Toronto Blue Jays vs. Seattle Mariners: Odds, Prediction
The MLB odds are up in the air until the Jays name a starting pitcher, but we have a good idea who it will be.
Jays vs. Mariners Betting Analysis
After a 4-0 home loss to the Los Angeles Angels on June 19, the Mariners were 29-39 and a Wild-Card afterthought, but they are playing their best baseball of the season to get to 41-42 and right back in the playoff chase. No team has had a longer playoff drought than Seattle, last making it in 2001. Manager Scott Servais was in deep trouble there for a while.
Seattle visited Toronto from May 16-18 and lost two of three. Adam Frazier hit .455 in the series for the Mariners, while Eugenio Suarez was 3-for-11 with a homer and two runs scored, and Ty France 3-for-12 with a homer. France leads the team with a .316 average but is on the injured list. He will be activated during this series but not clear if that will happen Thursday. Alejandro Kirk was 3-for-7 with a double and two RBIs for the Jays in the first series, while Santiago Espinal was 4-for-11 with a run scored, Bo Bichette 4-for-12 with a homer and two RBIs, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 3-for-9 with a run scored.
Last season, the Jays were 1-2 in Seattle.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto avoided an embarrassing sweep at a bad Oakland team on Wednesday with a 2-1 win to snap a five-game skid overall. Matt Chapman homered against his former club to tie it in the seventh, and Bo Bichette hit the go-ahead shot in the eighth. He’s on an 11-game hitting streak. This was to be Kevin Gausman’s turn in the rotation, but he left his most recent outing last Saturday vs. Tampa Bay following a comebacker to the ankle and he couldn’t throw a bullpen session Tuesday, so he will not go. The hope is maybe Sunday’s series finale.
Casey Lawrence, a 34-year-old journeyman, was called up from Triple-A Buffalo on Wednesday and should be the starter. He followed Gausman vs. the Rays and was torched. Lawrence has made four appearances in relief for the Jays this year and is 0-1 with a 6.23. In 41 career big-league appearances, with only two starts, he’s 3-3 with a 6.38 ERA in 86.0 innings. Lawrence was with Seattle from 2017-18.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners have one of the most exciting young players in the majors in outfielder Julio Rodriguez Jr., who is deservedly the betting favourite to win AL Rookie of the Year. The 21-year-old is batting .277 with 15 homers, 43 RBIs and 21 steals – already worth 3.5 Wins Above Replacement. Seattle was in a huge brawl with the Angels late last month that led to a handful of player suspensions. Rodriguez was among them, but he’s appealing. Jesse Winker (.226, six HRs, 33 RBIs) is in the midst of serving his six-game ban so he won’t play in this series – the team has been staggering when guys serve them.
Lefty Marco Gonzales (4-9, 3.29 ERA) is scheduled on the mound Thursday. He’s working on a string of four straight quality starts, not allowing more than two earned in any. Gonzales has a poor record in part due to run support issues. He won Seattle’s lone game in Toronto on May 18, allowing one run over six. Matt Chapman is a .400 hitter off him with four doubles, a triple and a homer in 35 at-bats. George Springer is 1-for-13 with six Ks off Gonzales.
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