The Tampa Bay Rays have built their recent run of success on pitching, even though the roster has experienced plenty of recent turnover. One of the main holdovers, Ryan Yarbrough, will look to give a good start when the Rays host the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.
Yarbrough has not performed the same throughout his career at Tropicana Field as he has on the road. He has a career 4.61 ERA with 9.1 hits per nine innings at home and a 3.49 ERA with 7.6 hits per nine innings on the road.
He will be opposed by Robbie Ray, who has been better in his career on the road than at home. Ray has a 3.87 road ERA with 1.14 home runs per nine innings given up and a 4.76 ERA with 1.5 home runs per nine innings at home.
At home, the Rays are striking out on 28.8 percent of their at-bats and are averaging 3.9 runs per game. They plate 5.5 runs per game on the road.
The Blue Jays rank second in the league in bullpen ERA at 2.30 while the Rays are 26th with a 5.40 bullpen ERA, so the home and road splits should look large. That should favor a Blue Jays bunch that is playing its home games in Dunedin, Fla., due to Toronto’s COVID-19 restrictions.
The play: Blue Jays, +107