The Toronto Blue Jays (76-77) and the Texas Rangers (76-77) meet Friday at Globe Life Field at 8:05 p.m. ET in the opening contest in a three-game series.

Both of these teams are two games behind the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians in the American League standings, while sitting a game up on the Baltimore Orioles with nine regular-season games left to play. So, this is a crucial series.

The Blue Jays will rely upon RHP Dylan Cease (11-5, 2.38 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) will make his 29th start of the season. He has racked up 236 strikeouts across 166.1 IP, and he ranks second in the majors in the category.

The Rangers are expected to counter with RHP Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.54 ERA, 1.43 WHIP), although there is conflicting information on whether or not he’ll start. MLB.com has him as the projected starter, so we’ll roll with that.

No matter who Texas decides to use, that pitcher won’t be better than Cease. The All-Star is trying to will the Blue Jays into the postseason, and he is 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA and 1.13 WHIP across 40 IP in his past seven starts. On the road, Cease is an amazing 8-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 0.94 WHIP across 81 IP in 13 road outings, including one complete game shutout.

Friday September 18 Best MLB Pick

Before you get too excited, however, know that Cease allowed four runs, four hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts in just 4.2 IP in a 7-4 home loss June 27 in Toronto. Still, Toronto is 4-1 in Cease’s past five starts, and 7-3 in his past 10 outings.

Toronto is 5-3 in the past eight road games, while the Under is 4-1 in the past five away from home. However, the Over is 7-0 in the past seven starts by Cease, as the sportsbooks have put such a low total on his starts, and the total has been going high nearly every time lately.

Texas has come alive lately with four wins in the past five outings, with the Under and Over alternating in the past six contests.

Despite the fact the Rangers slapped Cease around pretty good in the first meeting, he is rolling along quite nicely, and Toronto is the play despite the fact this game is in Texas. Let’s take BLUE JAYS ML (-136), and we’ll go with the OVER 7.5 (-120).

We’ll also look to CEASE 7+ STRIKEOUTS (-186) on the alternate line. That prop, along with the Blue Jays and the Over is a nice three-leg parlay which pays +318.