at Betway this morning, the Jays are -165 on the Moneyline, while the Rays are +135. On the Runline, the Jays are -1.5 (+125), with the Rays +1.5 (-165). The total is set at 7.5 (Over -105, Under -115).<\/strong><\/p>\nLet’s call it: the Jays’ offence stinks right now, so that line reflects the immense respect oddsmakers have for Cease – and justifiably so. He’s a strikeout machine, a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate, and he struck out the side in the first inning of last week’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
That and the fact the Rays are riding a six-game road skid right now. The story in the American East is the surging Boston Red Sox, winners of 13 straight.<\/p>\n
Martinez, while not overpowering hitters like Cease does, keeps games close and limits damage, so that 7.5-run total reflects expectations of a pitcher\u2019s duel.<\/p>\n
The Rays, who typically dominate the Blue Jays, are up 5-1 in their season duel.<\/p>\n
Players to watch, other than the pitchers: Ernie Clement, 13-for-41 with a double and home run over the last ten games, and Junior Caminero on the Rays\u2019 side, with 29 home runs, slugging .551.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s good value on that Under 7.5 (-115), with both starters with ERAs under 2.70, and the Jays\u2019 offence struggling. That\u2019s why, for me, look for Toronto to add bats at the trade deadline more than pitching. The current lineup can\u2019t seem to generate consistent run production.<\/p>\n
The other best bet is Cease 7+ strikeouts (-180), even 9+ strikeouts at plus money (+200), if he works into the sixth or seventh innings. Over his last two starts, Cease struck out 20 batters in 15 innings.<\/p>\n
Plus, there\u2019s no better opportunity to get back on the winning track than to ride your No. 1 starter. That\u2019s why I\u2019m also leaning Blue Jays moneyline tonight (-150). I am putting my money more on Cease than I am on the Blue Jays hitting.<\/p>\n"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119633"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119634,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119633\/revisions\/119634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.betway.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}