Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays Odds & Pick: August 8th 2010

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Pick: Toronto Blue Jays +109 odds
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The Blue Jays are playing great baseball right now winning four of their last five games. They can sweep the Rays with a win on Sunday afternoon. Tampa’s Jeff Niemann was scratched from his start with shoulder soreness so Andy Sonnanstine will take the hill in this game making his first start since September 16th, 2008. The righty was activated from the DL on Saturday, and he has no hard pitch count, but only went 1.1 innings on Thursday in Class A Advanced. Out of the bullpen, Sonnanstine is 2-0 with a 4.22 ERA this season. In his career, Sonnanstine is 2-2 with a 6.08 ERA against Toronto. Vernon Wells (4-15), Aaron Hill (4-15), Jose Molina (3-9), Adam Lind (3-8), Lyle Overbay (4-7), and Yunel Escobar (1-1) all have good numbers against the Rays starter. Toronto moved to 30-24 at home and 24-17 against the division after scoring 17 runs in their win over the Rays on Saturday.

Toronto’s Brandon Morrow loves pitching at home. In front of his fans, he’s 6-1 with a 3.25 ERA in 10 starts this season. Morrow has won three straight starts after defeating the Orioles twice and the Yankees. The righty has faced the Rays twice giving up three runs and six hits in 13 innings pitched against them. Ben Zobrist (2-8), Evan Longoria (2-8), Carl Crawford (0-7), Reid Brignac (0-6), B.J. Upton (1-5), Jason Bartlett (0-4), and Matt Joyce (0-1) all have poor numbers against Morrow. The Rays have now lost four straight games which means there’s some tremendous value in taking the plus price with the home team this afternoon.