The AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays (57-42) continue their four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (46-54) tonight at Rogers Centre. Tampa Bay enters the game having won six of the seven games between the clubs this season. They lead the AL East by 1.5 games over the Yankees while Toronto is falling further and further behind in both the East (11.5 games behind Tampa) as well as the Wild Card (5.5 games back).
Tampa Bay snapped their five-game losing streak with a series-opening 7-1 victory last night. The Rays snapped a five-game losing streak Cedric Mullins, Victor Mesa Jr., and Nick Fortes each launched solo home runs, while Junior Caminero continued his breakout season by collecting three hits, including two doubles, and driving in a run. Yandy Díaz added two hits and scored twice, and Jonathan Aranda chipped in an RBI single. On the mound, veteran Nick Martinez delivered six innings of one-run baseball to improve to 9-2. He allowed just six singles and extended his unbeaten streak to seven starts. Tampa Bay’s bullpen took care of the final three innings without allowing a run. Dylan Cease, coming off his All-Star appearance, surrendered five runs (three earned) across six innings and suffered his first loss since late June. The Blue Jays have now lost five of their last six games and have scored just two total runs over their last three games.
Drew Rasmussen takes the mound for the Rays tonight. He has been one of Tampa Bay’s most reliable starters this season, posting a sparkling 0.95 WHIP while striking out 98 batters in 99.1 innings. However, he takes the ball tonight looking to rebound from a rough outing before the All-Star break. In his most recent start on July 9 against the Yankees, Rasmussen was tagged for six earned runs on seven hits over just 2.1 innings. Prior to that, he allowed five runs in five innings against Houston. The encouraging sign for Tampa Bay is that Rasmussen has enjoyed success against Toronto this season. He has already defeated the Blue Jays twice in 2026, allowing three earned runs in each outing while pitching six innings both times.
Kevin Gausman will start tonight for the Jays. The veteran continues to rack up strikeouts for Toronto, entering tonight with 116 punchouts in 112.1 innings, but his season has been uneven. He owns a 4.33 ERA and has struggled to consistently turn quality starts into wins. His most recent start came July 12 against San Diego. Gausman was just OK, allowing three runs on four hits over six innings while striking out eight. Unfortunately for Toronto, the Blue Jays lost 5-4. The veteran right-hander has already faced Tampa Bay twice this season. The Rays beat him in both starts, scoring six earned runs in 4.2 innings on May 11 and two earned runs in six innings on May 5.
The game likely comes down to whether Toronto can solve Rasmussen after struggling offensively for most of the past week.
Lets dive into tonight’s matchup 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.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game Details and How to Watch: Rays vs. Blue Jays
- Date: Tuesday, July 21, 2026
- Time: 7:07PM EST
- Site: Rogers Centre
- City: Toronto, ON
- Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, Rays.TV, Sportsnet
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
The Latest Odds: Rays vs. Blue Jays
The latest odds as of Tuesday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Tampa Bay Rays (-112), Toronto Blue Jays (-107)
- Spread: Rays -1.5 (+149), Blue Jays +1.5 (-181)
- Total: 7.5 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers and their Stats: Rays vs. Blue Jays for July 21
- Rays: Drew Rasmussen
Season Totals: 99.1 IP, 7-5, 3.26 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 98K, 17 BB - Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman
Season Totals: 112.1 IP, 4-8, 4.33 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 116K, 32 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Rays vs. Blue Jays
- Victor Mesa Jr. is 9-for-32 (.281) over his last 10 games with 5 HRs
- Junior Caminero has hit safely in 5 straight games (8-23)
- Yandy Diaz is 3-21 since the All-Star Break
- Cedric Mullins is 2-11since the Break
- Kyle Okamoto is without a hit over his last 4 games (0-14)
- Ernie Clement is 5-15 since the All-Star Break
- Vlad Guerrero Jr. is 3-15 since the Break
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top Betting Trends & Insights: Rays vs. Blue Jays
- The Rays are 58-41 on the Run Line this season
- The Blue Jays are 45-55 on the Run Line this season
- The OVER has cashed 45 times in Tampa’s 99 games this season (45-49-5)
- The OVER has cashed 51 times in the Blue Jays’ 100 games this season (51-45-4)
Guardians to face Rays on Sunday Leadoff
The Cleveland Guardians head to the Sunshine State to play the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday Leadoff. Tune in at noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
Expert picks & predictions: Rays vs. Blue Jays
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
Please bet responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
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 Rays and the Blue Jays:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Rays on the Moneyline.
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Rays on the Run Line.
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Game Total OVER 7.5.
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Trysta Krick (@Trysta_Krick)
Read the full article here