The Toronto Blue Jays will continue a seven-game road trip on Friday when they open a three-game set with the surging Kansas City Royals as -125 favourites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto wrapped up a four-game series in Texas with an 11-4 loss as narrow -113 chalk on Thursday afternoon, and has now dropped two of three going into Friday night’s Blue Jays vs. Royals betting matchup at Kauffman Stadium.
The Blue Jays are a solid 8-5 over their past 13 games away from Rogers Centre following this week’s visit to Texas. Toronto batters tagged the Rangers for seven runs twice during the four-game series, but the Blue Jays also surrendered an average of seven runs per game, and have now allowed an average of 6.77 runs per game over their past eight outings.
Toronto hopes to put a halt to that trend with southpaw J.A. Happ taking the hill on Friday looking for his third win in as many starts. Happ struggled in a recent return from injury but dominated in the Blue Jays’ 4-0 win in Seattle as +142 underdogs on June 11, and followed up by scattering three earned runs over 6.2 innings in a 7-3 win over the Chicago White Sox as -210 home chalk last Sunday.
Inconsistency and a sub-.500 record haven’t done much for the Blue Jays’ odds of winning the American League pennant. Toronto maintains +1400 odds on those MLB futures.
The Royals enter the weekend riding high after taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox, capped by Wednesday’s 6-4 victory as +121 home underdogs, to improve to 9-2 over their past 11 games. Kansas City’s current tear has lifted them back into contention in the underachieving AL Central despite sitting one game under .500 on the season.
Kansas City has averaged more than 7.2 runs per game during its current 9-2 run, but was tagged for 17 total runs in those two defeats, which include an 8-3 loss to the Red Sox as a +175 home underdog on Tuesday night.
The Royals have dominated Toronto on home turf. Kansas City posted a 7-1 win as a +142 home underdog in the last clash between the clubs last August, improving to 10-3 in their past 13 matchups at Kauffman Stadium.
Rookie right-hander Jake Junis gets the call for Kansas City on Friday. The 24-year-old is 2-1 on the season but was rocked in his last start, a 9-0 Royals loss to the Angels as +128 road underdogs last Saturday.
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