The Blue Jays are favoured to extend their winning streak to seven consecutive games on Wednesday evening after reducing their magic number to win the AL East to six with another nerve-wracking win on Tuesday.

Oddsmakers currently offer the Blue Jays a 56% chance of winning Wednesday’s matchup, as Kevin Gausman (3.45 ERA, 177 2/3 IP) will face off against Ian Seymour (2.95 ERA, 42 2/3 IP). While Gausman has been tremendous in each of his last three starts, Seymour has also been highly effective since being converted to a starter.

Let’s dive into the game odds for Wednesday’s matchup between the Blue Jays and the Rays, courtesy of bet365.

Gausman may be solidifying himself as the potential Game 1 starter  in the upcoming playoffs with his recent run of dominance, including an incredible complete-game shutout versus the Houston Astros last Thursday. He’s allowed just two earned runs across 24 innings throughout his last three starts, while averaging 24 outs per game.

Looking at a larger sample of play, Gausman has been one of the AL’s best starters since the All-Star break, pitching to an ERA of 2.25 and allowing a WHIP of just 0.74 in 68 innings of work. He’s allowed a FIP of 3.00 in that span and holds an excellent strikeout-minus-walk rate of 23.3%.

Toronto’s bullpen is not in great shape from a rest perspective, but several of the relievers who are the most rested entering Wednesday’s matchup are the ones that have been in good form recently. Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez have thrown 37 and 31 pitches, respectively, over the last three days and may not be called upon by John Schneider. Blue Jays faithful may feel more confident seeing relievers such as Braydon Fisher and Yariel Rodriguez for the time being, as they hold sub-2.40 ERAs over the last month of play.

Rays starter Ryan Pepiot had been in dominant form entering Tuesday’s matchup, but just as we were hoping to see, was not able to continue his strong run of play versus an elite Blue Jays lineup. Toronto chased Pepiot from the game after just 1 2/3 innings, forcing Kevin Cash to employ four relievers to handle the rest of the game.

While it was George Springer leading the charge once again on Tuesday evening, the Blue Jays had seven batters manage at least one hit in the productive six-run performance.

The Blue Jays’ wRC+ of 129 since the All-Star break is the best mark in baseball, and they have managed the second-lowest strikeout rate in the league. They also rank first with a wRC+ of 130 versus left-handed starters in that span.

Bo Bichette’s absence from the lineup obviously hurts the team’s offensive upside, but in this series in particular, it has been evident that Andres Gimenez offers much better defensive play at short, which helps negate the downside of Bichette’s absence.

Seymour has been effective since transitioning to a starter’s role so far this season. In his three starts he holds an ERA of 2.35, albeit in a small sample of 15 1/3 innings. Like Pepiot, he has worked against a favourable set of opposing lineups recently and will face a much stiffer test Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

Over his last five appearances, Seymour has pitched to an ERA of 4.43 and a FIP of 3.42. He holds an elite strikeout rate of 30.9% in that span; however, his Stuff+ rating of 96 and Pitching+ rating of 94 suggest that trend may not continue versus tougher lineups.

Since the All-Star break, Tampa Bay ranks 22nd with a wRC+ of 97 versus right-handed pitching and has struck out at the seventh-highest rate in MLB. Playing without the services of first baseman Jonathan Aranda has certainly hurt their production versus righties in that span, as he holds an OPS of .907 versus righties this season and .872 overall.

With respect to Seymour’s strong work as a starter so far, this still appears to be a good spot to back the Blue Jays earning a seventh consecutive win as they look to continue wrapping up the division title.

Gausman has been one of the best starters in the AL since the All-Star break and gets a solid spot to author another quality outing versus a Rays team that has been below average versus righties for a lengthy sample of play.

Seymour has benefitted from facing the same soft schedule of opponents as Pepiot had recently and could struggle to bounce back in this matchup after a less convincing performance versus the Chicago White Sox in his last start.

Considering the quality of the Toronto’s lineup and Gausman’s recent dominance, it seems perfectly reasonable to lay -130 on the Blue Jays to win Wednesday’s matchup.