On Opening Day, the Toronto Blue Jays are visiting the Tampa Bay Rays, at 4:10 PM ET on Thursday.
The Blue Jays are an underdog away (+122) against the Rays (-145). The Rays will give the ball to Zach Eflin against the Blue Jays and Jose Berrios.
Get ready for the Rays vs. Blue Jays with what you need to know about Thursday’s baseball action, including viewing options.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Toronto Blue Jays odds and betting lines
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Thursday at 3:16 PM ET. For a full list of Sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
- Favorite: Rays (-145, bet $145 to win $100)
- Underdog: Blue Jays (+122, bet $100 to win $122)
- Over/under: 7.5
Rays vs. Blue Jays: Live streaming info & game time
- Game Day: Thursday, March 28, 2024
- Game Time: 4:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Tropicana Field
- TV Channel: Bally Sports
- Live Stream: Fubo (Watch for free)
Rays stats and trends
Rays betting records
- The Rays entered a game as favorites 132 times last season and won 86, or 65.2%, of those games.
- Last season Tampa Bay won 56 of its 82 games, or 68.3%, when favored by at least -145 on the moneyline.
- The moneyline for this contest implies a 59.2% chance of a victory for the Rays.
- Games involving Tampa Bay went over the total set by oddsmakers in 89 of 164 chances last season.
- The Rays were 87-77-0 against the spread in their 164 chances last season.
Zach Eflin (Rays probable starter)
- Eflin will start for the Rays, his first of the season.
- The 29-year-old right-hander started and threw five innings when he last appeared on Wednesday, Oct. 4 against the Texas Rangers.
- Last season he finished with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.024 WHIP over his 31 games, compiling a 16-8 record.
- Last year he ranked 17th in ERA (3.50), second in WHIP (1.024), and 17th in K/9 (9.4) among qualified pitchers in MLB.
Rays batting stats
- The Rays hit 230 homers last season, which ranked sixth in the league.
- Fueled by 536 extra-base hits, Tampa Bay ranked fourth in MLB with a .445 slugging percentage last season.
- The offensive efforts of the Rays last season led to the third-best batting average in MLB at .260.
- Tampa Bay was among the highest-scoring teams in the majors, ranking fourth with 860 total runs last season.
- Ranking fourth with an OBP of .331, the Rays were among the best teams in baseball at reaching base.
- Tampa Bay ranked 18th in MLB in strikeouts per game with an average of 8.8 whiffs per contest.
Blue Jays stats and trends
Blue Jays betting records
- The Blue Jays were chosen as underdogs in 44 games last year and walked away with the win 23 times (52.3%) in those games.
- Last year, Toronto won three of nine games when listed as at least +122 on the moneyline.
- Sportsbooks have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that the Blue Jays have a 45% chance of pulling out a win.
- Toronto and its opponents hit the over in 71 of its 163 games with a total last season.
- The Blue Jays had an against the spread record of 75-88-0 in 163 games with a line last season.
José Berríos (Blue Jays probable starter)
- Berrios starts for the first time this season for the Blue Jays.
- In his last appearance on Wednesday, Oct. 4, the 29-year-old righty started the game and went three innings against the Minnesota Twins.
- In his 32 appearances last season he put together an 11-12 record and had a 3.65 ERA and a 1.186 WHIP.
- He ranked 22nd in ERA (3.65), 21st in WHIP (1.186), and 28th in K/9 (8.7) among qualified pitchers in the majors last year.
Blue Jays batting stats
- The Blue Jays ranked 16th in baseball with 188 home runs last season. They averaged 1.2 per game.
- Last year Toronto ranked 13th in baseball with a .417 slugging percentage.
- The second-best batting average in the league last year was the Blue Jays’ .256 mark.
- Last season Toronto had the No. 14 offense in MLB action, scoring 4.6 runs per game (746 total runs).
- A year ago the Blue Jays’ .329 on-base percentage ranked seventh-best in the majors.
- Toronto’s batters struck out eight times per game, the seventh-fewest strikeouts in the majors.
