Blue Jays vs. Guardians MLB Betting Odds, Picks: Crucial AL wild-card matchup in Cleveland
The Toronto Blue Jays begin a season-defining nine-game road trip, the longest remaining of the year, on Tuesday night at fellow American League playoff-hopeful Cleveland. The Guardians are -165 favourites on the MLB odds with a total of 8.5 runs.
MLB Betting Odds and Trends
As of Monday, Toronto (68-70) remains last in the AL East but is only 1.5 games out of the Junior Circuit’s final Wild-Card spot. But there are a few teams right around the Jays as well. So this all might come down to the final Sunday of the season on Sept. 27. If the Blue Jays can go 5-4 on this trip that also visits Kansas City and Sacramento, it would leave the club in pretty good shape. But something like 3-6 might be disastrous.
While the Jays have no shot at their division title, Cleveland (69-68) has the benefit of being only 3.5 games out of the AL Central and holding the final WC spot as of Monday. So while the Jays are +210 for postseason baseball, the Guardians are +100 because they have two routes.
This season series winner could own a crucial tiebreaker, and Toronto took two of three at Rogers Centre from April 24-26. Blue Jays rookie Kazuma Okamoto went 4-for-9 with two homers and four runs scored in the series, while Jesus Sanchez had two homers and four RBIs. Last season, Toronto took two of three at Cleveland’s Progressive Field.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto finished an important home sweep of another playoff hopeful in Seattle on Sunday with a 7-0 blowout win as Max Scherzer passed Gaylord Perry for ninth on MLB’s all-time pitcher strikeouts list.
Rookie Kazuma Okamoto hit his team-leading 28th home run of the season. Shockingly, it was Toronto’s first Sunday victory since June 7, snapping a 10-game losing streak on the day.
Third baseman Josh Smith is expected to be activated from the injured list Tuesday – it’s Sept. 1, so that’s when big-league rosters expand from 26 to 28.
Spencer Arrighetti, who was acquired from Houston around the trade deadline, takes the hill Tuesday. He is 7-7 with a 4.81 ERA overall this season in 19 appearances.
Arrighetti has made two with the Jays, one start, and is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA. He personally hasn’t won since May 28.
Arrighetti saw the Guardians twice earlier in the year while with the Astros and went 1-1 with a 6.55 ERA and Cleveland batters hitting .262 off him.
Guardians rookie Travis Bazzanna, the former No. 1 overall pick, is 3-for-3 off Arrighetti with two homers.
Cleveland Guardians
Cleveland snapped a two-game home skid and avoided a sweep Sunday with an 11-1 win over Kansas City.
All-Star Jose Ramirez broke out of a power slump with his first home run since June 6 and four RBIs to get within three of 1,000 career. He is also now four homers away from becoming only the ninth MLB player with 300 career dingers and 300 career stolen bases.
Right-hander Gavin Williams (12-7, 3.98 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday. He was hit hard last time out in Anaheim, lasting a season-low 1.1 innings, but has been much better in Cleveland at 6-3 with a 3.27 ERA and .214 opponents’ batting average in 14 starts.
Williams won in Toronto on April 24 despite allowing six runs (two homers) and seven hits over six – Cleveland scored five in the first to give him a major cushion.
Andres Gimenez is 4-for-7 career off him with two doubles, while George Springer is 4-for-9 with a double.