Cleveland Guardians vs. Toronto Blue Jays August 12 Betting Preview

The AL Central leading Cleveland Guardians (59-52) travel to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays (60-50) on Friday.

The Guardians are fresh off of a three-game sweep over the Tigers and have now won five consecutive games. Cleveland continues to defy the odds, and they enter this series with a 1.5-game lead in the AL Central.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays have dropped three of their past four games. They most recently dropped two games in a row against the Orioles.

The first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. on Friday, August 12, at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Betting Odds

The Blue Jays (-167) are favored to win, according to betJACK. But this game could go either way. The Guardians are +1 run underdogs on the runline. The total runs for this game has been set at 8.5.

And the Guardians might be in line to upset the odds given their recent string of impressive play. This projects to be an entertaining Friday night baseball game.

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Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians are simply red hot right now.

Despite a shaky Game Three against the Tigers that saw them blow a lead in the ninth, Cleveland has been playing extremely well as of late. It should be noted that both James Karinchak and Emmanuel Clase were unavailable on Thursday since both needed rest. 

Nonetheless, a two-out Oscar Gonzalez RBI base hit in the 10th led the Guards to the win.

Cleveland’s offense has been decent but not great during their winning streak. They’ve scored 17 runs during those five games, which isn’t exactly jaw-dropping.

But the Guardians have relied on stellar pitching from both the bullpen and rotation. Cleveland’s pitching has surrendered a total of just eight runs over their past five games.

It should be noted that the lone Guardians player who won’t be making the trip to Canada is James Karinchak due to vaccine-related reasons. His presence will be missed without question, but the Guardians have enough bullpen depth to survive.

Cal Quantrill (8-5, 3.88) will start for the Guards in this contest. Quantrill has been a reliable option for Terry Francona this season and will aim to keep the Blue Jays lineup in check on Friday.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays feature one of MLB’s best offenses. They are in the top five in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, and runs scored. So Cal Quantrill will have to be at the top of his game.

But the pitching has struggled as of late. Toronto has surrendered a total of 23 runs over their past four games. On the season, they are 17th in team ERA.

So the Blue Jays will need to find a way to contain the Guardians on offense. Their recent trend of pitching simply will not get the job done.

And speaking of underwhelming pitching, the Guardians will face a familiar foe in Jose Berrios (8-4, 5.19) in this contest. Berrios, a former Twins pitcher, was a key acquisition for Toronto last year. The Blue Jays promptly handed him an extension, but the right-hander has faltered in 2022.

However, Berrios was once considered one of the better pitchers in baseball. So Cleveland can’t afford to take him for granted. He is capable of turning in a good start despite his difficult campaign.