Orioles vs Blue Jays

Orioles vs Blue Jays – MLB Odds & Picks

Written by on August 18, 2020

The Baltimore Orioles continue to be one of the biggest surprises in baseball and they welcome the AL East rival Toronto Blue Jays to Camden Yards on Tuesday. The Jays are slight MLB betting favorites behind top pitching prospect Nate Pearson.

How to Bet Blue Jays at Orioles MLB Odds & TV Info

  • When: Tuesday, 7:35 PM ET
  • Where: Camden Yards
  • Probable pitchers (away/home): Nate Pearson/Wade LeBlanc
  • TV: MLB Extra Innings
  • Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
  • Opening MLB Lines: Blue Jays -130, Orioles +120 (total 9.5)
Why Bet on Toronto?

The Jays are without one of the most exciting young players in the American League in shortstop Bo Bichette. He was placed on the injured list Sunday after spraining his right knee during Saturday’s game in Buffalo against the visiting Rays. The young shortstop had a stellar .356/.387/.678 batting line with five home runs, 13 RBI, four stolen bases, and 11 runs scored through 62 plate appearances (13 games) this season.

He homered in four straight games last week, highlighted by a 5-for-5 performance against the Marlins on Wednesday. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the most anticipated prospect arrival in quite some time, but Bichette has quickly emerged as the team’s best player.

Bichette’s average is second in the American League, behind the New York Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu (.411), who also was placed on the IL on Sunday. Apparently, the injury is worse than originally thought and he might not be back until mid-September.

Also monitor the status of Antony Bass as he wasn’t available Sunday due to a tight back. Bass has taken over as the primary closer for the Blue Jays in the absence of Ken Giles (forearm).

It’s Nate Pearson (0-0, 5.11) on the mound. Pearson was tagged for seven runs — four earned — in 2 1/3 innings by the Marlins on Wednesday. Pearson gave up a three-run homer to Brian Anderson in the first. In the third, he allowed two singles to start the inning, got a strikeout of Anderson and then walked the next two batters before being pulled. All three inherited runners came around to score, but because a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. error allowed it to happen, the runs were ruled as unearned.

Overall, he managed to find the zone with just 33 of his 65 pitches and generated only three swinging strikes. Control has been a problem early in Pearson’s big-league career, as he has issued nine free passes in 12.1 innings of work.

Why Bet on Baltimore?

The Orioles made a move on Monday, optioning pitcher Evan Phillips to their alternate training site and activating fellow pitcher Dillon Tate from the injured list.  Phillips walked four batters while throwing 41 pitches in his latest appearance on Sunday against Washington. Tate was hit in the elbow by a comebacker during summer camp.

Outfielder Anthony Santander hit two solo homers Sunday. It was his second career multi-homer contest (8/31/19 at KC) and he leads the Orioles with seven home runs on the season. Santander has homered in three of his last five games. He extended his current hitting streak to 11 games and is one game shy of tying his career-high hitting streak of 12 games (8/25-9/7/19). DH Pedro Severino had a three-run homer Sunday. He is batting .448 (13-for-29) with three home runs and 17 RBI over his last seven games since 8/6. Severino has hit safely in 14 of 19 games this season.

The Orioles have been one of the more successful teams in baseball when swinging at the first pitch. They rank first in the majors in batting average (.469), doubles (11), extra-base hits (20), and OPS (1.384), and lead the AL and rank second in the majors in hits (38) as a team on the first pitch.

It’s lefty Wade LeBlanc (1-0, 7.13) on the mound. LeBlanc allowed six runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings in Thursday’s no-decision against the Marlins. Fresh off holding a deep Rays lineup to one run over 5 1/3 innings his last time out, LeBlanc struggled from the outset Thursday — Marlins leadoff hitter Jonathan Villar led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run. The Marlins got to the southpaw for runs in each of the four innings in which he pitched.

While he has hasn’t been effective this season, it’s particularly noteworthy that he surrendered three free passes, as he entered the game having walked just two batters across his first three starts. Game Trends
  • Blue Jays are 7-2 in the last 9 meetings in Baltimore.
  • Over is 5-1-1 in the last 7 meetings.
  • Blue Jays are 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
  • Over is 3-0-1 in the last 4 meetings in Baltimore.
Expert Prediction Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4