The Blue Jays have won six of their past 10 games but still sit just 13-21 overall. They made the American League Championship Series a year ago but haven’t looked nearly as good this season. The Mariners are hanging around .500 on the season and also would like to make a postseason push, so taking advantage of the Blue Jays when they are scuffling would be a helpful move.
This series will be contested from Thursday, May 11 through Sunday, May 14, 2017 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Saturday matchup will be televised on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
The series will start with a matchup between Seattle’s Chase De Jong and Toronto’s Marco Estrada. De Jong is 0-2 on the season with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP, and he will aim to lower those in this matchup. Estrada has been much better, entering with a 1-2 record, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP.
On Friday, the Mariners will start Christian Bergman, who is a spot starter and may not have a ton of success if Toronto can wake up its bats. The Blue Jays will counter with Joe Biagini, also a spot starter. He threw four innings of shutout ball last time out and would love to repeat that performance.
The Saturday matchup features the Blue Jays’ Marcus Stroman against a yet-to-be-determined starter for the Mariners. Stroman is 3-2 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Seattle may have to dip into its spot starters again for this one, which will give Toronto the advantage.
On Sunday, Toronto is scheduled to send Aaron Sanchez to the mound. He has been on the disabled list with a finger injury but is expected to come off it for this start. Sanchez is 0-1 on the season with a 4.05 ERA but he has a career mark under 3 and is Toronto’s best starter. Seattle’s Ariel Miranda will aim to keep up. He is 3-2 with a 5.20 ERA.
Even though the Blue Jays are far under .500 on the season, they could have the starting pitching advantage in each game of this series, which is definitely something to keep in mind when it comes to MLB betting.
No Offense
Toronto has been an offensive juggernaut the past few seasons but it has not materialized in 2017. Slugger Edwin Encarnacion left in free agency in the offseason, while Josh Donaldson has been on the disabled list for most of the season with a calf injury.
Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki are the most accomplished hitters in the middle of the lineup, but Bautista has struggled all year and Tulowitzki also went on the disabled list for a spell. Both need to hit well if Toronto wants to start racking up wins. Kendrys Morales and Kevin Pillar are also key cogs in the lineup.
Missing Aces
The Mariners would have loved the services of left-hander James Paxton and right Felix Hernandez, but they are currently on the disabled list. Paxton’s arm issue is not serious and he is expected to begin throwing again this week, but his absence robs Seattle of its best starter.
Paxton is 3-0 with a 1.43 ERA on the season and hopes to be back as quickly as possible. Fernandez has a shoulder issue and has gone 2-2 with a 4.73 ERA this year, but has long been a great pitcher.
Hisashi Iwakuma has also hit the disabled list, as Seattle is being forced to throw together a starting rotation without their big names. Those three joined Drew Smyly, who has been on it for awhile.
Despite the absence of four key pitchers, the Mariners have won six of their past seven entering this game to get to 17-17 on the year, and will aim to keep it rolling. However, it’s not going to be easy since Toronto is at home and has the superior starters.
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