The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to bounce back from Sunday’s costly loss to the Tampa Bay Rays as they travel to Washington on Monday for the first of four straight meetings with the World Series champion Nationals as +110 road underdogs on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto dropped a narrow 6-5 decision to the Rays in extra innings in a Sunday clash that saw closer Ken Giles suffer an elbow injury that leaves him questionable for Monday night’s matchup at Nationals Park.
Giles played a key role in the Blue Jays’ steady stretch run last season, recording 23 saves on the year and saving six games while the club closed out their schedule on a 12-6 run. The 29-year-old slammed the door on Tampa Bay hitters in Friday’s season opener, recording a pair of strikeouts in a single inning’s work to seal the Blue Jays’ 6-4 win.
Now sporting a 1-2 record through the first weekend of the abbreviated 2020 MLB season, the Blue Jays continue a lengthy run on the road before settling into their temporary home at Buffalo’s Sahlen Field on Aug. 11. Toronto will be the visiting team in contests on Monday and Tuesday before assuming the role of the home team in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s clashes with the Nationals in Washington.
Righthander Trent Thornton will make his first start of the season on Monday. The 29-year-old made his major league debut with the Blue Jays last season, overcoming a slow start to compile a 6-9 record over 29 outings, including a 1-0 record in a pair of interleague starts. Thornton limited opposing hitters to one or fewer earned runs in four of his final five appearances last season, and will be looking to lead Toronto to a sixth straight win over Washington, according to the OddsShark MLB Database.
The Nationals look to Monday’s contest as -130 home favourites at online betting sites after closing out a three-game set with the New York Yankees on Sunday with a disappointing 3-2 loss. After splitting the first two games of the series with New York, the Nationals seized an early 2-0 lead in Sunday’s series finale, only to see the Yankees rebound to score three times over the final three innings.
With their offence sputtering, scoring just three total runs in their two losses this weekend, the Nationals will be looking for a big start from Anibal Sanchez on Monday. Sanchez earned the win in his final three starts of 2019 to finish the season with an 11-8 record, but has surrendered 21 total earned runs while going 0-3 over his past four starts against the Blue Jays.
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