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Toronto Blue Jays vs. Baltimore Orioles – 8/28/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction


2020-08-28 18:37:00 EDT

The Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays meet Friday in MLB action from Sahlen Field. 

This will be the first installment of a four-game set between these teams this week. The Orioles are coming off a series versus the Rays. Baltimore lost the first two games of that series 4-2 and 4-3. The Thursday game was postponed. As for the Blue Jays, they played the Red Sox this week. Toronto split the first two games 9-7 (loss) and 9-1 (win). The Thursday game was postponed. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Orioles have gotten a few guys going at the plate so far this year, but not enough for a consistent offense. Anthony Santander has gone through a power surge so far with 10 home runs, 28 RBI, 11 doubles and 21 runs with a .279 average. Hanser Alberto is hitting .311 with 22 runs, 38 hits, two homers, 12 doubles and 13 RBI for Baltimore as well. 

It looks like lefty John Means will take the hill for the Orioles on Friday. This season, Means is 0-2 across four starts, with a 10.13 ERA and eight strikeouts over a 10.7-inning span. Last season, Means finished 12-11 with a 3.60 ERA and 121 Ks in 155.0 innings. 

Over on the Blue Jays’ side, they’ve posted a decent group of hitters this season, and a few guys are having nice campaigns so far. Teoscar Hernandez leads the team with 11 home runs, 19 RBI, 19 runs and a .294 batting average. Cavan Biggio is hitting .275 with six homers, 16 RBI, 25 runs and 30 hits himself. 

The Blue Jays will be sending out Hyun-Jin Ryu to start on Friday. In six starts this season, Ryu has a 2-1 record with a 3.19 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 31.0 innings. Last year, Ryu went 14-5 with the Dodgers on a 2.32 ERA. 

The Orioles are 23-49 in their last 72 Friday games and 55-120 in their last 175 games as a road underdog. Baltimore is 58-132 in their last 190 road games and 22-52 in their last 74 versus the American League East. 

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are 6-1 in their last seven games on grass and 8-3 in their last 11 overall. Toronto is 5-2 in their last seven Friday games and the under is 4-1-1 in the Blue Jays’ last six games overall. 

Pick: I’m leaning Blue Jays. That said, this is going to be a weird one. The late pitcher calls here are going to make it tough to determine what type of game we might have, so we’ll just go with what we know, and that’s offense. Toronto has simply been better at scoring, hitting and all that fun stuff this season, and have displayed a deeper lineup than Baltimore. Unless the Orioles get a few great pitching performances here, I don’t see them keeping up. 

As a late note, with Ryu and Means pitching, this looks more in the Blue Jays favor. Sticking with Toronto here. 

Andrew's Free Pick: Toronto Blue Jays -208

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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