A battle of knuckleballers will headline AL East action on Saturday afternoon when R.A. Dickey leads the visiting Toronto Blue Jays into Fenway Park to square off against Steven Wright and the division leading Red Sox.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
Through two months of the 2016 season, the Blue Jays have been unable to build off their magical campaign of a year ago. John Farrell’s squad currently resides in 4th place of the AL East five games in back of the front running Red Sox. They rank out No. 20 on the money earned list having dropped a hazy $420 overall through their first 54 games. While they haven’t been able to put things together at home, the BJs have represented well on the road where they’ve won 15 of 27 and garnered a tidy $95 profit.
After finishing up six games under .500 and costing MLB bettors upwards of $650 last season, the BoSox were overlooked on the futures odds at the outset of 2016. That was a big mistake however, and we called for this type of campaign at the outset of the season. Boston’s youngsters are making headlines on a nightly basis with Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts stringing together lengthy hitting streaks, while David Ortiz continues to shine in his swan song season. All this has added up to the Red Sox being the fourth most lucrative bet to date.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
R.A. Dickey is the consummate professional. While he’s stuff leaves much to be desired at this point of his career, if his knuckler is dancing, he can get the best of any offense that gets in his way. He’ll no doubt look to impress in his twelfth start with him matched up against another pitcher cut from the same cloth. He’s allowed 64 hits through his 66 IP, but does sport a 2:1 K/BB ratio per inning. Walks did however get the best of him in his last visit to Fenway where he conceded four through only 4.2 innings. Toronto’s lost both of his starts against Boston this season, and he owns a career 4.50 ERA against the Red sox through 19 starts.
With David Price signing a gargantuan deal in the offseason to pitch for the Red Sox, it was thought he’d lead the team in most pertinent categories at season’s end. That however has not been the case with Wright’s 2.45 ERA the best on the team as is his 1.09 WHIP. Boston has however only been able to split his 10 overall starts, and he’s been at his worst in Fenway where he’s 2-1 with a 3.70 ERA while allowing 25 hits through 24.1 innings of work. He’s only allowed 25 hits in 45+ IP on the road, so it’s safe to say Fenway’s parameters don’t play well to his game.
LIVE BETTING
With Jackie Bradley Jr’s hitting streak now a thing of the past, all eyes are now on Bogaerts who extended his hitting streak to 24 games via a seventh-inning single in Monday’s 6-2 win over the O’s.
Xander ranks out as the No. 2 shortstop in fantasy baseball right now, and he’s been successful versus Dickey throughout his career in going 12-for-33 with 4 double, 1 HR and 7 RBI. Should his hitting streak be intact come Saturday, he’ll have a great shot of extending it versus the Blue Jays veteran.
QUICK PICK
The amount of thump littered throughout each of these lineups is just awesome. From Jose Bautista to Mookie Betts to Edwin Encarnacion to Josh Donaldson, neither pitcher that takes to the bump will be safe in this one; especially if both starter’s knucklers aren’t dancing.
While Toronto is still in the AL East race for sure, it’s already becoming an afterthought. This team needs to start making headlines on the field due to its play on it as opposed to extracurricular activities with takeout slides and boxing matches.
Wright has been a fantastic story for Boston through the first two months, but I got a feeling Toronto finally figures him out this third time around. Dickey is overdue for a win against Boston as well after holding up his end of the bargain only to see his offense let him down. Look for the unit to make up for it in this spot.
MLB Odds: Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 4
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