The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking for just their second home win of the season on Tuesday night when they open a three-game series with the rival Boston Red Sox as -146 betting favourites at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto’s early-season woes continued over the holiday weekend, as the club dropped three of four to the visiting Baltimore Orioles, including Sunday’s 11-4 loss as -104 chalk. The Blue Jays fell to 2-10 ahead of Tuesday night’s betting matchup against the Red Sox at Rogers Centre.
A toothless offence has been at the heart of the Blue Jays slow start. After averaging 4.7 runs per game during the 2016 MLB campaign, Toronto hitters have sputtered in the early going this season, averaging just over 2.8 runs per game overall, and fewer than 2.2 runs per game in six dates at Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays power outage has frustrated the club’s starting rotation, which owns a combined 1-7 record despite recording seven quality starts. Early struggles have been compounded by injuries to starters J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez. Happ dealt with a sore elbow in Sunday’s loss to Baltimore, while Sanchez was placed on the 10-day disabled list following Friday’s 6-4 loss to the Orioles.
The Red Sox arrive in town on a high following a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay as -125 chalk in a Monday morning clash at Fenway Park. Boston has won three straight since opening the season on a middling 5-5 run, but has tallied just one victory in four road games this season.
Boston hurlers have also surrendered big run totals on multiple occasions this season, averaging 5.7 runs against in their past six contests while giving up 10 or more runs on two occasions.
Red Sox ace Chris Sale has been a standout in a pair of starts, surrendering just three earned runs in 21.2 innings of work. However, the remainder of the rotation has combined for just three wins to date while surrendering 15 home runs.
Marcus Stroman takes a 1-1 record and a sparkling 1.76 ERA to the mound on Tuesday, while the Red Sox counter with rookie southpaw Brian Johnson. Stroman took the loss despite throwing a complete game gem last week against Milwaukee, while Johnson makes his second major league start after getting the call-up from AAA Pawtucket.
Following their three-game set against Boston the Blue Jays hit the road for seven games, starting with a weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels. Toronto is 7-4 in its past 11 games against the Angels, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, and split a four-game set in Anaheim in mid-September.
[relatedlinks]
