Blue Jays vs. Indians Pick
Will the Cleveland Indians hammer the Toronto Blue Jays again when the two continue their weekend series tonight at 7:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Indians are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -135 to win, while the Blue Jays are listed with a money line of +115 to prevail. The over/under total for the game is listed at 8.5 runs.
MLB Quick Links: Scores & Matchups | Injuries | Odds Comparison | Betting Trends | ATS Stats
The pitching matchup tonight has Danny Salazar (3-5, 5.40 ERA) on the mound for Cleveland to face Marcus Stroman (9-5, 3.10) of the Blue Jays. Salazar is making his first appearance since June 3 because of an injury. He was moved to the bullpen because of poor starts. Salazar has 77 strikeouts with 28 walks this season in 55 innings of work. He also has a 1.58 WHIP. Stroman has been Toronto’s best starts, allowing just 41 earned runs over 119 innings. He has 98 strikeouts with 32 walks and a 1.26 WHIP.
Cleveland snapped out of a losing skid with a 13-3 win over the Blue Jays on Friday night. These two have now split their four meetings in 2017. Toronto comes into tonight’s game 44-52 overall and 22-28 on the road while Cleveland is 49-45 overall and 22-24 at home.
Friday saw the Indians break open at the plate later in the game. The Indians scored four runs in the fifth and then eight runs in the seventh. The late surge in runs allowed Trevor Bauer to earn his eighth win of the season. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs. Marco Estrada took the loss for the Jays by giving up five runs in 4.2 innings. Edwin Encarnacion hit his 20th home run of the season against his former team and finished with three hits and four RBI for Cleveland. Abraham Almonte added three hits and drove in three runs. Justin Smoak and Troy Tulowitzki each had two hits to lead Toronto.
The Indians broke loose at the plate on Friday, but I think they will be silenced once again tonight against Stroman, who has been one of the consistently positive players for Toronto this season. Salazar hasn’t pitched well when he was active and is now returning after nearly two months away. I wouldn’t expect anything great from him tonight.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: TORONTO BLUE JAYS +115