Blue Jays aim to inch closer to post-season berth with series win over Rays

It’s not quite clinching day just yet.

But with a victory on Thursday, the Toronto Blue Jays could be one day away from securing their spot in the post-season.

The Blue Jays and Rays are set to wrap a four-game set at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Florida, with Toronto eyeing a series victory while Tampa Bay looks for the split.

Live coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins at 1:10 p.m. ET / 10:10 a.m. ET.

Watch Blue Jays vs. Rays on Sportsnet

The Toronto Blue Jays play the finale of a four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. Catch the action on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+, starting at 1:10 p.m. ET / 10:10 a.m. PT.

Broadcast schedule

Christopher Bassitt (11-8, 3.90 ERA) gets the nod for the Blue Jays having not allowed more than two runs in any of his previous five starts. The veteran righty most recently tossed five innings in a win over the Baltimore Orioles, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out six.

He’ll share the mound with Rays right-hander Shane Baz (9-12, 5.15 ERA), who was torched for six hits and five runs in just 2.1 innings during his last start against the Chicago Cubs.

The Blue Jays and Rays — as usual — have been engaged in tight affairs throughout the series, with Toronto taking the first two games by scores of 2-1 and 6-5 before Tampa Bay fought back with a 2-1 win of its own on Wednesday that halted its AL East rival’s winning streak at six games.

if (!res.ok) { throw new Error('Failed to fetch odds data'); }

const data = await res.json(); const oddsData = data?.data?.game?.details?.current_line; const visitingTeam = data?.data?.game?.visiting_team; const visitingTeamLogo = data?.data?.game?.visiting_team?.image_url_90; const homeTeam = data?.data?.game?.home_team; const homeTeamLogo = data?.data?.game?.home_team?.image_url_90; const gameTimestamp = data?.data?.game?.details?.timestamp;

return { oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp }; }

async function renderBetMGM(componentId, league, gameId) { let oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp, error;

const container = document.getElementById(componentId + '-odds'); if (!container) return;

try { ({ oddsData, visitingTeam, visitingTeamLogo, homeTeam, homeTeamLogo, gameTimestamp } = await fetchOddsData(league, gameId)); } catch (err) { error = err.message; }

if (error) { container.innerHTML = `

Error: ${error}

`; return; }

if (!oddsData) { container.innerHTML = `

Odds data not available

`; return; }

let gameDate = new Date(gameTimestamp * 1000); const gameDateFormatted = gameDate.toLocaleDateString('en-US', { year: 'numeric', month: 'long', day: 'numeric' });

container.innerHTML = `

BetMGM Odds

${gameDateFormatted}

VS

Moneyline

${visitingTeam.short_name}

${oddsData.away_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.away_money}` : oddsData.away_money}

${homeTeam.short_name}

${oddsData.home_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.home_money}` : oddsData.home_money}

Spread

${oddsData.fav_id === visitingTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_points : oddsData.fav_points > 0 ? `-${oddsData.fav_points}` : `+${Math.abs(oddsData.fav_points)}`}

${oddsData.fav_id === visitingTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.fav_money}` : oddsData.fav_money : oddsData.underdog_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.underdog_money}` : oddsData.underdog_money}

${oddsData.fav_id === homeTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_points : oddsData.fav_points > 0 ? `-${oddsData.fav_points}` : `+${Math.abs(oddsData.fav_points)}`}

${oddsData.fav_id === homeTeam.id ? oddsData.fav_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.fav_money}` : oddsData.fav_money : oddsData.underdog_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.underdog_money}` : oddsData.underdog_money}

Over/Under

O ${oddsData.total}

${oddsData.over_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.over_money}` : oddsData.over_money}

U ${oddsData.total}

${oddsData.under_money > 0 ? `+${oddsData.under_money}` : oddsData.under_money}

Powered by

${gameDateFormatted}

VS

Powered by

`; }

// Example usage renderBetMGM('block_6224455b8c06421f05481b78ed766345', 'MLB', '51e05c58-ee6e-4258-a910-b8ee31457283');

Tampa Bay also holds a 6-3 edge in the season series, with the teams set to meet again in the final regular-season series of the year starting next Friday.

Still, Toronto’s magic number to clinch a post-season spot is three, which means it could book its spot at the dance as soon as Friday.

The Blue Jays (89-63) hold four-game leads over both the Detroit Tigers (85-67) for the No. 1 seed in the AL and the New York Yankees (85-67) for the division title.

The Rays, meanwhile, sit nine games out of a wild-card spot, with every team below them in the standings already eliminated from contention.

After finishing up in Florida, the Blue Jays head to Kansas City for a three-game weekend series against the Royals before returning home for the final week of the regular season.

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