The Cleveland Guardians and the Toronto Blue Jays meet in MLB action from Rogers Centre on Friday night.
The Cleveland Guardians will look to build on their five-game win streak after sweeping Detroit with a 4-3 win over the Tigers last time out. Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 115 hits, 21 home runs and 88 RBIs along with a .280 batting average while Owen Miller has a .240 batting average with 22 doubles as well this season. Ramirez also has 36 doubles and Steven Kwan has 108 hits with 18 doubles as well as a .300 batting average this season. Ramirez has 4 triples while Amed Rosario has 6 triples as well as a team-high 123 hits and Andres Gimenez has a .304 batting average on the year. Cal Quantrill will start here and is 8-5 with a 3.88 ERA and 79 strikeouts this season.
The Toronto Blue Jays will look to build some steam after having an extra day of rest with Wednesday’s postponement against Baltimore. Bo Bichette leads the Blue Jays with 119 hits including 27 doubles, 17 home runs and 64 RBIs while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a team-high 23 home runs with 68 RBIs and 121 hits of his own and George Springer has 18 home runs with 49 RBIs as well this season. Santiago Espinal has 96 hits with 21 doubles and a .263 batting average while Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has 26 doubles on the year. Jose Berrios will start here and is 8-4 with a 5.19 ERA and 107 strikeouts this season.
Cleveland is 4-0 in their last 4 road games and 6-2 in their last 8 series-opening games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games against a team with a right-handed starter. Toronto is 9-0 in their last 9 games following an off day and 5-1 in their last 6 series-opening games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 home games.
I get the reasoning for backing either side in this one, as Quantrill’s pitched well for the Guardians, but Toronto tends to play their best ball at home and Wednesday’s postponement works out fantastically for Toronto as Jose Berrios is a completely different pitcher at home in a really good way. I think the Jays get one over on the Guardians to start the series, so give me Toronto -1.5 here.