Blue Jays-Rays Preview

If familiarity breeds contempt, there should be animosity aplenty on Friday when the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays meet at Tropicana Field.

The Blue Jays will give the ball to starter AJ Burnett in this one. Righthander Burnett is 10-7 this season with a 4.86 ERA.

It'll be James Shields toeing the rubber for the Rays in this contest. Righthander Shields is 7-6 with a 3.83 ERA so far this season.

NewBodog oddsmakers currently have the Rays listed as 145-moneyline favorites versus the Blue Jays, while the game's total has not yet been posted.

The Blue Jays defeated the Yankees 4-1 as a +135 underdog on Sunday. The five runs scored fell UNDER the posted over/under total (8.5).

A.J. Burnett allowed only one run over eight 1-3 strong innings while striking out eight for Toronto, while Marco Scutaro hit a three-run home run in the win.

The Rays lost their seventh in a row Sunday after falling to Cleveland 5-2 as a -150 favorite. The seven runs scored fell UNDER the posted over/under total (8.5).

Scott Kazmir took the loss for Rays after getting roughed up for five runs on eight hits over six innings.

Current streak:
Tampa Bay has lost 7 straight games.

Team records:
Toronto: 47-48 SU
Tampa Bay: 55-39 SU

Toronto most recently:
When playing on Friday are 2-8
Before playing Tampa Bay are 4-6
After playing NY Yankees are 5-5
After a win are 5-5

Tampa Bay most recently:
When playing on Friday are 3-7
Before playing Toronto are 4-6
After playing Cleveland are 1-9
After a loss are 4-6

A few trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Toronto's last 9 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Toronto is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Toronto's last 17 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Toronto's last 6 games
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Tampa Bay's last 9 games when playing at home against Toronto
Tampa Bay is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
Tampa Bay is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Toronto

Next up:
Tampa Bay home to Toronto, Saturday, July 19