The Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays will play the rubber game of their 3-game set today in a matinée at Rogers Centre. The Jays and Rays are similar in many ways (runs scored, batting average and team ERA) but today the edge goes to Tampa because they are expected to have their young flamethrower on the hill, Taj Bradley. To say Bradley has been dominant would be a gross understatement. He is 5-4 with a 2.63 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, and it gets better. In his last 8 starts, Bradley has allowed 2 runs or fewer. In his last outing against the Bronx Bombers on Saturday, he held Judge and company to just one hit over 7 frames and the Rays went on to a 9-1 rout, and I’m not done yet. Over his last 3 starts, Bradley is 2-0 with an ERA of only 0.45 and a 0.85 WHIP, and that is not a typo. On the flip side, the Jays are expected to hand the ball to Chris Bassitt, who is not the dominant pitcher he was when he tapped the rubber for Oakland. C Bass is 8-8 with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Over his last 3 turns, it’s been ugly. Bassitt is 1-2 with a 6.48 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. All the Rays have to do today is muster up a few runs and Bradley will take care of the rest.
TODAY’S PICK: TAMPA BAY RAYS