Tuesday Baseball Betting Odds and Game Preview: Blue Jays vs. Rays

Division rivalries are always fun to watch, but they take us on a whole new level of importance when the teams involved are in the midst of a baseball betting  battle for the first place. That is exactly where the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays are right now in the AL East. Just 3 games separates the first from the fourth in the division, so this 3-game series in Tampa is incredibly important. The second game of this series is set for Tuesday night.

Toronto vs. Tampa Bay Game Info

Time: Tuesday June 23,  7:10 p.m. ET Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL National TV:  Sun Sports Radio: WDAE 620 AM /95.3 FM Opening line: TBA The Blue Jays (37-34) made a spectacular start to the month of June, winning 11 straight whilst also seeing their pitching staff seem to get into line. Things have been a little bumpier since that run ended, though, as they followed the streak up with a series split with the Mets followed by losing 2 of 3 to the Baltimore Orioles. The losses in those last few games saw some of the bullpen issues come back again, but still not to the extent that it was in the earlier part of the season. The good news for the Blue Jays is that they continue to have one of the hottest offenses in baseball. If they can get their pitching issues under control, they could well take control of this division in the second half of the season. R.A. Dickey (3-6, 4.96 ERA) will be bringing his iconic knuckleball to the mound on Tuesday night. The disabled list of the Tampa Bay Rays (40-31) seems to get longer by the minute, with starting pitchers taking up most of the space. You might assume that this would mean a team in crisis mode, but the Rays are about the furthest thing from it. They hold a slender 1 game lead atop the AL East, and have gone an impressive 8-2 in their last 10 games. You keep looking at this team and thinking that their run cannot possibly last, and they just keep winning to blow that theory out of the water. The Rays have taken 6 of 7 games from the Blue Jays this season, but those all came in the early part of the year when Toronto was having some major bullpen issues. Chris Archer (8-4, 2.18 ERA) will get the start for Tampa on Tuesday. Archer has been red hot, going unbeaten in his last 4 starts to gather a 3-0 record in that stretch.

MLB Injuries

As hot as the Blue Jays bats have been, they are running into a pitcher at the top of his game right now. Archer always seems to give the rays a chance to win when he pitches, and I think he can do it again in this one.