Bettors who regularly wager on baseball sometimes tend to focus on the big series that feature the best teams in the league. While this is certainly fine, it is worth remembering that with so many games on the MLB calendar in a given week, there is plenty of value out there if you go looking for it. For example, while the Toronto Blue Jays are one of the highest scoring teams in the league right now, they tend to lean towards the Under when playing in their own ballpark. Ordinarily, you would look at how they score and play the Over, especially when going head to head against a team like the Oakland A’s who are struggling in the early going, which is why they are the MLB Odds underdog for Thursday Night.
As it stands right now, neither one of these teams looks like a legitimate playoff contender, but a solid run of form can quickly change all that. Both teams are still MLB Betting options to reach of the Wild Card, even though it’s a little early to be talking of such things, so look for them both to try and close out the week on a positive note.
The Jays were thumped 12-2 in the opening game but evened the series with a 12-1 win on Wednesday night. The reality is that we are probably looking at a team destined to be .500 or just below on the season. It will be Aaron Sanchez (2-3, 4.08 ERA) who starts for Toronto.
Athletics vs. Blue Jays MLB Odds & Expert Pick
Your #BlueJays are now 18-0 when scoring 5 or more runs! Let’s keep doing that.https://t.co/hH6XYnyAoZ @budcanada pic.twitter.com/9ecwuP3lWI
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) 17 de mayo de 2018
- When: Thursday, May 17 at 7:07 PM EST
- Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto
- Starting Pitchers: Andrew Triggs vs. Aaron Sanchez
- TV: SNET / MLBN
- Radio: Oakland 95.7 FM / Toronto SN590
- Live Stream: MLB.tv
- MLB Odds: Toronto Blue Jays -125 (Over/Under at 5)
How to Bet Padres at Pirates MLB Lines & Expert Prediction
Recent Head to Head (Last 10 Games)
- Runs: Oakland A’s 3.90 / Toronto Blue Jays 4.60
- Hits: Oakland A’s 6.60 / Toronto Blue Jays 7.40
- Walks: Oakland A’s 3.20 / Toronto Blue Jays 4.50
- Strike Outs: Oakland A’s 8.40 / Toronto Blue Jays 7.70
Why Consider the MLB Odds for the A’s?
When you are in the same division as the defending World Series champions, you are always going to be in for a bit of an uphill battle. The A’s are 6 games back of the Astros already and are sitting a game below .500 overall. Things are even worse for them on the road, where they are currently sitting at 10-13. The A’s are hanging around the top 10 in runs scored thus far, but it is their pitching staff where their problems lie. Their team ERA of 4.35 has them down in 19th, and things only get worse when you look at quality starts, where are 25th in the league with just 16. The end result is a run differential of -15, which would be a whole lot worse if the bats weren’t holding them in games. The A’s will send Andrew Triggs (3-1, 5.31 ERA) to the mound for this one.Team Statistics
Offense- Runs: 4.53
- Hits: 8.51
- Walks: 3.35
- Strike Outs: 9.14
- Runs: 4.88
- Hits: 9.16
- Walks: 2.60
- Strike Outs: 7.56
Why Consider the MLB Odds for the Blue Jays?
The Toronto Blue Jays started the season well enough, but are now on a run where they have not won a series in their last 5 attempts. It’s no real surprise then that they are just 4-6 in their last 10 games heading into this series. It’s about what you would expect from a team in the midst of a rebuild, as they go from looking great one night to terrible the next. This was shown perfectly in their 2-game series with the Mets that finished last night.
The Jays were thumped 12-2 in the opening game but evened the series with a 12-1 win on Wednesday night. The reality is that we are probably looking at a team destined to be .500 or just below on the season. It will be Aaron Sanchez (2-3, 4.08 ERA) who starts for Toronto.
Team Statistics
Offense- Runs: 4.93
- Hits: 8.02
- Walks: 3.65
- Strike Outs: 9.21
- Runs: 4.79
- Hits: 9.14
- Walks: 3.56
- Strike Outs: 8.58
Latest MLB Betting Trends
- Oakland is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
- Oakland is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games
- The total has gone OVER in 4 of Oakland’s last 6 games
- Toronto is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games at home
- Toronto is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games at home
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Toronto’s last 6 games at home
- Sanchez is 0-1 when starting against Oakland with an ERA of 12.47 and a WHIP of 2.540
