Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Guardians May 5 Betting Preview

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Cleveland Guardians May 5 Betting Preview

Tyler Vaysman
2 years ago
3 min read
Cleveland right fielder Franmil Reyes stares into the stands against the Toronto Blue Jays

After hosting the Padres for a doubleheader on Wednesday, the Cleveland Guardians (11-13) will welcome in the Toronto Blue Jays (16-10) for a four-game set starting on Thursday. The Guardians will host this one at Progressive Field with first pitch scheduled for 6:10 p.m.

After losing the first two games of their series with the New York Yankees, the Blue Jays were able to salvage the last game with a 2-1 win on Wednesday. Yusei Kikuchi picked up his first win as a Blue Jay after going six innings, allowing one run on three hits.

Offensively, Matt Chapman hit his fifth home run of the season as part of just four hits for the Bronx Bombers.

Cleveland split their doubleheader with the Padres on Wednesday. They lost the first game 5-4 but bounced back with a 6-5 win in the second game. Despite earning the split, the Guardians left 36 runs on base in the two games (18 in each).

Betting Odds

Toronto is the favorite in this one despite playing on the road. They are -139 to win while the Guardians’ moneyline sits at +129. The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-130), and the over/under for total runs is eight.

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Pitching Matchup

The Blue Jays will send right Jose Berrios (2-0, 4.13 ERA) to the mound Thursday. In his last start, he picked up the win over the Astros after giving up just one run over 5.2 innings.

The Guardians will counter with righty Aaron Civale (0-2, 10.67 ERA). The righty has struggled mightily this season including his last start, where he went four innings and gave up six earned runs.

By The Numbers

The Guardians currently hold the edge on the offensive side. They rank sixth overall averaging 4.59 runs per game (3.83 at home). The Blue Jays rank 20th averaging 3.80 runs (3.30 on the road).

Defensively, it is the Blue Jays with the small edge. They rank 16th in scoring defense allowing 4.12 runs per game (2.90 on the road). The Guardians rank 20th allowing 4.27 runs per game (3.50 at home).

Blue Jays Try To Keep Pace In Division

With the division rival Yankees getting off to a fast start, the Blue Jays know that every win is important. While they are in second in the AL East, they still sit 2.5 games back of New York so they will try to improve on their 6-4 road record starting on Thursday.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been sensational this season. In 91 at bats he is hitting .286/.350/.527 with a team-leading six home runs and 17 runs batted in.

Blue Jays’ hitters have a combined 12 at bats against Aaron Civale and to this point, no Toronto player has a hit off of the righty.

Guardians Have Their Work Cut Out For Them As They Host Toronto

To this point, Cleveland has not had a ton of success keeping opposing teams off of the scoreboard. As they host the Blue Jays, who rank tied for second in home runs (32), the Guardians pitching staff could have their work cut out for them.

While the Blue Jays rank near the top in home runs, the Guardians rank just 20th overall with 20 home runs to date. They rank fifth in runs batted in with 109.

Leading Cleveland in both home runs and runs batted in is 29-year-old third baseman Jose Ramirez. He is currently batting .318/.419/.659 with a team-leading seven home runs and 29 runs batted in.

Guardians Try To Get Series Started On The Right Foot

It is never easy to host an AL East powerhouse like the Blue Jays, but when you have lost six of your last 10, it becomes even a bit more dreadful.

Still, Cleveland would love to take the first game of the series against Toronto, but they will need Aaron Civale to be better for that to get done. Civale has allowed six earned runs in his last two starts and if he can’t get the ship back on course, his spot in the rotation may be lost.

Especially going against Jose Berrios, who seemed to find his groove in his last start after a tough stretch of games to start the season, the Guardians will have their hands full. However, if they can get even a respectable outing out of Civale, they could have a chance of taking Game 1.

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