AL East Leading Toronto Visits Baltimore
On Monday, the American League East leading Toronto Blue Jays visit the AL East third place Baltimore Orioles. The current line has Toronto favored at -125, with Baltimore at +115, and the over/under run total on 10.
Entering his game, Toronto has a record of 74-56 overall and 34-28 on the road. The Blue Jays are 6-4 over their past 10 games played. Baltimore on the season has a record of 71-59 overall and 42-22 at home. The Orioles are 4-6 over their past 10 games played.
Toronto will send Marco Estrada to the mound on Monday. The Blue Jays right-hander is 7-6 with an ERA of 3.47. Baltimore will counter with Wade Miley. The Orioles left-hander is 8-10 with an ERA of 5.51.
Estrada has had two straight poor outings. During his past two starts, the right-hander has given up 11 earned runs over 9 total innings. Over that span, Estrada has given up 5 home runs.
Miley earned his first win as an Oriole in his last outing with Baltimore on Wednesday. The southpaw gave up two runs in five innings to beat the Washington Nationals. However, over his past five starts, Miley has an ERA of 8.18.
Baltimore returns home after a weekend series with the New York Yankees, while Toronto opens a road trip after hosting the Minnesota Twins over the weekend. Toronto is currently in first place in the AL East, while the Orioles are 3 games back in third place.
Baltimore has fallen somewhat off the pace in the battle to win the AL East, but can make that up quickly as they open a three-game series with the division leading Blue Jays. The Orioles won the final game of a three-game series with the Yankees to avoid being swept on Sunday.
Toronto scored 32 runs and added 9 home runs in its just completed sweep of three games over Minnesota. Josh Donaldson was 6 for 10 against the Twins including 4 home runs, 9 RBIs and 6 runs scored.
Both the Orioles and Blue Jays are known for their offensive power. Mark Trumbo the Orioles first baseman leads the Majors in home runs with 40, while second place in the league is 36 held by Edwin Encarnacion with Toronto.
With two pitchers that have not pitched at the top of their games of late, this game could be high scoring with balls flying out of the park.
Prediction: The Toronto Blue Jays are hammering the ball at this point, while the Baltimore Orioles are back tracking a bit. Lean toward the Blue Jays here.
