The Toronto Blue Jays had an exceptionally busy, important week with eight games against two division rivals in the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. With both of those teams recently having passed Toronto in the standings the week lined up to be even more crucial than usual.
Despite being behind them in the standings the Blue Jays remained ahead of them in Ontario online betting for the World Series and AL Division title, so the two series were an important chance to prove that status right.
The week got off to a very strong start with wins over the Red Sox in the first two games of the series, including a walk-off RBI from Vladimir Guerrero Jr in the second game. The Blue Jays ended up dropping the third game of the series. but it was enough to propel them ahead of Boston for second in the AL East.
Yankees are Rolling in AL East
But the Jays are a long way behind the New York Yankees, who have seized control of the division. The second series also started well with two wins over the Tampa Bay Rays, but Toronto dropped the last three games including both in a Saturday doubleheader to end the week on a sour note.
In the end, the Jays were able to do enough to pull even with Boston and slightly ahead of Tampa Bay in the division. Despite the even standing, Toronto is considered much more of a World Series threat with +1400 odds at BetMGM Canada, seventh best in the league, but falling slightly from last week.
Boston and Tampa Bay can both be found at +3000 or longer. With the Yankees so far ahead none of them are a real threat to win the division but the Blue Jays are +2000, much shorter than Boston or Tampa Bay at +3000 and +5000, respectively.
Updated World Series Odds
Pitching Remains Up and Down
As is often the case, pitching had its bright spots and lowlights during the week. No one exemplified this more than Kevin Gausman, who had a sterling 10-strikeout performance to beat the Red Sox, but had to leave his start against Tampa on Saturday after taking a comebacker to the leg.
Thankfully for Toronto his X-Rays came back negative and it is only a contusion. The loss of Gausman early in the first game of the doubleheader was too much for the Blue Jays to manage and their pitching depth was exposed in back-to-back losses.
Yusei Kikuchi, who has struggled a ton of late also had a strong performance with a one-run effort in a win over the Rays. Kikuchi and Jose Berrios need to keep that momentum going as they will be called upon to help withstand any potential absence from Gausman. Alek Manoah remains predictably elite, he didn’t win his start but had a good performance, giving up two runs over seven innings in an extra innings loss.
Offense Continues to Carry the Load
To no one’s surprise, Guerrero led the offense with a strong week. He is now up to 19 home runs, one of five Jays to at double digits with catcher Alejandro Kirk now at 10. Kirk has been a huge boost for the club and is one of the league's breakout players thus far. Guerrero was among preseason favorites for MVP and the home run title.
Kirk has a batting average of .317 to lead the Jays and rank in the Top 10 of the league. Guerrero extended his team RBI lead and is now at 53 on the year, good for 10th in MLB. The offense had a minor blip to start the year but all indications over the past month point to this being a huge strength. The stats bear this out as the Jays have the third best batting average, fifth most home runs and fifth most total runs in the league.
As the Jays season continues it is apparent this team is turning into what it was expected to be, an offensive powerhouse that will compete every night, but dominate when the pitching shows up. The Blue Jays deserve their spot high on the World Series odds board because of their massively high offensive ceiling and at +1100. This could be the best number they will be at all season on Ontario sports betting apps.
