The Toronto Blue Jays will have a golden opportunity to gain ground in the AL East standings when they open a four-game weekend series with the Boston Red Sox on Friday night as minus-140 home favourites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto has enjoyed a resurgence since returning to the team’s home field at Rogers Centre at the end of July, posting wins in six of seven home dates going into Friday night’s matchup.
The Blue Jays’ recent steady play has kept them in the hunt for the top of the AL East standings, where they remain just 6.5 games back of the first-place Tampa Bay Rays. The team also sits just three games back of the Oakland Athletics in the race for the second AL wild card, and has remained at plus-1800 on the World Series odds.
If the Blue Jays are to be successful in their bid for a postseason berth for a second straight year they must rise to the occasion in upcoming clashes with AL East rivals. The team took two of three from the Red Sox at Fenway Park last week but they have otherwise turned in uneven results in divisional play, going 4-8 in their past 12 and a disappointing 23-26 overall this season. Toronto hitters have also struggled against AL East opponents, scoring four or fewer runs on nine occasions during their 12-game swoon.
However, the long-awaited return to Rogers Centre has proven to be a tonic for the team. The Blue Jays offence is generating an average of five runs per game through the first seven dates on their current 12-game homestand, while surrendering just 2.57 runs per game during that stretch.
The Red Sox travel to Toronto for Friday’s series opener as plus-120 road underdogs at online betting sites after dropping an 8-1 decision in Detroit on Thursday afternoon. With their loss to the Tigers, the Red Sox have now posted defeats in five of the first six games on their current 10-day road trip, and seen their lead over the Blue Jays shrink to just five games.
Boston emerged as one of the surprise stories of 2021 early on in the campaign, storming to the top of the AL East standings at the all-star break. It has been downhill since then, however, with the Red Sox posting just 10 wins in their past 24 outings. The team has also gone 4-9 in its past 13 road dates, with its lone consecutive wins during that stretch coming last month against the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field.
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