The Toronto Blue Jays enjoyed another successful week, winning two road series with 2-1 records. The Jays retained their spot on the World Series odds board for Ontario sports gambling.
Toronto ranks fifth among all teams with odds of +950 at DraftKings Ontario, an improvement from last weekās +1000. The Jays trail the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and New York Mets.
The Blue Jays also remain behind the New York Yankees when it comes to odds on Ontario betting apps for the AL East title. With a 9-1 record in the past 10 games, the Yankees are back up to 8.5 games ahead of Toronto in the standings.
The sportsbooks see this as a solid but not insurmountable lead as the Blue Jays are +370 to win the division. The next week will be telling as Toronto hosts New York for three games to end the week. The Tampa Bay Rays trail the Blue Jays ever so slightly in the standings but arenāt seen as much of a threat to compete all season with odds of +1400. Torontoās next opponent, the Baltimore Orioles, are dead last with odds of +100000.
The regulated Ontario online casino and sports betting markets went live on April 4, just before the start of the MLB regular season.
Updated World Series Odds
Stripling Steps Up for Jays
The star of the week was unquestionably Ross Stripling. The long reliever turned starter was victorious on two occasions, both shutouts. Replacing injured starter Hyun Jin Ryu, Stripling started the first game of the week on Monday for the Jays and threw five innings of scoreless, one-hit ball in a win over the Kansas City Royals.
Six days later he starred again, this time lasting six innings in a 6-0 win in Detroit over the Tigers. Stripling now has a 3-1 record and a 3.14 ERA this season in a variety of roles and has been one of the most important players on the roster.
Guerrero Also Stepping Up
Getting more fanfare coming into the season was star slugger Vladimir Guerrero, who continued his improved play. He reached 14 home runs on the season with a two-run blast Sunday. Guerrero, the preseason odds-on favorite to win the home run title, is now T-13 in the MLB race, but remains well behind leader Aaron Judge of the Yankees, who has 24 bombs thus far.
Guerrero is one of three Jays to eclipse 30 RBIs this season, as his 34 lead George Springer by one and Bo Bichette by two. Bichette really struggled to start the year and has had a solid run over the past three weeks to get himself back to form. Those three players also all have double digit home runs with Springer having 12 and Bichette having 10. The offense as a whole was solid, putting up eight, 10 and six runs in games over the course of the week.
Top prospect Gabriel Moreno also made his MLB debut in a 3-1 loss to Detroit, making a few stellar defensive plays and getting his first big league hit in the ninth inning.
Other Pitchers Show Up
Stripling wasnāt the only pitcher to hold his own as the whole staff had a solid week despite being given plenty of run support and room for error. Three shutouts and a one-run game highlighted the week with the only blip being an 8-4 loss to end the series with Kansas City.
To no oneās surprise one of the shutout performances was led by Cy Young candidate Alek Manoah, who continued his incredible season and is now sporting a 1.81 ERA on the year. For a team known for its bats, Toronto has found a way to get quality pitching performances every single week and it has been one of the keys to its success.
The Week Ahead for Jays
The upcoming week is huge for Toronto. Seven home games await, the first four of which come against the basement-dwelling Baltimore Orioles.
Four home games against a mediocre squad is a perfect opportunity for the Jays to pile up some wins and get some momentum heading into a massive weekend series with the Yankees. Itās a three-game series the Jays need to take advantage of while trying to improve their odds to win the division.
