2016 AL Wild Card Game: Baltimore Orioles vs. Toronto Blue Jays MLB Preview and Prediction

Baltimore Orioles vs. Toronto Blue Jays Betting Preview

Where: Rogers Centre —Toronto, Ontario

When: Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 8:00 PM ET

Line: Baltimore Orioles (-160) at Toronto Blue Jays (+140); total: 8.5– view all MLB lines

TV Broadcast: TSN

Writer’s Pick: Toronto Blue Jays (+140)

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Betting on the Baltimore Orioles (-160)

The Baltimore Orioles are in good hands. They’ve named Chris Tillman, their best starter this season, to take the mound in tonight’s AL wild-card showdown with the Blue Jays. He went 16-6 along with a 3.77 ERA and a 140/66 K/BB ratio in what turned out a to be a strong bounce-back 2016 season for the veteran.

Tillman’s form is also one thing to take note of. He heads into Rogers Centre having allowed just three runs or fewer in his previous four starts. That stretch includes his most recent start last week, which was coincidentally against Toronto. He logged in 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball along to help the O’s notch the 3-2 win. Tillman carries a 1-0 record with a 3.63 ERA across four starts versus the Blue Jays this year.

Over on offense, smashing balls out of the park has been the O’s specialty, a fact which can be affirmed by their majors-leading 251 home runs this season. The powerhouse-trio of Mark Trumbo, Chris Davis and Manny Machado, all of whom have at least 37 or more long balls under their names, will try to give their AL East rivals a taste of their big bats.

Baltimore is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games on the road.

Betting on the Toronto Blue Jays (+140)

Postseason baseball is back at Rogers Centre for the second-straight year. This time, however, the Toronto Blue Jays are going to have to win their first World Series title since the 1993 season as an AL wild-card qualifier. But before we even think that far ahead, let’s not forget about the main goal of the Blue Jays tonight: beat the Orioles.

Toronto has tapped Marcus Stroman to take the mound in this do-or-die game. He has three starts written on his playoff resume, but the 25-year-old righty didn’t look good during that stretch, going just 1-0 along with a 4.19 ERA.  The same could also be said with regards to his four starts versus Baltimore and 16 starts at home this season.

On the bright side, Stroman’s had a solid month of September, posting a relatively low ERA of 3.41 despite being winless in six starts. Well, the reason for that was largely because of the Blue Jays’ lack of production at the plate.

There’s a big amount of pressure surrounding Toronto’s top sluggers in Josh Donaldson (.284/.404/.549), Edwin Encarnacion (.263/.357/.529) and Troy Tulowitzki (.254/.318/.443) to blast in some key hits and runs.

Encarnacion, in particular, better heat up quickly because Baltimore also boasts a number of power hitters who can kill them. The three-time All-Star leads the Blue Jays in homers (42) and RBIs (127) this season. He’s also batting .293 all-time versus the Orioles’ ace, Chris Tillman.

Toronto is 5-5 SU in its previous 10 games at Rogers Centre.

Writer’s Prediction

Toronto (+140) gets hot at the plate, powering its way to a 7-4 victory.

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