MLB Baseball Betting: Toronto Blue Jays at Los Angeles Angels

The Toronto Blue Jays did what they had to do on Thursday night earning a 7-2 win. Friday’s game is underway at the time of this writing with Toronto up midway through. The rest of the AL East is already ‘in the clubhouse’ for Friday and with the Red Sox and Orioles both winning it puts the pressure on the Blue Jays to keep pace. Here’s how the division looks pending the outcome of Toronto’s game: The Boston Red Sox are still in first place with a two game lead over the Baltimore Orioles and a 2.5 game advantage over the third place Jays. The New York Yankees have now lost three straight to drop 6 games out of first. The Los Angeles Angels don’t really have much to play for at this point. They’re in last place in the AL West 1/2 game behind the fourth place Oakland A’s.

Francisco Liriano will get the start for Toronto. The lefthander got off to a horrible start this season in Pittsburgh and was shipped to Toronto hoping that a ‘change of scenery’ would do him some good. Not sure if that was the case but he has looked good in his recent starts. For the season, Liriano has a 5.11 ERA with a 1.535 WHIP and a 5.67 ERA with a 1.635 WHIP at home. In his last three starts he’s got a 2.60 ERA with a 0.923 WHIP. The Jays have won two of his last three starts and as we’ve seen they need any victory they can get at this point.

The Angels will go with right hander Ricky Nolasco who is having a marginal at best season though his form has improved in his recent outings. For the season, he’s got a 4.94 ERA with a 1.279 WHIP, a home ERA of 4.95 with a 1.246 WHIP and a L3 ERA of 2.86 with a 0.682 WHIP. The Angels have lost 19 of his 29 starts this year including 10 of 15 at home and 2 of his last 3.

The Angels aren’t bad against left handed pitching (18-21 YTD) but at the price we’d rather have the Blue Jays. They look to be well aware of what they need to do and are definitely the better team.

BET TORONTO BLUE JAYS -145 OVER LOS ANGELES ANGELS