Baltimore Orioles vs. Toronto Blue Jays: Odds, Prediction
An important series in the American League Wild-Card race begins Friday from Rogers Centre as the Blue Jays host the Baltimore Orioles. Toronto is favoured to win on the MLB odds for the opener.
Betting Analysis
It’s starting to look as if the Orioles will come up short in their Wild-Card bid unless they sweep this series – 4.5 games out of the final spot — but they are going to be contenders for at least the next few years thanks to the likes of rookies Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. They may just need to find some starting pitching this offseason.
This is Baltimore’s final series of the regular season in Toronto, but the teams do close the season with three at Camden Yards. The Orioles lead the season series 7-6 and are 4-3 at Rogers Centre. Rutschman is hitting .333 against Toronto pitching with three homers and nine RBIs. Ryan Mountcastle is at .321 with five home runs and 17 RBIs (and 14 strikeouts).
Santiago Espinal is batting .412 vs. Orioles pitching, Alejandro Kirk .405, and Bo Bichette .339 with six homers and 14 RBIs.
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles are the first team in MLB history to win more than 70 games after finishing each of the previous three full seasons (at least 150 games played, so not including 2020) with at least 100 losses. Bit of advantage that Baltimore was off on Thursday — after sweeping two games in Washington — so it could reset its bullpen. Not clear yet if any players will miss this series because they are unvaccinated for COVID, but earlier this year pitcher Keegan Akin and outfielder Anthony Santander both stayed back in the USA. However, the club announced in late July that everyone on the 40-man roster had been vaccinated, so apparently those two took care of business.
It’s veteran right-hander Jordan Lyles (10-10, 4.62 ERA) on the mound. He was destroyed last time out by Boston, allowing eight runs in 3.2 innings. While that game was at Camden Yards, Lyles has been much worse on the road at 6-7 with 5.38 ERA. He is 2-0 with a 4.91 ERA in two starts this year vs. the Jays. Matt Chapman is 7-for-19 career off him with four homers.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays come off an ugly 11-0 home loss to the Rays on Thursday – Tampa Bay became the first team to start an all-Latin American lineup – but did take three of five in the series overall and are in a tie for the AL’s top Wild-Card spot. Toronto was shut out for the eighth time this season Thursday to fall to 33-27 in games vs. the AL East. Bichette stayed hot in the loss by going 2-for-4. He has reached base in all 15 games this month, batting .484 with nine doubles, seven homers and 22 RBIs. All-Star catcher Kirk didn’t play in either of the final two games of the series as he’s battling a bit of a hip issue and also slumping.
It’s going to be a bullpen-type day Friday for Toronto with Thomas Hatch expected to serve as the opener. His lone big-league appearance this year was July 2 vs. Tampa Bay, and he gave up a whopping 10 runs and 12 hits over 4.2 innings. In 21 career MLB outings, Hatch is 3-3 with a 5.58 ERA.
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