MLB Predictions: O’s vs Blue Jays Lines
The Toronto Blue Jays host the Baltimore Orioles in game three of a three-game set on Thursday night. The teams were caught in a slugfest on Wednesday night, with the Orioles overcoming a 6-1 deficit to gut out a 10-8 win, setting up Thursday’s rubber match.
Baltimore Orioles (10-10) at Toronto Blue Jays (11-10)
Date: Thursday, April 24, 2014
Time: 7:07 PM ET
Venue: Rogers Centre
City: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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O/U Odds: 9
Money Line: Toronto -137, Baltimore -126
Pitching Matchup: RH Bud Norris (0-2, 4.42 ERA) at RH Chad Hutchison (1-1, 3.60 ERA)
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The Orioles have been criticized for their inability to hit the long ball this season, but the team showed that there is no power outage in Baltimore, taking Blue Jays pitchers deep four times on Wednesday, with Chris Davis starting things off in the first inning, Nelson Cruz powering the comeback with home runs in back-to-back at-bats in the third and fifth inning, then Matt Wieters helping the team pull away in the 7th.
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All told, the Blue Jays touched Dustin McGowan for six runs over four-plus innings of work after failing to score on him in their first matchup. Ace Chris Tillman got the win despite a sub-par outing in which he gave up seven runs over 5 2/3 innings, though he did pick things up and helped the team by eating some innings following a six-run second inning.
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Now, the Orioles will turn to Bud Norris, a pitcher who has historically had one of the worst home-road splits in all of baseball. Norris has been a very reliable starter in his home ballpark, but his starts have been an adventure when he gets the nod on the road.
Norris kept the Blue Jays off the board in his first outing against them this season, limiting the team to five hits over seven innings of work, but that game was played in Baltimore. He’ll be making his first career start at the Rogers Centre in this one, and he’ll have to deal with a red hot Brett Lawrie, who has five home runs and 15 RBIs in his last nine games.
The Blue Jays counter with Drew Hutchison. Hutchison has looked strong in three of his first four starts on the year after missing all of last season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He threw six shutout innings against the Orioles earlier in the year, allowing only four hits over six innings of work.
MLB Free Prediction
The Blue Jays hold a serious edge on the mound in this one, and it appears their bats have finally started to come alive, with the team accounting for 6.5 runs per game over their last four contests. Expect them to get to Norris, while Hutchison tames the Orioles’ bats.
The Blue Jays are 6-1 in their last seven games following a loss, and 5-1 in Hutchison’s last six home starts. The Orioles are 14-41 in their last 55 games played in Toronto.
The play: Blue Jays -137
