The Toronto Blue Jays will attempt to sweep the three-game series as they face the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday. It’s time to continue our MLB odds coverage with a Blue Jays-Red Sox prediction and pick.
The Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox 4-1 on Saturday at Fenway Park. Things started slow for Toronto when Bobby Dalbec cracked a solo home run to left-center in the second innings. It was the seventh of the year for Dalbec, giving the Red Sox the 1-0 advantage. Then, the Blue Jays struck in the third inning when Santiago Espinal clipped an RBI single to right-center to tie the game. George Springer followed with an RBI single to center, scoring Espinal, and giving Toronto the lead. The Jays led 3-1 in the ninth when Teoscar Hernandez added an insurance run with an RBI double to left.
Alek Manoah continued his great season by tossing six innings, allowing one earned run with seven strikeouts. Then, the bullpen followed with three hitless innings to close it out. The Jays will go with Ross Stripling today and the Sox will go with Brayan Bello.
Stripling is 5-3 with a 3.03 ERA. Lately, he has been better, going 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA over three starts in July. He went seven innings in his last start, allowing two runs (none earned) on two hits with six strikeouts. Ultimately, Stripling has faced the Red Sox twice this season, going 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA over two career starts at Fenway Park.
Bello is 0-1 with a 10.13 ERA. He went four innings with five earned runs on seven hits in his last start. Thus, Bello will attempt to recover from the bad start.
Here are the Blue Jays-Red Sox MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Blue Jays-Red Sox Odds
Toronto Blue Jays: -1.5 (-106)
Boston Red Sox: +1.5 (-113)
Over: 10.5 (-106)
Under: 10.5 (-114)
*Watch MLB Games LIVE with fuboTV (click for free trial)
Why The Blue Jays Could Cover The Spread
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. remains impeccable. He is batting .273 with 20 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 53 runs. However, the stats are not on par with last season’s results, where he finished with a .311 batting average, 48 home runs, 111 RBIs, and 123 runs. There is still time to mount a run, and the Jays will need him to help them make the playoffs. Guerrero is batting .250 (10 for 40) with one home run, seven RBIs, and six runs in 11 games against the Sox this season. Additionally, he is batting .375 (6 for 16) with three RBIs in five games at Fenway Park.
Matt Chapman is batting .233 with 16 home runs, 49 RBIs, and 49 runs. Likewise, he is batting .294 with three home runs, 10 RBIs, and eight runs in 12 games against the Red Sox. Chapman had torched the Sox at Fenway, where he is batting .409 (9 for 22) with one home run, five RBIs, and five runs over five games in Boston.
The Blue Jays will cover the spread if Stripling can give them a quality start. Also, the Jays need Guerrero, Chapman, and the rest of the lineup to produce offensively.
Why The Red Sox Could Cover The Spread
Rafael Devers is having a good season, batting .324 with 22 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 62 runs. These numbers are better than last season’s pace, where he finished with a batting average of .279, 38 home runs, 113 RBIs, and 101 runs. Likewise, Devers has excelled in July, batting .300 with five home runs, 10 RBIs, and six runs. It has not been as easy against the Jays, where he is batting .214 (9 for 42) with one RBI and five runs over 11 games this year. Additionally, it’s worse at home, where Devers is batting .133 (2 for 15) with two runs against Toronto.
The Red Sox still remain a force at the plate, ranking first in batting average, 12th in on-base percentage, eighth in runs, 17th in home runs, and eighth in slugging percentage. However, the injuries to the rotation are taking their roll as they currently are without Michael Wacha (shoulder inflammation), Chris Sale (Broken Right Pinky), James Paxton (left elbow), Rich Hill (sprained right knee), and Connor Seabold (right forearm extension strain). The Sox need their hitters to pull their weight to help their thin pitching staff to make up for the difference.
The Red Sox will cover the spread if Bello can toss a quality start. Of course, they also need their hitters to come through at the plate and build a significant lead.
Final Blue Jays-Red Sox Prediction & Pick
The Blue Jays are the better team right now mainly because the Red Sox are hurting. Thus, expect the Blue Jays to take advantage of this and finish off the three-game sweep. But this game also will not have much scoring, as the offenses seem tired. Expect a lower-scoring affair.
Final Blue Jays-Red Sox Prediction & Pick: Under: 10.5 (-114)