The Toronto Blue Jays will be looking to win three games in a row for the first time in over three weeks when they return home on Monday to open a three-game series with the visiting Baltimore Orioles as heavy -285 favourites on the MLB odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Toronto is coming off a narrow 2-1 win in Detroit on Sunday, and now takes its first two-game win streak in 16 outings into Monday night’s matchup at the Rogers Centre.
With the 2021 campaign entering the home stretch, the Blue Jays’ success in the Motor City this past weekend could not have come at a better time. While they have fallen out of contention in the hunt for top spot in the AL East, where they now trail the Tampa Bay Rays by 13.5 games, the Blue Jays remain within striking distance of the second AL wild card. However, if they are to close the gap on the Boston Red Sox, who currently hold a 5.5-game lead in that race, the Blue Jays will have to overcome their recent shaky performance on home turf.
The Blue Jays looked unbeatable in their return to Rogers Centre last month, going 8-1 through their first nine contests. However, the team has since faltered, failing to post consecutive wins while going 4-6 over their past 10 home dates.
Run production has been a massive concern during that stretch, as Blue Jays hitters have failed to score more than three runs in 10 of their past 13 contests. That trend extended to this past weekend’s series in Detroit, where the team managed to take two of three from the Tigers despite scoring just six total runs.
The Toronto offence could get a lift from this week’s series with the Orioles, who arrive in town for Monday’s contest set as +235 underdogs at betting sites.
Baltimore saw its struggles continue this past weekend, as the team got swept in a three-game series with the visiting Rays, capped by a 12-8 loss on Sunday afternoon. With those defeats, the Orioles saw their August record dip to a woeful 3-23. The team's epic slide now leaves them buried in the basement in the overall MLB standings, and trailing in the AL East standings by 41.5 games.
In addition, the Orioles have now lost nine straight on the road, and 10 of 11 during the month of August, while surrendering an average of over 8.5 runs per game. They have also struggled in recent road dates with the Blue Jays, losing 11 of 15 since July 2019 according to the OddsShark MLB Database.
