Blue Jays vs. Rays: Picks, predictions, how to watch Wednesday’s game

The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays square off on Wednesday with first pitch set for 12:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Yusei Kikuchi (4-5, 4.89 ERA) will throw for the Blue Jays with Jalen Beeks (1-1, 2.36 ERA) on the mound for the Rays.

Toronto (58-45) will go for its fourth consecutive victory in the final matchup of this two-game set with the Rays. Kikuchi will make his 18th start of the season and is coming off an outing in which he allowed one run over five innings of work in his first game back since being sent to the injured list with a neck strain. The Blue Jays rank No. 1 in batting average (.265), and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the team in home runs (21) and RBI (63).

Tampa Bay (54-49) lost four of its last five games heading into Wednesday afternoon’s contest. Beeks will make his 25th appearance and has never thrown more than 2.1 innings in any outing, so this will be a bullpen game for the Rays. Tampa Bay ranks No. 25 in slugging percentage (.686), and Randy Arozarena leads the team with 47 RBI but has not driven in a run in a week.

Blue Jays vs. Rays

Pitchers: Yusei Kikuchi vs. Jalen Beeks
First pitch: 12:10 p.m. ET
Blue Jays local broadcast: SNET
Rays local broadcast: Bally Sports Sun
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Blue Jays -1.5 (+145)
Run total: 8
Moneyline odds: Blue Jays -115, Rays -105

Moneyline pick: Blue Jays -115

Toronto has a significant hitting advantage in this spot with a great chance to keep its winning streak alive even with Kikuchi on the mound, who has not put together great season-long numbers in his any of his four-year MLB career. The Blue Jays have so much power with six hitters smashing double-digit home runs in 2022.

Player prop pick: Yusei Kikuchi Over 5.5 strikeouts (+120)

The Blue Jays starter has been a solid strikeout thrower over the past few years, and he has a career-best 10.2 K/9 to this point of the season. He will face a Tampa Bay lineup that strikes out 8.9 times per game, which is tied for the fourth most in the league.

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