AL East rivals will open a crucial three-game series on Monday night when the Toronto Blue Jays visit the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Toronto owns the top AL Wild Card spot at 60-48 after splitting a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins including a 3-2 triumph in extra innings on Sunday to cash in as a -173 favorite. Baltimore took two of three from the Pittsburgh Pirates but missed out on a sweep with an 8-1 defeat on Sunday as a -181 favorite, and is now two games out of a Wild Card spot at 56-52.
This will be just the second series between these divisional foes after they split a four-game set in Toronto back in mid-June.
While Toronto was cooled off somewhat from its previous red hot pace, it still managed to split with the first place Twins thanks to a 10 inning triumph on Sunday. Bo Bichette opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second before Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added an RBI single the next inning, and while Minnesota tied things late, the Blue Jays got the win on Cavan Biggio's sacrifice fly in the 10th that including a controversial call at the plate.
Kevin Gausman tossed six scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out five. Jordan Romano was charged with a blown save for allowing one run in two innings but still earned the win. Teoscar Hernandez had a multi-hit game including a double to help the offense.
Despite the strong record, Toronto is down a big amount on the money line for the season while going 49-59 on the run line. Overs are 56-51-1 for Toro nto after Sunday's low-scoring game snapped a run of three straight overs.
This is the third-highest scoring offense in baseball at 4.83 runs per game on a .765 team OPS, also third-best in baseball. Pitching is the question for the Blue Jays, as they are mid-pack with a 3.92 combined ERA including a mark of 3.88 from the bullpen.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is having another stellar year at the plate, posting an .876 OPS with 23 homers and 68 driven in. Alejandro Kirk is a breakout star, batting .299/.385/.461 with 12 homers and 40 driven in.
Yusei Kikuchi will be on the mound for then 19th time, hoping to get a tough season turned around as he's 4-5 with a 4.86 ERA across 74 innings, although he has struck out 84. The 31-year-old went four innings against the Tampa Bay Rays last Wednesday, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out five.
Toronto suffered a big blo w this week as outfielder George Springer went on the IL with elbow inflammation. The rotation is missing Ross Stripling (strained glute), Hyun Jin Ryu (Tommy John surgery) and Nate Pearson (mononucleosis). Relievers Tim Mayza (shoulder dislocation), Julian Merryweather (strained oblique) and Taylor Saucedo (hip discomfort) are also sidelined.