The Toronto Blue Jays will have yet another attempt to lift their season record to .500 when they open a three-game weekend series with the Chicago White Sox on Friday as -150 home favourites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto has struggled to climb out of the AL East basement since opening the season on a dismal 2-11 run, and takes a middling 32-33 record into Friday night’s White Sox vs. Blue Jays betting matchup at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays are coming off a narrow 7-6 win over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays as -141 home chalk on Wednesday to improve to 3-1 over their past four games, and they surrendered just nine total runs during that stretch. However, consistency remains an issue for the club, which has tallied consecutive wins just once over its past 12 games since a solid 8-1 run in late May returned them to divisional contention.
Toronto has also struggled to string together consecutive wins on home turf at Rogers Centre, alternating between wins and losses over their past six while being outscored by a combined margin of 40-20.
The Blue Jays have also enjoyed little success against Chicago in recent years, going 2-9 in their past 11 meetings overall, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, including four straight home losses during which they have allowed an average of 6.5 runs per game.
Joe Biagini aims to avoid a fourth loss in as many starts as he gets the call for the Blue Jays on Friday. The 27-year-old right-hander fell to 1-5 on the season in Toronto’s 4-2 loss in Seattle as a -104 road underdog last Friday. But Biagini has proven to be a workhorse for the Blue Jays despite his weak record, pitching 20 innings over his past three starts and allowing just eight total hits and six total earned runs during that stretch.
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The White Sox travel north after taking three of four in Baltimore, capped by a 5-2 victory on Thursday afternoon as +109 underdogs for their fourth win in their past six games. However, Chicago has struggled on the road this season, going 2-10 in its past 12, while allowing seven or more runs on six occasions.
Jose Quintana takes the hill on Friday searching for his first win since May 2. Quintana allowed five hits and three earned runs in a 4-2 loss in Cleveland on June 11. He’s surrendered three or more earned runs in five of his past seven starts, but threw six innings of shutout ball in Chicago’s 4-0 win over Toronto as a +128 underdog in April 2016.
