Pinnacle Odds: Toronto Blue Jays -115 at Tampa Bay Rays +106 Total 8
by Greg Dempson
After an anemic offensive showing in back-to-back games in Baltimore the Toronto Blue Jays scored more runs with one swing of the bat in garnering their first win of the season vs. the Rays yesterday. Former Pittsburgh Pirates starter, (leftie Francisco Liriano,) who became a Blue Jay at the trade deadline last season, gets the call for Toronto tonight. In 10 games with the Blue Jays he went 2-2 and posted an ERA of 2.92. One of those starts was against the Rays and Liriano went 6.3 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 6 with the Jays winning 3-2 on September 12 at home.
Matt Andriese gets the call for Tampa Bay. He started the season at 6-0 before faltering and finishing at 8-8 with an ERA of 4.37 and 0-1 in his lone start vs. Toronto, (ERA of 4.05.) The Rays struggled against left-hander CC Sabathia in their season opener on Tuesday and were shutout for the first 5 innings garnering 5 singles resulting in a 5-0 loss. In three appearances vs. Toronto Andriese has lasted a combined 13 innings allowing 7 earned runs on 12 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5.
From the Pitchers Point of View
· Liriano is 17-41 to the UNDER in the first half of the season in his career.
· Liriano is also 21-40 to the UNDER when the money line is + or -125.
· Tampa Bay’s starters are on a streak of 06-18 to the UNDER in the month of April.
· Toronto’s starters are also 08-18 to the UNDER in the month of April.
Under the Numbers
· Toronto is 18-43 to the UNDER when off two or more consecutive unders the past two seasons.
· The Blue Jays are also 14-33 to the UNDER when on the road and the total is between 7 to 8.5 runs.
· Tampa Bay is 10-23 to the UNDER in home games with a team slugging percentage of .410 or worse on the season.
Everyedge.com MLB in Review
· I thought I had found value when getting Happ at +100 in the first 5 innings rather than -107, such was not the case as Toronto dropped my first selection 3,1 after 5 innings and I start the 2017 season at 0-1 and -1.0-unit.