to acknowledge that this is a bit of a prime Kyle Hendricks scenario. Martinez is elite at certain things. He\u2019s got a 100th percentile walk rate (3.6%) and an 83rd percentile opponent hard hit rate (33.3%), that stuff matters. However, a third percentile strikeout rate (14.1%) and a seventh percentile opponent expected batting average (.277) suggest that the veteran\u2019s .262 BABIP and 85.0% strand rate are beyond comical. Is it too late in the season to still expect normalization?<\/p>\n
Ironically, Martinez will be facing a lineup on Tuesday that might not be able to hit any pitcher hard, let alone one that suppresses loud contact as well as he does. That\u2019s been the Achilles heel of the Jays all year long. The club simply does not score enough runs. Entering tonight\u2019s action, Toronto is one of three teams that has yet to exceed 500 runs in 2026. The Jays also rank dead-last in ISO (.132), expected wOBA (.294), barrel rate (5.8%) and average exit velocity (87.5). There\u2019s no way around it. They are the worst offense in MLB. The fact that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (concussion) is currently on the IL doesn\u2019t help matters, either.<\/p>\n
That means we might be in for a good ol\u2019 fashioned pitchers\u2019 duel between Martinez and Jose Soriano. The hard-throwing RHP hit a little bump in the middle of the season, but Soriano\u2019s been great in his four starts since the All-Star break, managing a 1.59 ERA across 22.2 innings of work. Two of those four starts have come with Toronto, as Soriano was dealt from Los Angeles at this year\u2019s trade deadline. It\u2019s been interesting to see how the Jays have tweaked the 27-year-old\u2019s approach in a small sample. In his first outing with Toronto, Soriano set a new season-high with a 38.3% usage on his knuckle curve. Last time out against the Red Sox, it was Soriano\u2019s sinker that was the key offering. We\u2019ll soon see what the plan is on Tuesday in Tampa.<\/p>\n
Blue Jays vs. Rays pick, best bet<\/p>\n