Cleveland Guardians vs. Toronto Blue Jays Betting Preview May 7

Cleveland Guardians vs. Toronto Blue Jays Betting Preview May 7

Ayden Fahlstrom
2 years ago
3 min read

After Friday's game was rained out, the Toronto Blue Jays (16-11) and Cleveland Guardians (12-13) will play a doubleheader on Saturday. The Guardians will host these games at Progressive Field, with the first pitch of the first game scheduled for 2:10 pm ET.

The Guardians were able to take the first game of the series on Thursday and have now gone 5-5 over their last ten games. They will try to improve their home record on Friday, which currently sits at 5-4.

With only one off day this entire season thus far, the Blue Jays may have been alright with Friday's postponement. After losing three of their last four, they will hope the extra rest will help them get back into the win column.

Betting Odds

The Blue Jays are the favorites in both games on Saturday. In the matinee, they are -142 to win while the Guardians' moneyline sits at +120. The runline features Cleveland +1.5.

In the evening game, the Blue Jays are once again the favorites at -136 while the Guardians are +116 to win. The runline again features Cleveland +1.5.

Pitching Matchup

In the first game of the doubleheader, two aces will do battle as the Blue Jays will send Kevin Gausman (2-1, 2.27 ERA) to the mound to square off with the Guardians' Shane Bieber (1-1, 2.45 ERA).

In the second game, Ross Stripling (0-0, 3.79 ERA) will get the ball for Toronto. For Cleveland, Triston McKenzie (1-2, 2.70 ERA) will try to win the nightcap.

By The Numbers

In terms of staff earned run average, the Blue Jays have a slight edge in the early going. They rank 17th in the majors with a 3.67 ERA. The Guardians rank 21st with a 3.95 staff ERA.

In the power department, it is again the Blue Jays with the advantage. They rank tied for third in home runs this season with 34. The Guardians rank 19th, having smacked 21 home runs to date.

Blue Jays Look To Stay Above .500 On The Road

At 16-11, the Blue Jays have been above .500 both at home and on the road. Still, while they are 10-6 at home, they will look to stay above .500 and improve on their 6-5 road record.

Leading the charge for the Blue Jays is first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. An MVP candidate last year, Guerrero has gotten off to a good start hitting .290/.364/.559 with seven home runs, 19 runs batted in, and 14 runs scored.

A pleasant surprise for the Blue Jays this season has been the play of second baseman Santiago Espinal. In 85 at bats this year, he is hitting .259/.319/.424 with two home runs, 11 runs batted in, seven runs scored, and three stolen bases.

Cleveland Trying To Show They Can Compete In AL Central

While Cleveland is currently three games back of the Minnesota Twins in the standings, the Guardians have shown early on that they can compete for a division crown. With an all-around solid starting pitching staff and an offense that has surprisingly shown it can score runs at times, they will hope to compete for the long haul.

Of course, third baseman Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians' offense. He is hitting an outstanding .315/.413/.641 with seven home runs, 29 runs batted in, and 14 runs to date.

Second baseman Andres Gimenez has also hit well in the early going. He is currently hitting .344/.348/.547 with a couple of home runs, 14 runs batted in, and eight runs scored.

Friday Is An Opportunity For Cleveland To Gain Ground

Anytime a team plays a doubleheader, there is a great opportunity to either gain or lose ground in a hurry. For Cleveland, they are hoping for the former.

It won't be easy against a solid Blue Jays team, especially with Kevin Gausman on the mound for the first game. To date, he has yet to walk a batter, meaning Cleveland will have to be aggressive in the strike zone.

Luckily, Cleveland is throwing two star pitchers of their own in Shane Bieber and Tristin McKenzie. These two have shown they will consistently keep the Guardians in games, meaning that if Cleveland can scratch across even a few runs, they should be in good shape to at least split, if not take both of the games on Saturday.

Share article on: