Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles Preview
Where: Oriole Park at Camden Yards – Baltimore, Maryland
When: Monday, April 3, 2017, 3:05 PM ET
Line: Toronto Blue Jays (+120) vs. Baltimore Orioles (-130) ; total: 8.5 – view all MLB lines
Writer’s Pick: Toronto Blue Jays (+120)
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Betting on the Toronto Blue Jays
Marco Estrada will make the very first Opening Day start of his career. The 33-year-old righty has been arguably the Blue Jays’ most consistent pitcher over the past two years. He’s made at least 28 starts, pitched at least 176 innings, and had an ERA below 3.50 in each of those two years.
Estrada faced the Baltimore Orioles four times last season, and came away with a decent 2-0 record and 3.00 ERA. The Blue Jays went 3-1 in his starts, and improved to 6-2 over the last two years against the O’s in Estrada’s starts.
The Blue Jays lost one of their big bats in Edwin Encaracion, but they did manage to keep Jose Bautista and added Kendrys Morales to take over as the DH. With Donaldson, Bautista, Morales, and Troy Tulowitzki at the heart of the Blue Jays order, there’s more than enough talent to help the Jays maintain their status as a top-5 offense in the AL.
Betting on the Baltimore Orioles
Kevin Gausman has gotten the call to start for the Baltimore Orioles on Opening Day. The 26-year-old righty’s season numbers – 9-12 with a 3.61 ERA in 30 starts – aren’t particularly impressive, but after a rough first couple of months, he went 8-6 with a 3.10 ERA over the last 15 regular season starts.
Gausman got to face the Blue Jays three times last season – all in Toronto – and the results weren’t particularly pretty. He went 0-2 with a horrendous 7.04 ERA. The O’s didn’t do so well on their travels up north, in general. They went just 4-7 in Toronto last season.
On the bright side, Gausman will be backed up by an O’s lineup which led the league in homers by a wide margin last season. They managed to retain Mark Trumbo, who broke out with a career-high 47 homers last season; Manny Machado (.294 average, 37 HR, 96 RBI) is a legit MVP candidate; and Chris Davis (38 HR) is always a threat to go yard.
They also brought on Welington Castillo to replace Matt Wieters behind the plate. Castillo’s bat isn’t too bad, either, especially against Estrada. He’s got four homers and eight RBI in just 23 at-bats against the Jays righty.
Writer’s Prediction
The Blue Jays (+120) get to Gausman as they start the season with a 6-3 win.
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