The Kansas City Royals bring the American League’s best record, at 60-38, to the game as they get set to kick off a four game series against the 50-50 Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday having been two of the first teams to make big moves leading up to the trading deadline.
Only one team’s newly acquired player, however, figures to play a key role in this game.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Royals have been the best team to bet on in the league—and second best in all of baseball—with a total moneyline of $2,113. The Jays, on the other hand, have cost bettors $436.
Still, the Blue Jays get to host the Royals and that is great news for the team from north of the border as the Jays are 28-19 in Toronto. The Royals, of course, have done well on the road, but not as well as at home.
The Jays are coming off a series loss to the Mariners over the weekend, but did pick up back-to-back series wins over the A’s and Rays after losing two of three in the last series between these two teams.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Young southpaw Danny Duffy gets the start on Thursday for the Royals. Duffy had a rough start to the year and found himself on the disabled list, but since returning the young gun has posted a 2.15 ERA and KC is 5-1 in his six starts.
All in all, he’s 4-4 on the year with a 4.03 ERA and 1.408 WHIP. He struggled with walks early and has allowed 3.4 per nine innings. Since the start of July, he has a 1.37 ERA and 0.987 WHIP in 26 1/3 innings though he’s struck out only eight batters.
Duffy started against the Jays on July 10 and held them scoreless, allowing four hits and three walks in six innings of work.
Duffy’s counterpart for the Jays on Thursday is scheduled to be Marco Estrada. The 32-year old righty out of Mexico struggled to establish himself in Milwaukee, but has had a solid year in his first go round in the American League.
Overall, Estrada is 7-6 with a 3.55 ERA and 1.182 WHIP in 99 innings of work. As a starter, he’s 6-6 with a 3.87 ERA and 1.223 WHIP in 15 starts. He faced Duffy on July 10 and took the loss against the Royals, but did pitch six and two-thirds innings, allowing only two runs.
LIVE/SITUATIONAL BETTING
The Blue Jays are the best offensive team in baseball by a wide margin and the scary thing is, on Monday night, they got even better with the acquisition of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.
Tulowitzki is hitting .300 this year with a .818 OPS and 12 home runs and is added to a team that has already scored 78 more runs than the next best offense this year and has slammed 130 home runs.
Of course, there are concerns about how much of Tulo’s production over the years was a result of Coors Field. For his career, the talented shortstop has a .885 OPS, but out of Colorado, his career average drops from .321 at Coors to .276 away and his career OPS on the road is .817.
Even his deflated road numbers are an improvement to an already stellar offense, but his defense may be the biggest boost as former shortstop Jose Reyes had lost a few steps.
Now with Tulowitzki, the Jays have a killer infield with him added to Josh Donaldson’s .890 OPS, Edwin Encarnacion’s 19 home runs and Devon Travis’s .360 OBP. Add in Jose Bautista’s .868 OPS, Russell Martin’s .817 OPS and the solid production from the likes of Chris Colabello, Justin Smoak and Danny Valencia and you have a team that can outslug anyone.
Kansas City has a solid offense, but cannot match up with the Jays and needs to rely on its superior pitching. Still, the team can put runs on the board when needed and, although lacking the power of the Jays, has a better team average of .274 compared to Toronto’s .262.
PROP TALK
Surprisingly, no Blue Jays has a home run in his career against Duffy, but keep an eye on both Jose Bautista and Russell Martin. Both players have faced Duffy six times with Bautista recording four hits and Martin notching three.
On the other side, Eric Hosmer is 3 for 3 against Estrada. He’s also coming off a killer game on Monday where he went 3 for 5 with a home run and four RBIs.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Blue Jays offense is unreal, but this game is all about pitching and the Jays have struggled on the mound all year. Estrada has been serviceable as a starter, but Duffy has pitched better of late.
The Royals also have a much better bullpen with a major league best 2.13 ERA while the Jays’ pen’s ERA is 3.47. Of course, Toronto did add LaTroy Hawkins as well as Tulo in their trade on Monday night, but he’s certainly not even close to being enough to close the gap.
Kansas City 6, Toronto 5
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Gamble on the game between every half inning with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen in the next at-bat or how many runs will be scored in the next inning. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Kansas City Royals versus the Toronto Blue Jays will commence Thursday, July 30, 2015, at 7:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
