Toronto Blue Jays at Atlanta Braves Betting Preview
It will be an interleague battle of Eastern teams on Tuesday as the Toronto Blue Jays (17-16) take on the Atlanta Braves (17-17). The Braves will host this one at Truist Park, with first pitch scheduled for 7:20 pm ET. This will be the first of a three-game series between the two teams.
In their last series, the Braves took two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies, including a 6-1 win Sunday night. In the win, Freddie Freeman went three for three with a home run. Dansby Swanson also homered in the contest.
Over the weekend, the Blue Jays lost their series to the Astros after dropping two of three. In their 7-4 loss on Sunday, Rowdy Tellez hit his second home run of the season, but they couldn’t overcome a rough start from Nate Pearson, who went just 2.1 innings and allowed three runs.
The Braves are the favorite playing at home. They opened at -132 to win while the Blue Jays’ moneyline sits at +122. The runline features Toronto +1.5.
Pitching Matchup
Toronto will send southpaw Robbie Ray (1-1, 3.14 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday. While he may not be absolutely dominant, Ray is usually consistent in his outings. In fact, he has had quality starts in his last three games.
As of Monday evening, the Atlanta Braves still have not named a starter for Tuesday’s contest.
By The Numbers
Offensively, both of these teams are ranked in the top ten in scoring. The Blue Jays rank sixth, averaging 4.85 runs per game. The Braves come in tenth overall averaging 4.68 runs.
On the defensive side, it is once again the Blue Jays who hold the advantage. They rank 12th in runs allowed per game at 4.09. The Braves fall to 24th, allowing opponents 5.03 runs per game.
Toronto Hope To Improve Road Record
The Toronto Blue Jays currently sit a game over .500, but they still trail the Boston Red Sox by 3.5 games in a loaded A.L. East. While they have been solid as the home team (7-4), they are just 10-12 on the road this season.
The Blue Jays have had several major contributors on the offensive side this season. Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien are tied for the team lead in home runs with eight. Randall Grichuk leads the team in runs batted in with 28.
The most important offensive production, though, might be from first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. After dropping a lot of weight in the offseason, Guerrero has been quite impressive early on.
Guerrero is currently hitting .310/.447/.549 with seven home runs, 23 runs batted in, and 24 runs scored. He also has more walks (25) than strikeouts (24).
Braves Trying To Keep Pace In The N.L. East
Over 30 games into the season and still only 3.5 games separate first from last in the N.L. East. In what should be one of the most competitive divisions in baseball, the Braves know they need to take advantage of every win they can get.
Ronald Acuna Jr. has gotten off to an MVP caliber start to his season. He is currently hitting .305/.404/.636. More impressively, he leads the team in home runs (10), runs batted in (22), runs scored (30), and stolen bases (6).
Shortstop Dansby Swanson has been one of the hottest players on the team over the last week. In that span, he is hitting .350/.435/.750 with two home runs and three runs batted in.
Taking Blue Jays On The Runline
The Braves have certainly had their pitching woes to start off the season. They rank 24th in earned run average at 4.54, and the fact they still had not named a starter as of Monday night brings their pitching depth into question.
While Robbie Ray is beatable, it is still hard to trust that the Braves’ pitching can keep runs off the board Tuesday night. For that reason, taking the Blue Jays at +1.5 on the runline seems like the strong play in this one.
