Battle of the Birds: Blue Jays Face Orioles
The Orioles still have six games left against the rival Blue Jays this season. Three of those games will be played this weekend. This is a chance for Toronto to continue pressing the division-leading NY Yankees, and an equal opportunity for Baltimore to move closer and deeper into the AL wild card race.
A wild card playoff spot may be at stake when the red-hot Toronto Blue Jays (81-62) host Baltimore Orioles (75-67) for a critical three-game homestand.
Toronto has been one of the hottest teams in the majors lately and is presently the top wild card contender based on their season record.
Meanwhile, Baltimore has been the AL's surprise team, continuing to fight for a playoff spot. With only 20 games remaining in the season, they may need some help but remain very much in the playoff hunt. Upsetting the Blue Jays by taking at least 2 of 3 in the series could go a long way to improving Baltimore's chances.
Trouble is, they'll be facing the Blue Jays when they're playing their best ball of the season. Toronto is riding an 8-2 streak and given they're currently only 6 games behind the Yankees, they still could complete what would be an epic late-season comeback and shocking division win.
So, this Friday-Saturday-Sunday series means a great deal to both ballclubs. These teams will be seeing a lot of each other over the next three weeks. They will also meet in the final three games of the regular season.
Prediction (powered by Pointspreads.ca):
We expect Toronto to be favoured in all three games. They could even be sizable favourites depending upon the pitching matchups.
It's tough to lay chalk given so many bettors have underestimated the Orioles this season. However, the Blue Jays did take 3 of 4 from the birds over Labour Day weekend, so perhaps Toronto is simply the superior team.
Since the Blue Jays are playing so well at the moment and have taken care of the Orioles earlier this month, we see them continuing a strong run and winning at least a couple in the series.
We'd play Toronto and lay any price up to about -160.
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