Mark Buehrle (14-7, 3.69 ERA) and Matt Andriese (3-5, 4.37 ERA) take the hill in the last of a three-game series between the Toronto Blue Jays (89-65) and the Tampa Bay Rays (75-80) at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays won the last game 10-8 and Toronto leads the series 2-0. Action begins at 1:07 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sep. 27 and can be seen on SUN and RSN.
Buehrle pitched 6.0 innings in his most recent start, surrendering three runs, striking out one and walking two in a 4-3 defeat to the Red Sox. Jose Bautista (.252, 106 Rs, 39 HRs, 110 RBIs, 8 SBs) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 3 with two runs, two home runs, and four RBIs. Andriese went 1.0 innings, surrendering zero runs in a 2-1 defeat to the Orioles in his last outing. Steven Souza Jr. (.222, 53 Rs, 16 HRs, 40 RBIs, 12 SBs) went 1 for 5 yesterday with one run and one RBI.
This one isn’t expected to be close when Toronto, a substantial -215 favorite, takes on Tampa Bay. The Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at eight runs for this matchup. The Blue Jays have recorded an overall money line of +930 and have shown high-level performance as a favorite this season with a record of 68-36. Toronto has had an impressive season against division opponents, earning 23-18 and 37-30 records as the favorite and SU respectively. The Blue Jays lead the MLB in extra base hits with 526. Toronto leads the whole AL in walks, earning an average of 3.5 per game. Turning to the pitchers, opposing offenses have been stifled by the Blue Jays, who have a team ERA of only 3.77. The Blue Jays are the fourth-best team in the AL at limiting hits to their opponents, allowing only 8.4 hits per game so far this season.
In games where it is the underdog, Tampa Bay has a 39-42 record and an overall money line of -759. They are 20-20 as the underdog against teams in their division, and 34-37 SU.
The Rays lead the season series, 8-7. The Blue Jays have a 68-51 record against right-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Andriese takes the mound. Buehrle (LHP) will be on the hill against the Rays, who have a 28-20 record against left-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – Tor, O/U – Under
Notes
For the 13th time this season, the Blue Jays registered at least two errors in a game.
The Blue Jays are coming into this matchup after a high-scoring game where they scored a whopping 10 runs. The Rays have a 0-9 record when opponents score that many runs or more.
It looks like the Blue Jays have a slight leg up on the Rays, as the Blue Jays have won their last three games while the Rays have lost their last two.
When they outhit their opponents, the Rays are 54-25. The Blue Jays have a 72-7 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking first in runs, Toronto has earned 848 this season. Tampa Bay ranks 26th with 606 runs.
Toronto ranks at the top of the league when it comes to walks with 541 this season. Tampa Bay ranks in the bottom half at 20th with 424.
The Blue Jays are 79-35 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Rays are 57-44 when they hit at least one homer.
