San Francisco Giants vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
Following a successful weekend series against bottom feeders the Oakland A’s, the Jays are-165 favourites on the MLB odds behind ace Kevin Gausman.
Betting Analysis
It’s honestly hard to tell what the Giants are even this far into the season. Definitely not the team that won an MLB-best 107 games two seasons ago but perhaps better than last year’s 81-81 club. No stars on this team but a lot of good players. A wild card spot is possible in the NL.
The Giants do have money to spend so if there’s a big-name bat available at the Trade Deadline, they will go get it if necessary. San Francisco almost lured Aaron Judge back to near his hometown in free agency and did actually agree to terms on a deal with All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa but balked due to a concern with his physical and let Correa walk away before signing the contract. Fully expect the Giants to be one of the main suitors for Shohei Ohtani this winter.
San Francisco leads the all-time interleague series with Toronto 13-10 and is 5-5 as the road team. The clubs last played in 2019 with the Giants winning three of four in Toronto. Thus, the Jays haven’t won in this series at home since 2013.
San Francisco Giants
One of the team’s better hitters, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, was placed on the 10-day injured list last Friday with a strained left hamstring. He was hitting .259 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs on the year.
The Giants will use an opener in rookie reliever Ryan Walker (2-0, 1.89 ERA), and he should be limited to two innings max and then followed in bulk by usual starter and lefty Alex Wood (2-2, 5.17). He was roughed up for six runs over 3.1 innings last time out by San Diego but has a 2-0 record and a 2.12 ERA on the road. Wood has pitched 7.2 career innings vs. the Jays and is 0-0 with a 3.52 ERA. Brandon Belt has seen him the most, going 4-for-22 with two doubles. George Springer is 3-for-9 with a homer. The Giants don’t have any Canadian players on their big-league roster. They have won four straight series openers.
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto enters off back-to-back home routs of Oakland over the weekend. George Springer moved into second place on baseball’s career list with his 55th leadoff home run in Sunday’s victory. Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson leads with 81. Springer is very capable of breaking that in a few years. Bo Bichette extended his hitting streak to 11 in a row Sunday and is batting .326 over the span. He leads the AL with 30 multi-hit games.
It’s Kevin Gausman on the mound. His career was in transition when he joined the Giants ahead of the 2020 season, and Gausman got it back on track with two good years before signing with Toronto ahead of the 2022 campaign. Gausman (7-3, 3.10) hasn’t personally lost since May 4. He allowed three runs over six last time out in beating Miami. At home, Gausman is 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA. He has made two career starts vs. the Giants and is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA. Joc Pederson has seen him the most and is 2-for-14 with a solo homer. Toronto is a brutal 2-15 in its past 17 vs. the NL West.
