Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and the Blue Jays love facing lefties. (Photo credit: Keith Allison via Foter.com / CC BY-SA)
Today’s free pick is on the Blue Jays and Tigers to go Over the 9.5 total tonight at Comerica Park.
We made the bet at -120 odds, but you could find similar odds at www.Pinnacle.com, www.SportsInteraction.com and www.Bodog.eu.
We all know the Jays love facing lefties. They rank middle of the pack this year against lefthanded starters, but that’s mostly because their overall offensive numbers are down. Toronto’s lineup is filled with right-handed hitters and they’re hitting 12 points higher versus southpaws than righties this year.
They shouldn’t be nervous about facing Matt Boyd, a former Jays prospect who went to Detroit in the David Price deal. The Jays scored 5 runs off Boyd last year in one of the young lefty’s few career starts.
We’d go with Toronto to win the game (you could do that as well, but you have to lay -135 odds) but Detroit’s tearing the cover off the ball right now and they enjoy facing righties like Aaron Sanchez. The Tigers have scored 5 or more runs in 5 of their last 7 games and rolled an 11 against J.A. Happ and the Jays last night.
The fact that the Over is 12-3-2 in Detroit’s last 17 home games when they face a right-handed starter is something else we can’t ignore.
Let’s cheer for some runs tonight, and hopefully the Blue Jays score more than the Tigers.