MLB Baseball Betting: Toronto Blue Jays at Houston Astros

The Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros will play the second game of an early week series on Tuesday. Jays’ pitcher Doug Fister was able to make his scheduled start for Toronto (his wife is expecting a baby any time now) and presumably will head back home after the game. Pending the outcome of Monday’s contest here’s how the American League East shapes up. The Baltimore Orioles are in first place and are idle on Monday. The Jays are in second place 1/2 game back (pending the outcome of their Monday game with Houston). The Boston Red Sox are in third place 1 game back of Toronto and 1.5 games back of Minnesota. They’ll play a late game at Seattle on Monday. The New York Yankees look to be out of the mix having lost 4 straight and 6 of 10 and trailing the Mets in the bottom of the 6th.

The Jays will start knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in this game and he’s been in awful form. One story that has been circulating is that the muggy weather and high humidity makes it difficult for him to grab the baseball tightly. I never recall Phil Niekro complaining about that in his days in muggy and humid Atlanta. Whatever the reason, the Jays have lost Dickey’s last three starts and he’s put up a 10.43 ERA and a 1.704 WHIP in that stretch. Two of the three losses in this stretch were at home and Dickey has struggled at the Rogers Centre all season. Overall, he’s got a 4.52 ERA and a 1.333 WHIP with the Jays losing 15 of his 22 starts. On the road, his ERA is 3.77 with a 1.290 WHIP and Toronto has split his 10 starts.

He’ll face right hander Lance McCullers who has been very sharp this season and in excellent form of late. He hasn’t always received the run support he needs but his numbers are solid. McCullers has a 3.18 ERA overall with a 1.533 WHIP. At home, he’s got a 2.28 ERA and a 1.409 WHIP. Houston has an 8-5 record in his 13 starts with a 6-3 record in his home assignments. They’ve also won 2 of his last three starts with McCullers turning in a 1.40 ERA and a 1.190 WHIP.

Toronto may not have the starting pitching edge but they likely have the edge in every other phase of the game. We’ll back the Blue Jays here.

BET TORONTO BLUE JAYS +140 OVER HOUSTON ASTROS