With seven wins in their last ten games, the Toronto Blue Jays (61-65) are miraculously within just half a game of the final Wild Card spot as they take the field tonight in St. Petersburg against the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays (75-49). The Rays own the best record in the American League and lead the division by six games over the Yankees.
Toronto arrives in Florida after taking two of three at home against the Yankees. The Blue Jays took the first two games, including a 3-1 victory Friday behind strong performances from Alejandro Kirk and Shane Bieber, before falling 4-3 in 10 innings on Sunday when Ben Rice’s extra-inning homer prevented the Jays from completing the sweep. The Rays continue a seven-game homestand after dropping three of four against the Orioles. splitting a four-game series with the Orioles. They salvaged the finale yesterday with a come from behind 7-6 win. Yandy Diaz and Ryan Vilade each went yard for Tampa. Despite the struggles over the weekend against Baltimore, Tampa remains one of the top home teams in baseball with a record of 42-21 at Tropicana Field.
The Blue Jays will send José Soriano (9-6, 3.16 ERA) to the mound. The righthander has been better than good since arriving at the trade deadline from the Angels. In two starts the veteran has pitched 10.2 innings and allowed just two earned runs. Tampa Bay counters with Nick Martinez (12-3, 2.74 ERA). The righthander has been inconsistent of late. Two of his last four starts have seen him throw a combined 11.2 innings of shutout baseball. In the other two starts, however, Martinez has allowed ten earned runs over 15 innings.
Lets dive further into tonight’s game and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Blue Jays vs. Rays
- Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
- Time: 6:40PM EST
- Site: Tropicana Field
- City: St. Petersburg, FL
- Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, Sportsnet, Rays.TV
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The Latest Odds: Blue Jays vs. Rays
The latest odds as of Tuesday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Toronto Blue Jays (+120), Tampa Bay Rays (-129)
- Spread: Blue Jays +1.5 (-192), Rays -1.5 (+157)
- Total: 7.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers – Blue Jays vs. Rays for August 18
- Blue Jays: Jose Soriano
Season Totals: 133.2 IP, 9-6, 3.16 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 134K, 62 BB - Rays: Nick Martinez
Season Totals: 138.0 IP, 12-3, 2.74 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 78K, 20 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Blue Jays vs. Rays
- George Springer is 8-19 including 2 HRs in his career against Nick Martinez
- Springer is 8-45 in the month of August
- Yandy Diaz is 4-14 in his career against Jose Soriano
- Junior Caminero is 3-7 against Soriano
- Yandy Diaz has hit in 8 straight games (16-36)
- Chandler Simpson has hit in 8 straight games (16-35)
- Cedric Mullins was 3-11 in the series against the Orioles
- Andres Gimenez has hit safely in 3 straight games (4-12)
- Ernie Clement was 3-8 over the weekend against the Yankees
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: Blue Jays vs. Rays
- The Jays are 60-66 on the Run Line this season
- The Rays are 71-53 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 62 times in Toronto’s 126 games this season (62-60-4)
- The OVER has cashed 56 times in Tampa’s 124 games this season (56-63-5)
Reds face D-backs in the desert on Sunday Leadoff
Elly De La Cruz and the Cincinnati Reds travel to the desert for a clash with Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks on MLB Sunday Leadoff at 4 PM ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
Expert picks & predictions: Blue Jays vs. Rays
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Jays and the Rays:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Rays on the Moneyline.
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Rays on the Run Line.
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 7.5
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