The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to rebound from a pair of weekend losses in Detroit when they travel to Boston on Monday for the first of three meetings with the AL East-leading Red Sox as -102 underdogs on the betting lines at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
A strong outing by pitcher Aaron Sanchez powered Toronto to a 7-2 victory over the Tigers as a +108 underdog on Friday. However, shaky pitching performances doomed the club to a pair of defeats to close out the series, including a brutal 11-1 loss as a +130 underdog on Saturday.
That marked Toronto’s third loss by a double-digit margin in six outings ahead of Monday night’s Blue Jays vs. Red Sox betting matchup at Fenway Park.
The Blue Jays left Detroit following a 6-5 extra-innings loss as +110 underdogs on Sunday. Pitcher Marco Estrada continued to struggle, failing to complete five innings for the fifth time in six starts, but avoided the losing decision in Toronto’s ninth defeat in 15 games that leaves them nine games back of the first-place Red Sox in the AL East.
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While the Blue Jays now sit seven games below .500 with Sunday’s loss, they have performed reasonably well on the road since Victoria Day weekend, going 12-10 in 22 contests away from Rogers Centre – including series wins over Milwaukee, Seattle, and the New York Yankees.
Toronto has also enjoyed success in recent visits to Fenway Park, going 6-2 in its past eight according to the OddsShark MLB Database. Recent road dates with the Red Sox have also tended to be low-scoring affairs, with the UNDER paying out regularly in totals betting, going 10-2 in their past 12.
The Red Sox earned a split in their four-game weekend set with the Yankees with a 3-0 win as -133 home favourites in the second half of doubleheader on Sunday, and maintain a three-game lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the division despite tallying just three victories in their past nine outings.
While the Blue Jays have been inconsistent on the mound, the Red Sox have endured a power outage at the plate during their current swoon, tallying more than three runs just twice over their past nine games.
However, Boston batters have proven capable of making opposing pitchers pay, scoring seven or more runs in nine of their past 22 overall. The Red Sox have also been reliable in the first game of recent series, going 8-2 in their past 10, and have claimed victory in the first game of their past four series with the Blue Jays.
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