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Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles Gambling Preview & Free MLB Picks

MLB Lines – Jays vs O’s

The AL East division’s two scariest offenses meet up in Maryland on Thursday night, except one is trending upward and the other is mired in stagnation over the past few games.

Date/Time: Thursday, June 12 2014, 7:05 pm EST
Venue: Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore MD
Toronto +1.5, Baltimore -1.5
Over/Under: 8.5
Pitching Match-up: Mark Buehrle (10-2, 2.04 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman (1-1, 4.91 ERA)
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The Blue Jays (39-28) had a torrid month of May that opened up a sizeable lead for them in the division. However, they’ve been outscored 25-9 over their past four games, so it seems they’ve come back to Earth of late.

The home team Orioles (33-31) are tied for second in the East with the New York Yankees. They’ve had their struggles, particularly on the pitcher’s mound, but the offense is hot. The bats are led by OF Adam Jones and DH Nelson Cruz, who since coming over from Texas has led the American League in home runs and RBI.

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However, as recently as a week ago, if you wanted to talk offense the discussion began and ended with the Jays. Outfielder and team leader Jose Bautista is having an MVP-caliber season (.311 average, 15 HR, 45 RBI and a silly .435 OBP) as well as DH Edwin Encarnacion, who simply set a franchise record for homers in the month of May.

The Jays can hurt you in a multitude of ways, especially when their starting pitching is functional. The one hurler they haven’t needed to worry about yet in 2014 is Mark Buehrle. The grizzled veteran has been one of the league’s elite starters; he was the first pitcher to 10 wins and has mixed locations like a wizard to confound opposing hitters.
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The O’s counter with youngster Kevin Gausman, a lauded prospect who needs to make an impact for Baltimore this year, especially with the inefficacy of acquisition Ubaldo Jimenez.

Buehrle has never been a power pitcher, so he’ll need to locate with pinpoint accuracy to avoid getting his “boobies ripped” by the likes of Jones, Cruz and Nick Markakis.

Apart from Encarnacion’s 20th homer a couple games ago and some steady hitting from star SS Jose Reyes, the Jays’s bats have cooled considerably. Toronto hitters need to get back to capitalizing on mistakes for the Jays to reach flight.

In many ways, Toronto is doing this year what the prognosticators thought would happen in 2013. General manager Alex Anthopolous made a couple of mega-deals to bring in some big-money talent, but injuries severely derailed last season’s efforts.

The Jays have opened up a 4.5 game lead on Baltimore and New York in the AL East, but that margin will close quickly if the visitors don’t show up to play in this important divisional series. A three-gamer with the Yankees looms immediately after the Baltimore series.

The Orioles’ spotty pitching makes them an insecure candidate to take the East, but as underwhelming as the division has been (Rays, Red Sox – we’re looking your way) anything could happen in 2014.

If Toronto plays merely decent baseball from here on out, the Jays will probably make the postseason. However, the door is wide open for Baltimore to make a serious statement in this series. It’s up to trusty old Buehrle and the intimidating (yet cooled) Jays hitters to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Toronto 7, Baltimore 6
Take the OVER

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By James Hayes

James has been naming every player on the EA Sports video game rosters for half a decade now, he’s finally putting his knowledge to better use writing for us here at CappersPicks.com. Your comments are welcome below…Give Us Your Take!