MLB Baseball Betting: Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox

It was ‘worst case scenario’ for the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday as they lost to the Boston Red Sox while the other teams in contention for the two American League Wildcard berths all won. With two games remaining in the regular season pending the outcome of Seattle’s game with the Oakland A’s (Mariners leading 5-0 midway through the game) here’s the way things stand for the wild card race. The Baltimore Orioles have moved into the top wild card spot by virtue of the Blue Jays’ loss and the Orioles’ win over the New York Yankees. Toronto is in the second wild card spot one game back of Baltimore. The Jays hold a 1/2 game lead over the Detroit Tigers and will be just 1 game up on the Seattle Mariners if they’re able to hold on to their lead against the Oakland A’s. Toronto has now lost three straight and are the only one of the four teams battling for the wild card position not on a streak of two or more consecutive wins.

These are challenging times for the Blue Jays but they still control their own destiny. If they win the final two games of the season they’ll qualify for one of the two wild card spots. If they don’t, there’s a few ‘moving parts’ that will determine who goes to the postseason or possibly into a one game playoff to determine the wild card teams. There’s a good chance of rain for this weekend which is another thing working against the Blue Jays. The pitching matchup is tentatively between lefthanders J.A. Happ who has looked very sharp in his last three games (15 hits and 4 ER in his last 18 1/3 innings of work) and Red Sox southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s numbers aren’t overly impressive (4.50 ERA in his L3 starts) but the Red Sox have won his last three assignments. On the downside, however, Boston has lost 7 of his 8 starts at Fenway Park this season.

Red Sox have now won three of the last four meetings against Toronto but this looks like a spot where the Jays will have a solid pitching edge. Game is currently ‘off the board’ but when it goes up the road team will be the play.

BET TORONTO BLUE JAYS OVER BOSTON RED SOX