Toronto Blue Jays VS Detroit Tigers already played game one of this series on Tuesday night, with Detroit (2-8) securing a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Toronto (7-4) was unmoved, beating the next 9 runs on their way to a 9-3 win during their home opener.
Five Blue Jays players hit a home run and the bullpen hurled 1.2 on-hit innings behind Alex Manoah. Detroit used just two pitchers, and both of them had a forgettable night. Fortunately, the Tigers can get a clean slate when they return to the Rogers Centre today.
Let’s see if the Tigers can maintain a lead this time.
MatchPlug has some MLB Predictions Today for Blue Jays VS Tigers, culled from the best oddsmakers.
Predictions and Betting Preview for Toronto Blue Jays VS Detroit Tigers MLB Regular Season
- Venue: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Canada
- When: Friday, April 12th, 2023
- Time: 16:07 GMT
- Teams to play: Toronto and Detroit.
- MLB Expert Picks: SPREAD -1.5
Odds by 1XBet.
Betting On The Toronto Blue Jays
- 1XBet Spread: -1.5
- 1XBet Moneyline: 1.34
- 1XBet Over/Under: Over 8.5
The Toronto Blue Jays could not hit a home run in their first series, which is odd for a team with powerful bats. Since leaving St. Louis, they’ve hit one in every game, crushing 15 over the next 8 contests. They enter today’s matchup; game two of this series with one loss in their last seven and with their power emerging, it is not a coincidence.
Toronto seems to have regained their strength, so they must keep batting strong if they want to win. They have the talent to do that.
Taking their first home series of 2023 will assist them greatly, especially with an upcoming matchup against the unbeaten Tampa Bay over the weekend. Kevin Gausman is the starter for today’s game. Gausman has not allowed an earned run this season in 12.0 innings and has 14 strikeouts against three walks. Last season, he faced the Tigers once, holding them to two runs (one earned) in 6.0 innings. The bullpen behind him has been solid so far and easily wiped out the Tigers’ bats in game one.
Toronto’s offense is more than capable of leading the team to victory if their pitchers can’t do so. The team puts up 5.7 runs per game, led by the heart of the order. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Matt Chapman share an OPS of over 1.000 presently. Newbie Kevin Kiermaier, recognised for his world-class defense, has an OPS of 9.70 through his first nine games as a Blue Jay.
Betting On The Detroit Tigers
- 1XBet Spread: +1.5
- 1XBet Moneyline: 3.7
- 1XBet Over/Under: Under 8.5
After losing to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers secured two of three against the Houston Astros. Since then, they’ve not won any other match; they enter today’s game on a five-game slide. They haven’t had any competitive losses either, all of them have been by three runs.
The Tigers were not fated to be a postseason team this campaign, but they expected better than what they’ve gone through 10 games. To stop this, Eduardo Rodriguez needs to detect the tone of today’s game when he starts for the 3rd time this season. The ex-Boston Red Sox pitcher has enough experience with the Blue Jays, facing them 17 times in his career.
Although Rodriguez has an unimpressive result, he owns a 5.20 ERA and has mustered 17 homers, tied for the most among all the teams he faced. His starts in 2023 haven’t been good too, as he allowed 4 walks, 9 hits, and 7 runs in 10.0 innings. He earned the loss in both starts too.
If Rodriguez gets through the Blue Jays’ bat untouched, he’ll deliver the ball to a reliever group that entered Tuesday 30th in WAR at -0.8. Especially since the only reliever who pitched on Tuesday allowed five earned runs in 2.0 innings, plus two home runs, these numbers are not increasing. Their bullpen was 26th in ERA before the match on Tuesday, and that ERA will increase from the 6.18 mark.
Detroit’s offense won’t save them too, as their 30 runs are the lowest in MLB. The Tigers are 29th in batting average, 29th in OBP and 30th in slugging percentage. Except for a few players, Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, and Matt Vierling, nothing is working on the plate too. Out of 30 runs, 18 were in 3 games.
MatchPlug Prediction
The Blue Jays have an expert starting pitcher, a stronger bullpen, a better offense, and home field advantage in this game. Rodriguez has had some challenges with Toronto throughout his career and conceded 6 runs in 3.1 innings the last time he played them.
That doesn’t take in his struggles early this season. The Tigers’ offense may randomly blow up in this game, but since they’ve been the worst offense in MLB these first few weeks, the possibility of this happening is low. Detroit is battling a five-game losing streak and already owns a -41 run differential. There are not enough good reasons to expect the Tigers to compete in this match, except for the random nature of baseball. Toronto may dominate again.
Final Prediction: Blue Jays Spread.
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