MLB Baseball Betting: Philadelphia Phillies at Toronto Blue Jays

Some Interleague baseball to help temper the pain of ‘hockey withdrawal’. The Toronto Blue Jays look to be making a move. They took three of four from the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend and perhaps even more significant their bats are showing signs of life. Since Toronto was able to ‘tread water’ even with their moribund to date offense this is a very hopeful sign. The Jays teed off on Baltimore pitching for 21 runs in the final two games of the series making it 30 runs in four games for the home team. It’s doubtful if Toronto is going to win 75% of their remaining games averaging 7.5 runs per contest but things are definitely looking up with the Blue Jays’ offense.

As for Philadelphia, things could be better. The started the campaign as one of the surprise teams in the NL East and after the first month of the season were actually above .500. Reality has set in, however, and the Phillies have lost 10 of their last 13. They’re now in fourth place in the division 10 games out of first and three games behind the third place Miami Marlins. For now, they don’t need to worry about falling into last place–they’re still 10.5 games up on the hapless Atlanta Braves. The good news for Philadelphia is that there’s plenty of time left in the season and with the exception of the Washington Nationals (7-3 L10) the rest of division is playing .500 ball or worse over the near term. The Phillies offense has put up numbers that make Toronto look like the 1927 Yankees and they haven’t had the mitigating factor of solid pitching.

The pitching matchup features a pair of starters that have marginal YTD numbers but have been better in the near term. Jerad Eickoff of the Phillies has a 3.20 ERA in his last three games and 19 strikeouts to just 4 walks. He’s also had no run support meaning that the Phillies lost two of those three games. He’s had particularly rough luck on the road this year with a 6.41 ERA and his team losing all five of his away starts. Ironically, R.A. Dickey has a 5.55 ERA and the Jays have lost all six of his home starts. Have to play the Jays with the current form of both teams.

BET TORONTO BLUE JAYS -195 OVER PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES