Toronto Blue Jays (1-3) vs. Kansas City Royals (1-3)
The 2023 Major League Baseball Season is rolling through the second week of the season with this interleague battle between the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. Toronto enters as the favorite (-190) with the total set at 9.0.
The Royals defeated the Blue Jays on Monday, 9-5. The Royals were the underdogs in that contest (+120) with the total set at 8.0. These teams play on Tuesday but this preview was written prior to the conclusion of that contest.
The Toronto Blue Jays found themselves trailing by seven after four on their way to a 9-5 loss to Kansas City on Monday. Jose Berrios was lit up, giving up eight runs on nine hits in 5.2 innings to take the loss. Toronto did rally late to pull within four but would get no closer. The loss dropped Toronto to 1-3 on the road.
Pitching has been a major issue for the Blue Jays early on as they are 29th in team ERA (7.64). The main culprit has been the starting rotation, which has a 10.80 ERA. Alek Manoah starts on Wednesday and he is one of the issues. The righty allowed five runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings in the opening day start. He is coming off a season where he went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA.
Alek Manoah (25-9 career, 2.71) is one of the game's best young pitchers.
That's not what his mom is most proud of.@Alek_Manoah6 | @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/78QAFV8pSf
— MLB Players Media (@MLBPlayersMedia) April 4, 2023
The offense has been doing their best to keep this team in games, posting a .294 batting average. They have scored 20 runs and have a .381 on-base percentage. However, a year after hitting 200 homers they have hit just one. Vladimir Guerrero hit 32 last season and has 80 over the last two seasons, but has yet to go deep this year.
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